[dipdawiz]

Intro

Glacier white pearl Kia Seltos GTX+ diesel automatic - my second car, bought just after unlock 1.0; drove it for approximately 1500km. Usage is low due to the corona situation, still, let me try to put across some thoughts and experience I had before, during and after buying the car.

Likes
- Engine - smooth, buttery and has enough punch for my liking
- Convenience of Automatic transmission
- Handling
- Long list of features
- Looks

Dislikes
- Steel spare wheel on a fully loaded car like this
- Door pad switches are not backlit
- Would have liked at least both front windows are auto up/down
- Glove box is too small
- Lumbar support should have been better

Decision to buy a new car

I bought my first car, a Suzuki Ritz Zxi, back in 2010. Without even taking a test drive; just by reading Team-bhp review, I was convinced that Ritz is the car I want. I liked the boomerang tail light and rear design - a fresh face out of all Swifts on the road; Ritz was a practical choice for me; approved by both - the brain and the heart. It was about to be 10 years old, I decided to change the car in March this year. But things changed, the pandemic halted all of us and I shelved my plans. However as “unlock” started in June, the thought of a new car came again. Ritz needed a couple of parts to be changed and insurance expiring in August, I decided to revive the plan of buying a new car.

Before I proceed, here is a picture of my beloved Ritz (now sold)

Which car

Like any other gadgets I buy, my requirements were already finalized since the time I am planning to change my old car. Requirements were straight forward:
1. Six airbags with car built on a well known platform, safety rating would be better
2. Proper automatic (TC/DCT/CVT)
3. Should be an upgrade from Ritz Zxi
4. Budget 18 lakhs (though I knew that some of the above criteria may not match in this budget, and I have to stretch it)
5. Prefered Diesel - just for sake of it, as I already had a petrol and before we switch to EV in future (or petrol again), I wanted to have a diesel vehicle.
6. 10 year plan, so the car would be top of the line

Sedan or Crossover (dare I say SUV) did not matter much initially, but definitely had a liking for crossovers over sedans due to the road condition of Bangalore and old habit of sitting upright in my Ritz. However lately I leaned towards crossover completely. So based on above parameters, options are only 3 - Kia Seltos, Tata Harrier 2.0, Hyundai Creta 2020. Some may ask why not the Jeep Compass, well, with six airbags in requirement I have to stretch my budget more than 10 lakhs. And for some reason Jeep never appealed to me enough. Though Compass has 4x4 and once upon a time I did not like even the thought that I would be buying a SUV without 4x4 or AWD; but things have changed, thought process became more practical and I was fine to settle with crossover. Also, I am a pretty sedate, non-adventurous driver and like to sport my car with “I Drive Safe” and mean it.

[dipdawiz]

Test drive and selection

Without any explanation, I can say, in my mind I already chose Kia Seltos, it's a call of heart. Wife also nodded for the same. So there was nothing to choose as such. Though initially I was a little worried, what if Seltos does not feel satisfactory when I actually test drive. I test drove all 3 for a good amount of time; that means, minimum 20-25 km and an hour or so duration of test drive for each - on Highways, city and sort of village roads. Those in Bangalore would understand - from Bommasandra on Hosur road to Hosa road to the interior of Huskur and Gattahalli. I was skeptical but none of the sales guys resisted these test drives.


Test drove in following order

1. Kia Seltos: Test drove a HTX+ Diesel AT. Stiff ride quality, stiffer than Ritz (when the tyre pressure is set to 35psi in Seltos). liked the all black interior of 2020 update. Turns are tight and very less body roll. Coming from Maruti B segment, fit finish felt top notch. Cabin felt silent while test drive (compared to the test drive vehicle of Harrier and Creta 2020). Best steering feedback and feel - both in slow and fast driving. Auto transmission is smooth and power felt more than sufficient for my liking. Nothing that I did not like in the test drive. Test drove it twice in different times and roads to be sure.

2. Harrier 2.0: Test drove XZA+. Very good ride quality but felt slight body roll, felt it more than my old Ritz obviously. Engine is no doubt good but did not feel it extraordinary even in sports mode. Steering has vibration and felt more when you drive in sports mode. Interior quality is outright downer when you compare it with Creta or Seltos. Panoramic sunroof brings that wow factor. Very good driver seat with adjustable lumbar support. Pricier by 2 lakhs (XZA), XZA+ is even more. I liked the design of Harrier, specially in dual tone Calypso Red. Main reasons it was not even in my thought are its size and price, then interior made me completely remove it from wishlist.

3. Creta 2020: Test drove a SX Diesel AT. Nice ride quality, body roll is controlled well. Panoramic sunroof makes the cabin bright and has its wow factor. Light interior color is something not to my liking. Never used paddle shifters before so could not judge. Break does not feel enough confident inspiring, specially breaking from high speeds. I felt it’s better in Seltos and Harrier. Fit and finish is top notch and I liked the interior layout, though empty spaces and plastic around the gear lever and climate control area is not matching to rest of the part. Test drive vehicle was only 5000 km on odo, but it was noisy for some reason. Brain said it's a complete package. On road price was cheapest among the three. Did not like the look on picture, in flesh looked little better - but this look is not for me, and did not grow on me yet.

But as I said before, we sort of decided Seltos already - fresh looks and possibly very soon be shadowed by Creta. Could you see the pattern - the Suzuki Ritz, fresh and different looks and under dog of Swift. Without any delay, I booked an “Intelligence Blue” Kia Seltos GTX+ Diesel AT from JSP KIA, Hosur road after taking two rounds of test drive.

[dipdawiz]

Booking and delivery

You must be confused about the title of this thread and my booking details. Well I guess it was just a play of fate or was it destiny? Booked the car in Intelligence Blue with second preference given as Glacier Pearl White, on 4th July, with a verbal promise of delivering within a month. Before I say anything, JSP Kia’s attitude in the showroom is below expectations. When we walked in around 5pm, they all were like 'oh why did they come now'; and it felt like they did not have any interest in selling a car. However I went ahead and booked from them only.

A week has passed, Bangalore goes into lockdown for a week till 23rd July. But on 22nd July, the sales executive called and asked for in-principal approval of the loan letter so that they can place the order to Kia. Little annoyed as they could take it on day 1 and placed the order beforehand. However on asking they said it would be delivered before 10th of August. So waited and called them for an update on 31st July, the sales executive had no update. Totally annoyed, called up JSP CRM team on 4th August, they have no clue of car dispatch and allocation. Called up the sales executive and got to know the car would come to dealership only by 20th of August.

Now furious, I called up Advaith Kia, a sales rep called me back and I asked a specific question - "Could you deliver a GTX+ D AT blue or white before 20th of August?". Sales guy took 30 min and confirmed Blue or White both could be delivered by 15th August. Asked them to send a mail confirmation on delivery date, whatsapp him my email id. Instead of a mail, the guy called up and said a white is ready, allocated to someone else but as that person has a specific date for delivery which is later than 10th, he can give me that car. I agreed, he came to my house, swiped a credit card for advance (they did not charge anything for that) and confirmed the booking.

Next day sales executive shared VIN, checked it is manufactured/dispatched on 22nd July 2020. That afternoon I went to the stockyard with a friend, did a PDI, the car entered the stockyard on 23rd July as per their log. They brought the car out of the lot to an open space, all aspects looked good. It was 13km on odo. Confirmed them to go ahead for registration. Parallely applied and got the loan disbursed on 6th August, along with my part of down payment. Document submitted online for registration on 6th itself, got the registration details from parivahan site through sms by 7th evening. Got the delivery on 8th August. It was history repeating again for me - in 2010 booked Ritz Zxi in Blue with 2nd option as white, but due to delay in delivery of blue, opted for white. Yes blue is my favorite color, but white is my luck by chance.


Booking and delivery with Advaith Kia was fuss free and had to go out of house thrice, PDI at stockyard, signing for loan to the bank and for delivery to the showroom. I opted for 4th 5th years 120K km extended warranty and only 3 accessories - an idol, 3d floor mat and boot mat. Did under chassis anti-rust coating from the dealer only, cost Rs. 2500 odd and has 3 years warranty and free touch up when required. After some searching around, I settled with Kia safety insurance, at least for the first year. After around two weeks of buying I got the NCB reserving letter from my previous car’s Insurer, submitted the documents and got a sweet 50% (around 21k) discount, refunded within 20 working days. One thing I should give to JSP Kia too, they refunded the advanced amount within 10 days, minimal follow up and nothing deducted.

Total on-road price is 21.47 lakhs here in Bangalore - all inclusive of my choice of accessories, 4th-5th year 120K km extended warranty, Kia safety insurance, NCB discount (~21K), exorbitant KA road tax and now mandatory HSRP & fastag. Kia is not charging any “handling charge”.

Delivery was fast, all documents were ready and the sales executive handed over the invoice and the other items (pen, sticky pad, key ring, chocolate, the user manual etc) as soon as we (my wife, two friends and I) reached the dealership.


Asked not to do excessive celebration - they obliged. Sales guy’s team lead handed over the key, a photo session and we were out with the brand new Glacier White Pearl Kia Seltos.

[dipdawiz]

Initial impression

From the dealership took the car directly to an IOCL petrol pump, tankful and headed directly to Basaveshwara Gayatri Temple in HSR for the customary puja.


Felt at home from day one. Did not face any issue coming from the sub 4 meter hatch to this, thanks to Ritz’s already upright seating. Yes I have to be conscious about the front left while driving in traffic, but all other things fell in place. Driven around 600 km in the city and 800 km on highway (can we call Mysore road a highway?), but no tricky situation yet.

On the way to Coorg



Out of all the features, following features I am using for the first time and enjoying to the fullest
- 360 degree camera and front parking sensors
- Auto sensing wipers
- Auto dimming IRVM
- TPMS
- Powered seat adjustment
- Driving information and all those setting changes shown in MID
- Wireless mobile charging
- A capacitive touch infotainment system
- Cruise control on those small stretch of highways with less traffic


The Bose system is quite good to my ears, did some calibration and I like the sound including the bass it produces. Liked other features - speed sensing volume, reduce volume while reversing etc

Headlamps are sufficient. Drove at night on the highway and all seems good. Could have been better? Maybe. Once it started raining heavily, visibility of the immediate road was less, switched on the LED fog lamps and they are powerful and bright. Would update on the headlights as I use it more at night.

[dipdawiz]

Exterior and Interior

For me one of the main reasons to go for Kia Seltos is its looks - sharp and smart. Creases are just enough - neither to look blunt nor too much to make it look clumsy.

One of my favorite angles


Side profile is balanced - cladding and the wheel fits right in the wheel arch. Prefer the red contrast,


No more BS6 logo, with all manufacturer now having BS6 it's no longer a differentiator


Tiger nose grill, I like it


Looks slick from rear quarters also





Boot is decent, yet to see how many suitcases and bags it can swallow


The design of the alloy wheel is another eye candy bit of GTX+


Christened it subtly with t-bhp sticker


All LED headlights and ice cube fog lamps look super cool


Lights in action







After driving Maruti cars for last 10 years (and occasionally some other hatchbacks and sedans of similar segment) it is a real upgrade for me. For me everything feels premium. From fit and finish to gear lever, screen, steering, buttons all feels sturdy. As soon as you open the door, you are welcomed with all black interior - looks and feels premium


Last year when Seltos was launched and saw GTX+ Diesel AT with ivory white interior, I was put off a little. I guess Kia listen to the feedback of some and brought all black interior in Diesel also


Sporty instrument cluster with MID


Power window and rear view mirror switches, sorely miss illuminated switches though.


Love it when there is no dummy switch/cover


Key fob with key ring that came as part of gift from Kia


Love the view from driver seat, (ft. hold my hand)

[dipdawiz]

Drive, handling, ride

I shall keep it short and simple. This 1.5L Engine and the 6AT is match made in heaven. Loving every bit of an automatic. Smooth drive and gear change, felt very relaxed while driving in the city, though due to covid roads are less crowded. Highway drive is now relaxed too, even with OEM tyres, did not find much of noise while driving at different speeds ranging from 80-120kmph.
There is a fraction of second delay when you want to move fast suddenly from stand still (or from very slow speed of 5-10kmph), though got used to it in a couple of days only. But for 95% of cases the gear tuning is so nice that it covers for any feel of shortcoming in power.

Sports mode has subtle difference. Holds the rev higher and steering tightens up a bit, at least feels that way. Enjoyed using it on BLR airport road and other empty stretches on highway.

Coming from Maruti's EPS which is also decent, this steering is real fun for me (not comparing with hydraulic steering which I have no experience as such). Loved driving into curves on the way to Coorg.
Engine never felt strained even in some stiff inclines and transmission is so well tuned that it drives smooth, ups and downs, even with very less accelerator input. And hill hold is bliss to have.

Suspension is stiff, with tyre pressure at 36~37 (that's what it came filled with), I could feel even a pebble on the road. Made it 33 and the difference felt immediate.

Breaks are powerful. Though drove the car for very short time till date, but breaks are confidence inspiring so far.

[dipdawiz]

Accessories

I have opted for only 3 accessories from the dealership - floor mat, boot mat and an Idol. Floor mat is a 3D mat sort of thing. Stays put with two hooks at back and two velcro in front


Boot mat and bought couple of other things from Amazon - a boot organizer, Jopasu, Eco fire 1kg ABC fire extinguisher and a golf umbrella


I already had a Transcend Drive Pro 230 dashcam which I am using for last two years, installed it myself. It's a 1080p camera with 130 degree view point, but the best part of this is it can overlay the GPS, speed and other data with video, not necessarily you need to connect to app to see all details

[dipdawiz]

Other points

- UVO app is decent, the monthly report helps in keeping track of your driving. Though it is not accurate and sometimes misses some short trip or a small part of a long trip, but gives a rough estimate. Destination "send to car" is nice feature. Other features are still little gimmicky.


- HUD is nice to have with navigation details.


- Special mention needed for the onboard navigation software, did not fail a single time at least for the limited 1000km I drove using this map in Karnataka - within city and highways.

- Android Auto is good, Amazon Music is also supported, so my requirement for a usb drive with songs are gone. Did not face any issue with AA yet. Sound quality felt better while playing through AA that streaming over Bluetooth.

- Wireless charging is must have for today's cars and mobiles, specially useful while driving.

- Mood lighting is something you can hardly notice, it's too low and dim.

- Sunroof size is ok for me. So far, didn't get a chance to keep it open while driving. And it's a task to keep it clean - you open the blind and see a dirty sunroof, an absolute no no. Only purpose it serves sometimes on cloudy days, it increase the light inside.

- I thank my stars that I bought a white car again. It is easy to maintain and clean. Just using Jopasu to dust off and its good to go. For mud and marks, going for foam wash once a month. Wonder what would happen if it was Blue.

- Wonder why TPMS shows only after driving for a km or so, I guess this is to show pressure after temperature settles a bit. I would have liked it to be shown always so that can fill up before starting a trip.

- Auto headlight sensor is too sensitive, it turns on slightest of shadow of trees even under moderate daylight. Not sure if that is configurable

- When Eco drive mode is selected, in next restart, it again starts from Normal. However this is not the case in new Creta. Would have liked similar functionality, reset to Normal only if Sports mode was selected. Not sure if there is any software update available to match this feature like Creta.

- Took it for first service to Advaith Kia Lalbagh after completing 800km. Went there on time and it took exactly 2 hours from handing over the key to driving out the car after service. Though it was first service I was comfortable dealing with them and they did not try to push things and services compared to Trident Hyundai's bitter experience I heard from my friend who bought Creta 2020 and took it for first service.

- Fastag was given from Axis bank, raised a cancellation request on day one itself and got it cancelled with Rs. 400 refunded. Took one from Paytm, easy to maintain and transact.

- Using OEM goodyear tyre, did not find any issue as such to change it (also did not want to spend money at the time of buying). Plan is to drive with OEM for now and change it within next 2-3 years.

- Modifications? - There is no plan for any modification visual or mechanical in near future. May be after 5 years would check if I feel the urge for a remap. Not a fan of modification and I guess Kia Seltos is not a mod friendly machine.

- Last but not least, thanks to all initial reviewers and official reviewers of Team-Bhp for providing enough information to research and building confidence to buy a debut car of a new manufacturer in the country.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[guyfrmblr]

Fantast review! Thanks for sharing your experiences and welcome to the Seltos club. Wishing you many more happy and safe miles with your car.

IMHO, White color looks best on Seltos. It was my first choice but I had to settle with Gravity Grey due to long waiting periods for the White. As a diesel AT owner, I can assure that you have made a fantastic choice. I’m absolutely in love with this car. Most of my running is on highways and this car is best just perfect for that. The engine + TC AT gearbox is a match made in the heaven.

Good to see that they have removed the stupid BS6 badging. My car had that and have already removed it. Even I bought my car from Advaith Kia and have been servicing with them and the experience has been fuss free so far.

[fhdowntheline]

Great initial ownership report of the car that I almost finalised, drove maximum number of times, only to settle for its cousin in the same powertrain combo.
Just one point- my experience is that both the Creta and the Seltos are equal in terms of NVH for the diesel AT. You'd be hard pressed to say there's a Diesel engine running especially on highway runs between 80-120 kph.

[skx007]

Fantastic review dipdawiz!

Clean and crisp wording coupled with the necessary functional information, useful for any future buyers. On a personal note, I was pretty excited to read this review as this is the exact Variant + Color combo I'm looking to buy myself.

Is dual option colors available for the top variants (specifically the black and white combo)?

I wish you and family many many happy and safe miles with this beautiful car.

[pradyumnakalagi]

Great pictures, a crisp review and a rocking car!

You have undoubtedly picked the best engine + gearbox combo in the Seltos' range

Wishing you many happy miles

[DebarshiSharma]

Wow! Excellent initial review. Your car looks smashing. Well, I just booked mine (same variant & color) a few weeks ago. Awaiting delivery by 20th of this month. Excitement has increased further seeing your review.

Congratulations and wishing you happy miles with the beauty!

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by dipdawiz

Glacier white pearl Kia Seltos GTX+ diesel automatic - my second car, bought just after unlock 1.0; drove it for approximately 1500km.

Congrats dipdawiz on your latest acquisition and it looks gorgeous in that shade too

KIA Seltos is my pick over the ugly Creta, although I am not a big fan of pseudo SUV or Crossover. As you have rightly posted, Compass is the real SUV but way to pricey. Although Harrier is much more of a SUV-like in proportion, Seltos just does give a much better bang for buck factor compared to any of its immediate competitors.

Wish you many more happy mile munching and a fuss free motoring.