As the owner of a used rio ,i can confirm only somebody on the motorbility scheme would " buy" one brand new. 2 years old ,under 15k miles and 40% off list price is were the smart money goes.

With a Kia you don’t buy new. You get it a year or two old and still have a 5-6 year warranty for a lot less.

Yes! The Picanto GT Line is awesome. I've driven a tonne of "warm hatches" over the years and that little car is as chuckable as they come. Far less wooden than an UP! Kia and Hyundai (worth a mention as they're part of the same group) have come a long way. For me, they are filling the gap Mitsubishi have left in the market... And my heart 😜.

Wouldn't swap my Kia Stinger for anything else. Such a great and amazing car

23k for a Ceed 1.5 looks a lot better than 27k for the entry level 1.0 Golf! I bought an 18 month old Xceed 4 last summer and love it. The extra height is useful when you are getting on a bit, and the boot is a bit bigger than the Ceed. Like you, though, I still don't always feed in the clutch perfectly. Not had any issues with the brakes, though.

I’ve just got a ProCeed GT Line and I do like it. The engine is a gem, fast enough for daily use and I got 55mpg on a round trip to York. There is a well known issue with poor throttle mapping at low speeds on the 1.5T, mine is the same as you described in the video- only aspect I don’t like really.

I would definitely say that finding a Kia dealer that works helps. My local dealer is brilliant, took my Optima for it's service and told them about the DCT juddering (a very common fault with this transmission!!!!!!) and they rebooted the car in, gave me loan car for a couple days while they diagnosed the fault, told me that yes there was a fault within the gearbox which needed stripping down to sort. Rebooked the car in a month later, gave my another car for a week and fixed the issue under warranty. It's booked in again for it's 7th service end of January. I know from Kia forums (both Optima and general Kia owners) that dealers can vary massively with them either say yes fault are present on the car and sorting or saying that there is no fault or it passes their test parameters leaving owners either stuck with a fault or having to go to another dealer to get them to have look and possibly/ hopefully get the issue rectified. All in all can't fault Brayley Enfield. Might help I'm a mechanic but I doubt it!! 😂😂

Whilst there is no denying that Kia have come a long way since their early bargain based models, the latest prices make them a bit too pricey to buy brand new. As said by others, buy a nearly new one or wait for the car market to offer better prices, used car prices are at last falling due to less demand. As for Dacia the interior quality is for me a bit too cheap and nasty, so if i had to make a choice, i wouldn't buy either, i would be looking at the Japanese brands.

One of my colleagues at work has a Kia Sorento. When it was still in its warranty it developed a fault with one of the headlights. Not only did his dealer replace the whole headlight under warranty, but they replaced the other one too! I'm not sure how many other dealer networks would go to those lengths to satisfy a customer, maybe Lexus? Still I found that very impressive.

I have a 2013 Kia Ceed estate, 1.4 diesel engine and I can say it’s the best car I have ever had. I got it when it was a year old and 10 years later I am still driving it. The economy from the engine is fantastic and I’ve no intention of changing it anytime soon. Now approaching 140,000 miles and I don’t see why the car won’t top 200,000 miles.

Got my Hyundai i20 in 2016 and it has now done 60.000 miles. Tires replaced, bycicle-cheap maintenance, never a single issue. 45 mpg from an NA 1.2 liter. Never a stutter, werid noise or delayed start-up. "Everything you need and nothing you don't need" Could not be happier!

Nice video - but I’d have been interested to also know what the ceed is like vs competitors at the same price point.

So here in Japan, a top spec. Corolla Sport hybrid hatchback is 2.9million JPY. The yen is weak at 180/£, however even at a more reasonable 150/£ that’s only about £19,000. At today’s rate it’s only a few hundred quid more than the Dacia…. WTF

Kia, I too was taken in by the seven year warranty and good reviews. In August 2022 purchased a new Kia Niro HEV4. Cutting a very long and arduous story short, after one month it developed faults, two attempts by Kia to fix the gearbox failed and I rejected the car. An independent inspection confirmed it was faulty but Kia and Kia Finance refused to accept their own inspection results. Had to resort to the Financial Ombudsman and, finally in September 2023 I got my money back plus compensation. Kia Motors customer service is appalling, my view of Kia Finance (Santander) is unprintable. Seven year warranty - read the small print and you’ll see all the exclusions! Buyer beware 9f this brand.

While I ubderstand Dacia's no frills, cheap motoring philosophy, i cannot for the life of me figure out why they do no give the opportunity of higher spec and better overall finish and quality such as leather interior, decent alloys, trim levels, etc. and let the buyer decide if they want to pay more to have them. I know of so many people that are put off by those reasons............ great review and love the channel

The subtitles say the Kia has a 62000 rpm redline. 😂 That is a spirited little runner.

I bought an '08 Pro_Cee'd (brilliant spelling they came up with in 07...) 1.6 half a year ago. Brilliant car. It's roomy, comfortable, and the 1.6 puts out 127bhp, which makes it nippy although not fast. The fact you don't see a lot of these three-door OG Pro_Cee'ds around also gives it a certain rare 'cool-factor', in my opinion. Although the pre-facelift front end looks a bit dated, the rest of the car I think looks brilliant.

13:35 Dacia actually released the Spring, a small EV made for the city. At launch they were around 22-25k euros, but now they're sitting at around 14k new. It doesnt offer much, but it's going to be great value once it gets cheaper with time

Excellent video James and a great job on boaty and mustard lunch video 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏⭐️

I have the GT Line variant of this car and, all in all, am happy with how it drives, the fuel economy and the excellent standard kit. Like James, i too find the car difficult getting it off the line and it's so easy to stall. It seems to need an excessive amount of revs to avoid stalling. Never had a car that was so bad in this regard. I think it might be an emissions issue, or to assist fuel economy. All in all this is a good car and better than you might think.

Although a bit smaller I think that the Suzuki Swift is a great car for the money including Suzuki reliability. (BTW I don't work for Suzuki!) but think the Swift is very good value.

I don't care what Kia wanted or intended their new logo says KN and there is nothing they or others can say to change my mind. As a result I will call them KN as long as they use that logo

aren't Dacia sold through Renault dealers? If so they may be closer than you think.

158bhp in an econobox is crazy shit. Maybe I'm still stuck in the 90s but that's SW20mk2 territory???? WTF?

Some new kias have a headlight assembly that when a bulb goes you cant change the individual bulb you have to buy a whole new unit for around £1000.

I think Dacia dealers are joined with Renault as I noticed at my Renault Dealer they also had Dacia attached to the showroom.

The picanto is a great car indeed, a mate of mine had one for a while and it was a blast to drive it. Especially with the hooligan flap he had mounted in the exhaust!

I live in Korea, i bought a Genesis GV70 (a division of Kia/ Hyundai/mobis) last year and I love it. I heard that the Genesis' are becoming available in the UK now?

Although Kia and its sister brand Hyundai were good value priced vehicles in Australia, the prices have increased to a point where they are no longer a value purchase. I have noticed that they have also removed some of the equipment which was available on the previous generations. They have made it that you need to go up model to regain those items. I write having owned both a Kia Rio, Kia Sorrento, (my wife has a Kia Picante (read Morning in other countries) and a Hyundai I30.

Hi Jay, could you include the KW along with the BHP? Would be much appreciated from a South African viewer / follower.

James, I recon there are more people that wear steel cap boots than those that heel and toe. We’re glad of the extra room !

Didn't the Sandero used to be 5995?

I remember a time when you couldn't give a used Kia away at any price How times have changed

Please correct me if im wrong butbi seem to remember video where you had teamed up with kia for some sort of relationship, i want to say ambassador bit i think that might be overstating it. For clarity, isb his still the case? Cheers

For some people it doesn't matter; They return their car every 3 yesrs when the lease end. If not get a Toyota/Lexus/Honda/Acura...

My mom has a 2020 Ceed, 1.6 n/a, auto. Apart from the looks, i think it's an excellent car for the money. I agree with everything said in this video, from the touchy brakes, to the interior trim feel. Driving wise, the only "issue" about it is that it feels as if the car is reluctant to be driven hard - the power steering is set up such that it does not seem to kick in at speed, so you feel like you're about to understeer or something, while it actually has tons of grip. The ESP is set very well too, it has got me out of a pickle a couple of times. And it is not a great long distance cruiser, does make you tired after a few hours (unlike the old rwd volvos which i've been driving for over a decade). What i do see as a potential problem is that she had a previous gen ceeed with the same powertrain before that, and the box started kicking on downshifting into 2nd after about 60K Km. In this current one i've changed the ATF at 40Kkm just in case, so we shall see what happens.

Well, lets have a chat about that Kia 7 year warranty. We went to buy a 13 month old Kia Picanto GT line, that had its 1st service done by Kwik Fit. The owners were pensioners who lived in the borders of Scotland, and the nearest Kia dealership was 45 miles away, and the Kiwk Fit was on their doorstep. Wary of the horror stories theyd heard about Kia warranties, they got Kwik Fit to mark in the service book "carried out to manufacturers specification". But, before we bought it, I called my local dealership, and asked if that voided the warranty. They said that if there was no invoice showing the Kia parts used along with part numbers, including the oil viscosity used etc, then they would NOT cover ANY future warranty claim on any engine related issue. I said it was an actual service carried out by a well known franchise, but nope.. Thinking they were over reacting, I called Kia Customer Service UK, and was told the exact same thing - for every non dealership service they would require an invoice detailing all Kia parts used - and they could not be OEM, but had to be Kia parts. A 13 month old car with no engine warranty. So, when the small print says you do not need to use a main dealer for servicing, and that any VAT registered garage can do so, beware.... Thanks Kia - we bought a Corsa instead.

When DadCars had a Picanto GT I was genuinely impressed with it as a old-school 'warm hatch' and I do kind of want one despite not needing a city car. Kia have generally really nailed the sharp, distinctive modern styling while still resisting the urge to make the things ugly as heck. I suspect Kia's will age very well in terms of looks (Unlike a certain Bravarian company who seem hellbent on making it's cars so ugly it makes people literally sick).

The Dacia Logan would make for a better comparison. It's a shame they didn't keep the 1.4 and 1.6 MPI options for the newer sandero, those engines were quite good

bought a 2019 k4 ceed for 20k euros. only 1l engine though, but its fine for how i drive it. the touchscreen developed bubbles unfortunately and thats, of course, not covered by the warranty... also drove a 2022 dacia sandero. it was alright i guess. but everything on the ceed is simply nicer. the stalk that sticks out for volume adjustment on the steering is bizarre to say the least.

ty 🙏🙏

The Ceed would look really good in a 3door hatch configuration

I'm on my 3rd Cee'd, I've always bought one under a year old and got used approved, they've been absolutely perfect, I've kept the 2017 one since there was nothing really that interested me when my deal ran out,and especially with prices going through the roof .

even the basic i10 ( which I think is a good looking car ) is fifteen and a half thousand !! There are no cheap new cars any more they are forcing those wanting new to lease not buy thus controlling a supply of low mileage one owner 3 year old cars down the line. I'd have the Dacia - on a 2016 to 19 plate 2nd hand with a reasonable mileage 0.9 turbo or 1.2 petrol and save loads of money.

I searched "Kia engine problems" and the response was less than spectacular.

The Dacia Jogger is the estate version of the Sandero which is 7 seater as well.

I witnessed a fairly low-speed crash between a Vauxhall Corsa and a Dacia Sandero a few weeks ago. It was almost squarely head-on, yet the Corsa could be driven on to the low-loader, while the Sandero was totally wrecked! Even the rear quarter panel was creased. Two ambulances were needed for the Sanderu's occupants; the driver was alone in the Corsa and rang a taxi. On that basis alone, I'd avoid a Dacia at all cost!

Last I've checked (October I think), Skoda Scala and Kamiq could be had for a really reasonable price, in fact not much more than a Dacia Logan and less than a semi-decent Duster. We don't get the base Sandero over here.

Think I'd hold off buying now. The arse is falling out the used market and manufacturers are going to need to rethink new prices. Add to that the new Renault 5 coming in sub 20 and KIA especially, will find themselves a bit out at sea at this price point.

For me, the deal breaker would be a 4 cylinder engine. I can not cope with the shake of 3 cylinder.

I had a Stinger but didn't use it often at all due to using motorbike for work etc, I decided to chop it in at my local Kia dealer. I chose a this Ceed 2 and money in the bank for me, no regrets as this Ceed does everything I want it to do in comfort with a quality feel and the tech I need and use. The dynamics of the vehicle would surprise you and in the real world it the engine is perfectly adequate and remember the 7 year warranty is such peace of mind to. You can't get wireless Android Auto on cars which cost over three times the amount.... remember that. 😉

It makes VW seem tight on warranty. Kia have shown faith in their cars

Kia/Hyundai make some good products but the issue I have with them, is the platforms are just tweaked platforms from 10 years ago, which were just revamped from the 00's. The cars just don't have that refinement, nor advancement in tech. It always seems kia / hyundai is about 7 years from the past, especially design wise. A Dacia is a recycled Renault and a KIa is a recycled Kia. Most people buy these for the warranty... but the reason it doesn't go wrong is because the platforms are old and they only use OLD tech other car manufacturers used 10 years ago.

I think a Dacia for £15,000 is already expensive. I swear the Sandero was still below £10,000 3 years ago.

Tune on the stereo! What a banger! 😂

Haven't you already tested a Rio previously??

My dad was lent an early Kia Rio estate about 15 years ago - it was fairly new. I never drove it but as a passenger it was horrible, so unrefined (especially the drivetrain) with a bumpy ride and the interior was so grey, cheap and nasty. I was driving a knackered 180.000 mile mk1 Mondeo ex-taxi at the time and that was a perfectly OK car to me so I wasn't doing a Clarkson when I wondered why anyone would by one, used or new. I also wondered why they made it as an "estate" as it didn't look like it made the car any bigger, just uglier... Today on the other hand I wouldn't mind a Kia and might even buy a Stinger one day. I also really like their analogue instruments, they look so crisp and simple.

We're riding with ya.

Kia started to get it together early 2010s. I had two Ce'ed rental cars two years apart. The 2010 estate was awful, automotive white goods, flimsy budget interior, just what you'd expect from a cheap Korean brand. Two years later and the build quality had been transformed to quality European standards, well screwed together and felt substantial. I believe around this time Kia/Hyundai had established an R&D centre in Germany.

Purchase in 3 years. Let some dope get hit with the depreciation, then scoop it up for 8k off list.

JayEmm, You are losing your connection the common people if you think these things are reasonably priced. Cars are getting prohibitively expensive and it's not tax that's doing it. Why are the prices of cars moving so high? The common man is getting priced out the ownership proposition. My guess is the really upmarket cars are moving up in price because the rich have become a lot richer and the lower tiers are following the price hikes however the middle class have not seen the same income increase over the past ten years so the car companies are pricing themselves out of the market. I hope we see a readjustment soon. Luv and Peace.

It was GOOD ENOUGH for Top Gear! Although, did they drop the APOSTROPHE?!?

Rio or a Stonic is comparable to the Sandero. The Ceed is a golf class contender. The Ceed CD MY19 -> is a very good everyday car, but i dislike the DCT gearbox (except in the PHEV version). A DCT may have 2 clutches, but only one is in use when you set off or reverse. But then i have not driven a pure DCT car i like, go for a manual or a hybrid! Cabin noise is not class leading (as you often get in asian cars, but the interior feels very European and has decent materials for the class. 7 years warranty for almost anything that isnt't a wear item, and as a Kia technician i barley see them. Basically only in for service..

I bought my Pro Ceed GT 7 months old with only a 1k miles on the clock saving me over 8500 pounds, never buy new.

Kia the new Toyota. They really are that good

It's too bad KIA only makes 1 car for our market (U.S) and it's the Forte, nice enough car but you guys get quite a bit of their CARS😇

Could you do some top 10 picks videos for a price range? think for someone with the knowledge and experience you’ve picked up over the years you would get a lot of attention on the videos, just a suggestion 🫶🏽

Do a Kia Picanto review then!

We don't get Dacia in the US, but if we did I'd buy buy a Dacia over a Kia

Great News!.....

I'll stick with our XF 😁

Are the brakes “overly aggressive” or is your seasoned vehicle-testing foot the “overly aggressive” one. Testing out all those older as well as lovingly used (heavy miled) vehicles got your feet used to needing to apply more pressure to get the brakes/gas to work nominally, maybe? 😋🤔

Why 2nd hand cars are best?

The 1.5T engine is a gem, smooth four pot that's got some decent poke and excellent mpg

Good ñews!

Have had our Optima Sw first edition for 4 years it's been wonderful.

Depends on what you think value is, doesn't it.

I do like Kias having driven plenty of them when I take my wife’s Venga in for its annual service and they give me a courtesy car, however the prices now are quite frankly insane. They’re charging Audi prices. I just got a brand new Seat Ibiza FR 110 for 17k which is IMO a better car than a Kia Rio which they charge in excess of 20k for

Fascinating ... 😔

It still makes me chuckle that all cars branded as Dacia in the UK are badged as Renault in South Africa because the word Dacia is never spoken without one spitting on the ground after saying the word due to the "Dacia Bakkie Scandal" of the late 80`s/early 90`s...you couldn`t give a Dacia away for free in SA...

Kia, at least in the US-and certain markets-no longer considers itself as the budget/value brand. They’ve been moving upmarket for some time now.

As a romanian all I can say is KIA is better then a DACIA, that's why I got a HYUNDAI :)

Kia continue to kick goals with all their models. Let’s hope they continue to build ICE cars for those not sucked in by this EV BS.

South korean quality is also on the decline They had their high time mid to end 00's in terms of reliability

Toyota & Lexus offer 10 years and 100k warranty when serviced at an Own Brand dealership. I played the system and made 11years on their rules. Kia & Dacia are great alternatives

We bought a new Kia Picanto GT-Line S in May & it’s such fun to drive. Very happy with it.

Yes, but can you play rugby in it?

Should boycott MG and other Chinese car manufacturers. China has taken over enough already. I like the Kia, but they had horrible reviews when I looked Last year at 2020 to 2021 cars. So settled on a Ford Focus Mhev. Loving it.

The picanto Is really nice little car. I had one on hire and loved it. GT x line. Was cool

30k for a generic looking hatch back, jeez Louise. I’ll have the 3 yr old M3 etc thanks very much…

Gotta appreciate the Top Gear homage spec, particularly the colour 😅

As bang for buck Dacia is very hard to beat.

I always saw Kia as the budget Hyundai. Same cars, different badge, a little cheaper , 7 year not 5 warranty. For me that feeling has gone now.

For those questioning the warranty, We have a 2015 c’eed. Kia picked up that there was an oil leak when it went in for its 5th service at 5 years old. They replaced the rear main seal and clutch assembly as it was oil contaminated. No quibbles, no questions. All done by them from something they picked up. It wasn’t even dripping on the drive so we’d have never noticed. Servicing at the main dealer is between 200-300 a year with an MOT. It’s brilliant.

Why are there so many arses in this comment area?? 😐

Yea.... But Dacias, are old Renault under the skin. Rather you than me

Not a question for North America. lol

Hear me out... I would rather have a new Ceed in a nice trim than a new Golf

Kia and Hyundai are the reason why all European manufacturers now have solid rear axels on their cars. I absolutely hate Kia and Hyundai, no matter how much warranty they throw your way. There is a reason why they need the 7 year warranty. Awfull things.

I currently own an older 2014 Cee'd and have driven the last 2 generations as well since my employer has a fleet of Cee'ds for engineer and sales team fleet. All with the 1.6 CRDi turbodiesel, and they are pretty fun cars to drive. Definitely no BMW 3-series, but for a sub-£30,000 daily driver that's fun to throw around on back roads on occasion they are a really stout, well-featured and reliable platform. Just for context, my Cee'd at the time of writing this just tipped over 209,100 miles. It still starts first turn of the key without complaint and still handles just as well as the later variants. Although the petrolhead in me kind of wishes they'd try shoehorning a strengthened twin turbo version of the V6 from the stinger into a Cee'd chassis... Y'know... for science!! I mean if Kia doesn't... some madman's gonna want to at some point surely!!! I'd pay good money to see a sleeper cee'd with Stinger internals!!