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Brought home a Kia Sonet D IMT: Buying experience & first impressions

12th September 2023, 11:06 by Dev Shah

The car just cruises on highways and with the ease of IMT gearbox even in cities in traffic it is easy to drive.

BHPian Vivian,A34 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have been holding myself back to post a review on my new KIA Sonet D 1.5 IMT HTX plus BS6 phase 2 engine experience. I don't think there is lot of customer reviews yet for this specific model online as well as I did a lot of research before booking the vehicle but couldn't find much.

So here is the review coming up with buying experience and the first long trip experience and also the 1st service experience for my KIA Sonet.

Buying Experience:

I was browsing for a while to get myself upgraded since the beginning of this year and that is when I started test driving and visiting showrooms. I was clear in my mind that I need a sub 4 meter with a powerful powertrain. Started with KIA as I liked the looks of the Sonet from the beginning but also wanted to explore other options before I came to a conclusion. Initial experience when I drove the diesel manual with 99bhp engine (this was the phase 1 engine which had manual option in diesel) it seemed to lack power, again other users on the forum would have a different opinion no offence. But I immediately felt there was something missing because I was upgrading from my 1.6 Duratec Ford Fiesta Petrol engine which was a fun to drive machine with just 82bhp engine I still feel I will highly underrate my experience with Ford if I say it was under powered infact I would say Ford was ahead of its time when designing the Ford Fiesta Classic because everything was accurate in this car the power the comfort and the drive experience.

I went for a test drive of the Nexon and there I found that missing power I was looking for in the 108bhp engine. However the cabin is neat and clean for the Nexon but the touch screen set me off. An 8 inch screen is clearly a turn off also the quality lacks far behind then Kia's and the Hyundai's also the rear camera clarity is not that good. I know this for a fact because the Altroz has the same setup for which I already posted a review.

In between one of my office colleague suggested me to check out the Kiger and Magnite said they are budget friendly but powerful. Anyways I was browsing I went to the Renault showroom in Nashik and the test drive car I believe was not serviced or something but it had a lot of vibration. I even asked the sales rep if it was not serviced and hence the vibration he said that is not the reason. Instead he said something which is fixed in my mind still Quote " All 1L petrol engines are noisy and have vibration " overall the car looked good but lacked power as it was only 1L engine and also did not feel good as the gear nob was all wobbly when at stand still or while driving. Magnite since no Nissan showroom in Nashik hence could not test drive I visited few of their service centers if they can arrange a test drive vechile the said they will try and never did. After this I was done with petrol engine for sub 4 meters.

Brezza was out of my list because it only had petrol options. Ford had left the market or eco sport would be topping my charts. I did a test drive for Hyundai venue but man that car is ugly or else everything in the Hyundai venue looks good the interior the power everything is good but the looks of the car from the front is a turnoff. By this time Nexon was winning the race until the new IMT model with enhanced engine in KIA Sonet came in. It had the same 114bhp engine and a 250nm torque as the seltos and the creta with minor price spike. And when I did a test drive of this machine in Mar'23 I knew this is the one. Refined diesel engine power pact, post 1500 rpm the car launches itself and does not hesitate. Looks amazing interiors perfect ever check box was ticked. I didn't go for GTX line as I didn't like the red lines on it.

Booked the vehicle back in Mar'23 and was given a waiting of 12 weeks. Come June'23 and I started getting calls from the showroom for documentation this was a hassle I even got angry because of lack of empathy and bad customer service. 1st Sales rep was trying to get rid of me because I was asking too many questions is what I felt and even told me that the price in BS6 phase 2 will rise by 2-3 lakhs from the current model ( this was before when I tested the 99bhp Sonet ) which eventually turned out to be not true. So for fellow members please validate and authenticate what these sales rep tell you during initial phase. 2nd sales rep was courteous as I didnt want to communicate with the first guy as he seemed pushy and with 0 customer servic skills. However during documentation I even told the 2nd rep I will cancel the booking and I don't want the car because of bad customer service from all of them in the showroom. I want information and want to be updated as to what they are doing when someone calls you and asks for Aadhar OTP you don't just give that to them because they are from KIA they need to tell me what is the purpose is what I expected which lacked during the entire documentation.

Long Trip Experience:

Took delivery on 11th Jun '23 and made a long trip from Nashik to Indore. The car just cruises on highways and with the ease of IMT gearbox even in cities in traffic it is easy to drive. It gave me an average of 21kmpl on highways and between 17kmpl to 19kmpl in cities. I was okay as this being an IMT gearbox. Overtaking is easy I felt that the car is not aero dynamic on higher speeds because I could feel the drag in the cabin which is one draw back. Touch screen is an 10.25cm smartscreen with no physical buttons and is very responsive also the clarity of the camera and the screen is awesome. Build quality is good I wonder how it only scored 3 in GNCAP because I can feel the doors are heavy metal and the Bonet too with strong built quality. Bose speakers are something else definitely a cherry on top.

1st Service Experience:

1st service I felt the service center is highly understaffed as KIA has gained market but did not increase their infrastructure. A strict learning for them customer satisfaction at the service centers should be their priority which is not possible if you lack infrastructure. Overall I will rate Sonet an 8 out of 10 only because of service delivery or else the car is gem. Till now I have clocked 3500km+ on my ODO and I will keep posting my experience in my journey.