'Franchise' in AC's viewpoint seems to mean 'an official franchised dealer for any marque'. So, them selling a Kia from a Vauxhall dealership counts, as far as they are concerned.

However, if that Vauxhall dealership has carried out a service, then Kia will, unless evidence is provided, view it as having not been done to standard, and refuse a claim.

When we bought our Ceed in 2010 we goyt it form the nearest dealer simply because they gave us the best deal. But that did not mean we would get it serviced there if another local dealer (we have 4 in total) was substantially less.

Out closest dealer is Kia only, the others are part of bigger groups selling multiple brands on one site. One of those was the Ford dealer we had used happilly for 11 years (Puma, Mondeo and C-Max) so we gave him a call regardinging servicing. He undercut the selling dealer by £50 a service. But there was a catch. For the reduced price you got a Ford spec service using Ford spec oil. If you wanted a Kia spec service using the correct C3 oil for a DPF equipped diesel it was anoher £50.

So it was simple, we went to the dealer we bought from.

I raised this point on the Kia forum at the time and many owners were horified about what was happening. Kia Customer Services could only say that the warranty would not be affected unless the problem was directly related to the use of the incorrect oil.

Cheap does not always mean its a bargain.

Bit late to this party but I have the Venga Auto (2012 with the 1.6 petrol) and thought I'd offer my experience of having the model you are interested in.

It is mechanically the same as the ix20. The differences essentially are in the interior fittings and price. And I believe the suspension is softer on the ix20 - bit thats quite a subjective thing to define and some folks think the Venga rides softer.

Its generally considered that the ix20 is the lower end level whereas the Venga is the upper end and so gets more toys at the respective model steps (and we found this to be true when we were looking). Think as Lexus is to Toyota.

Specifically for the auto depending what year you get it is either the 4 speed or 6 speed torque converter box(6 speed came in late 2015 / early 2016 just before the facelift). The 4 speed is very old (my investigation reveals it actually dates from around 2006 / 2007 ) and while it does what an auto is supposed to, the gap between 3rd and 4th is quite large and you can often find you need to kickdown to get it to accelerate at a rate you'd be happy with in the 30mph to 45mph range. Interestingly if you "give it some gas" from the traffic light grand prix start you'll surprise many folks in pseudo sporty cars. It isn't especially slower than any other auto MPV if you are prepared to work it fairly hard.

The 6 speed box improves things for mpg and reduces the need to employ kickdown but again you do need to keep it spinning to get brisk acceleration.

And so here's the thing with Vengas / ix20 auto's - they are VERY thirsty on the urban cycle. And I mean VERY. We do mainly town miles and journeys are often less than 2 miles ie: 2 miles to the first shop, half a mile to the second one, a mile to the third one, 2 miles back home. Driving like this you will not see any thing more than 25mpg - and I know this as I record my fills and mileage (ie: I don't just trust the digital do dad thingy )

If you get it out on a run you will see up to 39mpg if you drive sensibly and keep the speed below 65mph. 39mpg allowing for manufacturer optimism with figures is actually about right (Kia reckon 43mpg which I reckon I could acheive if I took out all the "stuff" my wife says we need in the boot and didn't drive above 60mph).

So hopefully that helps if you haven't decided already. The Venga / ix20 aren't bad cars in the auto, despite what the motoring "experts" say. They both have high seating, easy access doors, are Tardis like inside if you move seats around and boot floor around as needed. The mechanicals are well proven chain cam direct injection petrol (if a little dated) but generally reliable. But they do have a high thirst with the auto if you only do town miles.

If you do go for one watch out for the notorious (Kia know about this) rear door seal issue. On the 2010 to 2014 models it turns out the passenger rear door seals have a seal manufacturer fault that allows them to hold water aginst the seal retainer channel. Along with this the paint in these areas is thin and can lead to rust on the channel. Check it by pushing the seal back and looking for the telltale brown staining. If it's started, then you'd need the seller to fix it or walk away. If it goes to far, its a new door as the channel is thin and can't be replaced. And I know this as I've just had one of mine done under warranty. If you go for a model with panoramic roof, watch out for the centre seal between the moving panel and the fixed panel. Due to the glass promoting heat retention, the seal can dry and crack. If it gets to bad, the cracks can open enough to let water in and cause rooflining stains. Due to the design it won't flood or anything like that, but again its a known issue on the panny roof models. On the up side, the panny roof really makes the car feel light and airy (ours has it)

Overall they are very popular with "drivers of a certain age" and folks who need a easy access auto. Be aware the auto's do hold their price extraordinarily well when compared to the manual gearbox variants. ALL of the guides we looked at were at least £500 to low.

And as others have said, buy main dealer full history if you can, it makes warranty claims (if needed) easier. In fact its a little more complicated than that as it depends on what breaks as to what may be accepted. For example, if mine had been outside Kia network but had the door seal issue, because servicing doesn't check the seal or internal door paint it would have been covered regardless of service book entries because it isn't something that is normally checked within the servicing windows and is normally expected to last at least the promised 7 years. But having that full history makes things much easier...