Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Tue 23 Aug 2016 17:33

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - FoxyJukebox

Have owned VW Golfs and an Audi A3 for the last 20 years and fancy a change. Everything about the Kia "on paper" looks good and of course the 7 year warranty is an attraction, as is the spec and the cost. I've read the reviews-all good-and a Kia dealer is local, so a test drive is the next thing!

I want a good runaround work horse which can happliy handle a few motorway trips. Mileage about 10k a year-tops. Will probably buy nearly new-but that depends on availability

My gut sense tells me the Rio is a little too much "like" a VW Polo (in size) but the Ceed is more of an equivilant match with my previous Golfs/Audi? Am I right?

Can an owner of a Rio or a Kia give me their thoughts on what is like LIVING with either of these two cars. Any comments at all would be helpful( driving, sitting, the cabin, specs,reliability, MPG, service costs, dealer dependability?(-it all would be very helpful)

Thanks!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 23 Aug 2016 18:15

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - oldroverboy.

I had a rio for 13 months, in one of my comments on the forum I mentioned how good the legroom was for me (6'2") and comfortable, but a slipped disc and getting stuck persuased me to change to a Kia Venga 2 1,4 maual.

Great seating position, huge level boot with the rear seats down, up to 40mpg, but it is a high mpv type car. Kia dealer service (Underwoods Colchester) now excellent. Helpful service staff. Bought with 3 tear service pack, (which I can extend to 5) got full size spare as part of deal, and surprisingly £700 more on trade in of the rio than going to motorpoint.

Saved £5000 ish against new list a a demo 9 months old.

Very satisfied.

If you buy a ceed the 1.4 petrol is adequate, but the 1.2 rio is good. the 1.6 venga will rquire a deep wallet fuel wise..

My intention is to keep the venga for the full 7 years.

list of my posts about the rio, the metallic red is the best colour imho.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/Forum/Search?f=2&author=o...0

Hope this helps.

Edited by oldroverboy. on 23/08/2016 at 18:17

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 23 Aug 2016 18:20

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - Stillnotsure

Hi, recently bought a Kia Ceed 2 CRDI SW auto. 1 year old, Kia approved, so we got the 7 year warranty restarted. The dealer (Fine Cars @ Lee on Solent) were helpful, keen to do a deal and gave us a good px on our old car. I should probably say that we have no connection with them other than being satisfied customers.

We changed from a Focus, but have previously had an Audi A3, Volvo, Saab etc.

It's early days, and we haven't experienced the servicing yet, but I think it is a very good car. Quiet, comfortable and much more relaxing to drive than the Focus, but still handles well. Quite good looking too (in my eyes at least). Seems very well built and finished and although only a 2 model, well equipped (especially after the Ford...).

We have done a couple of 350 mile round trips so far and really nothing to complain about with this car which is now our front line workhorse.

Probably what swung the deal for us in the end were the things you have already mentioned - no real bad reports from users, and the comfort of that 7 year warranty.

If I had to criticise anything I would say fuel consumption is not as good as our Ford, but then again the Kia is a bigger, heavier car and it is a TC auto - 6 speed and very smooth. The jury is also out for me at the moment over quality of some trim in the cabin, although it looks ok at the moment and everything works nicely there are one or two little scratches on the hard plastic of the lower panels.

My overall opinion to date as someone who has been driving various cars over some 45 years is that the Ceed holds its own very well compared to everything else I have driven, and does it at a very competitive price.

Good luck with the search and please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 23 Aug 2016 19:01

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - RobJP

One of our works cars is a Rio. Normally used for local trips, but I've occasionally had to take it down to London and back (from North Wales).

Very inoffensive, not horribly noisy. Seats are not the most comfortable on the planet, but aren't terrible either.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 23 Aug 2016 19:45

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - skidpan

Had a Ceed SW 1.6 CRDi for 5 years. Servicing was a bit expensive but plans are available now that make it far cheaper. Only issue was a leaking AC condensor that was replaced under warranty with no quibble. It was relaxing to drive over a 400 mile trip to Scotland and pretty economical, 51 mpg over the 5 years overall.

Basically we were happy with it but did not buy another Kia simply because there was no petrol SW available at the time and we did not want another diesel. Still would not buy one since the only petrol is a 1 litre turbo 3 cylinder jobby, far too small for a car that size.

Got a Seat Leon 1.4 TSi. I would say its a better car than the Ceed in just about every respect, the Ceed was bit roomier for passengers though. The Leon SW has a huge boot but no more passenger space than the hatch.

Suggest you compare the Leon and Ceed before deciding.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 25 Aug 2016 10:29

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - Wee Willie Winkie

I also bought a Ceed 2 CRDi SW Auto in April. It was registered July 2014, so was 21 months old with 13,000 on the clock. As it was over a year old, the warranty wasn't restarted, but I'm happy it still runs until July 2021.

I changed from Mazda 6 2.2 diesel, so it was a bit of a downsize. Having said that, we've been away on holiday in it and there's more than enough space when a roofbox is used. In day to day use, it's an acceptable size.

Driving position is good and it meets all my needs. The auto box is nice and smooth and, even though only a 1.6, it does shift when required.

Id echo the sentiments regarding interior trim. I don't think it will stand up to years of abuse.

I bought a service plan and have used it once so far. No complaints.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 24 Aug 2016 00:56

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - Avant

The Ceed is indeed of a similar size to a Golf or A3; the Leon is a little smaller, but if you need more space there's also the Skoda Octavia which is available with the excellent 1.4 TSI engine.

Your annual mileage suggests that petrol sould be better than diesel; the problem with the Ceed is the restricted choice of petrol engines (1.0 or 1.4, both 98 bhp). The VW Group 1.4 can be had with 122 or 148 bhp, and there are 1.0 and 1.2 alternatives.

If relative lack of performance isn't an issue for you, then try a Ceed and see how you get on. I suspect Kia sell a lot more diesel Ceeds: the petrol engine seems more suited to the Rio and Venga (although a Venga might suit you - see ORB's favourable thoughts on it above).

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 24 Aug 2016 07:06

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - NARU

Having recently moved from Toyota to Kia, my biggest disappointment was the supplying dealer.

It left the showroom:

Low on screenwash
With the service book not completed
With a number of clips not put back on the bumper (I had a towbar fitted)
With a piece of broken trim
With two other pieces of trim not in the car

All minor things, which were put right on a subsequent visit. Very happy with the car, but I shall be finding a different dealer for the servicing.

I get the impression that dealers vary enormously - Kia don't have the more uniform high standards of Toyota.

I recommend www.kiaownersclub.co.uk/forum/

Edited by Marlot on 24/08/2016 at 07:09

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 24 Aug 2016 09:37

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - skidpan

Kia don't have the more uniform high standards of Toyota.

Thank the lord for that.

We have looked at Toyotas a couple of times and the 3 local dealers have been uniform in their total indiference on both occations. After being treated poorly by the 3rd dealer when we looked the first time we simply went down the road a bought a BMW which we kept for 5 happy years. The BMW dealer was attentive and most hopeful. His service was great for the first 4 years but then they moved to a new Gin Palace and appeared to set on a load of bimbo's as service advisors, guess what happened. Would think very carefully before going there again.

2nd time we were actually treated worse and a few days later bought the Kia who treated us brilliantly for 5 years, they actually bought the car back off us for a much better price than others were offering, almost as much as I had hoped to get form a private sale. Car went to the MD's niece. If they did a car that suited our needs I would buy without hesitation.

My feelings have always been simple, if they treat you like that before they get your money how will they treat you once they have it in the bank.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 24 Aug 2016 17:21

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - oldroverboy.

Going on my/our experiences of Kia so far.

Gravells, Kidwelly, nr Carmarthen. The kia sales side good, Px offered was ok, but did not buy as decided to wait till our move complete.

Lookers (bought the Rio 2 1.2) Good service all the way through.

Underwoods Colchester, slight hiccup with first service, but fulsome apologies given and accepted. Used since for the Venga, excellent. minor warranty problem with bonnet opening on it's own, someone came out and dealt with it while i waited.

Service manager and reception staff good.

Norfolk motor group bought the venga, excellent salesman, not pushy, reduced price of their car to match what i had to spend and gave the matching trade in offer from elsewhere.

So far so good!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 24 Aug 2016 21:02

Audi A3 - Shall I buy a KIA Ceed? - NARU