[sox]

KIA SONET 1.5 DIESEL HTX OWNERSHIP REVIEW

Hello BHPians,
We bought the Kia Sonet HTX 1.5 Diesel AT 6 months ago.
We wanted to buy an automatic compact sedan or a micro/compact suv in the price range of 15 lakh which could be extended into 18 lakh.
Our options were as follows:
1. Honda Amaze.
2. Hyundai Aura.
3. Hyundai Exter.
4. Maruti WagonR.
5. Nissan Magnite
6. Hyundai Venue
And last but not the least, 7. Kia Sonet.

1. Honda Amaze:
The car had good looks, spacious interior and a good engine. But the steering for me was a no-go, so I dropped it.

2. Hyundai Aura:
Rejected because of back seat space, looks.

3. Hyundai Exter:
We even booked the car. Our spec was the sx(O) without connect. My mom said it looked like an auto rickshaw even I did not like the way it looked. So this was also dropped. The booking advance was refunded.

4. Maruti WagonR.
Being a hatchback, it was worthy being in this list. The tall-boy looks and the value for money proposition attracted me. But it was not updated for almost 5 years, so I looked for another alternative.

5. Nissan Magnite.
The Nissan Magnite looked very cool. I also considered the kiger but that one looked like a hatchback. The build quality and safety features caused me to look for another alternative. My Dad was also firm that if it is an SUV, it is going to be a diesel.

6. Hyundai Venue.
As I said, My Dad was firm on the diesel-auto decision. Since the diesel variants of the Venue did not have an automatic transmission, we went to look at it’s cousin.

7. Kia Sonet
The car looked fabulous. We went to the dealership to discuss about the on road price and the variants. We decided to book the HTX Diesel Automatic.
At first, the 16 lakh price tag for a car with some cost cutting and some features cut off from the top model like full leatherette seats and the 10.25 inch screen and seat ventillation seemed a bit overpriced for me.
But i proceeded to buy it anyways.
And just after 2 months, Kia had decided to annoy me by releasing the facelifted sonet, I had been unlucky like this for the past 10 years, when Hyundai decided to release the new facelifted 2012 i20 when I bought the pre facelift one in the same year.
The car was for 15.62 lakh on road without any optional extras(i.e the chrome door handles, chrome window lines)
The optional extras bought the total to 16.12 lakh.
The car had 4 airbags, opposed to 6 airbags on the GTX line.
and when I bought the sx o creta diesel manual in 2019 when they released an all new model 5 months later
Okay, let's leave that aside, let me share my experiences with the car.



Day 1,
I took delivery of the sonet from the dealership, did a pooja in the temple and headed back home, but i found some clear coat scratches which was a bit unacceptable, but I took it lightly as it was going to the detailer for the ceramic coating the next day.

Day 5,
The car came home, looked spotless and looked beautiful in it's black color, it was just awesome just looking at it. the interior was dual tone, unlike the all-black version in the GTX varient. it was much more cozy and I found the fabric seats to be much more comfortable than the leatherette seats in the GTX trim.

Day 12,
The car was sent to the Pressana Kia dealership in Coimbatore, where I live, for the 3rd free service after 576 kms in the odometer. when I returned home after the service, i found footmarks on my beige fabric seats, apparently, it was the employees who stepped on my car, which I own and caused the mess. and I also asked them to install waterproof mat instead of the carpet, which was a mess. they did not do the job properly, and left glue marks all over the car. I went to the dealership the next day and demanded an explanation, they cleaned the car and removed the spots, which was still a half-hearted job
I then proceeded to clean them myself, and left it spotless

Day 35,
The car was ready for it's first long drive.
the one thing that i noticed is the transmission. I started to miss my manual gearbox in the creta. but for a torque converter, the shifts were seamless and was excellent. and it was better in the sport mode, the acceleration was faster and the engine started to roar
I used the manual mode which kept me from missing the creta, which went to the service center. overall the experience was pretty great.

After that, I proceeded to use the car for my everyday commute until recently...

Day 183,
I took the car for another long drive, which was for 700 kms. it was on a hill station. The drive started to test the car. but the car continued to impress me as always, the engine was effortless. but I noticed that the car was drinking fuel like there is no tommorow. I've noticed this several time before in my commutes, so for the everyday commutes, I used eco mode, which solved the problem. but that was not the case for my long drive. I cannot use eco mode, as it affects overtaking. but it was ok.

Present,
The car is doing great, except for a few visible scuffs and scratches, but that was a problem for another time. the car is about to get serviced in a few days. I will write all the pros and cons i have experienced with the car below:

PROS

1. Engine and Transmission
The engine in this car is fabulous. the 116 hp engine in the car is a wonder. in sport mode, the car responds to even the slight inputs. the acceleration for an auto is fantasic and the combo is a match made in heaven

2. Seats
While others see this as a bummer, this actually is a great downgrade. the fabric seats do not heat as quickly as leatherette, although the GTX varients have ventillated seats to help the summer heat, I do not really care, the seats in the HTX version are more comfy for me.

3. Interior
Although a lot of people find the rear seat to be a bit narrow, I find it to be good enough for me. Kia has provided me with the optional sunblinds, which is great for me.

4. Design
In my opinion, the pre-facelift looks better than the new facelift. it looks striking, I have nothing else to say.


CONS:

1. Infotainment system.
Apple carplay disconnects randomly, this is a bummer as I have to stop the car and recconnect it to access Google Maps.

2. Colour.
The one I bought was Black. even though it may look great, within minutes after cleaning the car, dust starts to settle on the car. This is a big disadvantage. This also means I have to turn the blower to max speed, you would know why if you studied science.

3. Quality.
Being an owner of the Hyundai Creta, I fouund the overall quality of the materials in my car to be very good, but when I bought the sonet as my secondary car, I felt a bit dissapointed. There were some hard plastics, the rear seat amrest was missing which was not the case in the 2022 ones. The center armrest was not stiched to match the seats.

4. Grille
Although the Grille looks striking, it is much harder to clean, in the facelift version, it looks much easier to clean but I am not sure about that.

ODO
It has been almost 6 months since I first bought the car. the car has only clocked 3100kms.
The third service is about to happen in 7600kms or 15 days

Daily driving pattern:
The car was used 3 days in a week (4 days for my creta) everyday commute was for 50 Kms back and forth. As of now, the car has not been used a lot, as you can see from the odo reading.

Dealership Experience:
My dealership experience with the car was bad. When I came to the dealership, the security refused to park my creta inside. I was confused. Other dealerships would allow to park my car inside but not here? It seemed that I can park the car inside but the security had misunderstood. I went into the dealership and they consoled me. Initially they seemed to be nice until that 3rd service. The employees who worked on the car left footmarks on the already hard to maintain beige fabric seats. When I raised this issue to the dealer, they agreed to clean it, but the job was half done. that was the last time I went to the dealership. Another service is due for the car in another 2 weeks, I will update it in another 6 months. This was the case only for me so you guys might have a better or worse experience.

Dealership name: Pressana Kia managed by Pressana Kia group
My rating: 3 out of 10

Optional Extras in my car.
1. Chrome door handles.
2. Chrome window lines
3. DRL chrome protectors
4. Floor mats
5. Boot mats
6. Rear seat headrest pillows
Total estimated to be around 25000.[/b]

Tyres, Ride and Handling
The tyres in my car was the Apollo Almac 4Gs r16 215/60. The tyre is very good.
The ride is a bit stiff. The SUV like presence is absent in the Sonet, it feels more like an hatchback but seated high But still big enough to be a SUV.

Engine and Transmission
The engine in my car is the 1.5 CRDi which produces 116 hp and 250 nm torque.
I am already familiar with this engine as I have the (almost)same one in the Creta. Compared to the creta, the engine feels a bit silent, not as loud as it’s older, bigger cousin. Acceleration is good, 0-100 in 10.9 seconds. In eco mode, the car feels slower and take some time to accelerate, but it has helped the fuel economy, the normal mode works best for me, it strikes a balance between acceleration and fuel economy. In sport mode, the car becomes more responsive and the engine starts to roar. The manual mode is also fun to use with the sport mode. The Engine and transmission combo is a match made in heaven. It shifts seamlessly and sometimes, I cannot even hear the gearshifts in the car, it is in this category where the Sonet shines.

Interior, Interior quality and design
The interior looks so good. Starting with the front, it has a 8 inch touchscreen aligned with the speedometer. The air con controls are below the touchscreen.
Below that there is storage to keep the phone and there is a fast charger port.
The vents are upright and oval and enhance the overall look of the interior.
As I opted for the HTX variant, it has a dual-tone interior with the colors black and beige. The overall plastic quality is good but I wish it was a bit more sturdier like my creta. Now going to the door, it is one of the highlights of the design. The only thing I do not like about the door is the lock knob, which is in black, I wish it followed suit with the handle. The central armrest is the one that bothers me. I wish it was double stitched like the seats but it remains plain. Going to the rear seat, just behind the armrest there are two air con vents for both of the rear passengers. Just under that there is a fast charger USB port for the rear passengers and storage space to keep 2 phones. The front seats are finished with leatherette in the borders and fabric which is where you sit. The fabric seats are very plush and good to sit in, just bear in mind that it is very hard to maintain. The rear seats lack the armrest (why Kia?) which is a huge thumbs down. The older ones had an armrest at the rear. The roofline look good too.
Coming to the interior space, the front seats are spacious enough but the rear seats have a bit of low legroom. But that is it and it is comfortable enough for me in the rear seat. The car originally came with the carpet but I swapped it for waterproof mats which are much more easy to maintain. The rear seat gets 3 point seatbelts.
That is all for the interior.









Interior practicality and boot space
The boot space is 385-390l which is enough to hold 3 large travel bags upright .
Or you can fold the front seats and gain more than double of that. There is a center armrest which you can store things but it is not air-conditioned. The glove box is also not air conditioned. You have storage in the doors to store 1 bottle and some other things. You have storage near the front dome light to store your spectacles. There are two medium sized cup holders to store small sized bottles and a phone in the middle.

Speakers and Infotainment system:
Unlike the GTX Line, The HTX has a 8 inch touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity, Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Bluetooth works perfectly fine. I am an Android user as well as iOS. But I mainly use Apple CarPlay. I have noticed several times that it automatically disconnects sometimes while I am driving and it says that my phone is unresponsive. This maybe is because of iOS and Apple would fix it soon so no worries. Unlike the GTX line, the HTX version does not come with Bose speakers meaning less bass but sound quality is exceptional and you can tune it via settings.

NVH.
Having done 2 road trips in this car, I can confidently say it is not loud inside the cabin at high speeds, but you can hear the tyres in that speed. But overall, the NVH in the car is good.

Driving experience in city and highway.
So far, so good. It is easy to drive the Sonet around the city because of the automatic transmission. It really helps me out in the traffic. The ride is a bit stiff and you can feel the potholes and speed bumps in the car. Driving in the highway is a treat because of the 1.5 diesel paired with the wonderful auto. Acceleration as i said is pretty good for this car and overtakes are somewhat easy unless you are in eco mode.

Air Con and Heater.
I have not tested the heater yet, it is also useless. The Air Con as expected is very good.
Being an automatic air con, it adjusts temperature according to the weather.

That is all for this year, I will see you guys on my next long term review. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

[AmazeGuru]

Hearty congratulations on the ownership and very well written report. As a proud owner of Dec 2022 GTX+ D AT, I can relate to most of your experiences. One exception though is I like all-black interior of GTX+.

I have done multiple long drives and it is absolutely fantastic on highway. I usually drive in the Normal mode and very rarely turn on Sports mode. I am getting about 11 kmpl in BLR traffic and upto 17 kmpl on highway runs. The engine-transmission combo is fabulous. Some of my friends call it - 'Pocket Rocket' .

I have experienced Zero troubles in my 16,000 kms of ownership and I'm sure you will continue to enjoy driving it.

Wishing you many more happy memories with the car!

[Phantom 510]

Wonderful ownership article on a wonderful car (especially with this engine/transmission combo). Got an opportunity to drive one and i have to say that it's the best under 4m suv right now in our Indian market as far as driving pleasure is concerned (I love diesels btw). The diesel grunt alongwith the smoothness of a TC automatic is unmatched.

[jasjotbains]

Congratulations on your new purchase SOX! As a proud owner of a Jan 22 GTX+ DAT, I can very well understand your excitement at sharing your views, since I did the same when I was bowled over by the Sonet

I've crossed 47k kms on the Sonet and I'm still on the factory pair of Apollo tyres. My daily running is approx 100 kms and with the Sonet, much of the fatigue is taken away. I drive in the normal mode since it is sufficient for my daily runs (plus the Sport mode takes some taming of the beast, while i have a laid back driving style). I maintain 10000 kms service interval at Joshi Kia and 5000 kms alignment, rotation and balancing interval from my trusted FNG. Apart from a leaking evaporator coil (changing which somehow improved my economy), there has been not much drama with the Sonet. My sisters are also hooked onto Kia with a Seltos GTX petrol and a Sonet HTX DAT in the house

Sharing some of my Fuelio screenshots. Happy driving

[RC1]

Originally Posted by Cayenne-8055

Attachment 2602825
This is my first ever car review and I'm super glad to be sharing it an INCREDIBLE community of car enthusiasts!
We have owned our Kia Sonet for almost 3 years now and have clocked around 16k kms on it, I'm the only driver of the car and it was bought mainly to be used in the city as I migrated to a new state for my job.
Before I jump to my ownership experience, pros and cons, service center experience, I want to give a TLDR.

TLDR: Would I buy the car again if I was given a second chance in 2021? Hell yes!
Would I buy the car again(the 2024 version ICE) if I was given a chance in 2024? No.

Thanks for sharing! I own a HTX DCT 1.0 in white. I have also noticed that is it takes about a second to shift if you press down on the throttle while moving. Although this is more of an issue of you are below 2000 rpm. Above 2000 rpm it responds quite quick.

About the fuel efficiency maximum I've seen 15-16. This maximum economy I've achieved by shifting gears manually. I know it defeats the purpose of owning an automatic but it definitely helps with fuel economy. Also sometimes i get bored just sitting there and controlling the steering, that is when i shift to neutral. There have been very few times I've used or felt the need to use the paddle shifters. In automatic mode maximum I've gotten is about 12.5 to 13.5 kmpl.

The service center experience is truly great! Absolutely hassle free service experience.

My iPhone connects seamlessly every time with the infotainment system but for Android auto i have to go into the settings almost every time and then connect. Maybe its an Android thing or this Android phone of mine has issues.

[Cayenne-8055]

Originally Posted by RC1

Thanks for sharing! I own a HTX DCT 1.0 in white. I have also noticed that is it takes about a second to shift if you press down on the throttle while moving. Although this is more of an issue of you are below 2000 rpm. Above 2000 rpm it responds quite quick.

About the fuel efficiency maximum I've seen 15-16. This maximum economy I've achieved by shifting gears manually. I know it defeats the purpose of owning an automatic but it definitely helps with fuel economy. Also sometimes i get bored just sitting there and controlling the steering, that is when i shift to neutral. There have been very few times I've used or felt the need to use the paddle shifters. In automatic mode maximum I've gotten is about 12.5 to 13.5 kmpl.

The service center experience is truly great! Absolutely hassle free service experience.

My iPhone connects seamlessly every time with the infotainment system but for Android auto i have to go into the settings almost every time and then connect. Maybe its an Android thing or this Android phone of mine has issues.

Thanks for sharing the hack of using manual shifting to achieve better FE! I didn't face any issues with Android auto connecting immediately when I had an Android phone although did face couple of times when it would disconnect out of the blue

[RC1]

Originally Posted by jasjotbains

Hello all

I'm facing connection issues between my phone and the head unit from quite some time, especially during incoming calls, where phone is ringing but the head unit takes 4-5 seconds to register the incoming call. Anyone found a workaround?

I have the 10.25 inch unit on my GTX+ DAT

I also faced similar issues earlier. Recently i performed a reset of the system. After the reset my Android auto connects automatically and works flawlessly! Maybe you should try resetting the system by going into the settings.

[jasjotbains]

Originally Posted by RC1

I also faced similar issues earlier. Recently i performed a reset of the system. After the reset my Android auto connects automatically and works flawlessly! Maybe you should try resetting the system by going into the settings.

How do you reset the system? I have tried that little hole adjoining the system but the issue persists. The service centre is unable to do factory reset since some code is required for it.

[RC1]

I did the reset on my system by going inside the settings somewhere. I'll check out once again and let you know tomorrow the exact steps. Meanwhile if you want to perform factory reset then this might help:

https://youtu.be/XZ1UMU7Fs-o?si=1gCOex_nnawNX8Wq

[sox]

@RC1 Thank you, I will try resetting the infotainment

[RC1]

Hello everyone! I have the Sonet HTX DCT 1.0. This model supports only remote start. It doesn't have all the other remote features like the GT Line. My question is can i leave the car AC on when turning off the car? So that next time i remotely start it, the cabin has cooled a bit. Will it result in any sort of issues if one doesn't turn off the car AC when turning off the car?

[_chikku]

Originally Posted by RC1

Hello everyone! I have the Sonet HTX DCT 1.0. This model supports only remote start. It doesn't have all the other remote features like the GT Line. My question is can i leave the car AC on when turning off the car? So that next time i remotely start it, the cabin has cooled a bit. Will it result in any sort of issues if one doesn't turn off the car AC when turning off the car?

Yes you can. That actually is the main use of remote start button for this model.

[RC1]

Hello. Has anyone used the Automatic AC in the sonet? Does it cool better or faster than the manual mode? Also wondering how much will mileage vary if i use Auto AC mode, compared to Manual mode.

[RC1]

Originally Posted by epiccross

Mostly budgetary constraints - had stretched the budget thin already and had to cap it at 15L.

Differences are essentially bells and whistles like larger display, ventilated seats, air purifier, Kia Connect etc. And of course, the top end has 6 airbags, front and rear parking sensors, autodimming IRVM, rear wiper (this sucks in HTX), black seats (white seats are a pain, so immediately installed airbag friendly seat covers). If you can afford to spend, absolutely do. HTX is good VFM still, I can still live with it coming from an Amaze

Congrats by the way, it's a terrific car - D AT is the segment best when it comes to Autos.

Can you please tell where did you get the airbag friendly seat covers from? And how much did it cost? I asked two shops near me they said they don't have and can't arrange too for the airbag friendly seat covers. So i was thinking of buying seat cover protectors from Amazon.

[sox]

Originally Posted by RC1

Can you please tell where did you get the airbag friendly seat covers from? And how much did it cost? I asked two shops near me they said they don't have and can't arrange too for the airbag friendly seat covers. So i was thinking of buying seat cover protectors from Amazon.

I did not have any issue with the fabric seat other than stains, so I am also considering airbag friendly covers. autoform has one, but I am in a completely other state. So check whether your seat cover has a pocket where the airbag would be, and it would be mentioned in the seat covers too. You can get these almost in every seat cover outlet these days