They do seem to be quite well regarded in the press, do owners back this up?
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My wife had one for nearly 3 years - a 1.1 LS auto. Great spec. 100% reliable, spacious inside but useless boot. Slow but ok on town stop start and the motorway. Handling and suspension quite good, safe. Interior functional, roomy and comfy. Some plastics look cheap but it's a cheap car. Dealers are a bit thin on the ground and very expensive for servicing.
Worst and only really bad thing was the fuel economy. Kia reckon combined mpg should be 47. We never got over 35 mpg and once got 31mpg from a tank fill. Reading your Forester p/x thread and your desire to find an fuel efficiient motor I'd avoid the Picanto but if you want good value and a car a couple of years younger for the same money as a used Yaris, Jazz then worth a look.
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I did wonder about the economy as I just driven one and it seemed to like kicking down quite alot, presumably there is hardly any torque, still it was quiet at speed and your assessment seems to back up what you say, gearbox is certainly smooth too.
Funny you say dealers are thin on the ground, we have two within 10 miles!
What sort of use do you use the Picanto for? I get the impression it would be quite thirsty around town and in stop start traffic.
Insurance quote reckons on a £900 a year saving over what we pay now which is huge!
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Just a little aside - had our first mpg figures for our Picanto auto, virtually all town driving on 30/40 roads with stop start, usual stuff.
We got 40 mpg which seems about right for exclusive town driving. Will be posting combined figures after our week in Norfolk next week. Will be running over there at 55 mph, we arent in a hurry so should give up some optimum figures.
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I agreed to buy my daughter an economical new car and she test drove all sorts, to her great credit. The only car she could not cope with was the Picanto as she found the clutch uncontrollable. Now, it may have been an abused demonstrator, I just don't know. She ended up with a pre-registered Panda 1.1 Active that has clocked up 27,000 miles without a fault or warranty claim. Still not as economical as her old 900cc Cinquecento but what is apart from a diesel?
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Ours is a 57 ex-demonstrator, bought as a second runabout for my dear wife. At 1300 miles we both love it. Very quiet, "top to top" tankfuls show 43 mpg, but with few long runs. boot is small, but it is a small car- we can get most of the Supermarket shopping in, but it will genuinely give a comfortable ride to three adults. Local Kia Dealer/Depot at Horwich is excellent-so far. nice little car- only wish it were diesel.
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>>What sort of use do you use the Picanto for?
Almost exclusively my wife's commute to work which is 10 miles each way. Journey in to her work is usually early so zero traffic and the way back it's busy. We sometimes use the car to go in to town (3 miles) because you can park it in anything resembling a space. I should think over the time we had it we did maybe half a dozen motorway runs.
I didn't use it much because my wife at 5'6" had the drivers seat set back as far as it would go and me being 6'1" and 50% heavier never fancied doing my 250 mile once a week commute in it.
My wife now has a Fiat 500 1.2 and she's averaging 46mpg on the same run and I've used it a few times on my "commute" and have averaged over 50mpg. Can't see the point of the diesel with those figures and the pump prices.
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>>My wife now has a Fiat 500 1.2 and she's averaging 46mpg on the same run and I've used it a few times on my "commute" and have averaged over 50mpg. Can't see the point of the diesel with those figures and the pump prices.<<
Agreed, my Daihatsu Charade is averaging 55 mpg with a mix of town and local running round the villages which I think is mighty impressive.
Incidentally Ive now done a deal on this Picanto I drove as I was offered the money I wanted and I got £2k back as a chq so smiles all round on my end. Here's hoping its is as good for us as it is for others. Will be testing with with a weeks holiday very soon.
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