Alcohol is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems. “Homer Simpson” hic! cheers!
Alcohol is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems. “Homer Simpson” hic! cheers!
Member since:05.01.2006
Reviews:2
Members who trust:1
Well I've had my Carens from new for nearly 2 years now. In that time I've driven around 24K miles.
So lets begin with the good points. My 1.8SE came with Alloy Wheels, CD Player, Climate Control, Air Bags (front & sides) and Roof Bars. Painted metalic silver and with plenty of chrome finishes it looks pretty good when polished up. Thats a pretty good specification for the price of £12,300 for a mini MPV. Fuel consumption is not what I was promised, but at around 32mpg urban it's not bad for a larger family car. Plenty of room in the boot and a full size spare wheel. The rear view mirror is a bonus in night time driving, deflects the bright lights from the car behind. How it works, I've no idea.
Now the down side. Sorry to say this but although the car was relatively cheap to buy, it's been expensive to maintain. At approx 20K miles it needed a new clutch (£450 if you haggle with the dealer, more if you don't). The clutch is not covered beyond 1K miles in the warranty. Now I've been driving for 35 years and had approx 10 cars, none of which has had clutch failure less than 50K to 60K miles and the dealer insists the wear was down to driving style. (The cheek of it) With 2 services at around £250 each. Three exhaust systems (Covered by the warranty) thats one every 8 months I could'nt recommend Kia to my worst enemy. "Or could I" !!! It does'nt end there, I now suspect the engine management system, on two occasions recently for no apparent reason the engine has accelerated, luckily the car was stationary at the time. Oh and another thing don't apply the brakes too hard on tight corners, they make a terrible noise and judder like hell. Overall it's a pity the car thieves know more about the Kia Carens than I do, with no security systems factory fitted no one has been tempted to steel it. "I wonder why"? You could say I've been unlucky and this is a one off "Monday Morning Car", well I couldn't agree. There's no such thing.
In Summary Kia have had 2 trys at making something of what could have been a very nice car. First time round they improved the looks, but alas it has been to the cost of the performance.
"Kia the thinking mans car" I think not.
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This car WAS on my short list, I even did a test drive. I found the hand brake diffiult to operate, and that together with your review definitely takes if OFF the list. Thanks.
thundersmurf 02.02.2006 18:04
MMm sounds like a bit of a lemon - pity coz they look nice and are good value at first glance - thanks for the heads up!
Advantages: AIr Conditioning, Good load carrying capacity, built in roof bars, power steering, loads of room and air bags. Disadvantages: Had a few teething problems when bought as ex demo model, the high suspension gives some, it tends to lean on bends.
arnoldhenryrufus 12.07.2005 (13.07.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Kia Carens
Advantages: AIr Conditioning, Good load carrying capacity, built in roof bars, power steering, loads of room and air bags. Disadvantages: Had a few teething problems when bought as ex demo model, the high suspension gives some, it tends to lean on bends.
arnoldhenryrufus 12.07.2005 (13.07.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Kia Carens
Advantages: Price won't break the bank, reliable, good looking, large hatchback, economical, quiet, its quite sporty Disadvantages: if you are tall there is not a lot of leg room between the rear and front seats, mine doesn't have air con
arnoldhenryrufus 12.07.2005 (12.07.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Kia Rio 1.3
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Jan 5th, 2006
(Jan 10th, 2006)
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