Kia Seltos HTX IVT: Likes & Dislikes after 7 weeks of ownership

I actually like that the ride is stiff, as there is lesser body roll as compared to the pre-facelift Creta.

BHPian ShaanS recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello fellow BHPians!

It's been around 6 weeks since our purchase of the 2023 Seltos HTX IVT and I've finally been able to find the time to post about the buying experience. My intent is to also pen it down as a review of the HTX IVT variant, as I didn't find too many detailed reviews of the engine/gearbox combo. I also want to keep this active as a long-term ownership review, but time will tell how successful I am.

Before I go into details, a quick summary of my personal likes, nitpicks, and dislikes.

I've now covered just over 1000 Kms over ~7 weeks of ownership (~170 Kms Highway (short trip to Mandaragiri off Tumkur Road, via NICE road) and the rest in the city) and have had the 1st service done as well. Sharing my initial impressions of the car.

What I liked:

• The convenience of the automatic especially in Bangalore traffic. The car creeps at a maximum of 7 kmph without any a-pedal input, and only gradually picks up speed till that point.
• The height-adjustable seat and tilt + telescopic adjustable steering combination allowed me to find a good driving position with ease.
• The steering feels connected to the road and is quite responsive. It also weighs up nicely at speed. The steering feels nimble in the city and planted on the highway.
• I haven't really pushed the car, and driven mostly in eco and normal modes, and will be doing so till the end of the run-in period, but even then I was able to hit triple-digit speeds on the highway quite easily. In the normal mode, when revved, the transmission shifts up to around 3800 rpm. I get the feeling that while this is mechanically a CVT, there are some pre-defined ratios (especially in eco and sport modes) for specific speeds and revs that kick in, making it behave almost as a TC, in the mid-range. Acceleration on the highway (including kick-down) is a breeze, and overtaking isn't as much of a hassle as one would be led to believe via the reviews (especially when coming from a significantly less powerful car, as in my case.)
• I actually like that the ride is stiff, as there is a lesser body roll as compared to the pre-facelift Creta. It makes navigating potholed roads and bad surfaces a little challenging but still doesn't make it uncomfortable in the cabin (perhaps because of the 17" wheels on the HTX)
• The sun-roof adds another dimension to early morning and late evening drives
• The stock music system with its 6 speaker setup packs more than enough of a punch for me, especially after the software update from January.
• The car is a head-turner and I can't help but turn back and admire it once while I exit
• The creature comforts for passengers (dual zone AC, rear vents, side blinds, rear reclining seats, hand rest, ambient lighting) make the Seltos feel like a significant upgrade from our perspective
• The front and rear parking sensors and the ability to switch them on in traffic (low speeds) are a godsend! I see more "premium" (expensive) cars missing front sensors and with only 3 / 2 sensors on the back, so this is something that sets the Seltos HTX apart
• The ability to connect one phone via Android Auto and another via Bluetooth is a welcome surprise
• NVH levels are really good, and barely any engine noise creeps into the cabin till around 2000 rpm. And even beyond that, it's not very loud, or distracting from music, conversation, or traffic sounds. I love the fact that Kia hasn't skimped on insulation under the hood for what is essentially a mid-variant. There is a bit of road noise from the stock Goodyears, but something that I can live with.
• The AC is quite effective and has easily been able to cool the cabin in the 32-degree bright sunlit days that we've been having in Bangalore recently in a few minutes. Even with the roof blind open (sun-roof closed) and letting in a huge amount of light and heat.

The nitpicks:

• The customizable ambient lighting is a good touch (and makes the car feel a bit more premium), but once you get used to the novelty of it, and discover your likes, it's not something that you're going to play around with every day.
• The printed user manuals only covered the basics, and you have to use either the web version, the PDF, or the manual app to really go in depth. Even the digital versions are clunky (with the pdf version missing images, and having visible borders/guidelines showing that it may be a pre-final digital copy of the print version). At least for the app or the web versions, they could have made it easier for owners to generate the relevant manuals for people based on variants, and wouldn't be too much of an effort to build so. It's disappointing to go through the manual and try to find settings on the mid, which don't exist for your variant.
• Turn by Turn navigation on the mid isn't integrated with Android Auto, which I think is a software gap, and not limited by the hardware, so would have been a good touch.
• Auto engine cut-off is a little intrusive in traffic but quite easy to disable.
• Auto headlamps switch on too early, even with a slight cloud cover, or going below any of the many under-construction metro stations in Bangalore.
• The glovebox is smaller than our Celerio, but space in the cabin is decent, with all 4 doors having good space for water bottles and knick-knacks. The space under the front handrest / air purifier is quite usable too. What's strange to me is that the front cup holders are of different sizes.
• Piano black finishes on the interior surfaces, especially on high-touch areas (e.g the phone cubby) will not age well.
• Wired Android auto!
• There is a bit of the rubber-band effect, especially with lower revs, but it's manageable with throttle input and is turning me into a more sedate driver.
• I hate that Kia deleted the one-touch window up-down function on all windows (for a couple of months) and I only have it for the driver. It's only a nitpick because I was aware of this deletion when making the purchase decision.
• The pewter olive shade is a looker, but a dust magnet!

The dislikes:

• It may be my driving position, and I'm yet to experiment, but the windshield is super reflective, during most of the day.
• The headlamps throw is a little narrow to my liking, and I've remedied this for now by adjusting the beam height a little bit (to the 2 positions on the adjuster dial) and switching on the fog lamps once in a while, especially dark stretches. I'm not in favour of any changes to the stock setup, but if it gets really bad, I will consider getting the headlamps replaced with something that is better.
• The dead pedal is just carpeted and doesn't have a footrest, and no official accessories are available yet either. I'm looking for aftermarket ones but haven't come across anything yet.

With that out of the way, let's first start with the buying journey.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my previous car was the Celerio which lasted us 8 years, and 53,000 Kms. I’ve never had a major issue in the car (touchwood), but Bangalore traffic did give us a fair share of minor scrapes, dents, and scratches, which for me are part of ownership. Mind you the first few did hurt, and I rushed to the ASC to get them buffed out, cleaned, repainted, etc., but after a point of time, I learned to let go. For nearly 2 of those years (on and off 6-9 month stretches), it was merely a garage car, waiting for us to come back and drive it again, because of COVID. I’d kept it maintained, to the best of my knowledge and capabilities, with regular servicing, a clutch replacement (courtesy Bangalore traffic), a battery replacement (5+ year mark, and sitting idle for most of 2020), tyre replacements (42K Kms mark), being the only major changes from how I bought it stock.

The high points for me were that it was nimble, extremely rev-happy, ate up bad roads with ease (due to its high (for a hatch) ground clearance), had responsive and sorted steering, felt planted at highway cruising speeds of 90-100 Kmph, had an airy cabin, excellent (to my years) stock speakers, and was easy on the eyes! I did 53,000 Kms with it over 8 years of ownership, and other than doing duty as our daily driver for anything and everything, we also did several road trips in and around Bangalore, covering Yercaud, Coorg, Vellore, Pondicherry, Hampi, Madurai, Trichy, Thanjavur, Kanyakumari, Rameshwaram (and Dhanushkodi), Udupi and Mahabalipuram, to name the major ones.

Sharing a few pics of the Celerio through the years.

First long drive from Bangalore to the Lakshmi temple before Vellore. Note the lack of the number plate. This was the weekend after the delivery, and the number plate hadn't arrived yet.

Outside a vineyard in Ramnagara around ~2 years into the car's life.

My favourite pic of the car, getting drenched in Coorg.

My last picture of the car, somewhere between Vellore and Krishnagiri, from the day before we handed her off, and got the Seltos.

But, and there is always a but, the Celerio did start feeling low on power, creature comforts, and space (especially in comparison to 1st the Fabia, and then the 2019 Amaze VX Petrol back home, in which we spent extensive time during COVID.)

The major reasons we needed a replacement were space (while we’re a family of 3, we have parents and family visiting us often enough, and for family trips, the Celerio started feeling cramped); the deteriorating quality of Bangalore roads, which made daily runs to school, office, etc. start to feel cumbersome; and the knee pain associated with Bangalore traffic in a manual. Plus, with our list of nearby (up to ~400 Kms in one day's of driving) destinations drying up, we started thinking of longer distance trips, but the space and comfort factor reared its head again on a 2nd front, to say that it was time for us to look at something else.

That coupled with the availability of the Turbo Petrol + DSG combinations from VW + Skoda, and Hyundai + KIA primarily; plus the imminent (~10-year) demise of ICEs and the coming EV onslaught, made me want to scratch an itch I didn’t even know I had. Cue team BHP to the rescue.

I spent a lot of time reading through the various threads and started creating a shortlist of everything in the ~20L bracket. My first TD was the Kushaq way back in Dec 2022, which my wife and I both had our hearts set on. What came after was the realization that Bangalore’s road taxes were among the highest in the country, and BH registrations wouldn’t materialize anytime soon. With that, I put my plans on hold, since finances needed to be put in order first.

In Dec '23, we decided we were finally ready to go ahead with the purchase, and started the hunt. I’m putting down our consideration set and what we did with each.

Having lived with the pain that comes with driving in Bangalore traffic I didn’t want to go with a manual, hence my choices don’t include any manuals.

Hyryder – Vetoed by the wife in terms of looks and based on her reads of the forums here (she isn’t a member, and when it comes to driving, she prefers her Activa 7 days of the week, but she’s on here almost as much as I am.)

Grand Vitara – I proposed, but the wife said no, so no test drives either

XUV 300 – My brother-in-law owns one, and it’s quite capable, ticked all our boxes too (except for the AMT, and having driven a friend Celerio AMT, I wasn't very fond of owning one, but I could still have lived with it, given that it gives so much bang for buck elsewhere.) But it has too little boot space for our use, and that made us scratch it off the list.

XUV 700 – We considered it briefly but dropped the idea when we realized that even the AX3 trim with the TC gearbox would end up costing us north of 23 Lakhs on the road, and we’d get better-equipped cars at the same price. Plus, even from the outside the car felt too large for our use. I didn’t even get a TD because of both of these reasons.

Thar – We both loved the looks initially, but had stepped into the cabin a few months back, at a pop-up stall in our society, and immediately hated it. The rear felt claustrophobic, and strictly for 2, with a laughable boot space. Add to the mix the fact that it’s a 3-door, hence not really practical for the family (especially ingress/egress for the parents). Plus the long wait. A friend of mine has been waiting for his 4X2 for over a year now. A 5 door would have been a different story but looks like M&M is in no hurry to get there. With that, we decided to strike it off our list as well.

Jimny – Great on paper, but too small in person, and honestly, it may just have been the car we saw in person, but the fit & finish seemed worse than my Celerio.

Elevate – It just didn’t feel like the car for us. Even though we spent a lot of time in a Honda over the last couple of years in our hometown, the Elevate just didn’t feel right for us. I’m probably being vain, but the looks were another negative, to my eyes the front of the car doesn’t mesh with the rest of it, and that was that.

Taigun 1.5 DSG – We loved the drive, with almost zero turbo lag, and butter smooth as well as lightning-fast gear shifts. What didn’t work in its favour, was the scoped /bucket-style rear seat that didn’t seem too accommodating even in comparison with our Celerio. The cabin too felt a little unfinished, with the obvious blanks on the console, and then the cost was also a tad on the higher side, coming to almost 23 Lakhs on-road even with year-end discounts. So even though it was a solid package, it still felt like we would be making a compromise.

Taigun 1.0 TC – Felt less refined than the 1.5, and the noise of the 3-pot motor felt very loud in the cabin. Plus had the same issue of the rear seat comfort, and feeling unfinished on the inside.

Kushaq 1.5 DSG – While the drive is almost the same as the VW, the ride is a fair bit softer than the Taigun, and the suspension has a lot of play, which I realized when the bottom scraped over a large speed hump (while the Taigun at the same spot, sailed through without any issues.) On paper, and long before we were looking at these cars, we’d already made up our minds in favour of the Kushaq. I’d read reviews of past Skoda / VW owners and their gripe with the lack of quality/refinement as compared to the past, seemed inconsequential in the real world, but I must say, they’re not wrong. The Kushaq did feel like a watered-down product in comparison to our old Fabia, and that eventually led us to place a big question mark around it, plus for 23 big ones, my head didn’t feel that it would really be worth it.

Kushaq 1.0 TC – Didn’t take a TD, but ruled out for the same reasons as the 1.5 / Taigun 1.0

Creta (pre-facelift) SX (O) 1.5 IVT – Cabin felt a little dated, though that may have been our TD car which had ~36K Kms on the Odo, but with all bells and whistles. The driving experience obviously wasn’t as grin-inducing as the VW/Skoda, but it never felt like there wasn’t enough power, for 99% of my driving (highways included.) The rear seat comfort and space were highlights and we expected ownership to be as hassle-free as had been with the Celerio. Plus we had the assurance of having my cousin running a Hyundai ASC back home. He uses a Creta as his daily driver as well and vouched for it. We had almost finalized it, but again, considering that the facelift was just around the corner, we weren’t fully sure that we would go for it. But so far, it was looking like our best bet.

Venue N-Line N8 – While the engine specs are nearly the same as the VW twins, somehow the experience wasn’t. The car felt cramped inside, even when compared to my Celerio, the engine felt too loud, and the dark interiors just didn’t do it for us.

At this point, we’d almost finalized the Creta, talked exchange value for the Celerio, gotten final quotes, and even gone to the extent of formally blocking a Denim Blue shade that they had in stock.

But not for nothing did I say before, that fate had other plans!

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