My Kia Sonet Diesel AT completes 6 months: Ownership review

And just after 2 months, Kia had decided to annoy me by releasing the facelifted Sonet.

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KIA SONET 1.5 DIESEL HTX OWNERSHIP REVIEW

Hello BHPians,

We bought the Kia Sonet HTX 1.5 Diesel AT 6 months ago.

We wanted to buy an automatic compact sedan or a micro/compact SUV in the price range of 15 lakh which could be extended to 18 lakh.

Our options were as follows:

• Honda Amaze.
• Hyundai Aura.
• Hyundai Exter.
• Maruti WagonR.
• Nissan Magnite
• Hyundai Venue

And last but not least, 7. Kia Sonet.

• Honda Amaze:

The car had good looks, a spacious interior, and a good engine. But the steering for me was a no-go, so I dropped it.

• Hyundai Aura:

Rejected because of back seat space, and looks.

• Hyundai Exter:

We even booked the car. Our spec was the sx(O) without connection. My mom said it looked like an auto rickshaw even though I did not like the way it looked. So this was also dropped. The booking advance was refunded.

• Maruti WagonR.

Being a hatchback, it was worthy of being on this list. The tall-boy looks and the value-for-money proposition attracted me. But it was not updated for almost 5 years, so I looked for another alternative.

• Nissan Magnite.

The Nissan Magnite looked very cool. I also considered the kiger but that one looked like a hatchback. The build quality and safety features caused me to look for another alternative. My Dad was also firm that if it is an SUV, it is going to be a diesel.

• Hyundai Venue.

As I said, My Dad was firm on the diesel-auto decision. Since the diesel variants of the Venue did not have an automatic transmission, we went to look at its cousin.

• Kia Sonet

1. The car looked fabulous. We went to the dealership to discuss the on-road price and the variants. We decided to book the HTX Diesel Automatic.
2. At first, the 16 lakh price tag for a car with some cost-cutting and some features cut off from the top model like full leatherette seats and the 10.25-inch screen and seat ventillation seemed a bit overpriced for me.
3. But I proceeded to buy it anyway.
4. And just after 2 months, Kia had decided to annoy me by releasing the facelifted sonet, I had been unlucky like this for the past 10 years, when Hyundai decided to release the new facelifted 2012 i20 when I bought the pre-facelift one in the same year.
5. The car was for 15.62 lakh on the road without any optional extras(i.e the chrome door handles, chrome window lines)
6. The optional extras bought the total to 16.12 lakh.
7. The car had 4 airbags, as opposed to 6 airbags on the GTX line and when I bought the sx o Creta diesel manual in 2019 when they released an all-new model 5 months later

Okay, let's leave that aside, let me share my experiences with the car.

Day 1,

I took delivery of the sonet from the dealership, did a pooja in the temple, and headed back home, but I found some clear coat scratches which were a bit unacceptable, but I took it lightly as it was going to the detailer for the ceramic coating the next day.

Day 5,

The car came home, and looked spotless and looked beautiful in its black color, it was just awesome just looking at it. the interior was dual-tone, unlike the all-black version in the GTX varient. it was much more cozy and I found the fabric seats to be much more comfortable than the leatherette seats in the GTX trim.

Day 12,

The car was sent to the Pressana Kia dealership in Coimbatore, where I live, for the 3rd free service after 576 kms in the odometer. when I returned home after the service, I found footmarks on my beige fabric seats, apparently, it was the employees who stepped on my car, which I own, and caused the mess. and I also asked them to install a waterproof mat instead of the carpet, which was a mess. they did not do the job properly, and left glue marks all over the car. I went to the dealership the next day and demanded an explanation, they cleaned the car and removed the spots, which was still a half-hearted job

I then proceeded to clean them myself and left them spotless

Day 35,

The car was ready for its first long drive.
the one thing that I noticed is the transmission. I started to miss my manual gearbox in the Creta. but for a torque converter, the shifts were seamless and were excellent. and it was better in the sport mode, the acceleration was faster and the engine started to roar

I used the manual mode which kept me from missing the Creta, which went to the service center. overall the experience was pretty great.

After that, I proceeded to use the car for my everyday commute until recently...

Day 183,

I took the car for another long drive, which was for 700 kms. it was on a hill station. The drive started to test the car. but the car continued to impress me as always, the engine was effortless. but I noticed that the car was drinking fuel like there is no tomorrow. I've noticed this several times before in my commutes, so for the everyday commutes, I used eco mode, which solved the problem. but that was not the case for my long drive. I cannot use eco mode, as it affects overtaking. but it was ok.

Present,

The car is doing great, except for a few visible scuffs and scratches, but that was a problem for another time. the car is about to get serviced in a few days. I will write all the pros and cons I have experienced with the car below:

PROS

Engine and Transmission

The engine in this car is fabulous. the 116 hp engine in the car is a wonder. in sports mode, the car responds to even the slight inputs. the acceleration for an auto is fantastic and the combo is a match made in heaven

Seats

While others see this as a bummer, this actually is a great downgrade. the fabric seats do not heat as quickly as Leatherette, although the GTX varients have ventillated seats to help the summer heat, I do not really care, the seats in the HTX version are more comfy for me.

Interior

Although a lot of people find the rear seat to be a bit narrow, I find it to be good enough for me. Kia has provided me with the optional sunblinds, which is great for me.

Design

In my opinion, the pre-facelift looks better than the new facelift. it looks striking, I have nothing else to say.

CONS:

Infotainment system.

Apple Carplay disconnects randomly, this is a bummer as I have to stop the car and reconnect it to access Google Maps.

Colour.

The one I bought was Black. even though it may look great, within minutes after cleaning the car, dust starts to settle on the car. This is a big disadvantage. This also means I have to turn the blower to max speed, you would know why if you studied science.

Quality.

Being an owner of the Hyundai Creta, I found the overall quality of the materials in my car to be very good, but when I bought the Sonet as my secondary car, I felt a bit disappointed. There were some hard plastics, and the rear seat armrest was missing which was not the case in the 2022 ones. The center armrest was not stitched to match the seats

Grille

Although the Grille looks striking, it is much harder to clean, in the facelift version, it looks much easier to clean but I am not sure about that

ODO

It has been almost 6 months since I first bought the car. the car has only clocked 3100kms.

The third service is about to happen in 7600kms or 15 days

Daily driving pattern:

The car was used 3 days a week (4 days for my creta) everyday commute was 50 Kms back and forth. As of now, the car has not been used a lot, as you can see from the ODO reading.

Dealership Experience:

My dealership experience with the car was bad. When I came to the dealership, the security refused to park my creta inside. I was confused. Other dealerships would allow me to park my car inside but not here?  It seemed that I could park the car inside but the security had misunderstood. I went into the dealership and they consoled me. Initially, they seemed to be nice until that 3rd service.

The employees who worked on the car left footmarks on the already hard-to-maintain beige fabric seats. When I raised this issue to the dealer, they agreed to clean it, but the job was half done that was the last time I went to the dealership. Another service is due for the car in another 2 weeks, I will update it in another 6 months. This was the case only for me so you guys might have a better or worse experience.

Dealership name: Pressana Kia managed by Pressana Kia group

My rating: 3 out of 10

Optional Extras in my car.

• Chrome door handles.
• Chrome window lines
• DRL chrome protectors
• Floor mats
• Boot mats
• Rear seat headrest pillows

Total estimated to be around 25000.[/b]

Tyres, Ride, and Handling

The tyres in my car were the Apollo Almac 4Gs r16 215/60. The tyre is very good.

The ride is a bit stiff. The SUV-like presence is absent in the Sonet, it feels more like a hatchback but seated high But still big enough to be an SUV.

Engine and Transmission

The engine in my car is the 1.5 CRDi which produces 116 hp and 250 nm torque.

I am already familiar with this engine as I have the (almost)same one in the Creta. Compared to the Creta, the engine feels a bit silent, not as loud as its older, bigger cousin. Acceleration is good, 0-100 in 10.9 seconds. In eco mode, the car feels slower and takes some time to accelerate, but it has helped the fuel economy, the normal mode works best for me, it strikes a balance between acceleration and fuel economy. In sport mode, the car becomes more responsive and the engine starts to roar. The manual mode is also fun to use with the sport mode. The Engine and transmission combo is a match made in heaven. It shifts seamlessly and sometimes, I cannot even hear the gearshifts in the car, it is in this category where the Sonet shines.

Interior, Interior quality, and design

The interior looks so good. Starting with the front, it has an 8-inch touchscreen aligned with the speedometer. The air-con controls are below the touchscreen.

Below that there is storage to keep the phone and there is a fast charger port.

The vents are upright and oval and enhance the overall look of the interior.

As I opted for the HTX variant, which has a dual-tone interior with the colors black and beige. The overall plastic quality is good but I wish it was a bit more sturdier like my creta. Now going to the door, it is one of the highlights of the design. The only thing I do not like about the door is the lock knob, which is black, I wish it followed suit with the handle. The central armrest is the one that bothers me. I wish it was double stitched like the seats but it remains plain. Going to the rear seat, just behind the armrest there are two air-con vents for both of the rear passengers. Just under that, there is a fast charger USB port for the rear passengers and storage space to keep 2 phones. The front seats are finished with leatherette in the borders and fabric which is where you sit. The fabric seats are very plush and good to sit in, just bear in mind that it is very hard to maintain. The rear seats lack the armrest (why Kia?) which is a huge thumbs down. The older ones had an armrest at the rear. The roofline looks good too.

Coming to the interior space, the front seats are spacious enough but the rear seats have a bit of low legroom. But that is it and it is comfortable enough for me in the rear seat. The car originally came with the carpet but I swapped it for waterproof mats which are much more easy to maintain. The rear seat gets 3-point seatbelts.

That is all for the interior.

Interior practicality and boot space

The boot space is 385-390l which is enough to hold 3 large travel bags upright.

Or you can fold the front seats and gain more than double of that. There is a center armrest in which you can store things but it is not air-conditioned. The glove box is also not air-conditioned. You have storage in the doors to store 1 bottle and some other things. You have storage near the front dome light to store your spectacles. There are two medium-sized cup holders to store small-sized bottles and a phone in the middle.

Speakers and Infotainment system:

Unlike the GTX Line, The HTX has an 8-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity, Apple Carplay, and Android Auto. Bluetooth works perfectly fine. I am an Android user as well as iOS. But I mainly use Apple CarPlay. I have noticed several times that it automatically disconnects sometimes while I am driving and it says that my phone is unresponsive. This maybe is because of iOS and Apple will fix it soon so no worries. Unlike the GTX line, the HTX version does not come with Bose speakers meaning less bass but the sound quality is exceptional and you can tune it via settings.

NVH.

Having done 2 road trips in this car, I can confidently say it is not loud inside the cabin at high speeds, but you can hear the tyres at that speed. But overall, the NVH in the car is good.

Driving experience in city and highway.

So far, so good. It is easy to drive the Sonet around the city because of the automatic transmission. It really helps me out in the traffic. The ride is a bit stiff and you can feel the potholes and speed bumps in the car. Driving on the highway is a treat because of the 1.5 diesel paired with the wonderful auto. Acceleration as I said is pretty good for this car and overtakes are somewhat easy unless you are in eco mode.

Air Con and Heater.

I have not tested the heater yet, it is also useless. The Air Con as expected is very good.

Being an automatic air con, it adjusts temperature according to the weather.

That is all for this year, I will see you guys on my next long-term review. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below

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