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Bought a 2024 Kia Sonet facelift for my mom who is an avid driver

30th May 2024, 13:39 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

The Hyundai Exter, Honda Elevate and City are all excellent cars and offer a lot of value but the Sonet HTX DCT was just right for our requirements and budget.

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Been over a month since we got home Olive Oyl to replace the aged Opel Corsa Sail. We went through multiple test drives of the Amaze, City and my sister almost lost her heart to the Elevate. The Amaze was genuinely disappointing and the family did not want another City in the garage even though I was in favour. Thinking practically, we were zeroing in on the Hyundai Exter considering the sheer value she offered.

Now the Exter AMT is a very impressive and practical car for the price but the user experience, ride quality and looks left us half-baked on the decision. We were tempted by the Elevate CVT but it was a lot more money than our budget, mid models were a bit spartan on specs and we frankly didn't need the extra space it offered over a Venue or Exter.

I was thinking of the Venue when the facelifted Sonet arrived on the scene and we were suddenly very sure that this was it. We already have a Carnival in the family so Kia was a known entity from an ownership PoV.

After multiple test drives and negotiations with the Dehradun dealer Shubh Kia, we finally decided to book the Pewter Olive HTX DCT version. The folks at Shubh Kia are quite helpful throughout but they need to up their game on certain loose ends in the experience. That aside, we got Olive Oyl home with the usual fanfare (I am still not a fan of the giant key and cake ceremonies) to join my OHC 1.5.

The Sonet is mainly going to be driven by my mother who is quite an avid driver and loves herself a peppy engine (thanks to her OHC and Corsa 1.6). So the 1.0 lit DCT is a juicy little combo which has the right amount of pep. The higher ground clearance and the lovely creature comforts & interiors just made the whole experience quite elevated for us (pun intended). We took an extended warranty, some tasteful accessories and got a good deal on insurance bringing it to about 14.x OTR in Doon. I wonder though why the EW from Kia is only up to 5 years while Hyundai is more liberal with 7 for the Venue.

What I like:

Good strong peppy motor with a capable gearbox. Paddle shifter and power modes make it a fun car on highways and in the city. Eco mode is strictly for traffic jams.
Very well appointed interiors and build quality. Materials feel better than most in class. In fact, the whole car feels like it's punching above its weight.
Feature-loaded cabin with slick UX and ventilated seats are a boon.
Ride quality is very nice even with four adults in
The FE is better than what I expected. My other cars in the garage aren't really frugal either
The boot space is very decent for a family trip
Light steering and good visibility around make this easy to park and manoeuvre for all types of drivers
The Olive colour looks beautiful. It's still a bit rare on the streets and with the connected tail lamp and the LEDs up front, the car has a good road presence.

What can be better:

HTX comes with smart-looking wheel caps. Alloys would have made me feel nicer about spending this much money.
Rear washer wiper is such a sore omission. It's a very handy aid, especially in the monsoons. I would have happily sacrificed that sunroof in lieu if I had an option.
Stock LED headlamp setup is glitzy and nice but the beam throw and spread is not the best in class.
A lot has been said about it already but the rear seat space is a sore point. The seat bench is comfy though.
Our car came with MRF tyres (some come with Apollo), luck of draw, really. They are strictly ok and if I was the primary user would have swapped them out for Contis or Michelins.
Kia’s operations in Doon are good but not at Hyundai’s level. They need to up their sales and service game.

Overall I am very happy with the choice we made. The Exter, City and Elevate are all excellent cars and offer a lot of value but the Sonet was just right for our requirements and budget.