Kia Carens Luxury Plus IMT: 7 Pros & 3 Cons after 1 month of ownership

Ride Quality: coming from Skoda Rapid and i10 Nios, this one handles potholes well.

BHPian hiren.sharma recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hey everyone,

I'm thrilled to share that I've just taken delivery of my brand new Kia Carens Luxury Plus 7 st IMT Petrol

I started looking for a car since the existing Nios wasn't able to handle by furbaby. Hence I started looking for a comfortable 7 str, which should act as an actual 7-seater

It's been a month now and I haven't been able to take it out for a long drive, have managed only 500kms in the past month. However, here are observations I've had so far:

Positives:

• Ride Quality: coming from Skoda Rapid and i10 Nios, this one handles potholes well. My wife is so relieved now
• All-around Visibility: Even if I consider the big size, it's relatively easy to maneuver such a big car in tight spots. Not sure if it's because of the big glass area, and good visibility all around. Whatever
• KIA has done, it's working well
• UV Cut Glass: I had no idea UV Cut glass would work so well in summers, considering UV is about 10% of overall light. It has served well considering the temperature has reached 39 deg in
• Bangalore already
• Ventilated Seats: I tried Taigun/Kushaq/Slavia/Virtus/Hector Plus/XUV and I felt Carens had the best-ventilated seats. I didn't feel anything in those cars but in Carens, its felt very well
• The LED light is sufficient at night for city driving. I'd post more as I take it on dark highways at night
• Mileage: I am getting 11kmpl in Bangalore traffic which I feel is pretty decent for a card of this size and turbo petrol
• Feature loaded

Negatives:

• Road presence: I wish it had the road presence of an XUV700 or Hector Plus. That's it. I can't fault the car otherwise at all
• Turbo-lag: Sometimes the car struggles before it begins moving. I guess I'll have to get used to it with time
• Gearbox: It's a little clunky at the moment. I am hoping it'll get better with time, no big deal

Buying Experience:

I bought the car(ens) from VST KIA, Palace Road. The process overall was smooth. I didn't opt for finance, since that's just a waste of money as per my Dad, I paid the amount in Cash and bought the Car home in just 4 days. The experience overall was smooth with no hiccups. Took a box of Ferrero and a Parker Pen for the sales rep, and appreciated his effort for timely delivery.

Attaching some pictures for reference.

After Pooja at the showroom:

With 3rd row down, there is enough space for my dog to laze around:

After taking the delivery, took it to Esperto for PPF and eventually to Pitstop to get the Nudge guard and Sidestep installed. The car looks mean from this angle

Puddle Lamps were a welcome feature:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.