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Brought home a Kia Seltos HTX IMT (diesel): Buying process and delivery

10th August 2024, 17:50 by Kanad Kalasur

In isolation, Seltos is a great product, very much satisfied with the overall experience till now, truly a no-nonsense choice.

BHPian manofinfinity recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Kia Seltos D HTX IMT Comes Home

Hello, Bhpians we recently acquired Seltos 2 months ago in June and here is my ownership review after 2 months and how Seltos which was never in our consideration was finally selected.

Buying Process & Options Considered:

We had 3 cars in our garage Hycross VX Hybrid, a 2018 Vento TDI Dsg and a 2012 Ritz D Manual, we decided to replace the Ritz as it was bought used in 2019 and had over 1.5L km and more so there was too much work that needed to be done both mechanically, cosmetically and the total expense would cross 2L.

We were looking for Hatchback or Compact SUVs In the 10-12L budget, this is where the challenge begins there are tons of options in this bracket and if you increase your budget by 1-2L another lot of options come up so here are the options we considered and test drive:

1. Baleno Amt: Very Well-rounded package it was perfect for our needs and there was a discount of 1.5L, The Top variant which we were considering had everything booked once and almost finalised, the only con was the low height, and average amt gearbox, FE claimed was about 20 but in reality gave only 15, still was on our list.

2. Kia Sonet D At HTX- Again complete package was about 3L more expensive than the Baleno, with no discounts nothing, In the end, this was preferred over the Baleno due to the better TC gearbox and most importantly diesel engine which had a lot more power and was vastly better to drive than Baleno, has more GC, Ventilated seats, Sunroof, and all gizmos, interior quality was way better than baleno, hence we booked Sonet also and also decided to look at other options.

3. Grand Vitara Sigma At-Test Drove one and It became my favourite car from the options and was my top preference only because of its beautiful chassis, fantastic ride quality and overall was a segment above both Baleno and Sonet in terms of space and everything, was getting good discount also hence it was coming out cheaper than Sonet.

4. Creta E Diesel Manual-Again was considered as it was in our budget so why not, base model e comes with bare bones, I learned that everything can be fitted from outside, and all genuine parts and fitment are readily available, studied the whole base to top Conversion thing and pricing of everything, but at the end, Creta was dropped as we want an AT and fitting everything from outside felt like a hassle and not worth it.

5. Seltos HTE D Manual- It was similar to Creta and was better equipped than Creta but was cancelled due to the same reasons we wanted an AT.

A special mention on GV, what a complete package, and again I was blown away after the test drive, it was my first time driving GV and was just blown away by the handling, ride quality and comfort, good roads, bad roads GV can handle anything with ease, even at high speed it was stable as a rock and steering was also different in comparison to other Maruti cars it had decent feel and feedback, truly a beautiful chassis and at that price, great value too, booked one and was almost finalised.

Here comes the twist as we were waiting for our GV some car broker/dealer informed us about huge discounts on unsold 23-year models and how every manufacturer has some unsold lot that we can look at, as a matter of fact, the car market is down since past 6 months and dealers are finding it difficult to move new cars, next week started inquiring all nearby Hyundai and kia dealers about available 23 models cars, mostly top model petrol Creta or Seltos were available, with a discount of about 1 to 1.5L they were still out of our budget,

We were also okay with the top model Sonet D AT but nothing, then after a week we decided to wait for an update, then suddenly after 4,5 days got an update about the 23 Dec manufactured Red Seltos HTX D, the dealer was not sure about whether it was AT or MT, told us to wait till evening, in the evening he informed us that it is D IMT, and the discount was about 2L,

Of course, we got a much more discount on insurance after much negotiation.

As we had test-driven IMT and were familiar with its pros and cons so we decided IMT was a fair tradeoff for the great deal that we were getting, HTX is loaded with gizmos, a panoramic sunroof, and leather seats it was fully loaded and it is way better than manual we immediately booked it, went for a PDI everything seemed good, from the dealer side we got 3D mats, nothing else and hence was finalised, took delivery the next day.

Can't believe that we actually got the Seltos and not anything else honestly it was not in our consideration as it was way out of our budget and at that price after discount and everything we are very happy with how things turned out, a reminder to everyone that customer is the king literally.

We were from the beginning looking for good value for a money package and with the kind of discount, we got it was seriously shocking for us too that we got such a sweet deal.

Here are my observations of the actual car after 2000kms and 2 months:

Exterior, Looks, Build:

Looks Sensational and with the facelift it looks even better, overall proportions are good, has a very balanced and neutral design.
HTX comes with matt grey 17’’ Alloys, which look great and fill the sidewall much better, also alloys of mid variant are much better than GTX as they provide more sidewall.
I quite like the connected LED DRLs and connected strip at the rear, looks futuristic and cool.
Paint Quality is strictly average.
Doors have good heft and shut with proper thud, bonnet and tailgate felt light in comparison.

Interiors, Space, Features:

The dashboard is well laid out and sits low, everything is ergonomically placed.
I like that there are physical buttons for everything including volume knobs for volume.
Interior quality is very good almost the best in the segment, there are no squeals out rattles anywhere.
HTX comes with a white-tone interior and white leather upholstery which brings an airy feeling inside the cabin.
Both Front Seats provide excellent comfort and at some level even better than in my Hycross.
The Panoramic Sunroof is a gimmick for sure, it is good to have but you will forget it after some time.
The 10.25-inch screen is great to use, is high resolution, slick and inbuilt maps are also very good to have and work as expected.
There are so many features and settings for one to grasp and also some of them I find are just gimmicks and nothing else.
The space and overall cabin width inside itself feel generous, one surely doesn’t feel cramped, giving you the feeling of a bigger car.

Ride Quality, Handling, Performance:

1. The engine for one is very refined and smooth there are next to no vibrations inside the cabins or anywhere.
2. Comfort levels are great, we did two long trips and found Comfort to be superb, and suspension smoothens everything on the road and works silently.
3. Handling I find is strictly average, nothing too exciting, I was expecting more from the Seltos as I have driven a facelifted one and it was a hoot to drive this one just does not impress in any regard, Handling is balanced and in isolation is very good but I was expecting more.
Maybe it is because of the softer suspension setup in the new facelift and it has affected the overall handling, maybe it’s too early to judge the need to spend more time with the Seltos.
4. A major negative I find in terms of handling is the steering feel and feedback, it feels vague and doesn't provide much in terms of feel and feedback.
5. After using the IMT gearbox I find it is a great alternative to regular MT, but it is not for enthusiasts, they are better off with a manual or AT.
6. IMT works well almost 90 per cent of the time but at times I find it confusing and it is not as fun as an MT or smooth as AT.

Also, I find the 1st,2nd, and 3rd gear ratios quite small, after 3rd gear, the overall experience becomes better, I hope the overall smoothness of IMT improves after 1st service.

Note on FE:

This is where the Seltos excels, Everyone in my family was shocked at the kind of FE that the Seltos can deliver, I was expecting good FE anyway because of IMT but the kind of FE I am getting is truly beyond my expectations, we have never owned a car with this good FE, in the city it gives anywhere between 15-18 kmpl and on highways 20-24kmpl consistently, I was truly shocked when I saw 23-24kmpl on the current trip FE on the mid and this is all during the run-in period before even 1000kms it is getting better day by day, Very much satisfied with overall FE I am getting.