The new-gen Kia Seltos is expected to make its global debut in the second half of 2025.

Kia is currently working on the next-generation Seltos. Prototypes have been spotted in Kia’s home market of South Korea, and we even got a glimpse of the new SUV in a recent Hyundai documentary.

The new-gen Kia Seltos was spotted on Indian roads for the first time late last year. Another pre-production test mule of what could be the India-spec Seltos was recently caught testing.

Despite the heavy camouflage, the latest spy images reveal some of the design details of the new-gen Seltos. Starting with the front fascia, the new model gets a complete redesign, featuring brand-new split LED headlamps with vertical LED DRLs on either side. It has a horizontal air dam, which houses the sensors for the ADAS suite.

The overall proportions of the new Seltos look similar to the current model. It has a revised window line with triangular rear quarter glass, redesigned ORVMs, and new dual-tone alloy wheels.

Kia has confirmed that the next-gen Seltos will get a petrol-hybrid powertrain. It is likely to be based on the current 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine. The existing 1.5-litre turbo-petrol and diesel engines are also likely to be offered on the new model.

The new-gen Kia Seltos is expected to make its global debut in the second half of 2025.

Source: @nitrorush_01

It's a product to remove scratches from glass surfaces, but quite effective on glossy plastics as well.

BHPian Col Mehta recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Piano black plastic - one of the pain points present in modern automobiles. Looks great on day one, not so much later. It's a dust, fingerprint and scratch magnet which requires constant cleaning. Unfortunately the Seltos is also plagued with it, thankfully though, it is used mainly on the gear lever console. However it keeps getting new scratches even after we being very careful with it.

So had to find a solution and stumbled upon this plastic watch scratch remover polish on Amazon which has some positive reviews. It's a product to remove scratches from glass surfaces, but quite effective on glossy plastics as well, as seen in one of the YT videos.

It's quite a small package. Picture for reference:

Happy to report that the results are quite satisfactory. Not at the professional level, but good enough for a two minute job. One needs a little drop of polish on the plastic and apply it with a foam applicator in circular motion for a couple of minutes. It works really well on minor scratches and swirl marks. Deeper scratches will need more than one application.

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Other updates:

Our Seltos is going great otherwise! No niggles, no complications, just a blissful ownership experience so far. Touchwood. With over 12k kms on the Odo, the engine feels more refined and responsive. The TC gearbox is ever so smooth and trouble free. Will change the engine oil at about 13.5k kms (5k kms after the last change). Closing with a few random shots.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information

Kia has confirmed that the next-gen Seltos will get a petrol-hybrid powertrain.

Hyundai has released a new documentary series called ‘The Great Heritage: Car’. It takes us behind closed doors where few get to venture, including the company’s R&D centre. This is the place where future products begin their development journey, and while most cars have been blurred out, an SUV that appears at the end of the facility has caught everyone’s attention.

According to some media reports, this could be the next-generation Kia Seltos. The screenshot from the video shows a completely undisguised SUV that looks similar to the Seltos test mules we’ve seen so far.

The SUV has an upright front fascia with rectangular headlamps, blacked-out A-pillars with redesigned ORVMs, and square-ish wheel arches. The car has a triangular rear quarter glass and a curved rear windshield, which is quite evident in this image.

Kia has confirmed that the next-gen Seltos will get a petrol-hybrid powertrain. It is likely to be based on the current 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine. The existing 1.5-litre turbo-petrol and diesel engines are also likely to be offered on the new model.

The new-gen Kia Seltos is expected to make its global debut in the second half of 2025.

Source: The Korean Car Blog

User comments suggest that Maruti Brezza, Hyundai, Kia, VAG, Tata Motors, and Mahindra are most commonly affected by this.

BHPian ttm_220d recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Prelude:

Those of you who read my posts are quite acquainted with my Kia Seltos GTX Diesel AT, the highs and the lows, the good and the bad.

Something significant happened last week, where I had to claim the warranty of two main components (I will cover this in detail in the following days) but one of these components was the Daytime Running Light (‘DRL’). This write-up is not about to bash Kia, far from it, in fact, they have been very prompt in addressing my issue. Instead, this write-up is about exploring the world of ‘yellowing DRLS’; the silent defect plaguing Indian cars, particularly Indian ‘German’ cars.

(The above two pictures are of my Seltos when it was new vs when it was taken to the Dealership to inspect the DRL issue in January)

What is the defect?

DRLs are often polar/tube light white. The hue from a DRL is unmistakable, as it is often a very sharp and bright white. The actual hue of the DRL may vary based on the cost of the car, but they all tend to stay towards the cooler white end of the colour spectrum. What is not expected is the uneven “yellowing” of the DRL, especially on a DRL that is not more than a few months/years old.

(A few pictures I received from owners who are facing this issue... continued below)

Are people even aware of this?

I myself at first only noticed the car when I was parking my Seltos late at night and I could see a subtle reflection on the black garage gate. The change in hue was so imperceivable at first, I didn’t think much of it. Mind you this was around month 6 of the car ownership.

Around month 8, the change in hue was definitely more accentuated. As in the Seltos, it is a continuous front light bar that extends from the headlights to the grill. There was a clear shift in the polar white hue of the DRL to a yellowish tinge. I cross-checked it with pictures of the car from when I first bought it and there was a clear change in the hue. What was surprising was that it was on both the DRLs and both were evenly affected. I read a few Team-BHP Forums on this. Luckily, the good people at Advaith Kia have placed an order to replace both and they replaced them within a week.

A lot of complaints:

I posted my yellow DRL findings on my Instagram, and I was surprised by the number of responses and comments I received from a vast group of Indian car buyers. Many helpfully, shared pictures and there was a clear trend. Many of the German/Korean cars had this issue. Surprisingly, many of the never VAG products made for India as well as the international models such as the Tiguan etc faced this issue. From the comments received on what I shared: Breeza/Hyundai/Kia/VAG/Tata & Mahindra seemed to be the most common. I even got a picture from a new MG Astor electric which had the same issue.

The causes for this issue:

As I am a Lawyer by profession, mechanics are not my strong suit, hence I don’t think it will be accurate of me to pass comments on a subject matter I have no experience with, but what I noticed in my Seltos was that there was a lot of running on the highways last few months during the hot days, maybe this further exacerbated the issue?

With regards to the VAG products, the internet seems to suggest that many of these DRL comprise of a single strip of LEDs that gradually burn over time. Maybe the engineers didn’t account for our Indian heat or underestimated how long these DRLs would be switched on, but I am not focused on the mechanics, I am focusing on how we as consumers in India just struggle with sub par cars and this is another miniscule issue that makes on think with their wallet and not their heart when purchasing a car.

I received many reactions on Instagram also stating that many of these DRLs come from the same supplier and it is a supplier issue that is plaguing all these vehicles.

Why does this matter?

One of the responses I received from a very helpful Skoda Octavia owner said that his dealer was charging INR 80,000/- (after all the “discounts”) to replace just one headlight which went yellow, the other was on the way to face this issue. This is a lot of money for the average consumer and there is no excuse for these issues on brand-new cars. What will car owners do when this issue plagues them a day after the car warranty expires?

Cars nowadays feel like they are built to last the very day the warranty goes out. The irony is many of these car companies shifted from trusty and reliable halogen bulbs to DRLs on the promise of brightness, safety, energy saving and lower maintenance, but the irony of the DRLs slowly turning yellow is what I feel is a full circle moment of the never ending plight of the Indian car buyer.

What should car companies and you do?

All those who face this issue should immediately claim it under warranty, if it exists, and hopefully, you all have a pleasant experience like I had with Kia. Car buyers also should be more mindful of noticing these issues and pointing them out before it is too late. Off late, I feel some car buyers are willingly putting up with the few issues and niggles with their new cars as they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of dealing with fighting with the dealerships/proving their point. To these people I say, it’s better to take action when your car is still new and there is a strong onus on the company/dealership to rectify issues before it snowballs into a bigger issue or it’s too late or you will be hit with the usual defence of “it’s the way you are driving”.

Car companies should also understand that, yes, maybe the average Indian consumer might not have the same purchasing strength as their foreign counterparts, doesn’t mean they should be taken for a ride in reliability and false promises of ‘foreign engineering’. The best advertisement for your cars is solid, reliable and trustworthy engineering. We Indians think we want fancy gizmos and the latest technology, but there’s a reason why Maruti Suzuki reigns supreme in this country: it’s because of reliable engineering.

My belief is that car companies (knowing full well of the average Indian’s economic constraints) should focus on providing us with technology and features once they have truly been tested, developed and in the market for many years. The average Indian buying a German sedan, such as a Virtus or a Salvia, for the first time has probably not been to Germany, has probably not driven a well-appointed and luxurious German car and has probably not had much experience with cars more expensive. He is buying your car on the promise of him living the dream of the stellar engineering and mechanics of your brand. 5 years into ownership, if he is slapped with a bill of INR 80,000/- for just one headlight, would he/she really feel like coming back to your brand?

It’s also important for foreign car makers to get their basics right as in a pretty conservative market like India, where our elders always advise us to stick to their tried and tested and boring brands, every instance of defect even of the smallest nature just gives them an “I told you so card”.

(Picture sent by the Kia service manager once he got the approval to change the DRL)

Concluding Notes:

I hope my experience in this write up helped some of you go out and check your DRLs to see if they are yellowing. If so, you know what to do. This experience of mine was due to me taking my Seltos for a very annoying DPF issue. If this exists for you, I hope your dealership is as cooperative as mine. And to the car company executive reading this blog, if there is a one in a million chance you are reading this blog, please do your part in helping us Indians live our car dreams without issues, such as this be a daunting warning, preventing us from falling in love with your cars.

I am grateful Kia replaced the entire headlight set up in my Seltos without any hassle. I hope that if you are facing this issue, your company will be just as cooperative.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

It is this ride that Mrs ArB and me made full test of the features, ADAS the Seltos offered, forty-fifty kilometres of run, followed by a deep investigation and after a few hours spent well comes the affirmation from all the three.

BHPian arb recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

A short story of Small Suave Urban SUV! Seltos GTX+

Chapter 1: The Beginnings
One story ends, another begins. Our journey with Seltos begins in the Bear’s story of replacement https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...urban-suv.htmlwhich never concluded, letting the Bear continue its way in the concrete jungles. In the beginnings there was this allure for raw power, reliability as if invincible, size bigger than the Bear, with the in your face branding of fortune, keeping names aside, it had me grow weak at the knees. Almost certain I will stand tall in this brute, with fiscal prudence shot in the head I was ready to spend money I have had not earned. However incomprehensible my logic was, never mind the want or my determination to tame the brute, I hit a wall. Not Mr. D from the worlds of cricket, but Mrs ArB from the realms of my marriage.

When your better half talks you better listen. I am given to understand marriage is a bliss as long as one listens, One at a time. And, it was my turn to listen, my doubts to allay, and I heard. "Let the fortunes be with you, but no Fortuner or for that matter anything that would need my kidneys, liver, or anything else to sell" NO at this point did come with a silver lining and some prudent reasoning from my dear wife. Silver lining being the carrot of a future no bar spends on Bear’s replacement and prudent because I saved all my organs.

Chapter 2: Love at First Sight?
Hell No! Seltos was a car we found no issues with but never in contention of buying one as primary choice. Workday getaways, stolen Dates, cup of coffee all such instances slowly started converging as Test Drive sessions amidst the humdrum of Bangalore. After many such dates we liked Virtus and Seltos. I have no idea what clicked for me, perhaps it was Red, it was seemingly fast and it fulfilled my fantasy garage combo of SUV + Fast Sedan. For Mrs ArB perhaps it was driven by nostalgia, somewhat reminiscing of Aveo from the start of the century and that it suited well to both of our driving wants. With Virtus making the cut it was time for family and friends. What is life without a few to indulge with? Yes, I cognize my privilege!

So we go take our kids and parents along for their stamp of approvals. Young or old, I realised we often relate big is better. Look at that, kettle calling coffee black, such is life perhaps. Moving on, neither scored above our Bear but in seclusion Virtus did not throw any NCs (non-conformance in IT verbiage). With that we figured our next as a seemingly fast sedan in salivating Red.

While I and Mrs ArB had a few discussions with VW showrooms committing a Red Virtus DSG in couple of week, none had it in stock. Enter the Banker, well not my friendly, unapologetically useless banking RM but one of my dear friend who happens to be a banker and a tbhp enthusiast. With his armour of Sales, beaming arrows of networking in his quiver is my go to guide in many things cars and money. This gentleman brings in a quality to make things work, where I would have said ok to save some unsavoury discussions, he had the knack to mend ways in his polite best. It is his network of arrows which led us to a showroom in different part of the city with ready stock of our preferred car. So with him alongside me and Mrs ArB we get to visit the stockyard, in yet another corner of the city. Red, ravishing fresh out of the bath, enamoured in quick glances I turn in affirmation, Mrs ArB looks a bit deeper and turns for our dear friend to confirm. No, not so quick, up goes the car, down goes the gentleman looking in spaces I haven’t in years that I have had my Bear. Sides, inns, out, like a walking talking tbhp pdi checklist and flags a few concerns. Not convinced with the sales folks explanation, comes the stockyard repair crew, and a few calls between all folks eager to sell and my dear friend, none satisfactory, we are further entertained by few other iterations of the same model all showing similar signs of concern with rusting in various stages of growth. Oh, I seriously envy his patience and ability to get things done!

As my minutes to affirmation became hours of inspection, I realised this Red is not going to make the cut. Isn’t ignorance bliss I thought? But equally thankful to him that I did not pick something which may turn sour down the line. By the way this stockyard was teaming with cars from half a dozen companies and a car that caught our attention again is Seltos. To be fair, it was my friend who got Seltos back into the discourse, and there I find Mrs ArB scanning Seltos very intently, had it been a person he would have certainly got flared. So I ask, should we reconsider?

Chapter 3: Seltos, Seltos come here
Back to home for the day, we as in myself and Mrs ArB hound few more KIA dealers for our new found love with Seltos. Perhaps in so many test drives, this was first time that we were actually meaning to buy Seltos, all the other times we liked the car but were equally sure of not buying it.

What changed you may ask? Well you should have seen how Mrs ArB scanned the Seltos, big giveaway she liked the car. Now when I was taking test drives, I kept finding speedhumps more like vehicle breakers which would have been pain in Virtus day in day out, but was comfortable in Seltos. The non existent astro-photographer in my alter ego kept appreciating the panoramic sunroof, as if what is a car without one big glass over your head instead of metal to have some sense of rollover safety. The plastics are good in Seltos, but ain’t a three pointing star yet somehow it felt like the three pointer in comparison to Virtus. The five in the car felt decent and suddenly the Virtus became claustrophobic. Did I say fast sedan, Seltos was equally fast and had I pushed it in corners I am sure I would have taken flight, but I am sane I know what to and what not to, in this case Seltos, Seltos come here, while Virtus lost its virtues, for us.

Dear friend, the banker makes a few quick calls, visits and as the days passed we find one in the shade of choice, variant of want ready for delivery, in yet another corner of the city. The gentleman managed to secure a visit to stockyard outside the city limits in the demo car of the variant as we preferred. It is this ride that Mrs ArB and me made full test of the features, ADAS the Seltos offered, forty-fifty kilometres of run, followed by a deep investigation and after a few hours spent well comes the affirmation from all the three. Relief!

We also spent some time evaluating the new Carnival about to be launched, not from a buyer perspective though. Huge and kind of hearse wagon in black, that’s what we felt. Yes, I know must be sour grapes.

Did I say we picked Red again, it is Red in a trim one below the Xline.

Chapter 4: Observations and Escapades
We have run it for around four thousand kilometres in last two months. Had a fairly quick first service with a paid oil change. Running it through the urban jungles, mainly the mighty outer ring road which by no stretch of imagination is outer at this day and age. Also did a few quick escapades around Bangalore, one trip to Kerala and its winding roads; allowing for a fair mix of competence test. So far averaging a mileage of 7kmpl and 11kmpl in city and highways respectively without any concerns – mechanical or otherwise. These kilometres are clocked with an even spread in-between myself and Mrs ArB.

While considering this limited run, I find myself constrained with my observations, yet I will try elaborating on our Observation and Escapades inline to tbhp post guidelines, which I am repeatedly reminded of by dear moderators. Also pushing me not to get into a hibernation after a short post, thank you for that!

Chapter 5: The TeamBHP detailing

Taking the exact order of recommendations, here we go –

1. All the alternatives that were considered, and why you zeroed in on this particular car
   • Chapters 1 to 3 covers my journey from discovery to purchase of Seltos, please refer back.
2. Complete booking & delivery experience with the dealership
   • In addition to what I have covered, few key pointers are worth sharing –
   • The test drives to booking to delivery was seamless, did not face any iota of concern from the KIA dealership or sales.
   • My dear friend was the point for commercials discussions, me being the spectator or at times like one of those uncles in a marriage who is only there for the free drink and meal.
   • Dot time delivery, with everything neatly done before we reaching the showroom does make my delivery experience much better than what we generally read upon in tbhp.
   • Did make them strip through all plastics, ribbons post a quick key handover and photo session.
   • Had no patience to go through a detailed run down of vehicle details, so had the discussion nipped in the bud. Did go through quickly over the documentations shared.
   • 5L fuel coupon was handy, to be used in an IOC bunk just across the road. First full tank taking in 51.46L of regular petrol. Sticking to regular for now.
   • Feedback requests were entertained with a broad 10 across the board with the condition of not being hounded for further feedbacks in coming weeks. I did get a few calls though, answering with 10 for all if you close the call, less if you want further detailing stopped further calls.
   • This dealership is advertised to be largest for KIA in Asia, I did not bother fact checking.
   • All in all, a well laid out large dealership premises, doing what they are supposed to in a neat, diligent manner. No complains whatsoever
3. On-road price & discounts
   • Twenty Three dot Forty Lacs all inclusive, excluding only Service Package.
   • Given that the initial quotes were to the tune of approximately Twenty Five dot Fifty Lacs I infer, I have received fair discounts.
   • Again, I have zero insights on the exact number working, considering no efforts and sweat in negotiations were mine or of Mrs ArB.
   • Registration at KA51 was held up, however to keep delivery timelines dealership ensured registration at KA01 without any additional hassle at my end.
4. Extended warranties & service packages
   • Extended warranty included in the final costings, did see it reflect in system during first service.
   • Service packages were not enticing enough for me to make upfront payment, so weren’t purchased.
5. Be sure to list the engine type & variant you opted for
   • In KIA terminology the model–variant is Seltos G1.5T 7DCT GTX Plus
   • Why DCT?
     • Want for more power, acceleration
     • Need for it to be no slouch to our Bear
     • Want for the top end, had there been a top end Torque Convertor would have definitely spared a thought for it. It is still not top end, could not live with Matte, so GTX+
6. The good and bad about its features
   • The good so far–
     • Comparatively smaller footprint for convenient in city commute or for those Kerala sub city areas.
     • No apparent lack of power, available thrust suits the car.
     • Covers all Wants plus more in terms of features.
     • We like sunroof, panoramic sunroof adds to the overall feel of space in otherwise smaller cabin. Also makes it brighter amidst the black interior.
     • Seat cooling which is reasonably quiet and effective in comparison to Virtus.
     • Electronically adjustable seats were a primary requirement, Seltos has it only for drivers seat whereas Virtus offered for both front seats. This I miss.
     • Dashboard is cohesive to look, serves the function well and is equally well put for the cost. Not much of a mishmash of materials or patterns in comparison to our Bear.
       
     • Larger ICE is good and smooth to use, still prefer the conventional dials and needles behind my steering wheel. No complains though, digital is equally rather more informative and works well.
       
     • DCT is smooth, unlike most experiences of painful DCT operations in bumper to bumper traffic I find no complaints. My usual drive goes with switching to Eco, turning of auto engine stop, disengaging autohold. With that done, the car is one pedal operation in traffic, lift to move, push to stop.
     • Like the E-Handbrake, does gives that slight engaging push like a manual lifting handbrake. Also, manual says can operate it as normal handbrake while driving for urgent breaking manoeuvres, have yet to try this.
       
     • All window auto up/down, never thought this to be an important feature until I left our Bear’s glass half down. Realized my hands intuitively prefer pressing only once now to close or open and for Bear I need to go the full way.
       
     • ADAS, another feature or set of features I deemed worthless in our driving conditions, but surprisingly these are tuned very well by KIA. So far no surprises in their action or intending action. For my part, I did set all reactions to least possible setting without turning them off. While no complains, I am presuming Mrs ArB is not so fond of ADAS yet due to proclivity for pre-emptive breaking by Seltos
     • Buttons and dials where needed, I like tactile touch and feel, so it helps that not all control is with a screen. Knurled dials are nice to use.
     • Green/Tinted windows are nice to have along with the inbuilt sunshades makes for a better heat shield in rear.
     • Carplay is fantastic to use. Serves the purpose would have certainly preferred wireless.
     • 360 Degree Cameras are fairly stitched and gives a good sense of surrounding space.
     • Seatbelt indicator for all seats is nice touch
     • Controls to disengage proximity sensor notifications and camera footage as per need are available very conveniently.
     • Like the gear knob/stalk feels more premium than the one in bear.
   • The bad so far –
     • I am used to driving with my elbow on window line in quite a laid back low position, while position wise I have enough leeway to stretch back and low, the window line goes beyond ninety degrees. I recon if I keep driving this way in Seltos I might end up with Pushpa’s shoulder stance. Mrs ArB in her front and tight seating has no complains whatsoever.
       
     • Has a fair share of dashboard glare in windshield, more prominent with the placing of speaker.
     • Not fond of the OEM horn, or the headlights. No concerns per se, but I prefer Bear’s punch of horn; spread and intensity in lights.
     • Cornering lights are missing in the setup, and I do miss them having seen them in action in Bear.
     • Relatively small fuel tank and thirsty engine makes double the fuel runs.
     • Wired carplay makes for an additional wiring.
     • Lack of memory for electronically adjustable seats. And missing electronic adjustability for front passenger seat.
     • Pings at 120kmph, in Bear our speeds where permissible (logically and presumably safely) did go beyond. In Seltos, the noise is annoying enough for us to not cross the limit. I say one of those scenarios where the implementation serves the intended purpose, howsoever flawed the inherent logic may be.
     • Audio output in rear seats seem sub optimal.
     • Reverse camera guidelines are slightly offset, Bear has a much precise implementation of dynamic guidelines.
     • Air purifier is a noisy beast, or is our environment such a mess?
7. Safety & related equipment
   • All four disc brakes are reassuring
   • Braking is decently competent, I am more comfortable with Bear’s perhaps that is more attributable to being using it for years now.
   • ADAS like said earlier seems to do its job well.
   • Speed pings at 120kmph do make its presence felt. It is a Noise, distracting noise.
   • Three star? Or Zero? Not rated in its current avatar. I take solace in driving sanely and put my faith in some form of divinity.
8. Number of kms at the time of writing your review
   • Approximately four thousand kilometres, should see a progressive increase in usage if it satiates us in highway runs.
9. Your usage pattern (e.g. 20 kms daily in dense traffic, highway on weekends)
   • Three days of Twenty kms in dense traffic, weekend city runs, drive byes amounting to a total of around thousand kilometres a month. Another thousand if there is any interstate run.
10. Comments on the exterior styling & design
    • Style is subjective, to us its very cohesive and pleasing to look at.
    • No caved in body styling where it seems like being given big leg shove. I am looking at you Hycross, with that big shove in your sides, no offense please. It’s just that once upon a time when I booked one, my mother said who hit the car while having the test ride, and the comment stuck with me.
    • Too many lighting elements, but I can live with it.
    • Interior is a fair place to be, I am happy in the front and don’t ever see myself to be in the back.
    • There is chrome around, in handles, front, etc but not too gaudy, I can again live with it.
    • Comes fit with JKs as default shoes, while they seem to perform better than I anticipated, they look bad.
11. Overall build quality, fit & finish, paint quality and panel gaps
    • I could find no plausible reason to suspect build quality, I am not expert though.
    • Fit & finish is reasonable for the costs, mostly consistent and covered where it should be. Wires are tucked in, carpet well stitched, headliner neatly put, merging well at corners.
    • Panel gaps are not tight like Virtus, but better than what I see in Bear.
    • Paint seems fine to my eyes, but my eyes are equally ignorant of orange peels, swirls etc. I know I don’t put the effort and cannot get it to paid care every other day so I do my best to not notice and have it given a rub down everyday by the apartment cleaner.
12. Wheels & tyres
    • Eighteen inch wheels are nice, tires not so much.
      
    • I have been using Michelins in Bear and Pirellis in Jazz and they both are/were much better, more so the former. JKs are certainly no match.
    • Having said that, JKs are performing better than I anticipated
13. Interior design & quality (plastics, upholstery, fit & finish etc.)
    • Design is cohesive, this I can reiterate.
    • Plastics are decent for the cost, better than what I saw in Virtus and what I have in our Bear.
    • Like the perforated leather seats, would have liked a dedicated lumbar adjustor.
    • Fit and finish inside the cabin gives me no reason to complain or offers nothing extraordinary to compliment.
    • It is all black, a dash of colour in contrast leather trims would have been nicer. X-Line does the same with Sage green and I am not fond of that implementation either.
14. Interior space & comfort...front & back (seat support, legroom, headroom & width)
    • Like said elsewhere one can easily find a position suiting their driving needs, there is a lot of room to adjust according to individual preferences. However your elbow room is short and lack resting place for a very relaxed seating.
    • Legroom is enough, even with my desired relaxing driving position it is accommodating for my family elders and kids. Six footer one behind the other is reasonably feasible, but not if you choose to sit like I do.
    • Front handrest is not adjustable, limits the reach. Also a tapering front and minimal width makes it usable by either driver or passenger. Bear had a much wider armrest allowing for both to comfortably rest hands if need be. I prefer the later arrangement.
15. Driving position, ergonomics, controls & MID
    • Driving position and ergonomics are spot on. Your toes don’t fiddle with the steering column.
    • Your feet is in perfect relaxing angle, not into acute angle like in Bear.
    • MID has more information available than you need, but misses a simple multi trip tracker. There are other means like Distance post fuelling, current trip, and so on. However I miss a simple Trip A, Trip B kind of setup.
    • There are different views and widgets available for customising your virtual display. I keep it as two virtual dials mimicking regular dials. Like them changing intensity based on the driving modes.
16. Visibility & size of mirrors
    • Has a decent sized mirror, IRVM has auto day night feature. Another one feature I deem no value to but ends up being very useful.
    • The place behind IRVM is cluttered with various ADAS related setup in addition to my dashcam.
    • Not much of a blind spot around A pillars.
17. Air conditioner cooling & effectiveness
    • Dual zone climate control is good to have.
    • Even better is the fact dedicated controls are available for both making it very convenient to use.
    • Set it at 23 degrees and Auto, the cabin cools fairly quick without much of ruckus from the blower. Like the blowers propensity to keep in lower fan levels.
    • Air purifier on the other hand makes a noise, the first day I and my dear friend spent quite a few minutes to figure where the noise comes after coming to a complete halt.
18. Audio system & sound quality
    • Decent for me while driving
    • Like the fact it takes smoothly multiple inputs whether Bluetooth or carplay or even multiple paired devices. Let’s you set priority of order of engagement in your driving profiles and the audio is played according to the same.
    • Sound output is a notch low in the rear seats.
19. Interior storage, practicality & boot space
    • Bottle holders are for some reason designed to hold bottles in slanting positions, I prefer the straight ones in Bear.
    • While there is space to keep more items in the door pockets usually due to the slanting shape it is not convenient to store more items.
    • I usually keep a mouthwash, sanitiser, hand wash, pack of tissues, one litre water bottle, and trash corner in my driver side door pocket in the Bear. No way can I do this in Seltos.
    • Boot is good, but being used to filling the Bear to the brim, in our first return trip from Kerala we fell short of space. Calls for us to be better at luggage management if we are taking Seltos.
20. Any other unique or noteworthy points about the interiors
    • Dancing lights, no idea what it serves for most part they are too feeble to be noticeable. But nonetheless looks nice with the beats of music at times.
      
    • Single button sunroof operation is tricky. There are multiple operations tied to the button, you press, it opens a gap in the sunroof, you pull it draws the sunshade, you pull hard it opens the sunroof and the sunshade. Likewise a combination of actions are resultant of your push / pull / press and intensity of the step. Too complex for Mrs ArB
21. Engine performance & driveability in the city
    • There is ample power on tap, be it any of the drive mode Eco, Normal or Sport. Sport does make it fancier, however I have seen no less in Eco either. For me, my default mode is Eco.
    • Like said before, my usual drive goes with switching to Eco, turning of auto engine stop, disengaging autohold. With that done, the car is one pedal operation in traffic, lift to move, push to stop.
    • Driveability by means of presence is much better in Bear, I can cut corners, step on some random construction material with much ease in Bear, in Seltos we are more mindful of where we step.
    • Also while in Seltos, in my driving position I feel like seating as low as in Xcent for reference. Somehow there is not much of a feeling of Compact SUV while seated inside, I do come to value Seltos when I don’t scrape anything or I don’t have to make much effort in comparison to a sedan.
22. Engine performance & driveability on the highway
    • ADAS comes to full play in highways and so far they have been an excellent support.
    • I have always enjoyed cruise control in Bear, here it takes a step ahead with dynamic cruise control. While this makes the drive effortless, it also sucks the life out of driving. Mrs ArB hates to let the vehicle cruise on its own, she owns the control if she is driving. I am happy to delegate on the other hand.
    • Enough grunt to keep up with the other vehicles sharing highway space.
    • I do resent the limited range though, at this point I end up refuelling at end of 400kms in highways.
23. Additional comments on the engine (outright power, refinement, revv-happiness, turbo-lag etc.)
    • There is outright power, one hundred and sixty horses I recall, good enough to chug around in our highways.
    • There is a growl, the DCT paired engine is not that silent. We like it.
    • Post the initial thousand kilometre we have been fairly rev happy and the engine has been responding in kind, not in fuel consumption parameters though.
24. Overall opinion on the engine
    • Gearshift & clutch (smoothness, effort required, short or long throw etc.)
      • Not Applicable, no clutch is fun at times.
      • The second day after getting Seltos home, in one of the lanes of South Bangalore in not so late hours, my left arm moved the stick to N, with the left leg depressing the brake slamming shut and all of us shaken to a stop. I slyly blamed what the F ADAS, while passing vehicles gave me look I so deserved. A couple of meters later Mrs ArB quipped ADAS is it? And I had to own up the blarney I did. Thankfully on comparatively free stretch with our seatbelts on, so far never again.
    • If automatic: smoothness, quick or slow shifting, kickdown reaction time, lag, manual mode etc.
      • The DCT is very responsive and contrary to general opinion I find it equally engaging in dense traffic conditions
      • In regular conditions it’s like no effort driving and in highway conditions if you do prefer it can be a hoot to drive. Steering gear shifts are fun, they seem more of novelty than use to me. I am still using Stick in D-Manual mode for my share of hoot driving.
25. Overall NVH levels (including engine, wind & road noise)
    • Ambient noise control is fair, in between the Bear and Seltos the later may have just a bit more advantage. But neither are cocooned.
    • Engine noise is comparatively lesser in Seltos, but like said before the DCT engine does have a grunt, matched with two piped exhausts spitting bit of smoke does make a sight in parking.
26. Fuel efficiency: City and Highway
    • Need to break it further,
      • City in ORR – 6 kmpl
      • Rest of the City – 8 kmpl
      • Highway spirited – 11 kmpl
      • Highway in Cruise – 13 kmpl
27. Suspension & ride quality (at low as well as high speeds)
    • Suspension and ride quality to us has been good. But that is limited due to experience with limited set of vehicles, and for most part all are around the same curve.
    • In our regular routes, we prefer the Bear over Seltos as far as the suspension comfort goes for the members seated in rear seats. In front its all the same to me, neither tosses us around or makes a thud when we are in the front.
    • For rear, I take my parents word for it and that is, no complains in Seltos but we prefer the Bear.
28. Handling, on-road behaviour, grip levels, stability, body roll & turning radius
    • Handling is good for Seltos, holds a decent line, feels surefooted.
    • We haven’t pushed it beyond what feels sane to us and its been stable. For context an exit from NICE Road loops at decent speed Seltos holds its line without swaying or giving much of a body roll effect. You push harder, you are sure to fly.
    • For some reasons it is much easier to make a u-turn in the Bear in contrast to Seltos. However keeping the comparison aside, in isolation it’s a very nifty handler suiting perfectly to city usage.
29. Steering (size, feedback, weight, EPS / Hydraulic etc.)
    • Small, with a flat bottom the steering feels great to hold and has a decent weight to it.
    • Has both rake and reach adjustment, more reach would have been lovely.
    • The calibration while driving without aids is decent, however when driving with visual aids of reverse camera it seems off. The same when looking through 360 feed, is much precise.
30. Braking (effectiveness, pedal feel...)
    • In city, dense traffic condition one pedal drive is fantastic. No complains whatsoever.
    • In highways it is quite predictable in coming to a halt, however there feels lack of bite. You sure need to put more effort if the intent is to brake hard.
31. Ground clearance
    • One of the factors swaying us away from Virtus, and it holds its weight in bad roads, which is pretty much all the roads around me. Please see roads are not that bad as we make it, it is just that they are not designed for the volume they cater to.
32. Any particular likes (damped ashtrays, powerful headlights etc.)
    • Comparatively silent seat cooling.
    • Effortless driving in dense traffic conditions.
33. Any particular dislikes (weak wipers, poor foglamps etc.)
    • Wipers with bold ‘Syndicate’ written in the hands. Every time I drive, that syndicate catches my eye and say whats up?
34. Any niggles, problems or part replacements
    • So far none, should I say touch wood.
35. Quality of after-sales service
    • One free service, being accustomed to Mahindra killing my mood, taking my day for even the slightest of issues, I went to a nearby Kia service to take an appointment for next day or later slot to get the first service done. Pleasantly surprised to being offered getting the service right away without appointment and also that they did keep the time committed for completion.
    • Again perhaps too soon to call, and also this being more of an inspection with a paid oil change so not much add efforts. Will get to see actual working in next service perhaps.
    • Nevertheless first impression is very good.
36. Cost of upkeep & maintenance
    • Nothing so far, apart from paid oil change and regular fuel bills

Thank you for reading!
~ArB

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The 1.5 diesel AT is so refined and the NVH levels are impressive for a diesel.

BHPian Harsharaju recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Bought the Kia Seltos X-line D AT

As I personally liked the design, styling and tech of the facelifted Seltos and diesel AT being my choice of engine and transmission,  I straight away went to the dealer to book one .

At the time of booking, I was unaware about the X-line in Pearl Black color and i booked the GTX plus D At variant in Aurora Black Pearl.

I was told that the waiting period is about 2-3 weeks.

Two weeks after the booking , I casually opened the Kia website and to my surprise, I found that Kia had launched the X-line in a Aurora Black Pearl and immediately fell in love with it.

Being a huge fan of a blacked out cars, I straight away contacted the dealer and cancelled the GTX+ which I had booked. The dealer was kind enough to cancel the GTX+ and changed it to X-line immediately.

And a week later, got a call from the dealer that the vehicle had reached them and PDI could be done.

Did the PDI and completed all the documentation process.

Being a 26 year old civil engineer, I was excited and proud about my first car purchase.

Initial impressions:

The 1.5 diesel AT is so refined and the NVH levels are impressive for a diesel. "Sage green interiors ", I liked the fact that it isn't as green as they advertised on the Kia website .

Exterior:

Appreciate Kia for bringing the Aurora Black Pearl in the Seltos X-line , all the blacked out bits really stand out.

ADAS:

Tried The Level 2 ADAS , works flawlessly, but wouldn't recommend for our road conditions . Nothing beats being in total control behind the wheel.

Audio Quality :

The 8 speaker BOSE audio system is decent enough . Bluetooth is ok but , playing music through Carplay and Android Auto with a lossless music streaming platform felt al ot better to me.

Suspension:

I felt that the suspension is not that stiff. Very much usable for our road conditions.

Got the Graphene coating done as I'm not a huge fan of PPF and heard a lots of horror stories about its longevity.

Its been an amazing 5 months with my Seltos X-line D AT  with a mix of city and highway drives.

I'll be completing 10000 kms in a couple of days and will share my first service experience.

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I would say that Kia has really nailed it for whatever price point a Seltos has to offer, and I wholeheartedly recommend it esp. to people with drive with light foot.

BHPian HereticHermit recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I will come to the being glad part in end but just sharing my few thoughts about Seltos. I had a very small wish list when looking for a new car. At work I have a Ciaz for intercity and Bolero for field trips, both driven by chauffeur. My personal car(s) remained lowly Santro Xing since 1999. They were all Santros for some reason, so I had 1 Tall Boy, and 2 facelift Xings since 99. Present one is 2010 and expiring by year end. In that sense I have been in a time warp (and happily) as far as technological advances and buyers expectations in cars is concerned. Having experience from family member owned Ambys, Fiats and Gypsy and various Marutis from era of 2000s when I step out to buy a newer car, I am un-clued and almost wince at the thought of having to go through 2 pages here on tBHP about lack of electromagnetic dimming IVRM and similar white noises on various aspects of car features esp. when people are scouting for new car buy. I prefer simpler car and practical creature comforters over having to own and steer a complex electronic driven vehicle. [I do understand that it is practically impossible to buy a car today having the kind of electronic controls from 90s but still I would try to avoid overly complex can-bus highway of wires or cars having ecu code files that ran into GBs of data.]
With the above, my wish list was simple, and you will not find me chasing the latest or greatest in car innovation here. A 2000cc 4-cylinder engine (personal driving is almost 85% highway), Diesel, Manual shift, Cruise Control (because it is almost a necessity on expressways now a days) Rear wiper and defogger, little over 4 meters in length (no Innova due to parking manoeuvring between 2 pillars), 16-inch wheels or above. I realised that options are far and few in between with this list. Never considered Mahindra and both Tata Harrier/Safari were dropped even without a test drive. (Tatas still have not mended that silly curve tapering down on the dash facia that foul left knee if you are over 5feet 8inch tall) Just setting on the seat, with knees touching the lower of facia I knew I cannot drive it for over 3 hours. MG Hector was 3rd in line but dropped unceremoniously due to her boat like roll on highway. Finally, I really wanted to get the Jeep but with no cruise control on a manual, it was a very hard call for me and I dropped Jeep too.

So, I simmered down my engine requirement and started looking at 1500CC engines list. The cast net was wide, and it got even more bewildering with 4-meter models jumping into action. One thing became immediately clear to me that I will be getting only one model up from the base since higher variants had this tendency to get into tech heavy experience, useless sunroofs, and assisted driving for which I just didn’t cared. Despite reservations I will not comment upon the new fad of buyers clamouring for wide sunroofs and ADAS on higher variants as having served a recent ‘ban’ when I spoke out on these issues, I realised the biggest problem I see with current online forum culture is that every single statement has to be drilled down to the lowest common denominator and it created a culture where people are just looking to be offended because on their behalf, admins like getting offended. Far too much cancel culture, It's getting ridiculous.

With summary trials and weaning away from many offers, I had only Creta and Seltos remaining in consideration. None of them were my favourites and I really loathed the ‘shark tooth’ taillights of Seltos. Special mention to @Col Mehta who was looking for buying a new car as well and kept us posted here about his observations, which I shamelessly considered and exploited to keep the aimless discussion by Sales guys in check when visiting car showrooms. His spadework was helpful for me when working on Creta/Seltos decision making. Thank you Col Saab.

Second base model from either Creta/Seltos was OK for me and only 5% bias I had for Seltos was due to stiffer body roll on highway drives. Otherwise, driver cabin in both cars were bit too loud, pretentious and digital. I felt like I am looking at the electronic panel of a washing machine at home and not a car fascia. I waited for 2 months just so the dealer could fish out old stock; and since I had no favourite and KIA dealer offered the lowest price against Creta 2nd base, I got HTK+ without sunroof in last week of December 2024. It was moderately decked up in terms of ‘washing machine panel’ feel and had physical buttons for most parts. No ADAS or other intrusive tech and ran 17km for every litre of Diesel. I will say that I felt sorted with the buy and was happily taking her out every night for breaking in the engine since I had a 1400KM one way trip to Delhi coming up in January 3rd week. At about 850 km odo reading, one late night on highway it was bit foggy and I was doing 65kmph with cruise control, in distance I saw a mongrel on left side of the road looking across the opposite I had an instinct that he might run across but he lowered his head and was about to turn, so I continued. 2 seconds later, suddenly he whipped around and made a dash and had a contact with my right bumper, got ran over, howled and bolted away. I did not stop to check on him or the car since my speed was very moderate and that he ran away, I continued my 50 km run and came home. Next morning when I saw the bumper and front apron it looked like I may have killed not one but two dogs. Bumper was torn, plastic clips yanked away, and iron sheet apron bent and twisted inward. Wife joined me over a video call for inspection and looking at the damage, declared that my mind is touched, and I have become a Kutta Killer Psycho. The damage was so ‘severe’ that logic of me doing moderate speeds due to engine breaking in, foggy night forcing anyone to drive slow etc; made no appeal to her instincts.

Next day, workshop presented me an estimate of about Rs 26,700/- to fix up the mess which looked like a QC issue to me. I called up wife and told her that, for this money we can probably buy enough mutton for whole year, but pity it was a dog. She was naturally upset and reconfirmed that I have turned psycho. Now, the thing is it wasn’t the first ever dog hit in my life but the damage this accident caused at 65kmph speed is unheard of in any vehicle I had owned and driven since 1985. My confidence in Korean ‘paper and clip’ technology was quite shaken at this point and I started thinking if Japs were any better? (Couldn’t find a comfortable sitting position with Elevate despite a 50-60KM long TD so dropped Elevate from consideration long back). Anyhow since my departure for Delhi was nearing, I asked them to repair it without invoking insurance claim and brought the car in for first service at 1050km odo. First service at KIA is basically a joke where they simply eyeball the car and touch it randomly here and there to declare it fit. My request for a paid oil change was met with contempt and it quickly spiralled down to ‘humko zayada pata hai ya aapko zayada pata hai’ level. Had to call up the showroom owner and got it done.

How does it drive?
It was 1200 on odo when I had a flat out run for Delhi 1400km away in under 21 hours. On Poorvanchal expressway I let all her horses loose and RPM maxed at 4150 and as per gps, topend was 1 and sixty seven. For me the sweet spot was between 1100 to 1250 rpm when it ran very stress free. Body roll was contained but could have been better. Diesel chatter was not loud, but it is there. Steering dia was spot on and in consonance of the inputs. Steering wheel cantered perfectly and returned with slightest assistance and weighed adequately on high speeds. Though it is matter of personal preference, I didn’t really care for artificial weight it carried (but which car doesn’t, today?). Cabin insulation was better than few others I tested. Special mention for seats, coming from Ciaz, the seats on Seltos felt better and cushiony. I do like that they were meant to sit ‘on’ and not sit ‘in’ unlike Slavia or VW cars. Seating position was high and offered a good view all around. When pushed, diesel engine displayed all the jazz a turbo diesel is meant to display in a very linear way and I never felt it was out of breath, so KIA really have my 10/10 for tuning.

Milage: During break in period, intercity and bit of highway runs I got display FE of about 18+ and didn’t have enough miles with her to calculate tank full to tank full method. When floored, the real time FE display was 13. But overall, I was happy with the way car performed and dog hit damage was the only fly in ointment, but it was too late to do anything about it.

3000KM and thankfully the car got stolen.
This was the odo reading when I was in already in Delhi for few weeks and catching up with wife, daughter and doing things one does on a home town visit. On 13th February, early morning around 7:30am my daughter developed a medical situation and had to be rushed to emergency (buying the Seltos was a decision so to facilitate the family and travel back with them to where I work) I rushed down to parking area on open road (not everyone lives in closed gate societies here), my daughter hanging in my arms and trailing to being unconscious and I pressed the key to locate car and open car door.
No sound, no beep of car. I pressed again. Nothing. Pressed again and again. No car around. Took me a 1 minute to realise that car is stolen. Quickly got Ola cab and rushed to hospital while daughter almost stopped breathing. She was admitted in emergency, and it was not before 3 hours Doc emerged to say she is safe and that we managed just in time as another 15 min delay could have set off brain hypoxia. My wife and I hadn’t slept for past 42 hours and out of sheer exhaustion we dozed off together when our daughter developed the complication. It was by sheer chance and luck that wife heard muffled crying of daughter and alerted me. When doctor declared everything safe, wife just broke down in relief. But I still had to rush and inform police station least the insurer says there was delay in reporting. Later, when scanning local cameras, the timing of theft left me speechless. At 6.13am morning a Maruti Dezire crept alongside Seltos, they broke open door, reprogrammed keys. At 6.22am they drove off with car very nonchalantly like it is nobody’s business. It just took them 9 mins to do it. Approx 1 hour later, we needed the car for medical emergency and it just got stolen. Just imagine.

Though I was occupied with paperwork and chasing recalcitrant policeman; after few days wife wondered that just a day previous, we have removed lot of small Knick knacks, papers, files from car but left some money she meant to give in charity and dry ration packs she wanted to distribute. She surmised whatever evil was causing distress to family and kid is gone for good along with charity money and food. The extraordinary dog accident and catastrophe just a hair’s breadth away from daughter was not without reason. God bless that woman and her reasoning, for we when we have no control over events, it is a necessity to seek strength from somewhere, somehow and we have to accept that Seltos going away was a good omen somehow.

Emotions and financial losses aside, I am afraid, given the highway safety concerns (bit lazy for posting the damage pictures but if someone shouts, Pictures, or it didn't happen, I will post) my next car will not be from KIA but for those who don’t mind few compromises and are on budget. I would say that Kia has really nailed it for whatever price point a Seltos has to offer, and I wholeheartedly recommend it esp. to people with drive with light foot. Since the car was with me only for 3000 kms, I didn’t have much time to connect with it but feel free to ask if you have any queries. Though there isn’t a singe detail or experience which is not covered by others users in last 50 off pages or so.

I am out in market again for a new car but I am not in a hurry, family flew back with me and here my daily run is barely 3km a day. Old girl Santro Xing is still fit enough to do small 200-300 km runs if required but I still need to pass her on, by end of year. Back to the same old wishlist with Creta and Seltos written off I don’t find much in market that appeal to me on various accounts. Marutis are cheap but slow as molasses, Mahindra, Tata already out of race for other reasons and I am out of depths as to what I should consider now. Jeep is back somewhere in background but hard call, given I will use it 90% on highways without cruise control. (Internet is surprisingly dry as far as content is concerned on retrofitting a CC on Jeep Compass) Skoda Kylaq second base variant (can retrofit most of missing things) have everything I need except rear wiper, a highline TPMS and that it is a 4 meter car. Kushaq and siblings feel bit stressed with 1.0 TSI and 1.5 is loaded with things I just don’t care for and wasteful for what they offer.

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By 2030, the carmaker is targeting 25% of its sales in India to come from hybrids.

Kia has announced that the next-generation Seltos will feature a new petrol-hybrid powertrain. The new model is expected to make its global debut in the second half of 2025.

Kia, at the recently held 2025 Investor Day, revealed its plans for the Indian market, which include hybrids and EVs. By 2030, the carmaker is targeting 25% of its sales in India to come from hybrids and 18% from EVs.

While Kia did not share the technical details of its new hybrid powertrain, reports suggest that it will be based on the current 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine. The existing 1.5-litre turbo-petrol and diesel engines are also likely to be offered on the new-gen Seltos.

Early prototypes of the upcoming Seltos have already been spotted in Kia’s home market of South Korea. Spy images suggest that the SUV will feature new LED headlamps with a unique light signature, redesigned ORVMs, and two-tone alloy wheels.

After I returned from my Ghaziabad-Vadodara trip, took my Kia Seltos GTX+ for the second free service (11k on the ODO) to Lohia KIA, Sec 63 Noida

BHPian GTX+ recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

• Logged into My KIA app and found a same day afternoon slot available at 1:30 PM.
• Didn't opt for free pickup/drop as I wanted to explain/query couple of things to the SA.
• Within a few mins of booking the slot on the app, I received a confirmation call from the service center.
• After reading multiple posts on TeamBHP regarding KIA service centers using semi-synthetic eng oil instead of the recommended full synthetic oil, I wanted to check and ensure this with the SA. On asking, as expected he said they use semi-synthetic oil only. I asked them to refer to the manual, refused the semi-synthetic oil and insisted they put only full synthetic oil.
• The SA immediately went into a huddle with other SAs and a senior person, who came back to me and said they always use synthetic oil only and offered me to show the drum, which turned out to be MAK oil from BP. Upon checking on the internet, I was convinced that it was a full synthetic oil.
• The SA otherwise was a very courteous and heard out 1 or 2 minor issues that I had, one of them being pick up issue (in higher gears) which he noted.
• Pictures/videos of oil/filter changes were shared promptly and the car was ready for pickup sharp at 5:30pm as promised.
• Upon reaching found the car to be spotlessly clean. Took a test drive, but still wasn't happy with the pickup. The technician who had accompanied me connected his tab and did some checking and repeatedly worked on the ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) post which there was noticeable difference in the pickup.
• Its 4 days now post the service and car is running smoothly. No issues/niggles
• The total service cost came to about 5.5K including GST.

Overall, I was quite happy with the service experience at Lohia KIA.

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If the suspension of this car is half as good as its interiors, Syros will be numero uno for rear seat experience in this category and above.

BHPian headbanger recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Checked out Kia Syros HTX(O) automatic at ASB Gurgaon. Here are my two cents:

Interiors:

• The overall ambience is top notch. The quality of materials that Kia uses is great and this little hatch beats even Seltos on this metric.

• The highlight is the rear seat space management. If you are someone who likes to be chauffeured around, this is a great car. You can literally place your one leg over the another (seth ji mode)

• The front console is gorgeous and functional. The feel of the physical buttons on console, the overall finish, the steering, gear knob or the smashing touch screen scream quality.

• Purely from space management front, this car should be the benchmark in its segment. Even the likes of Brezza can't challenge it on rear seat space. The under thigh support was good and the recline of the rear seat is to be experienced. Ingress and Egress are easy.

• The boot is functional and with the sliding rear seats, it can absorb the extra luggage. One nitpick is that the rails on which rear seat slides need to be taken care of if one is using the boot to full capacity. It can scratch or even tear the luggage.

• The panoramic sunroof is like 90% of the roof. It looks huge from inside the cabin.

Exteriors:

• I personally felt the car to resemble more like Wagon R pro max rather than mini Defender. Looks are subjective and this one is polarising. It cannot hold a candle to Sonet and Seltos which are beautiful looking cars.

• The elephant in the room is the placement of headlamps and tail lamps. It's simple- if this car touches any other vehicle, tree, pole, wall etc the first casualty will be lights. The lights are protruding out such that the first impact will touch them instead of thinner than eyelashes bumpers. Kia has gotten it wrong from all aspects - neither does the placement or the lights themselves elevate the exterior look nor does it fit the practicality quotient. This is strange because the interior has been managed so wonderfully, this glaring shortcoming can be a deal breaker. The rule of owning this car is to drive it like driving the opulent big three - give space to every vehicle around you and do breathing exercises when in traffic jam.

• The rear end of the exterior is plane jane. Remove the logo and stickers, it's flat.

Conclusion:

If the suspension of this car is half as good as its interiors, Syros will be numero uno for rear seat experience in this category and above. The exterior looks are polarising but it's the interiors which are the defining feature of this car. Make no mistake, the interior cabin space though great, cannot feel like sitting in Seltos. But it's definitely better than Sonet and the functionality of rear seats is the highlight. One needs to be very sure of the challenges that the headlamps and tail lamps can create before making the purchase of this vehicle. These challenges are very real and the likelihood of damage to lights is high on this car.

I hope other manufacturers take a cue from this intelligent packaging of this car. Let's see how Kia prices it - the showroom SA's narrative is that it challenges Sonet more than Seltos and I wish the pricing remains that way as well. For all that's worth, if this car tries to touch HTK(O) or HTK version of Seltos, I will prefer Seltos in that case.

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