1.4 T-GDi GT Line S DCT ISG 5dr Auto

Fun, Practical, Reliable, Stands Apart

So far I have owned my proceed for one year having done nearly 5000 miles, and I can say with confidence that it is is a great car to own with only minor concerns which have been quickly resolved.

The Good
1. Pratical and a fun car to drive which sticks to the road and offers decent power for a 1.4 litre 140 bhp engine. Automatic DCT gearbox is very responsive when pulling of at junctions which after road testing against a Mercedes B class, is by far the better choice. I've also found normal gear changes to be very smooth.

2. In terms of value the GT line S is very hard to beat without compromise, considering that most cars spect with a smilier long list of features including safety systems such as lane keep assist, intelligent cruise control which is semi autonomous etc etc and so on, comes to easily over £33000 OTR, I managed to purchase mine for £26,500, great value.

3. Great looking car that stands apart from most on the road.

4. 7 year warranty on the important bits.

The Bad

1. There can be a fair bit of road noise in the car which I do agree with reviews, as well as a fairly firm ride which on some British roads can be a bit jarring. To defend the car however, it is meant to be sporty, with low profile tyres and firm suspension.

2. The Interior Plastic Piano black finish is beautiful to look at but it is a rather bad scratch magnet. It is also so very easy to creat micro scratches on the paint which I have been told is due to kia's tendency to use thin layers of paint and gloss in manufacturing. It is worth noting however that Kia do provide a 10-year warranty on their paints for most issues.

Mechanical issues

1. The Kia did have an annoying rattle at the back of the car near the rear passenger side. The rattle occurred when going over any rough road or speed bumps. It turned out to be a faulty connector bolt for the back bumper. This was quickly repaired when the necessary part was delivered within 2 weeks.

2. Rear middle seat belt light would stay on after ignition for at least 2 minutes without anybody sitting there. This turned out to be part of a car's programming and not a fault, still a bit irritating but can be resolved by clicking in the seatbelt. This deactivates the light on the dash when starting the car.

3. The most serious fault I had was with the forward collision avoidance system, which activated on a clear road with no cars in front of me or pedestrians on the path to the side. This caused the car to break very sharply for 2 seconds from 44mph to 29mph. Apparently the car reacted to to oncoming traffic on the other side of road. Kia found that the radar sensor was slightly misaligned which caused the false activation. Hopefully this is the last time it will occur and it is the first time it has occurred in the whole year I've owned the car.

Overall it is a great car to own with low insurance and at around £40 to refill the tank, the car can achieve 45 miles per gallon, but on average achieves 38, which is not bad for a turbocharged car.

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