Kia Carens diesel MT: Observations after 1 month and 2000 kms

As a family tourer, the Carens fits perfectly. My elderly parents who were never keen on taking road trips are now looking forward for the next one.

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Impressions of my Kia Carens diesel MT after 2000 km and 1 month of driving:

• Overall FE stands at 19.1 kmpl tracked using Fuelio.
• As a family tourer, the Carens fits perfectly. My elderly parents who were never keen on taking road trips are now looking forward for the next one. Family is extremely happy with the vehicle. I always thought that they were not interested in road trips. I now understood that the choice of vehicle makes a lot of difference.
• The engine and gear box keeps getting better. The sluggishness in low gears has gone down considerably. On the contrary, I must’ve gotten used to the vehicle.
• AC works well. I’ve set the temperature to 24 in auto mode and never changed a setting ever since.
• Windows still rattle on rough patches and broken roads. This is not annoyingly loud, but you can hear the rattle nevertheless.
• Stock MRF tyres are good. Road noise is not that intrusive.
• I am yet to find a perfect equaliser setting for the stock HU/speaker combination. The music though clear lacks loudness.
• The range of the front parking sensors seems low. Sometimes while backing up I wonder if they are even working. I have a pillar opposite to my parking and the car never makes a squeak until I get really close to it.
• Fuel gauge is typical Hyundai/Kia. The fuel gauge stays full until the first 250 odd kilometers and then begins it’s rapid descent. I think we had a thread on the same topic recently. My old Grand i10 had the same issue.
• Definitely not a driver’s vehicle. You can spend quality time with your family on road trips though. The vehicle happily munches miles in the background without breaking a sweat.
• Cruise control works well. The controls are easy to use and you don’t have to take your eyes off the road for activating/deactivating it. The pause button is within the reach of a thumb.
• Headlights. I feel my oldGi10 had better lighting. Sigh!
• Noticed a glitch in wireless CarPlay. Sometimes, the song stops playing for no reason. Clicking on the play button plays the song for a song and pauses again. The only workaround for now is to restart my phone. I am yet to test this behaviour via wired CarPlay.
• I felt front seat lack proper lumbar support. I got a backache on the first long trip. After fiddling around and adjusting the seat to my proper driving position, this seems to be sorted now. Since I will be the only driver for this vehicle, I don’t think this will be an issue for me.
• SVC denied to change oil when I went in for the first service. I told them that I would pay for the oil and labour, they still denied. They told me that since this is not a recommendation from the manufacturer, they cannot go ahead with the oil change. I tried talking some sense, which did not work. Otherwise, service was a normal affair.

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