2011 Kia Ceed Ecodynamics – Long Term Review
Given that I have now sold my Kia Ceed and I have been a high mileage user, I thought it would be good to write a review of the car and provide some of the facts and figures I have collected.
Obviously this is only my opinion.
The Car
My Ceed was registered in Dec 2010 and was a 2011MY vehicle in terms of specification. I bought the car in Jan 2011 from Ken Jervis Kia in Stoke-on-Trent and took delivery on Feb 1st. The car was being used by a salesman before I bought it. I wanted an Ecodynamics with the 2011 spec but was unable to find one immediately available in the UK but as I needed the car by Feb 1st I decided one of the dealers existing vehicles was the best option. The car had 1497 miles on the clock on delivery and was in Phoenix Silver (i.e. dark grey metallic).
When I disposed of the Ceed 26 months later the car had 63,676 miles on the clock.
About me
The car was bought for use in my business travel between UK and France several times a month. Previously I had leased “executive” cars in the £25k-£32k price range but as I was (a) due to take early retirement I wanted a car that I could buy outright; and (b) I wanted a greener car.
After a look at the market a several marques I chose the Kia based on price, equipment, quoted fuel consumption and Europe-wide warranty.
Comfort, Equipment, Trim and Build
The Ecodynamics is slightly higher specification than the “2” but lower specification than the “3”. It had all the things I wanted such as A/C, cruise control, bluetooth, MP3, USB and iPOD integration. The only items fitted to the “3” that I would have liked was the better interior lights. I am ambivalent about the need for Climate control and the lack of rear electric windows had no impact as the rear of the car was rarely used.
In terms of comfort despite many long journeys I found the seats and drivers position very comfortable and despite being prone to back-ache in some other cars I never suffered any problems in the Kia even on trips from France to Edinburgh.
I did find that the “canvas” type seat covering material difficult to keep clean despite it being treated with scotch-guard when new and it was a bit difficult too keep it black but instead it often looked a bit dusty grey.
I hate squeaks and rattles in a car and I am glad to say that the Kia despite having covered £63k miles was free of such problems.
In Car Entertainment
The factory fit stereo has it detractors and while it was not the best sounding unit I have had (that was a 400w, 9 speaker system in a Chrysler 300C) it certainly wasn't the worst (that was a Rover 75) especially for the price range, and with some fiddling with the EQ (setting loudness on, whacking up the bass and rolling-off the treble) it sounded decent enough to live with.
I found the USB MP3 system so easy and convenient I soon dispensed with the iPOD integration as unnecessary. The fact that the system does not have a complex library system (like FIAT's Blue&Me) you cannot do searches by artist etc but I felt this made the system quick and easy to use if you were simply a little organised with naming and structuring the directories. Very occasionally the USB port seemed to hang and displayed a track title without playing. This required the ignition turned off and on to reset but other than that the system was ideal.
The bluetooth system was another matter. As a business user I wanted to make and receive calls in the car. The system on the Ceed is seriously deficient and basically only has the option to receive a call or call the last number. There is no phone directory integration, no voice activation and no ability to use the phones voice activation. I had a better system on a 2004 Rover 75.
Reliability
For me this was one of the cars weaknesses.
I would consider reliability on two levels firstly whether a fault occurs that stops you using the car, or the car actually breaks down, does not start or leaves you stranded and secondly if other none critical faults occur that don't stop you using the car but need repairing.
I am glad to say on the first level the car never let me down and I could always make or complete a journey. Since buying or owning new cars or company cars since circa 1985 only two have broken down leaving me stranded: a Fiat Tempra in 1993 (Head Gasket) and Rover 75 in 2004 (Clutch bearing).
However at the second level considering none critical faults I have had quite a few. These are: Knocking rear suspension at 3k mls, faulty passenger side electric window, faulty cruise control, knocking rear shock absorbers at 55k, faulty front wheel bearing at 60k. These 5 faults have all been repaired under warranty (but not always at the first attempt) requiring in total 9 visits to the dealers. It has been suggested by some on this site that this is reasonable given the mileage, but I disagree and is far worse than that I have experienced with any other cars with similar mileage and similar ages in the last 13 or so years. For example Audi A4 (1), Saab 93 (1), Saab 95 (0), Alfa 166 (0), Rover 75 (1), Mondeo Ghia X (0), Chrysler 300C (0), Jeep (1).
Therefore for me this was not a particularly reliable car which does seem to agree with the 2011 JD Power Survey which suggest the Ceed had slipped badly in terms of customer satisfaction and reliability having moved from 4th in 2010 to 46th in 2011.
Warranty
I was surprised ( I should have checked) to find that although the warranty was 7 years the recovery was only for 1 year.
In terms of the repairs I never had any problem with the work needed being done under warranty. However where the warranty fell down was that it was supposed to be Europe-wide which was important for me. However, when I took the car to a garage in France while the garage was willing to do any work it soon became clear that there was no pan-european logistics for parts and obtaining a part for a RHD car in France took 7 weeks and even simple parts were RHD specific (or at least the part numbers where). Luckily this was to fix a window problem and nothing critical. I tried writing to Kia UK and Kia France both who referred me back to the other. I had intended keeping the car when I retired and registering it in France but given the problems getting simple warranty or service work done and the number of small faults we had experienced we decided to sell it.
Economy
This was a second perceived weakness with the Ceed for me. For why I say it was perceived see section on costs below.
The quoted combined MPG for the Ecodynamics is 67. I know this is partially theoretic, but I do have a light right foot and ever since this method of fuel consumption had been reported I have found that I have achieved a figure close to the quoted number.
During my ownership of the Ceed I have achieved consumption up to 63 MPG and as low as 52 MPG. Over the 62,179 miles I have done I have averaged 57 MPG. I feel this is quite a variation (circa 15%). It would seem that dissatisfaction with fuel consumption is much more common on the Ceed forum than other car forums I visit (in fact on the Fiat 500 forum the main discussion seems to be how much better consumption people are obtaining above the quoted figure, similar for the Jeep Patriot CRDi).
While 57 MPG is not bad I have had bigger and larger engined cars that have achieved 55MPG (Rover 75 and Mondeo GHIA X both 2.0 and more powerful with between 130 and 136ps) and I therefore expected better of the smaller “Eco” Kia.
I am not sure how effective ISG is in terms of fuel economy unless you travel at rush hour through a city like Edinburgh or Manchester (when 4 miles can take an hour) it still does in my opinion have the environmental benefits of stopping fumes and noise when stuck in traffic jams. However having driven several cars with stop/start or similar the Kia Ceed version is the best I have tried. It is fast to stop and start and hardly ever gets confused and so I felt very confident using it.
Costs
Difference Between Purchase and Sale Price = £7495
Service Costs = £590
Breakdown Cover = £130 (£60pa)
None Service Items = £38 (Bulbs and cabin pollen filter)
Tyres = £ 291 (Two due to wear and one unrepairable puncture).
Insurance = £617 (£285 pa)
Fuel = 4098 litres = £7166 (at today's prices)
VED= £44 (£20pa)
Total = £16,371 while equals 26.3p per mile or £629 per month.
According to the AA the running cost for a Diesel car costing under £16k at this mileage should be 28.98p per mile.
Despite the fuel economy concerns, this overall cost shows there is a good financial argument for the Kia Ceed.
Given that I have now sold my Kia Ceed and I have been a high mileage user, I thought it would be good to write a review of the car and provide some of the facts and figures I have collected.
Obviously this is only my opinion.
The Car
My Ceed was registered in Dec 2010 and was a 2011MY vehicle in terms of specification. I bought the car in Jan 2011 from Ken Jervis Kia in Stoke-on-Trent and took delivery on Feb 1st. The car was being used by a salesman before I bought it. I wanted an Ecodynamics with the 2011 spec but was unable to find one immediately available in the UK but as I needed the car by Feb 1st I decided one of the dealers existing vehicles was the best option. The car had 1497 miles on the clock on delivery and was in Phoenix Silver (i.e. dark grey metallic).
When I disposed of the Ceed 26 months later the car had 63,676 miles on the clock.
About me
The car was bought for use in my business travel between UK and France several times a month. Previously I had leased “executive” cars in the £25k-£32k price range but as I was (a) due to take early retirement I wanted a car that I could buy outright; and (b) I wanted a greener car.
After a look at the market a several marques I chose the Kia based on price, equipment, quoted fuel consumption and Europe-wide warranty.
Comfort, Equipment, Trim and Build
The Ecodynamics is slightly higher specification than the “2” but lower specification than the “3”. It had all the things I wanted such as A/C, cruise control, bluetooth, MP3, USB and iPOD integration. The only items fitted to the “3” that I would have liked was the better interior lights. I am ambivalent about the need for Climate control and the lack of rear electric windows had no impact as the rear of the car was rarely used.
In terms of comfort despite many long journeys I found the seats and drivers position very comfortable and despite being prone to back-ache in some other cars I never suffered any problems in the Kia even on trips from France to Edinburgh.
I did find that the “canvas” type seat covering material difficult to keep clean despite it being treated with scotch-guard when new and it was a bit difficult too keep it black but instead it often looked a bit dusty grey.
I hate squeaks and rattles in a car and I am glad to say that the Kia despite having covered £63k miles was free of such problems.
In Car Entertainment
The factory fit stereo has it detractors and while it was not the best sounding unit I have had (that was a 400w, 9 speaker system in a Chrysler 300C) it certainly wasn't the worst (that was a Rover 75) especially for the price range, and with some fiddling with the EQ (setting loudness on, whacking up the bass and rolling-off the treble) it sounded decent enough to live with.
I found the USB MP3 system so easy and convenient I soon dispensed with the iPOD integration as unnecessary. The fact that the system does not have a complex library system (like FIAT's Blue&Me) you cannot do searches by artist etc but I felt this made the system quick and easy to use if you were simply a little organised with naming and structuring the directories. Very occasionally the USB port seemed to hang and displayed a track title without playing. This required the ignition turned off and on to reset but other than that the system was ideal.
The bluetooth system was another matter. As a business user I wanted to make and receive calls in the car. The system on the Ceed is seriously deficient and basically only has the option to receive a call or call the last number. There is no phone directory integration, no voice activation and no ability to use the phones voice activation. I had a better system on a 2004 Rover 75.
Reliability
For me this was one of the cars weaknesses.
I would consider reliability on two levels firstly whether a fault occurs that stops you using the car, or the car actually breaks down, does not start or leaves you stranded and secondly if other none critical faults occur that don't stop you using the car but need repairing.
I am glad to say on the first level the car never let me down and I could always make or complete a journey. Since buying or owning new cars or company cars since circa 1985 only two have broken down leaving me stranded: a Fiat Tempra in 1993 (Head Gasket) and Rover 75 in 2004 (Clutch bearing).
However at the second level considering none critical faults I have had quite a few. These are: Knocking rear suspension at 3k mls, faulty passenger side electric window, faulty cruise control, knocking rear shock absorbers at 55k, faulty front wheel bearing at 60k. These 5 faults have all been repaired under warranty (but not always at the first attempt) requiring in total 9 visits to the dealers. It has been suggested by some on this site that this is reasonable given the mileage, but I disagree and is far worse than that I have experienced with any other cars with similar mileage and similar ages in the last 13 or so years. For example Audi A4 (1), Saab 93 (1), Saab 95 (0), Alfa 166 (0), Rover 75 (1), Mondeo Ghia X (0), Chrysler 300C (0), Jeep (1).
Therefore for me this was not a particularly reliable car which does seem to agree with the 2011 JD Power Survey which suggest the Ceed had slipped badly in terms of customer satisfaction and reliability having moved from 4th in 2010 to 46th in 2011.
Warranty
I was surprised ( I should have checked) to find that although the warranty was 7 years the recovery was only for 1 year.
In terms of the repairs I never had any problem with the work needed being done under warranty. However where the warranty fell down was that it was supposed to be Europe-wide which was important for me. However, when I took the car to a garage in France while the garage was willing to do any work it soon became clear that there was no pan-european logistics for parts and obtaining a part for a RHD car in France took 7 weeks and even simple parts were RHD specific (or at least the part numbers where). Luckily this was to fix a window problem and nothing critical. I tried writing to Kia UK and Kia France both who referred me back to the other. I had intended keeping the car when I retired and registering it in France but given the problems getting simple warranty or service work done and the number of small faults we had experienced we decided to sell it.
Economy
This was a second perceived weakness with the Ceed for me. For why I say it was perceived see section on costs below.
The quoted combined MPG for the Ecodynamics is 67. I know this is partially theoretic, but I do have a light right foot and ever since this method of fuel consumption had been reported I have found that I have achieved a figure close to the quoted number.
During my ownership of the Ceed I have achieved consumption up to 63 MPG and as low as 52 MPG. Over the 62,179 miles I have done I have averaged 57 MPG. I feel this is quite a variation (circa 15%). It would seem that dissatisfaction with fuel consumption is much more common on the Ceed forum than other car forums I visit (in fact on the Fiat 500 forum the main discussion seems to be how much better consumption people are obtaining above the quoted figure, similar for the Jeep Patriot CRDi).
While 57 MPG is not bad I have had bigger and larger engined cars that have achieved 55MPG (Rover 75 and Mondeo GHIA X both 2.0 and more powerful with between 130 and 136ps) and I therefore expected better of the smaller “Eco” Kia.
I am not sure how effective ISG is in terms of fuel economy unless you travel at rush hour through a city like Edinburgh or Manchester (when 4 miles can take an hour) it still does in my opinion have the environmental benefits of stopping fumes and noise when stuck in traffic jams. However having driven several cars with stop/start or similar the Kia Ceed version is the best I have tried. It is fast to stop and start and hardly ever gets confused and so I felt very confident using it.
Costs
Difference Between Purchase and Sale Price = £7495
Service Costs = £590
Breakdown Cover = £130 (£60pa)
None Service Items = £38 (Bulbs and cabin pollen filter)
Tyres = £ 291 (Two due to wear and one unrepairable puncture).
Insurance = £617 (£285 pa)
Fuel = 4098 litres = £7166 (at today's prices)
VED= £44 (£20pa)
Total = £16,371 while equals 26.3p per mile or £629 per month.
According to the AA the running cost for a Diesel car costing under £16k at this mileage should be 28.98p per mile.
Despite the fuel economy concerns, this overall cost shows there is a good financial argument for the Kia Ceed.