[AutoDIYer]

3 star rating is only applicable to Carens manufactured after December 2023. It's 0 star for cars manufactured before that.

[bettertwitter]

I booked the Carens Prestige Plus Petrol iMT variant in maroon color today . It has been a long journey of self discovery really. Let me explain -

I began looking for a car when my wife first got pregnant. Thought the Baleno didn't cut it safety wise and it had been 5 years anyway. I was almost set on buying either the Taigun or the Kushaq - loved the looks and classic design and the wife wanted a small suv for its comfort. I don't care much for road presence and gimmicky features and I was eyeing the mid variant anyway since my budget was such. I was also looking keenly into the used car market. But things changed.

We lost the first kid when my wife was 6 months in. And so the Baleno carried along but I kept taking test drives - Taigun, Kushaq, Creta, Seltos, Grand Vitara, XUV 700 and Honda City.

But after a long trip with the family with three in the back seat of an Octavia, I realized what I had anyway known all along. All these cars were just 4 seaters, not for 5. And I thought I don't need another 4 seater. I was planning on a proper car seat and that would further curtail space in all of these cars. So I turned my attention to the 7 seater category.

Slim pickings. Maruti twins at the bottom, Toyota at the top. Carens was nicely tucked away in the middle. I knew I didn't want the Maruti twins since they screamed taxi and the 3rd row was cramped. Toyota was too expensive and bare bones . Again, Carens felt just right. Spacious, decent active safety features, drove well and still practical in a city like Bangalore.

Also, I realized that luxury could mean different for different people - for me it meant space and ride comfort (especially on terrible Bangalore city roads). I didn't particularly cared much for a punchy engine or amazing driving dynamics. They are nice to have but not need to. I am a sedate driver and will seldom go above 100 now so hopefully the Carens bounciness at higher speeds is less of an issue for me but time will tell.

And so, now that I am a father to a 2 month old, I realized how much of a family man I have become. I want a larger car because I want my family to travel together, whenever we do. Parents and in laws will visit more often. The sister and the nephews can all come along. I also plan to do more short trips in nature during my kid's formative years. So Carens fit perfectly well. The unstable body shell is a fly in the ointment but 3* for adults and 5* for kids is good enough considering the rest of the package, I feel.

All in all, I have been eyeing a new car for almost a couple of years now and I have ended up with something I didn't think I needed ever. Funny how things turn out. Thank you for reading if you have stuck with me through my ramblings.

[Nd-gtr2014]

Took delivery this weekend of Carens Prestige Plus IMT in black colour.

This was our replacement for our reliable mile cruncher - 2016 Diesel Ecosport which completed 1.45L kms in less than 7.5 years and travelled to more than half of the country.
I am still to enjoy our new addition as my heart is still heavy to have let go of our Ecosport, wish I got to complete travelling the rest of the country and reach 2L kms.

While we were clear that we had to buy Carens as we wanted a 7 seater in the budget as we travel a lot outside the city, though with not more than 3-4 people, we needed enough space for luggage and maybe even sleeping in the car as sometimes we don't find hotel for the night in small towns.

I was confused whether to get the DCT or IMT and after reading a lot of reviews and test driving both options, I chose the IMT for the reason of having complete control of the gear and hence acceleration especially on the hills. I have taken my brother's Tiguan DSG on some short hill drives in Himachal and was never comfortable with the gear selection of the car or being ready at the right time for overtaking a very slow moving truck.

So I chose to go with the IMT, though it would have been very good just for the city drives for just 1.5L more to get automatic + sunroof + drive modes.

Now in my garage I have 3 different forms of gear setup : Firstly electric daily office ride which has technically on first gear (Tiago EV) , then secondly my first love my weekend car which is the old school manual (2016 fluidic Verna) and then this new addition which is also a manual but no clutch.
I really would have to take a few seconds everyday after stepping into the car to set my mind on which am I driving.


Planning to post a detailed buying and ownership review of both Tiago ev and Carens IMT.

[litesprint]

Does anyone know for sure if variants with 15" wheels have the same ground clearance as higher variants (via suspension height adjustment) or not? I own Prestige 1.5 NA. According to my user manual, GC is 195 mm but I have a doubt about it. Recently a very tall speedbreaker (almost unreal!) scraped the underside of my car, when there were 6 occupants. It's the first occurrence in over 2.5K KMs so far. I'm wondering if it could be due to a lower effective GC by 19mm (176mm effective) owing to the smaller wheels (1.5" less diameter including tyres).

[hiren.sharma]

Hey everyone,

I'm thrilled to share that I've just taken delivery of my brand new Kia Carens Luxury Plus 7 st IMT Petrol 🚗💨

I started looking for a car since the existing Nios wasn't able to handle by furbaby. Hence I started looking for a comfortable 7 str, which should act as an actual 7 seater

Its been a month now and I haven't been able to take it out for long drive, have managed only 500kms in the past one month. However, here are observations I've had so far:

Positives:

1. Ride Quality: coming from Skoda Rapid and i10 Nios, this one handles potholes well. My wife is so relieved now
2. All around Visibility: Even if I consider the big size, it's relatively easy to maneuver such a big car in tight spots. Not sure if its because of the big glass area, good visibility all around. Whatever KIA has done, it's working well
3. UV Cut Glass: I had no idea UV Cut glass would work so well in summers, considering UV is about 10% of overall light. It has served well considering the temperature has reached 39 deg in Bangalore already
4. Ventilated Seats: I tried Taigun/Kushaq/Slavia/Virtus/Hector Plus/XUV and I felt Carens had the best ventilated seats. I didn't feel anything in those cars but in Carens its felt very well
5. The LED light is sufficient at night for city driving. I'd post more as I take it on dark highways at night
6. Mileage: I am getting 11kmpl in Bangalore traffic which I feel is pretty decent for a card of this size and turbo petrol
7. Feature loaded

Negatives:

1. Road presence: I wish it had the road presence of an XUV700 or Hector Plus. That's it. I can't fault the car otherwise at all
2. Turbo-lag: Sometimes the car struggles before it begins moving. I guess I'll have to get used to it with time
3. Gearbox: It's a little clunky at the moment. I am hoping it'll get better with time, no big deal

Buying Experience:

I bought the car(ens) from VST KIA, palace road. The process overall was smooth. I didn't opt for finance, since that's just waste of money as per my Dad, I paid the amount in Cash and bought the Car home in just 4 days. Experience overall was smooth with no hiccups. Took a box of ferreros and a Parker Pen for the sales rep, appreciated his effort for timely delivery.

Attaching some pictures for reference.

After Pooja at the showroom:



With 3rd row down, there is enough space for my dog to laze around:



After taking the delivery, took it to Esperto for PPF and eventually to Pitstop for getting the Nudge guard and Side step installed. The car looks mean from this angle




Puddle Lamps were a welcome feature:

[Durango Dude]

Took delivery of the Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo/7 DCT Luxury Plus on 26-04-2024, Friday, auspicious day; there were more than 5-6 cars waiting to be delivered. The delivery process was smooth and number plate was fitted and did a pooja at the local Pillaiyar Temple, Went in with the City and drove out with the Carens with my family. Got the RC book delivered by speed post from the RTO directly arrived in two days after delivery. Got the certificate for My Convenience Plus which includes some parts covered with service with 4th and 5th year extended warranty and RSA. Got the Invoice and sale deed of my City and also a promise of getting a cheque for 50% NCB as and when the City is sold by them. Tanked up the van.

Early days of driving the car. It's car like to drive and hardly any road shocks filter through as compared to the 2017 City: which let in a lot of road imperfections and engine/suspension noise. The dealer has filled up 42-43 psi and has advised me to fill up 35 psi max yet the ride is pretty smooth and don't feel the rough roads and speed breakers. The MID is hovering between 8.4 to 9.8 kmpl (talk of penny pinching Indians) but must say I'm taking the car out mainly at night in reasonably sparse traffic despite that got caught in jams at 11 pm due to CMRL bottlenecks and breathalyser barricades by the police. Reminded to shift to neutral: keeping in mind that is a 7DCT and don't want to strain the transmission. Im driving in the Normal mode only and upshifts are "lightning" quick than downshifts which are "laidback" My City felt a lot more sprightly with part throttle responses than Carens. It tips the scales at 1427 kgs unladen according to RC Book. The front passenger seat is much sought after for the ventilated function which keep the "back sides" cool in this sweltering Chennai summer heat. My son, wife and daughter in law take turns. The A/C is a chiller with vents in the roof for the 2nd and 3rd rows good that they didn't give the panoramic sunroof and gave a small one instead. Just got the 3D floor mats, Door protectors and mud flaps fitted at dealership. The ambient light is a cool feature and learned to turn off the honking that happens when you lock and unlock the car. Also turned of the Children ahead warning that comes on for no reason at all. Got the Kia Connect app working so that one can turn on car, unlock doors, turn on a/c etc from phone. Wow seeing a lot of iMT's in the previous 3 posts. Was driving manuals till 2017 but being the wrong side of 60 (almost 65), I think I can excuse myself and have the luxury of an automatic

Adding a few pics from the iPhone 11 Pro Max...

[Durango Dude]

Sorry for the back to back post, went for a drive tonight with a/c on the windshield started fogging up big time and visibility went down hill so switched on the front windshield defogger to make things worse, so finally switched of the a/c in the sweltering humidity and heat and drove back home. it was so bad that my windshield washer fluid was fully gone due to my constant use.

Is this a glitch or normal, 'cause, I haven't had this bad and issue with any other cars I've owned? Temperature here in Chennai is 32 deg C and humidity is 84%, just now...

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

Sorry for the back to back post, went for a drive tonight with a/c on the windshield started fogging up big time and visibility went down hill so switched on the front windshield defogger to make things worse, so finally switched of the a/c in the sweltering humidity and heat and drove back home. it was so bad that my windshield washer fluid was fully gone due to my constant use. Is this a glitch or normal, 'cause, I haven't had this bad and issue with any other cars I've owned? Temperature here in Chennai is 32 deg C and humidity is 84%, just now...

If the fog is in the inside of the windshield, then you use AC and defogger to get rid of it.

If the fog is in the outside of the windshield, then you need to use the heater and defogger to get rid of it. It happens because the windshield is too cold and using the AC defogger will make it worse.

[ImranHyd]

Originally Posted by AutoDIYer

3 star rating is only applicable to Carens manufactured after December 2023. It's 0 star for cars manufactured before that.

Not true. Only the vehicles manufactured between May 2023 and December 2023 received zero stars. The vehicles manufactured prior to May 2023 were rated 3-star. See this post (GNCAP: 1 star for Bolero Neo, 2 for Honda Amaze and 0-3 for Kia Carens)

[hiren.sharma]

Originally Posted by ImranHyd

Not true. Only the vehicles manufactured between May 2023 and December 2023 received zero stars. The vehicles manufactured prior to May 2023 were rated 3-star. See this post (GNCAP: 1 star for Bolero Neo, 2 for Honda Amaze and 0-3 for Kia Carens)

This is not entirely true either

Yes, the May manufactured car scored 0 and December manufactured car scored 3. However, Kia hasn't clarified if they made the structual changes in December or sooner than that. Personally, I feel they could have done it along with the introduction of the new 1.5L turbo engine, which was launched around Sept/Oct 2023.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by hiren.sharma

This is not entirely true either Yes, the May manufactured car scored 0 and December manufactured car scored 3. However, Kia hasn't clarified if they made the structual changes in December or sooner than that. Personally, I feel they could have done it along with the introduction of the new 1.5L turbo engine, which was launched around Sept/Oct 2023.

There were no structural changes in December. The structural changes apply for all Carens units manufactured from 5 May (0 star version), the restraint system changes apply to all Carens units manufactured from 11 December (3 star version).

[rajesh1868]

Originally Posted by ron178

the restraint system changes apply to all Carens units manufactured from 11 December (3 star version).

I took delivery of Carens at December end. It was not an already available model from the showroom but one that had to be transported from their factory. I hope mine will be having the restraint system changes.

Is there a way to confirm? I have not been able to ascertain the month of manufacture from the VIN yet.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by rajesh1868

I took delivery of Carens at December end. It was not an already available model from the showroom but one that had to be transported from their factory.
I hope mine will be having the restraint system changes.
Is there a way to confirm?
I have not been able to ascertain the month of manufacture from the VIN yet.

The immediate VIN ranges are posted in the image I have attached in the previous post.

[hiren.sharma]

Originally Posted by ron178

The immediate VIN ranges are posted in the image I have attached in the previous post.

I don't think that makes sense. One of my friend owns Sept manufactured Kia Carens and his VIN is MZBGC815LPN144741

So, Sept manufactured is also 3 stars by this logic

[satya180]

Completed 11,000 kms recently,
10k of which was run in the last 3 months with frequent Mumbai runs.

Our car is a workhorse in the day, ferrying material, samples for the factory, and thoroughly cleaned every evening before taking both kids out for their evening play time. 2 child seats, 4 adults, 4-5 bottles of water, bags, all easily fit in the Carens without thinking about space management.

10k Service cost ~Rs.4k, and I got 3D cabin and boot mats from the showroom for ~Rs. 5k.

Got a chrome delete done, although the guy used Avery Dennison vinyl, it has started peeling off at the edges, and hence Im gonna strip it all out again.
Lesson learnt guys: dont vinyl wrap your chrome trip pieces, even with a heatgun, itll eventually come off.

Will buy base variant trim pieces from the Spares division, get it painted gloss black at a friends place, and will fit it onto the car. Thats the only reliable long term option.