Upgraded to a Seltos GTX plus DCT from a Tata Altroz diesel

I have driven close to 8500kms (70%highways and 30% city) in a span of 10 months in different conditions and loved the way it drives and handles.

BHPian resolute_scout recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone, my team-bhp membership got approved recently, hence sharing my experience with Seltos GTX plus DCT (Imperial Blue).

Took delivery of Seltos in September 2023 from Automotive Kia in Hyderabad (Kondapur). It was delivered within a month of booking and my experience from booking till delivery of vehicle has been exceptional. SA did not force me to get insurance from them nor for unnecessary accessories and were fine if I get insurance on my own. But I negotiated and got 21K discount on the insurance provided by them.

I had Tata Altroz 1.5L diesel manual prior to Seltos, which I drove for 2 years and below are my personal reasons for selling it:

1. Clutch pedal travel is long and it’s a bit stiff/hard. It has become a nightmare to drive it in stop-go city traffic.
2. Driver and front passenger seats are a bit narrow and lack under thigh support and moreover on the softer side which were causing back pain for me.
3. Few quality issues like rattling when driven at particular speed/rpm, wind noise seeping in when driven beyond 90kmph etc. Also, my experience with Tata service was not so good as they do not fix any issue we mention during the service.
4. DPF – encountered infamous DPF issue twice though I mostly used it for highway drives.

I wanted to get an automatic car since driving a manual in city like Bengaluru/Hyderabad (where I drive it mostly) is very tiring.

Cars considered:

Disclaimer: Below are my personal opinions. I believe every product is good in its own way and must be chosen based on one’s own requirements.

I made up my mind to not buy a Diesel car in future (may be because of infamous DPF issues) and was looking for a turbo petrol as most of my driving is on highways. Also, I was inclined towards SUV as my previous one was a hatchback.

Hyundai Creta:

Was planning to buy Creta (July 2023), but turbo petrol 1.4L was discontinued and facelift launch was nowhere near. Hence, I had to drop it.

Skoda Kushaq:

Kushaq was my first choice especially Monte Carlo edition. Though I was planning for 1.5L DSG, I took test drive of 1.0L TC as many people mentioned that 1L engine is powerful enough, but could not go ahead with it due to reasons below:

1. 1.0L engine being a 3-cylinder had noticeable vibrations and normal mode felt a bit lethargic (It was good in sports mode though).
2. For the price it is being sold, it lacked many features which are a deal breaker for me like - electrically adjustable seats (added in Sep/Oct ‘23 I believe), decent reverse parking camera etc. to name a few.
3. Default seating position is too low, something like that of a hatchback.

Due to reason-2 I did not take test drive for 1.5 DSG

VW Taigun:

Visited VW showroom twice and could not get my hands on it and SA were least bothered to arrange a test drive. So, dropped it from my list. However, Taigun’s interiors were more appealing to me than Kushaq’s.

I was also considering XUV700(AX7L) but could not pursue it due to longer waiting periods, bigger size and it was beyond my budget.

Did not consider Suzuki Grand Vitara/ Honda Elevate as they don’t offer turbo petrol option.

Kia Seltos:

Meanwhile, Seltos facelift was launched with 1.5L turbo and ADAS suite. Went to showroom (Epitome Kia - Whitefield) to check the car as it satisfies my requirements. Though I watched lot of videos online, it looked very good in person and interiors were well sorted. Took a short test drive of the 1.5 turbo DCT and it was so smooth and refined. Could not try out any ADAS features as it was short TD.

We finalized Seltos as our next car as my wife also liked it. I was more inclined towards X-line as it looks fabulous in Matt finish and sage green interiors were icing on the cake. But chose to go with GTX Plus (Imperial Blue) as maintenance of Matt paint is a deal breaker for me. I inquired about the waiting period for GTX plus in few showrooms in Bengaluru and it was a minimum 3 months.

Booking and Delivery:

I was in Hyderabad after a week and visited Automative Kia in Hyderabad to inquire about the timelines for delivery as 3 months seemed too long for me to wait. They agreed to deliver it in 1 month. I took TD one more time and was able to experience all 3 driving modes (Eco, Normal and Sport) and it had enough power even in Eco mode and I was overall happy with the performance, comfort and other aspects of it. I paid the booking amount and was eagerly waiting for my new car.

I sold my Altroz through Cars24 as I got a better deal from it compared to exchange in Kia Showroom and Spinny. I drove around 16k Kms in 2 years and apart from the issues I mentioned above, it served me well.

Got a call from SA after 15 days that car reached their stockyard. I did PDI thoroughly and took my own time to check everything and SA was very supportive throughout the process.

Delivery experience was smooth. As mentioned above I got a discount of 21K on the insurance. I opted for “My Convenience Plus” package for 5 years which covers pre-paid maintenance, Extended Warranty and RSA for 4th, 5th year as I found it to be VFM. I also bought few accessories like floor mats, boot mat, body cover, door visors and door edge protectors from Kia.

My experience so far…:

I have driven close to 8500kms (70%highways and 30% city) in a span of 10 months in different conditions and loved the way it drives and handles. I mostly drive it in 100-115 kmph range on highways and it is quite stable, super silent and extremely comfortable at those speeds.

Things I liked:

1. Cabin feels well organized and premium. Ergonomics are well sorted as well. I love the dynamic wallpaper on the instrument cluster which changes based on the time of the day and weather conditions.
2. AC works well and I generally keep it at 24 (rarely at 23) and it is sufficient to keep the cabin cool even on a sunny day. Ventilated seats are a boon in summers and not a gimmick.
3. Auto-hold is very useful and convenient in stop-go city traffic. Cannot imagine driving without this.
4. Camera quality is very good and 360-degree camera is by far the most useful feature as it helped in many situations when the parking spaces are too tight.
5. Seats are very comfortable (compared to Altroz) and even under-thigh part can be adjusted with electric adjustments.
6. ADAS features are very useful in highways - Adaptive cruise control and Lane keep assist combo works flawlessly and I use it almost every time I drive on highways.
7. Engine/transmission: 1.5L turbo petrol with DCT is absolute fun to drive. In Eco/Normal mode it is super smooth and gear changes are hardly felt. I only felt jerks couple of times in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Normal mode. I feel ECO mode is best for city driving. Power delivery and pick up are awesome and not much to complain about turbo lag as it is well contained, and I find the initial pick up more than adequate.
8. Ride/Handling: Many people complain about the stiff suspension of seltos, I never drove a pre-facelift one, but I find the ride to be subtle. Steering is light and weighs up perfectly on high speeds and feedback is great (Altroz steering was too heavy).
9. Panoramic sunroof: Though I am not a fan of sunroof, it feels good to have one as I try to keep the curtain open at nights or when it is cloudy (so that the cabin does not get heated up).

Not so good things:

1. Headlights could have been better as I find them just adequate.
2. Dashboard speaker reflection on windshield is a very big problem for me. Had to use polarized sunglasses.
3. Missing wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (for 10.25 infotainment) at this price point. Though I don’t have any problem using wired connection.
4. Driver drowsiness detection warning is annoying. As per my experience it is getting activated when there are jittery movements in the steering wheel due to sudden undulations on the road. On bad roads it shows up more often and I did not find any option to deactivate it.
5. Rear AC is not effective as my wife complained about it few times.
6. Wiper blades look very cheap. They should have provided frameless ones or at least a better-quality one.
7. This might be a nitpick – though cabin feel premium, there are hard plastics in few areas which does not go well.
8. Front passenger seat should also have electric adjustment at this price point.

Overall, I am very happy with the purchase and looking forward to many more miles with this badass.

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