[Mr Anderson]

**Review about Kia Scratch Care Program**

Scratch Care is an introductory program launched by Kia for its customers to take care of the 1st scratch. Under this program Kia Seltos bought before 31st December 2023 is covered for repair of 1 Scratch free of cost. The program is restricted to repair of 1 scratch per 1 car in an ownership period of 12 months from the date of sale with maximum scratch length of up to 15 cms.

My Seltos X-line 6AT had a couple of minor scratches on the left side of bumper and fog lamp moulding back in February 2024 when I was trying to get my car inside my house, and suddenly a gush of wind blew and the entry gate of my house smacked into the car bumper.

It was a reasonably hard hit and the bumper and the fog lamp moulding got scratches. Both of them were relatively small but fairly deep that chipped off the paint. I didn't intend to use the scratch care program back then so as to keep it for future use in-case a bigger scratch happens some time later.

6 months later and 2 days before the first anniversary of my car, thankfully those were still the only scratches and I approached Kia dealership to get the bigger of the two repaired for free.

The workshop manager connected me to the general manager who had not clue about this program. I sat down with him, showed him the scratch care program in Kia's official website and talked to Kia customer care in front of him to make it clear to him that such a program exists.

He asked for a day's time to get himself acquainted with this offering from Kia's side. He called me a few hours later and confirmed that they got a verbal approval and the scratch will be repaired and I can bring my car the next day.

I dropped my car yesterday and received the car today and surprise surprise they repaired both the scratches as a goodwill gesture. A repair order was opened in my name which was reflected in the "My Kia" app. The repair order is still marked as open as they were still waiting for a "written" approval when I got my car. The general manager issued a manual gate-pass for me to take the car home.

The paint job was good enough. Not as clean as the factory finish by any means but it looks much better now. It was a great initiative by Kia and I'd like to thank both Kia India and the dealership of my city "Intara Kia" for repairing both of them.

Attaching the before and after pics of both the scratches.

[t_manish76]

Originally Posted by manofinfinity

What kind of city mileage Seltos diesel owners are getting, I have recently seen a drop in city mileage I am getting 10-11, with around 2300km on the odometer. Mine is Diesel IMT.

Mine is a 2021 X-Line Diesel Automatic. Get 12 - 14 in normal traffic and have gone up to 18-20 on long highway runs in Karnataka and TN [though the display shows an optimistic 25 for the same period.

[Desi Dybuk]

Originally Posted by abhi3284

Opened the Bonnet today to fill water in Washer Compartment and i see this.


Attachment 2647071

Attachment 2647072

Attachment 2647073


What might be the cause of these 2 holes in the Bonnet Insulation and that too on 2 sides? Doesn't seem to be rat bite, as No foul smell or anything I felt. Is it due to Engine Heat on Poor Quality Insulation Mat?

This is quite surprising! Yes, I agree that it doesn't look like rat bites. Maybe the damping sheet was removed during servicing & the clueless technician fit it back in the usual Jugaad way.

Have you had a chance to take your car to the service center & get an answer?

[abhi3284]

Originally Posted by Desi Dybuk

This is quite surprising! Yes, I agree that it doesn't look like rat bites. Maybe the damping sheet was removed during servicing & the clueless technician fit it back in the usual Jugaad way.

Have you had a chance to take your car to the service center & get an answer?

Well, it does seem to be caused by Rodents unfortunately. I did see some particles scattered around in Engine Bay and it was confirmed to be Rodent droppings in the Rat Damage Thread in TBhp. I had already spoken with the Service Center Team, who called me, as I had shot out an Email to Kia Customer Care. Looking at the Pics, they also suspect it to be a Rat Bite. Thankfully, I do not see any wires cut or spliced. Or atleast I hope so. I will be visiting Service Center early next week for them to inspect it and also check on cost for replacing the Damping Mat. They also confirmed about ECM update being available, which I plan to do at the same time. Hoping for the best.

[Krishnan83]

Other than the standard Tbhp PDI checklist, is there any Seltos specific PDI that one has? I remember reading about it in some post, but can't seem to find it

[NotanF1driver]

Originally Posted by Jag4

.
I would however want to talk about the efficacy of ADAS in general.

Honestly, in the 100 times that the car has stopped itself in the past few months, there was only one incident where it actually stopped where it really needed to and even in that situation it was because I was slightly distracted. 99 times out of hundred it just stops because no one respects road manners like giving people the right of way, staying in the same lane and slowing down while there is traffic ahead etc. and the system is over active at best.

It is literally a headache to keep the other features turned on while driving in the city too, the Lane Keep Assist will not let you switch lanes even while overtaking and whill cause steering vibrations and that at the exact moment when you make the overtaking manoeuvre, the Collision Warning will warn you about the slow driver in front of you, which is why you were overtaking in the first place.

The ADAS features on my seltos GTX+ are brilliant (using since Oct 2023). A view from my perspective:

1. Auto emergency braking- this took me by surprise once during a highway run at relatively low speed. Turned it off immediately. But, later, I decided to turn back on. Once you know how it works, it does work very well - dont go up too close to the car/ bike up front and maintain a safe distance.
Now I feel completely ok with it and it has helped me a few times. Even in slow moving traffic, when I got a bit too close to the car up front, it braked on its own. Verdict on AEB from my side is a thumbs up.

2. Lane Keep Assist - This is turned off by default in my car because it does not come in handy while driving in the city. It often interrupts turns and take you by surprise. However, on the highways, you can enable it from the steering controls which makes driving a breeze. You dont have to put in efforts to turn your steering- it will do the job for you. You have to keep your hands on steering wheel, though (system will ask you to, and you should do it for safety reasons). You NEED to indicate on lane changes. Verdict on LKA is again a thumbs up for highways.

3. Reverse cross traffic alert and braking - now, this is a feature which works exceptionally well. But not suited for our roads. My car does not allow me to reverse from a parking space by the roadside to the road, even though there is enough clearance on the road for me to reverse. The moment it detects cross traffic, system applies brakes. I turn it off everytime I start the car and this setting would turn back to "on" every single time the car starts.
Verdict - very good system but not suited for me. Thibs down, especially on the setting being reset to on every time.

Thanks.

[professortarzan]

Originally Posted by Jag4

Honestly, I don't think we can ever have a functioning ADAS system until we have better road manners in India.

This one statement sums it up perfectly and your examples are spot-on.

I fail to get why people go gaga over ADAS and express grief when a car doesn't offer it. Having experienced ADAS in Europe nearly a decade ago, I was very confident that no software (or AI, the current buzzword) can tackle the chaos called Indian traffic. For me ADAS is never a deal breaker and it won't be unless the policing system deal with the menace on our roads.

And this utopian thought of having more ADAS equipped cars would result in better driving conditions will remain a distant dream. Auto-rikshaw meters were supposed to keep the fares in check. Uber/Ola were supposed to be ultra quick and transparent with the amount one has to pay. Digitization was supposed to eliminate corruption yada yada yada. Bitter truth is, there are millions out there whose first thought is to circumvent the rules/regulations/process for their benefit. They will figure a way out to disable ADAS or override it somehow. Until this attitude changes, the state of affairs cannot improve.

In the whole suite, Adaptive Headlights are the need of the hour, the rest can be offered as optional extras. I am not claiming that I know it all. I was extremely critical of cruise control when it was being introduced. However, I now acknowledge that it may not be usable all the time, but it does give some relief on a long drive. Similarly, having ADAS would help, but not in the fullest sense.

[Mr Anderson]

Does anyone have any idea about the Mobis dashcam that Kia sells as an accessory? It costs about somewhere between INR 9-10,000 and is the same one that comes pre-installed in certain Hyundai cars like Exter.

Kia sales person said that they can hardwire it and it won't result in warranty getting void. I tried to research about it online but I couldn't find any documentation regarding its specs.

It'd be great if someone here can throw some light on this.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Mr Anderson

Does anyone have any idea about the Mobis dashcam that Kia sells as an accessory? It costs about somewhere between INR 9-10,000 and is the same one that comes pre-installed in certain Hyundai cars like Exter.

Kia sales person said that they can hardwire it and it won't result in warranty getting void. I tried to research about it online but I couldn't find any documentation regarding its specs.

It'd be great if someone here can throw some light on this.

As long as there is no wire cut or splicing during dash cam installation, there is no impact on warranty. There are much better cams available at competitive price points. Unless you have a reason to go for dealer suggested cam, please buy it on your own and install via an accessories shop (if you are not comfortable with DIY).

Note to Moderators: unable to delete this post. Please delete this post as I'd like to keep the post below which got posted back to back due to a technical error.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Mr Anderson

Does anyone have any idea about the Mobis dashcam that Kia sells as an accessory? It costs about somewhere between INR 9-10,000 and is the same one that comes pre-installed in certain Hyundai cars like Exter.

Kia sales person said that they can hardwire it and it won't result in warranty getting void. I tried to research about it online but I couldn't find any documentation regarding its specs.

It'd be great if someone here can throw some light on this.

I don't have personal experience with the dashcam you mentioned but would like to say that there are many popular dashcams available at competitive price points. Unless you have a reason to go for dealer suggested cam, please buy it on your own and install via an accessories shop (if you are not comfortable with DIY). As long as there is no wire cut or splicing during dash cam installation, there is no impact on warranty. You can also use cigarette lighter port as plug and play option if you are not looking for parking surveillance. That's much simpler option if you only need the cam while driving.

TBHP forum for reference : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...ml#post5832606 (The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread)

[mack.mehul]

Well reading all the reviews on ADAS and all other tech coming on cars these days, i think most of the features are not useful for indian driving conditions. Lane Keep Assist & Cross Traffic Alert sound too much for city driving in india. I think if lane keep assist stays turned on, driving in city traffic will become a big problem as you will end up stuck behind a slow moving vehicle which are abundant in our city roads. It must be a pain to deactivate these features everytime when you switch on the car.

[satyamkolhe]

Originally Posted by Jag4

My two cents on the missing features.


ADAS: I am mentioning this only because the posts mention some features have been reduced in the ADAS system. While the Rear traffic detection and Cross traffic door open alert are just small warnings on the ORVM with an audible tone they are not must haves, as they are hardly useful in the day-to-day city usage if you're an active and alert driver.

I would however want to talk about the efficacy of ADAS in general.
Honestly, I don't think we can ever have a functioning ADAS system until we have better road manners in India. The random cyclist who veers from extreme left to extreme right, the odd pedestrian who wants right of way while they walk right under an overbridge and the animal who's just getting the zoomies for the day are not obstacles that any computer can navigate, no matter what progress AI tends to make. For most situations like these you just need to veer and navigate the obstacles and keep driving on, which is why the worst part about the ADAS here is the Auto-Emergency Braking which will bring your car to an unsafe halt if a random Scooter/E rickshaw tries to pass you by, even when they are well clear of the points of possible contact an have driven away. The car stops with such tenacity that is it has literally become a running joke among friends who end up mocking it every single time this happens.
Honestly, in the 100 times that the car has stopped itself in the past few months, there was only one incident where it actually stopped where it really needed to and even in that situation it was because I was slightly distracted. 99 times out of hundred it just stops because no one respects road manners like giving people the right of way, staying in the same lane and slowing down while there is traffic ahead etc. and the system is over active at best.

It is literally a headache to keep the other features turned on while driving in the city too, the Lane Keep Assist will not let you switch lanes even while overtaking and whill cause steering vibrations and that at the exact moment when you make the overtaking manoeuvre, the Collision Warning will warn you about the slow driver in front of you, which is why you were overtaking in the first place.

While I agree with some of the points, I have been using ADAS regularly and I don't agree with everything you said. The LKA works flawlessly as long as you indicate BEFORE you decide to switch lanes. In that case it doesn't vibrate the steering wheel.
Also the breaking distance and distance for collision warning can be changed in the settings and I have never had it break automatically for me but I have seen it working when driver was driving the car.
I think AEB takes in account the throttle input as well before applying breaks because I have taken my car quite close to other cars on slopes and nothing happened.

In my experience it has helped me inculcate good driving behaviour like maintaining a safe distance and giving indicator signals before every lane change and if you play with the settings enough, you can set it up such that it isn't that intrusive even in the city conditons.

[BhayanaV]

Originally Posted by professortarzan

This one statement sums it up perfectly and your examples are spot-on.

I fail to get why people go gaga over ADAS and express grief when a car doesn't offer it. Having experienced ADAS in Europe nearly a decade ago, I was very confident that no software (or AI, the current buzzword) can tackle the chaos called Indian traffic. For me ADAS is never a deal breaker and it won't be unless the policing system deal with the menace on our roads.

And this utopian thought of having more ADAS equipped cars would result in better driving conditions will remain a distant dream. Auto-rikshaw meters were supposed to keep the fares in check. Uber/Ola were supposed to be ultra quick and transparent with the amount one has to pay. Digitization was supposed to eliminate corruption yada yada yada. Bitter truth is, there are millions out there whose first thought is to circumvent the rules/regulations/process for their benefit. They will figure a way out to disable ADAS or override it somehow. Until this attitude changes, the state of affairs cannot improve.

.

Finally someone said the truth. See the thing is, when I will spend 2-3 lacs extra, I will try and convince everyone these are absolute necessary features (applies to other premium products also). People who think ADAS is a headache and switch off all features far exceed people who are using ADAS, and that's from my interactions with friends and colleagues etc., not some survey data.

[Mr Anderson]

Originally Posted by BhayanaV

Finally someone said the truth. See the thing is, when I will spend 2-3 lacs extra, I will try and convince everyone these are absolute necessary features (applies to other premium products also). People who think ADAS is a headache and switch off all features far exceed people who are using ADAS, and that's from my interactions with friends and colleagues etc., not some survey data.

My two cents is that humans by nature resist change. ADAS, in India is something that is counter intuitive to the way we are used to driving here. But that doesn't make what we do normally a good practice. That's simply what we have been accustomed to ever since we learnt driving.

I have been using ADAS for a year now in my X-line and I will never switch it off ever. It made me start to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead and avoid cutting them for overtakes which I had normally done for years. My driving practices have been altered so much (for the better) in these 12 months that I now no longer get any beeps and warnings from the car's ADAS system.

What started as a conscious effort on my part to try and drive carefully so as not to trigger any warning beeps or automatic brakes has become a habit now and I can never go back to driving a car without ADAS because of the sense of safety and security it brings along specially after it saved me and my car not once but twice from mishaps in my initial days of driving the new Seltos.

[GTX+]

It is quite natural for folks to have different opinion on practical usage of ADAS on Indian roads. These opinions are usually based on either their own experiences or what they hear/read.

Based on my own experiences, I would 100% vouch for ADAS. Below is the link to a post I posted few months ago. Readers can form their own opinions after reading my post.

I won't care spending extra for ADAS, if it rescues me in that 1 critical moment in time, where I could have got fatally injured or worst still, died.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...ml#post5724049 (Your near-miss experiences on the road)

Originally Posted by GTX+

Saved by ADAS!!


Last night I had to go to the airport to pick my relatives who were arriving in a late night flight at 2AM. I had planned to leave home by 12:30 AM, I wanted to take some rest in the afternoon, however due to some or the other work I could not rest, nor did I get an opportunity later in the evening. I then decided to let go of sleep altogether because if I slept at around 10/11PM, I would not have got up in time (I am a very very sound sleeper).