[TheGearBox]

Congrats on the new car. The base model of the Seltos offers a lot of mod potential. Any more planned for the future?

[sharan_si]

Originally Posted by vigneshnr

Congratulations on your new ride ! Can you share details on the seat upholstery.. they look great ? I guess all the mods are done without affecting the warranty.

I liked seat color and fitting, They look cool. Will share pics.
Haven't cut wire for anything, SA made note of mods during the Service, He asked if I had cut any wires.

Originally Posted by JayKavadi

Congratulations on your new ride. Great post. I wanted to specifically comment on the seat covers. Extremely good fit and finish. They look absolutely factory fitted. Can you please share the cost for the same as well as where you got them fitted.

Seat covers cost around 12-13k, Fitted in "Glamour car accessories" Koramangala

Originally Posted by vigsom

Lovely car, Sharan.

The great thing about the base variants is that one can upgrade features to suit one's taste and wallet.

The base model has everything in it, except for the rear wash wipe.

In my view, rear wash wipe is an important safety feature on hatchbacks and SUVs. Drive on the highways in rains and one would
appreciate this. It's time this feature becomes standard across variants.

Agreed, Seltos next variant also doesn't has rear wiper, it's a big miss from kia, already noticed rear view completely fogged during rain.

[Peets]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

Completely agree, the base variant is value for money. The on road price difference between the base and next higher variant is quite wide and difficult to justify for the few additional features.

I think one key difference between the base variant of the Creta & Seltos is that the base Seltos has a music statement provided in the base variant, albeit very basic.

I'm not one for aftermarket mods on a brand new car and so I'd rather live with the company fitted basic music system.

@Sharan_si What's your take on the company fitted music system in the base Seltos. Apart from the lack of Apple play/Android auto etc, does it have the basic USB playback & Bluetooth connectivity? What do the basic 4 speakers provided feel like? Do share your thoughts.

Drive Safe & All the best!

Cheers,
Peets.

[adv.yzr]

Greetings,

Congratulations for the new car, wish you many more miles and happy and safe rides in times to come. I too believe base variant is real VFM as it offers huge customisation potential.

Really liked the seat covers, the colour, texture and fitting; had been looking for similar textured material for my car. I think this will serve the purpose.

Happy riding.
Take care.

Thanks.

[ankitsharma]

Excellent and crisp review indeed.
I am also wandering around the Seltos base variant though I am trying to restrict myself to 10 lakhs.
So many segments and models are available in this price range. Choosing one is

[sharan_si]

Originally Posted by Peets

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

Completely agree, the base variant is value for money. The on road price difference between the base and next higher variant is quite wide and difficult to justify for the few additional features.

I think one key difference between the base variant of the Creta & Seltos is that the base Seltos has a music statement provided in the base variant, albeit very basic.

I'm not one for aftermarket mods on a brand new car and so I'd rather live with the company fitted basic music system.

@Sharan_si What's your take on the company fitted music system in the base Seltos. Apart from the lack of Apple play/Android auto etc, does it have the basic USB playback & Bluetooth connectivity? What do the basic 4 speakers provided feel like? Do share your thoughts.

Drive Safe & All the best!

Cheers,
Peets.

Music system basic one without a touch screen. you will get usb and Bluetooth support.
The speakers are okayish quality, I didn't like them personally, you won't get tweeters, the music system may perform better with aftermarket speakers.

Originally Posted by TheGearBox

Congrats on the new car. The base model of the Seltos offers a lot of mod potential. Any more planned for the future?

Need to put Fog lamps, Kia quoting high price.

[WhiteSierra]

Nice review. Thanks for sharing. This is a great product in the price range. Can you please share your on road price and cost of 3M matte black roof wrap?

Wish you many happy Kilometers on your new car. You can go for upgrades slowly one by one and can feel the car being new every time with a new addition. Upgrades being - Fog lights, Alloy wheels, rear parcel tray, automatic climate control, etc.

[Vibhav-Van]

Congratulations on the new car.

This base variant looks like a great VFM package. Small things like the parcel tray and rear wash wipe can be irritants, but there are steering mounted controls at least, which few brands miss out on, with their base variants. Like many others already said, rear wash wipe should be classified as a safety feature and should be made a default feature by car makers.

The cost difference between the base and top variants is getting way too large, off late. Even within the same engine/transmission, the difference is 5-6L which is the cost of a whole new car.

[sharan_si]

Originally Posted by WhiteSierra

Nice review. Thanks for sharing. This is a great product in the price range. Can you please share your on road price and cost of 3M matte black roof wrap?

Wish you many happy Kilometers on your new car. You can go for upgrades slowly one by one and can feel the car being new every time with a new addition. Upgrades being - Fog lights, Alloy wheels, rear parcel tray, automatic climate control, etc.

OTR Bangalore is 12.7 Lakh (Including insurance, I got online)
3M wrap including on A-pillar cost 13k.

[guyfrmblr]

Great review and congratulations on the new car. Wishing you many more safe and happy miles with your new car. The 1.5L diesel is a fantastic engine. It is very refined and has adequate power. The base model has most of the features and you have filled the gap with the higher variants with all the upgrades you have done. It's nice to see that Kia has added the USB charging port at the rear. It was missed on all the variants below HTX in pre-2020 models.

When you get a chance, could I request you to upload some photos of your HID upgrade? As mentioned by most of them, the stock halogens are pathetic and are insufficient for highway drives at night.

[pahwa]

Originally Posted by sharan_si

I bought Seltos HTE Diesel MT 2 months back, So thought of sharing the initial ownership experience.

This is my 3rd car, I owned Fiat Grande Punto(sold) and Renault Duster (with my brother now).

Thanks! Amazing review.

Somehow Seltos and Creta makes most logical sense to me in the base variant and glad I found someone who thought in similar lines. Safety features are all available in base model and higher models add very little value/cosmetics for the money the demand - law of diminishing returns

BTW - the Woodman unit looks dope. Mind sharing how much you paid for it and the other additions?

[Carpainter]

Congrats on your new car Sharan.

Seltos really packs a punch even from the base variant and one of the very few cars to have numerous features on its base model. This makes it a value for money product. You can customise it as you've done already with much less money than a higher variant. Only problem might be resale value as people prefer higher variant in second hand market but if you are a long term keeper then that's not a problem. Since you've upgraded the music system and headlights, I'd suggest to change to alloy wheels as that would greatly increase the looks quotient of the car.

Wishing you many happy miles ahead

[sharan_si]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

...

When you get a chance, could I request you to upload some photos of your HID upgrade? As mentioned by most of them, the stock halogens are pathetic and are insufficient for highway drives at night.

High Beam

Originally Posted by pahwa

... the Woodman unit looks dope. Mind sharing how much you paid for it and the other additions?

Woodman(4gb) cost around 27k.
3M wrap 13k
HID 6.5k

[A.M.]

You have done very wise mods to your car with good quality workmanship. Nothing over the top, and very appealing mods.

How about a set of good looking alloy wheels?
Then the car would look really smashing.

I don't think putting aftermarket alloy wheels voids warranty, provided they are of the same size as the manufacturer provides in other variants (please correct me if I'm wrong).

[a4anurag]

Excellent review sir with great additions to tweak the car's appeal.

The only thing lacking is - alloy wheels. I'll say, please search OLX in and around your city area, you'll get nice deals on OEM alloys that many owners change after delivery to something aftermarket which you can grab on for the car.

For example: This Ad