6,000 km with my Seltos GTX+ D AT; Our first compact SUV purchase

A 2017 Toyota Innova Crysta Touring Sport, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class and an ageing 2015 Honda City.

BHPian ttm_220d recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

6066 KM in the new Kia Seltos GTX+ (Diesel Automatic)

“This car is a fancy training shoe you wear on the treadmill as compared to a rugged pair of mountain climbing boots.”

Before making the decision to purchase the Seltos, our fleet comprised a 2017 Toyota Innova Crysta Touring Sport (2.8), a Mercedes C Class Diesel (220d) and a 2015 Honda City Diesel (I-DTEC). All these cars are fantastic and offer us decent fuel economy, torque and practicality. However, for Bengaluru traffic and our daily driving- the Crysta became less economical to run on a daily basis, with the Merc there is always a worry of using it daily due to any dents or scratches that inevitably happen in Bengaluru traffic and lastly, the City was really starting to feel its age.

There was a need for a new car that had all the latest technology to make our lives easier, something that had a robust diesel engine to return the mileage and efficiency my father and I are used to, something compact enough for the city but still have enough presence and size for our long drives and most importantly, peace of mind service and support.

For the first time, I started looking at the “Compact SUV” segment, which is all the craze in India right now, so these were the cars that were in consideration.

1. Suzuki Fronx: I heard many people rave about the Fronx, I took a test drive and yes, it is a fantastic city car but it didn’t fit our use case. Plus, for almost 16 lakhs on the road for the top model- it didn’t feel justified.
2. Honda Elevate: Solid car, literally. Built like a tank there is something robust and elegant about its interior. But no Diesel and the technology seemed like something out of 2018. And having already owned two Honda products, it was time for a change.
3. Hyundai Creta: On paper, yes, it ticked all the boxes, it is the sister of the Seltos but there was something missing in our showroom visit and experience, there was a lack of premiums in the entire ordeal from the showroom to the car itself, moreover as the Creta had just launched then, there were high waiting times and zero incentives or discounts.

The Kia Seltos

Showroom experience

We visited Advaith Kia, Cubbon Park and were immediately impressed by how modern it all felt. There was also a buzz of curious and potential customers in the showroom, something we only saw in the Hyundai Showroom. I feel a buzz of customers at the showroom is a positive indicator of the current health of a car brand. Our sales representative arranged for a test drive in the GTX variant in of the Seltos and we were immediately sold. The technology, power and refinement were genuinely much higher than I had expected. There was also something so premium and tasteful about the way the interior felt and looked. Walking away from the test drive, my father and I knew the Seltos was the one.

Delivery experience

The delivery experience had all the usual pomp and celebration of any new car nowadays. The representatives set up our Kia Connect, explained all the features and gave us all the contact numbers for the body shop, service centres etc. The only thing I was not happy with was the amount of fuel in the new car, they insisted it was five litres, but our range and fuel tank level indicated otherwise.

My experience

Let’s talk about the most important thing - the efficiency. Until the first service, we were genuinely wondering if there was something wrong with the vehicle as we were only getting between 7 to 11 km/l. However, following the first service I comfortably get 11-14 km/l in the city and 14-18 km/l on the highway. Not bad for an automatic Diesel car which is BS6 phase 2 compliant. I won’t say the mileage blew me away, my Honda City Diesel still gives much better figures, but not bad at all. And who knows? With the selection of diesel vehicles in India dwindling, I am happy to have something that can hopefully run for the next fifteen years with no problem.

Technology is the highlight feature of owning a car. I know car purists often make fun of Hyundai and Kia buyers for choosing features over other characteristics (believe me, I used to be one of them), but these features genuinely make life so much easier. The lane watch camera system on the instrument cluster is a godsend; the 360-degree camera system works well. I love the Kia infotainment system; it is very easy to use and navigate. Even the Kia Connect features are not bad at all. They allow me to remote start, vehicle tracking, and even check if there are any malfunctions (I shall get into this later). A small hidden gem is turning on the feature that connects your Instrument cluster layout to the time and temperature, it looks very space-age and cool. I am disappointed it didn’t get the live camera view from the car, especially since the new Sonet gets it and there is no wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Autos. And maybe the ambient light could have been implemented a bit better.

Driving experience

The first negative is the ride comfort. I know it's not an off-roader, it’s not meant to be. This car is a fancy training shoe you wear on the treadmill as compared to a rugged pair of mountain climbing boots, but I was not expecting the ride to be this jarring- even on well-made speed breakers or rumble strips. There is quite a bit of “crashing” of the suspension on broken roads and bumps. It isn’t a deal-breaker, but it definitely takes some getting used to for the rear occupants. Also, as the GT Line sports 18-inch wheels, this also makes some difference to the ride quality.

But everything else is absolutely spectacular. It has more than adequate power for quick overtakes on the highways, the transmission feels smooth and the engine feels refined. My father and I once drove 775 KM in a day in this car and we did not feel tired after a long day of driving this car. I think that itself is a win. Even in the city, it performs well, you get the random “mind the speedbump ahead” warning from the Kia navigation and I cannot stress this enough, but the lane change cameras are a huge help in the city. The braking performance is quite good, too.

ADAS

Our first car with ADAS, yes, we turned off the Front Collison System in the city as we did have one, two, three where it was triggered at the wrong time. But everything else based on the ADAS works well, the lane keep and steering wheel assist all work well and even on the highway the Smart Cruise Control is a delight to use if the road is well-marked and there are other sensible drivers around you. The rear collision mitigation system works well, and it has saved us a couple of times when a bike or vehicle speeds past us while we are merging onto the road or a lane. If you have doubts about ADAS, barring the forward collision system, everything else works well and makes your life easier.

Dealer Experience

So far, we have had a pleasant experience with our dealer, but only time will tell. Which brings me to why I had to visit the dealership in the first place.

On a random Sunday, the ‘check engine’ light was on, and even the Kia Connect App indicated a fault in the engine management system. The car drove fine, but we took it in, and within ten minutes, the service centre cleared out some carbon from the system. I am not sure if this issue plagues new diesel cars as I don’t have experience with them, but it wasn’t something I’d say that was a cause for worry for me, at least right now. There is this feature on the Kia Connect Navigation that alerts you if you drive past a school zone (“Children Crossing Ahead”). This is not time-sensitive or accurate, so it’s best to turn it off. Also, there was a random instance where the one-touch open/close of the sunroof stopped working, so I had to watch a YouTube video and reset the system by long pressing the sunroof open button for some time.

These are small niggles in a car that I mostly have only good things to say about. Only time will tell how the car holds up, but I am confident it will have a long time in our garage, being an essential part of our fleet. Let me know if you have any questions about this car.

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