I am on the verge of buying a new ceed 1.4 SR-7. I have managed to get a really good trade in value/discount, so the cost to change from my 2004 Vectra is about £6700.
I have trawled the web and various forums and have found that there could be a number of issues out there such as weak air con, high levels of road noise (test driving tomorrow), rattles and creaks from the dashboard (a pet hate of mine) and dealers not honoring the 7 year warranty.
I would like to ask the Backroomers their vierws on thism, and in particular if there are any ceed owners out there who can share their ownersihip experiences, particularly in relation to the 1.4. Info around ownership experiences, relability, running costs, fuel economy etc would be really helpful
Thank you in advance!
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I have a new 1.4SR-7 on order, when i test drove their demonstrator i couldn't detect any rattles or creaks from the dashboard or anywhere else and road noise wasn't really noticable even at 70mph, and it was certainly a lot quieter than a current model Focus !
Obviously i cant comment on the aircon or warranty - yet !
To be honest i think if you search the net about any car you could easily be put off buying anything !
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The Hyundai equivalent, i30, seems to be of much higher quality. It is only covered for 5 years but for unlimited mileage. The 3-year beakdown cover is full service - I don't know about the C'eed. The engine does however start to get a bit noisy above 65 m.p.h. After 9000 miles, I still find the gear change notchy (a professional driving instructor did not) and reverse engagement rather imprecise. Mpg to date is 43.
As always, a long, unaccompanied test drive in each is needed. The Kia salesman responded very rudely to my request (I did not complain to his manager but others may have, since he got the sack soon after). The Hyundai salesman gave me a full day and a full tank of fuel, sending me off with "Take a good long time". Clearly, his approach worked in my case.
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I cant vouch for Kia, but Hyundai ( which is same company as Kia ) are extremely willing on warranty claims - we just had a PAS pipe replaced at 40k with no quibble.
If its not a service item, due to wear and tear or has been damaged, they will replace it, simple as.
I would personally be drawn more to the Hyundai myself.
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I had a look at the Cee'd estate when we were looking for a Motability car, it actually worked out cheaper than the Roomie, but I was actually put off by the very cheap interior...
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Yes, you won't like it if you are a "toucher" of dashboards, because there are some hard plastics there; but the bits that count, such as the steering wheel and gearshift, are fine. The materials used generally are more hardwearing and better fitted than my previous Mk V Golf.
The ride if firm, and stay away from 17" wheels on UK roads (just about acceptable on EU-taxpayer funded roads ;-)). Getting 37+mpg with the 2.0 petrol auto.
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Mmmmmmmmmm
Hard plastic dashboard, I dont think so
Lots of road noise, not experianced yet
Rattles and noises - none
Climate control works well, takes about 5 minutes to adjust to the correct temp, can live with that.
Not aware of any dealers not honouring the 7 year warranty, I am very active on the Kia forum, so feel I can comment.
I looked at both Hyundai and Kia and did not see any quality differances between them, for me the Kia looked the better car.
Our neighber has a BMW and new Volvo, he often comments that the car looks good and is built well. He will change to Kia next time.
At the end of the day its each to their own, as someone said if you look on the net long enough you would not buy any car.
Regards
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It wasn't just "hard-looking" dashboard that put me off, it was the general feeling of cheapness... the plastics were smooth and shiney and it didn't "feel" solid, whereas other cars I looked at had different and better looking (and feeling) surfaces... amongst other things.
We have to live with the car for three years and I felt we couldn't... so far the Roomie has been a pleasant and practical choice.
I have no complaints against the Cee'd as such, after all its built to a price, but it wasn't the car for us...
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It wasn't just "hard-looking" dashboard that put me off it was the general feeling of cheapness...
The Ceed doesn't have a hard dashboard so to speak, most of it is soft with extra bits in a harder plastic, its the same with many cars. Things like the door handles are a slight letdown but the build quality is more solid than the the last Toyota Corolla where they got much of the design from.
If the the Cee'd wasn't so traditional and a bit more MPV like I'd buy one. The US Forte version is much better looking IMHO, but then again so is the US Civic. The Ceed is the right styling for the customers its aimed at, mostly last generation Civic and Corolla buyers who have been abandoned by these model designs now.
Edited by carl_a on 28/03/2009 at 22:08
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A well known consumer magazine publication (please don't ask which one) rates the Cee'd very highly and on a par with European equivalents for the most part.
Add an excellent warranty and it appears to be a sound buy providing the initial price paid is OK.
I've never driven one, but there are one or two used to visit people down my road and the vehicles seem to be well put together.
I did used to drive a Kia Pride on occasions (a Mazda 121 design if I remember correctly) and that offered good value at the time.
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my road and the vehicles seem to be well put together.
Get underneath one and they are very well put together.
The underbody is well protected, fuel and brake lines are routed through a very tough plastic trunking, and all suspension parts were painted as i recall.
Both petrol and diesel engines were willing and torquey, clutch and gears felt good and the cars are pleasant to drive.
My sons best friend has 2, they bought a petrol hatch for themselves and he's so pleased with it, he ordered a diesel estate for his company car, both are running well and they are delighted with them.
If i wanted a mainstream replacement car, i would certainly have one, but would consider the Hyundai instead if my mileage would go over 100K in the 5 years.
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I've had another look at the comments about the Cee'd in the magazine I mentioned earlier.
It states that at the price you wouldn't expect a great deal when behind the wheel, but in fact it's "seriously impressive, well built, spacious and comfortable."
The Cee'd handles in a safe and predictable manner and is even "quite good fun" on the twisty bits.
It rates the same four stars as many of the top marques also featured in the particular class.
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I often hear the "it's built to a price" argument. This is a red herring, all cars and other consumer product are all "built to a price" otherwise business would not function. OK it might be a high or low price, but a Roller is still built to a price. ( mild rant mode off )
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The acres of grey plastic in my brother's Ceed didn't look so different to the acres of grey plastic in a mate's BMW 320d.
The marketing hype? Ah, that's poles apart and many people fall for it.
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I agree - market hype is evil. Perhaps journalists say nicer things about the big guys 'cos their corportae party launches are better? Just driven Golf, Passat, Jag X, Audi A4, BMW 320, C5, Mondeo and Merc C 220. - All pretty similar - but the qulaity of the Merc was excellent. I agree BMW plastic = Ford = A4= Citroen plastic
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All this stuff about plastics quality - hard black plastic wears better - all those soft touch surfaces often wear down very quickly so two years from new you get a very tatty interior.
I talk as someone who is inside 'quality cars' all day long - there really isnt that much difference between different cars - the current Mini is really quite nasty compared to the first incarnation which had far nicer finish so progress is also not a given.
I really wouldnt take much notice of this hard plastic talk - you get it in almost every car under £50k and in many well above that.
Just buy the car you want and to hell with the focus group on interior quality.
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Its what you as an individual feel right with... the Cee'd estate was the same "upfront payment" as the Roomie when we were looking to choose our next car, the room inside was similar, and the Cee'ds rear space and folding seats was better than others we looked at... but the Roomie DID feel better put together... strangely the Roome actually feels "cheaper" than the Fabia though!
I'm not knocking the Cee'd, its a lot of car for the money, just that I was in quite a rare situation in that I could choose either and didn't have to worry about resale value, etc., so it was purely down to how I felt about the cars, and I prefered the Skoda...
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I have had my Ceed for 24 hours now and first impressions are very good, it seems to be very well put together no rattles or squeeks and in reply to the op's question, the aircon is definately not weak.
Edited by andyp on 03/04/2009 at 22:15
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Just to add a bit more
Our area has just had a new dealer. Ex Peugeot Dealer
Went into today and spoke to the sales manager, he was truly infused about the Kia product.
He confirmed that kia warranty claim was rather small compared to Peugeots and that he was more than surprised with the quality of the product.
So there we are, another Kia convert.
Nick
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