[Mayank07]

Originally Posted by naru80

Nope. Full payment should be on the VIN number after PDI of the car.

Are you getting any discounts?

Thanks for your advice everyone!!!

Its 2025 manufactured car (confirmed through the VIN no. as well), so not getting much discount, will be bargaining on accessories and insurance.

I am not doing full payment, agreed on partial payment though.

Also one question i had is during PDI they are asking not to connect any external devices to car, may be they are talking about OBD scanners. I have checked with multiple dealers here and all of them have the same condition. I can check paint thickness etc. but cannot use any equipment which needs to be connected to car's circuitry or similar parts of the car.

Have you faced similar challenges with KIA or any other dealers?

[SixPistons]

Originally Posted by Mayank07

Thanks for your advice everyone!!!

Its 2025 manufactured car (confirmed through the VIN no. as well), so not getting much discount, will be bargaining on accessories and insurance.

I am not doing full payment, agreed on partial payment though.

Also one question i had is during PDI they are asking not to connect any external devices to car, may be they are talking about OBD scanners. I have checked with multiple dealers here and all of them have the same condition. I can check paint thickness etc. but cannot use any equipment which needs to be connected to car's circuitry or similar parts of the car.

Have you faced similar challenges with KIA or any other dealers?

Why would you agree to partial payment before PDI. To pay before checking your vehicle is as good as paying in full without checking your vehicle at all.

On the off-chance, if there is an issue and things don’t work out, you might have to work them up for a 2 lac partial payment just as well as you would have to work up for a 20 lac payment, although probably not as fierce.

Think this through, it isn’t ideal to pay anything over booking amount before PDI.

Also, many cars lying around with dealers in many areas across the board. Do check with all dealers around you, and you might be able to snag a good deal on a 1-3 month old vehicle as well.

Good luck

[Mayank07]

Originally Posted by Babayaga_g007

Hey Mayank, You can try zekardo, I did my seltos's pdi through them. DO NOT do full payment before pdi. Just tell them you'll cancel your booking if they're denying.

Which dealership you got your seltos from? Did they allow doing all the scans, including the ones where some external device need to be connected?

[Kxar07]

Originally Posted by Mayank07

Thanks for your advice everyone!!!

I would strongly urge to do a full PDI before any payment apart from booking amount. On my 1st PDI, I found out that all was well externally, but the car had been driven 250+ km with disconnected dashboard to show it was run only 20 km. I only found that during PDI by Zecardo, with an OBD check. I refused to take delivery and asked them a replacement.
After a lot of huffing and puffing, they agreed. I got the second one also checked from Zecardo, and once it was OK, I paid that day.

Only leverage a buyer has is the willingness to walk away. Don't let that go.

[Mayank07]

Originally Posted by Kxar07

I would strongly urge to do a full PDI before any payment apart from booking amount. On my 1st PDI, I found out that all was well externally, but the car had been driven 250+ km with disconnected dashboard to show it was run only 20 km. I only found that during PDI by Zecardo, with an OBD check. I refused to take delivery and asked them a replacement.
After a lot of huffing and puffing, they agreed. I got the second one also checked from Zecardo, and once it was OK, I paid that day.

Only leverage a buyer has is the willingness to walk away. Don't let that go.

Thanks for the details. The challenge i am facing in Pune is none of the dealer (i have been to all of them) is allowing any external device connect and i think only OBD scan tell us if there is any internal issues like as you mentioned. I believe the dealerships have also become smart in these cases.

[Babayaga_g007]

Originally Posted by Mayank07

Which dealership you got your seltos from? Did they allow doing all the scans, including the ones where some external device need to be connected?

Got it from Mumbai- Shaw Kia, They did deny but I told them without pdi I'll cancel my booking so then they agreed. Although I wouldn't recommend them, their after sales service is horrendous.

[Mayank07]

Originally Posted by Babayaga_g007

Got it from Mumbai- Shaw Kia, They did deny but I told them without pdi I'll cancel my booking so then they agreed. Although I wouldn't recommend them, their after sales service is horrendous.

Went through some reddit post, looks like reaching to KIA india directly can be of help. Going to try that. Will keep posted.

[KryptonMonkey]

Originally Posted by Mayank07

Went through some reddit post, looks like reaching to KIA india directly can be of help. Going to try that. Will keep posted.

Don't let these dealerships bully you. You should pay only the minimum booking amount, ensure that it's FULLY refundable by getting it in writing on their official mail/letterhead and do the complete PDI in the showroom for the VIN allocated to you. Only after the PDI green flags the vehicle should you even think about paying an extra penny. Your money is your biggest leverage. Don't lose it.

A Hyundai dealership tried to pull this stunt on me and I walked away without paying the booking amount. Finally,after a week, they relented. By then I had moved on to another dealership who agreed to my PDI demands. I used Zekardo's services in Bangalore and the PDI was a thorough affair including the OBD scanner check.

Make up some excuse like you're now planning to get the vehicle with BH registration from a neighbouring state or getting a vehicle from Mumbai and that dealership is allowing a full PDI. Get creative!

[Mayank07]

Originally Posted by KryptonMonkey

Don't let these dealerships bully you. You should pay only the minimum booking amount, ensure that it's FULLY refundable by getting it in writing on their official mail/letterhead and do the complete PDI in the showroom for the VIN allocated to you. Only after the PDI green flags the vehicle should you even think about paying an extra penny. Your money is your biggest leverage. Don't lose it.

After raising my concern to KIA, the dealership has agreed to get the PDI done , and i will be continuing with it. But now i feel a sense of hostility in the way they are communicating, i am worried they may do something to the car post PDI and before delivery.

I may be overthinking here,

Also wanted to know if the full payment needed to be done before RTO registration?

Mod Note: Only 2 Smilies per post please!

[KryptonMonkey]

Originally Posted by Mayank07

After raising my concern to KIA, the dealership has agreed to get the PDI done... But now i feel a sense of hostility in the way they are communicating, i am worried they may do something to the car post PDI and before delivery. I may be overthinking here,

Also wanted to know if the full payment needed to be done before RTO registration?

Your goal is to get a good product. You'll never see the showroom guys again once the purchase is done for at least the next 7-10 years, if not more. Stay firm, but polite in all your interactions.

Assuming all your negotiations are completed and you have everything in writing from the dealership, be ready with the finances if the PDI shows a green flag. Move fast and complete the insurance & registration within a day or two. I took my car's delivery within 2 days of the PDI including the HSRP plates in Bangalore.

Yes, the full payment will need to be done before RTO registration.

[Arikarin]

Originally Posted by @ppy.tbhp

Arikarin, my dashcam is hardwired in my Seltos without any problems. I’m sharing images of my dash cam, fuse box setup with fuse taps inserted and the fuse box diagram where I’ve marked the tapped fuses with red dots for your reference. In my setup, the battery wire is connected to the 30A driver seat electric adjustment fuse, and the ACC wire is connected to the 20A power outlet fuse for parking surveillance. This setup works perfectly and keeps everything safe. I’ve driven close to 20,000 km in the last 11 months with this setup and haven’t faced any issues. I also periodically recheck for any early signs of problems, but everything has been working smoothly, so I can confidently say this is a safe approach.
Just make sure to use good-quality, heavy-duty fuse taps, crimp and connect wires correctly to the fuse taps and avoid inserting loose wires into the fuses like in the image you shared—it can cause unnecessary and serious issues.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else or have more questions

Thanks @ppy.tbhp for the detailed instructions. I have been able to set it up using the fuse taps, but the position of the camera and the infrared light affected the functionality of IRVM's dimming functionality which now has been resolved after turning off the infrared light from the dash cam. You seem to be using an IRVM powered dash cam which looks neat and serves both the purpose. If you don't mind sharing, which is the brand that you're using?

Cheers!

[ramneek009]

One month update on my Seltos GTX+ DCT :

The odometer reads 3272km today.

In the first month, the car has been used on the highways, city as well the hills. Took the car on a road trip to Nainital-Mukteshwar with just 400kms on the odo. Not something i wanted to do with the car still in run-in period but the idea of driving a fast turbo petrol with paddle shifters on winding hilly roads seemed too enticing to pass on.

My use case scenario for Seltos is 40% city and 60% highways with 3-4 road trips every year which is how our Innova Crysta was used, the car Seltos replaces.

After spending a month with the car and understanding it better, here are some of my observations:

• Not a smooth car to live with in crawling traffic. The jerky behaviour due to inherent dct nature, grabby brakes and turbo lag all contribute to less that ideal experience in bumper to bumper traffic.
• Highway/open-roads is where the car shines. Can do triple digit speeds all day without breaking a sweat. A quick overtake? Just press the A pedal and the car zips ahead without any fuss. A long trailer? Put it in sports mode, press the A pedal and the car makes short work of it. Other than short rare bursts on the highway, i do not use sports mode. I find the car aggressive and twitchy in sports mode. At 35, i prefer my drive to be calm and relaxing so normal mode is where i use it the most.
• I used the high beam assist during my drive on the hills and found it quite useful. With car switching to high beam on a blind turn and auto switching to low beam with oncoming traffic, the drive during the night was quite easy.
• I was a bit skeptical with so many people complaining of dct gearbox heating issues in traffic on steep gradients. My drive on the hills was purely in manual mode using paddle shifters to keep the car between 2nd and 3rd gear. Shifted to N when the car stopped and fortunately did not face any gearbox heating issues even when i encountered a couple of 45+ mins jam on the hills.
• Fuel consumption is pretty interesting. I manage to get better numbers in normal mode compared to eco mode. My drive from home to work is 21kms and the car manages to give between 13-14kmpl. On longer routes, i have got 18 kmpl as well. All the figures are with AC on in normal drive mode. The MID figures are not too far off the tankful to tankful method numbers.
• I have no complaints from the suspension setup. While it does not come close to the ride quality of the Innova but having lived with both vento and jetta, i prefer the setup to be a little on the stiffer side.
• Even with electric adjustments for the driver seat, i am yet to find the sweet spot.

While i am enjoying using Seltos, there are a couple of things that could have been better like providing memory settings for the driver seat or better headlights, i hope KIA brings these improvements in the next iteration.

[@ppy.tbhp]

Originally Posted by Arikarin

Thanks @ppy.tbhp for the detailed instructions. I have been able to set it up using the fuse taps, but the position of the camera and the infrared light affected the functionality of IRVM's dimming functionality which now has been resolved after turning off the infrared light from the dash cam. You seem to be using an IRVM powered dash cam which looks neat and serves both the purpose. If you don't mind sharing, which is the brand that you're using?

Cheers!

Arikarin, Glad you got everything set up, and it's great that you resolved the IRVM dimming issue! Those little adjustments can make all the difference. I’m using the Wolfbox G900 dash cam. Been pretty happy with it so far since 2 years—works great in day and night light conditions, front camera records in 4K resolution and rear camera records in 2.5k resolution. It looks like OEM fit finish in the car with windshield mount available to fit it directly on the windshield. I was using it in my older car as well. It works without any issue when it's hardwired correctly with the supplied hardwire kit.

[BhayanaV]

Has anyone tried the OEM dashcam from Kia? Kia dealer had called me mid last year when their new model was launched, priced 10K for single cam. Didn't liked it much, they didn't knew the specs, was not sure it has wi-fi and CP filter availability. So continued with my 7 year old Viofo (ali express era), but wanted to check if Kia dashcam is good quality, will reconsider.

[TheOneWhoWon]

Recently I purchased a new Kia Seltos X-Line Turbo Petrol DCT to upgrade from the 10 year old i20. I have kept the i20 for running quick errands where its smaller size sometimes comes in handy. Also I still enjoy the manual transmission so i20 will continue to be the second car for the foreseeable future.

I took the Seltos (or ‘Matty’ as I like to call it for its awesome matte graphite paint), on a trip from Pune to Goa and got the first taste of a relatively long drive in it. Travelled from Pune to South Goa via Amboli ghat with an overnight stay at Kolhapur. On the way back, I took the route through Anuskura Ghat without an overnight or long break. The trip answered two key outstanding questions that I had in my mind even after multiple test drives before the purchase of the vehicle. They were about the suspension and the gearbox. After the trip, here is my take on these:

Suspension: During the purchase process, a lot of focus went into evaluating the suspension. Between Seltos, Taigun and Creta, I certainly felt that the Creta’s suspension handled the bad roads a tad better than the Seltos’ and Taigun's. But the test unit that I drove for Creta was almost brand new while that of Seltos was having 15K kms on it (the one with my target engine/transmission and 18” wheel size combination). I also test drove another version of Seltos which had a different engine transmission option having 17” wheels and about 5K kms on it. I could never come to a definitive conclusion if the difference in the ride quality of different vehicles was due to their age or wheel sizes or it was their inherent characteristic. But all in all Creta felt a tad better and Seltos did feel a little stiffer. Anyways, fast forward to present, with a 1000 km round trip completed in the Seltos with tire pressures set to 33 PSI at cold start, I’m happy to report that Matty handled the road conditions very well without any issues. So much so, that after keenly observing the behaviour for half of the trip I was convinced that the suspension was doing a better job than I expected it to. The suspension was quickly forgotten and nothing with respect to its behaviour demanded attention for the rest of the trip. In certain situations it felt a little stiff, but overall it felt much better than anything I’ve driven on similar roads including the 2017 Creta that one of my friends owns and I have had the chance to take on long drives.

DCT gearbox: I never encountered very long uphill stop and go queues in the ghat sections. So that dreaded question of how the gearbox will fare in such conditions still remains unanswered. Having read the stories, I do have my trepidations about it. I did encounter somewhat of a similar scenario on my recent trip to Goa but it lasted only for 20-30 mins and the gradient was not that steep and the weather was not that hot. I didn’t face any issues whatsoever with the car. So can’t judge the gearbox on that aspect based on that experience. Another aspect that I have read about and have noticed is the so-called jerkiness at very low speeds. I used to own a Torque Converter automatic Audi A6 when I lived abroad, and I could feel the low speed difference as compared to that car. During the test drives, Kia Seltos with CVT fared better in terms of smoothness at very low speeds. I drove a Kia Carens with Torque converter automatic once while getting a drop from the showroom to my place and I felt that too was smoother at very low speeds. Also, I felt that the DSG on the Taigun was a little better than the DCT on Seltos and Creta on this aspect but I would say it is only there to be noticed for keen observers. I don’t think it is something that should alter the buying decision especially when you consider the performance of the DCT gearbox when you hit any small or big open stretches on the roads and get a chance to press that throttle. The responsiveness and performance makes a night and day difference as compared to a CVT or a torque converter automatic. One can almost stop missing the manual while having fun. And this was pretty evident on my recent trip. The DCT gearbox mated with the 1.5T engine (providing the power to weight ratio that the Seltos offers) is a pretty nice combination for munching highway miles. The DCT shifts are quick and responsive without the effort that’s needed in the manual. The car doesn’t seem to struggle in any situation for power. Overtakes are a breeze. Steep ghat sections are a piece of cake. Steepest inclines didn’t require much more than 2500 rpm. In the slow moving stop and go city traffic, it is much better than any manual for the quality of life difference that automatic gearboxes offer in general. In my opinion, the sluggishness of CVTs and torque converter automatics at all speeds is a bigger issue as compared to jerkiness of the DCT at slow speeds. So unless you have to frequently navigate long uphill stop-and-go queues in the ghat sections, there is nothing to be worried about. Reliability of these gearboxes is still a huge unknown for me so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Now that these two major review items are out of the way, let me share a few things that I like and dislike about the car:

Likes -

Seltos is a pretty loaded car when it comes to features. There are a quite a useful ones that just make the life easier in the car:

• Dashboard Design - Very sleek and modern. Elegant and clean lines. Clutter free, not too busy approach. Well proportioned sections. Nice materials.
• Ventilated seats - After a few hours of driving on my trip, I felt sweaty on my bums and back and realized I should test this feature for the first time in need. Turned it on, cooled air poured through the seats and - wow! It was some revelation! The sweat disappeared in a jiffy and a luxurious feeling took over. I never knew it was such a nice and useful feature.
• One touch up and down on all 4 windows - This was not a revelation. From my Audi days I always knew I loved this feature. Kia has done a great job on offering it on its cars. Last I checked, this is something that no other car competing in this segment offers.
• TPMS - It has been a couple of occasions that passing by bikers warned me about my tires with possible punchers, only for me to quickly glance at the TPMS readings and move on, unperturbed by the pranks or misplaced genuine concerns (whatever they were). Love the TPMS - takes the guesswork away. So far it has been pretty accurate. The readings from my digital tyre inflator and the TPMS system have always been in sync.
• Kia connect - loving the features. Car status. Vehicle reports. Wallet mode and more. It automatically documents all the trip details like date, time, distances and route details on built in navigation. For instance, regarding my recent trip I was able to get the following details from Kia connect with almost no effort
• Left Pune at 17:45 and reached Kolhapur at 00:15 - 238 kms in 6h30m with 45m break
• Left Kolhapur at 11:21 and reached South Goa at 20:05 - 263 kms in 8h44m with 1h31m of breaks
• Left North Goa at 10:34 and reached Pune at 20:50 - 423 kms - 10h16m with 1h37m of breaks
• Bose sound system - Very decent sound. The subwoofer is great - provides a good base without the deafening boom. Nicely balanced system. This was a big focus of comparison during the test drives and for sure we found the system on Kia better than the competition. Taigun and Kushaq’s updated systems with the factory fitted amplifier were no match for quality of sound. Even though Creta offers the same system apparently, for whatever reason (maybe cabin design, speaker placements or whatever) we felt that the Seltos sounded better.
• Certain customizable quick action buttons - map the buttons to different functions to quickly access the features. Very handy to quickly jump from built in radio or media to android auto and maps etc.
• Automatic headlamps - Very useful not just in the night but also while crossing tunnels and entering and exiting dark places - no need to worry about fiddling with the light switches. On my trip I felt the usefulness in the tunnels and the transitions from twilight to darkness.
• Rain-sensing wipers - Had this on the i20 also. Another quality of life feature - a must have convenience in my opinion. Once you get used to it, not having it feels weird.
• 360 degree camera system - very very useful of course for parking especially. At certain places in Goa, parking was really tight and this system proved its usefulness. You park like a pro and go about enjoying your time instead of struggling with the guesswork about the available space and tolerances.
• Some of the ADAS features - specifically I have found that the blind spot warning, rear backup collision protection and radar guided cruise control can be useful in certain situations. Although the auto braking for rear backup collision protection is too aggressive, it is better to have it than not.
• Panoramic sunroof - During my trip in quite a few situations I found myself opening the shade of the panoramic sunroof to bring in the natural light in the car and elevate the whole experience. In another instance, I recently went to pick up someone at Pune airport and there was an airshow (or practice for it) going on there. The panoramic sunroof came handy to catch good glimpses of planes flying in formation overhead while we were crawling in the traffic.
• Hill hold assist - You almost don’t realize how much these convenience features are working to make your life easy.

Dislikes -

• Hard plastics at certain places and associated rattling sounds
• Hard plastics inside of the sunglass holder - the sunglasses rattle when inside
• Hard plastics inside of the rear seat cup holders - causes a lot of rattling noise if you keep hard plastic or metal bottles / travel mugs / thermos in it (I’m planning to do some DIY soft cushioned liner additions to the insides of the sunglass holder and cup holders. Hopefully that should be an easy thing and should resolve those issues.)
• Hard plastics of the B pillar - the seat belt buckle of front passenger seat keeps rattling against the hard plastics of the B pillar when not in use
• Front passenger seat not being height adjustable is a disappointment.
• Dashboard reflection on the windshield on sunny days - top of the dashboard could have used less reflective materials / coating
• The parcel tray design is such that it doesn’t conveniently sit on the floor of the boot space when it needs to be removed and stowed away somewhere in the car to accommodate taller luggage. It can still fit with a little bit of force fitting but it's not ideal.
• Wireless AndroidAuto and Apple CarPlay was missing - Although this is not a concern anymore. I found a plug and play dongle that neatly converted the wired system into a wireless one.
• Panoramic sunroof operations - I still haven’t figured out how to easily and quickly open only the sunshade of the panoramic sunroof without opening the glass. It is pretty frustrating.

There are a few items about Seltos that I read about, while doing my homework before buying the car. I wanted to quickly provide my experience with the car on those as well:

• Headlight brightness - Quite a few reviewers pointed out that the headlight is not bright enough. Some reviewers had specifically called this out as a non issue also. In my experience in south Goa while going to the resort at night, I passed certain stretches of road which had no lighting and there was no traffic as well. It was pitch dark and roads were winding. I found the headlight to be sufficiently bright to provide good visibility on those sections. I have no concerns at all after that experience.
• Maintenance of matte paint - I did feel during the trip that the dust attracted by the paint during the trip was harder to remove. Just a light wipe using a microfibre duster is not enough to remove that dirt. I do think that the gloss paint scheme on my i20 is easier to maintain than the matte paint on the Seltos. I live in an apartment community and cleaning is being done by car wash people who obviously don’t treat cars differently based on whether or not they have a matte finish. So far so good, but I still can’t comment on the long term durability of the matte paint. But looks wise, there is no comparison (although beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder). Even when I park the Matty next to a fully loaded Seltos GTX plus in gloss finish, Matty feels way more premium. Hope that continues to be true for years to come.
• Fuel economy - Fuel economy is not what you want to buy this car for. In sports mode it can drop quickly to single digits. Overall fuel economy of Matty for its 2500 km life so far is about 9.8 kmpl. The car is often driven enthusiastically and always with climate control on. I did avoid having fun for almost a full tank and was able to achieve approximately 14 kmpl. But like I said, it wasn’t fun.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with Matty so far. The likes far outweigh the dislikes. It brings a smile to my face everytime I take it out either because of its performance or because of the comfort and convenience that it provides through its unending list of useful features. Beyond the showroom floor and the specifications on paper, when rubber met the road - Matty’ impressions are impressive.