BHPian Alluri302 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Hi All, Happy to be writing on teambhp after being an avid reader here for over an year. I’m writing this post about how Seltos D AT GTX+ became my first car and the decision of buying it and my first experience with it so far. Why Seltos: I wanted to buy a car and my search started in Nov 23. We are not very keen on buying a car ASAP, but we have started exploring options that are present in the market at around 20L OTR. With that budget I’m sure I’m in the midsize SUV segment. Me along with my family have checked out various options in the segment like Creta, Elevate, Hydryder and GV. I haven’t considered German twins and above are the only 4 cars I have considered as potential options. We have checked out Xuv 700, harrier and scorpio N but I’ve backed off as this is going to be my first car and I wanted something that is easy to manage and drive. We are okay to extend our budget upto 25L. We have waited few months for Creta facelift to be launched and wanted to try it before we finalise a car. I liked elevate but none of my family members liked it. I liked it’s wooden coloured interiors on the top variant, it gave a retro car feel which I liked. We gave multiple test rides and it was good except for the cabin noise. GV and hydryder felt cramped in the back and my mom said no to it upfront and we didn’t even took it for a rest ride. We have tried facelift creta and seltos and everyone in my family unanimously voted for seltos for the interiors and looks over creta. To drive, both of them felt comparable and almost similar. For a brief period of time I wanted to go with Xline and has almost finalised it. My mom has fixed on the pewter olive color which she absolutely loved and said ‘this or nothing’. Delivery: We took the delivery and it was a pleasant and seamless experience. It was a joyful ride home. Seltos felt so much easier to drive in the city and on the highway. My cousin was also in the market to buy a car and he has also finalised on getting a new Seltos. He bought the exact same variant as mine but in white color few weeks after the delivery of my vehicle. We took my vehicle for a spin to try out all the adas features on the highway to experience them since we didn’t get to try them out in the test rides and everything worked as expected. I still use most of them and I find them really useful in the highways. Few accidents: A biker on a scooty has bumped into my car and has damaged the cladding and reflector. Got them replaced under insurance. Got so much close to the wall while taking the car out of the gate and scratched both the door panels. It’s not just a scratch but a half inch deep groove. Got both the door panels replaced under insurance. I have covered about 7500 kms in 7 months of ownership and few things that stood out to me. 1. This diesel engine with TC AT gearbox is a smooth power train and feels effortless to drive in any situation. It cruises like a ship and is very relaxing to drive. 2. I would say this has best in class interiors packed with so many features. 3. Of all the features, ventilated seats and 360* camera are the two things which I liked the using the most. 4. I have read reviews in the forum about the stiff suspension, upon test riding all the rivals you can definitely say it feels stiffer in comparison. That’s what I like in this car since 80% of my journeys are on highways this suspension comes into play keeping the car stable planted at triple digit speeds. It masks the expansion joints and do not make it bouncy. I maintain 32psi cold tyre pressure. You will have to ride a little bit slow on sharp potholes. 5. Looks though subjective but to me, this is the best looking and stylish of the lot. 6. Service experience has been fantastic. I’ve visited the body shop for 1000kms checkup and two times for the insurance claims. Each time it’s been a good experience. Kia dealership accepted orders for replacement parts even before the initiation of claim process thus by reducing the time required for the car to be at the body shop. They’d call me saying the part is ready and they can start the claim process if I drop the car. Both the incidents they delivered the car on the next after the repairs. 7. No wireless AA/ACP in a 25L car. I love technology and this is a letdown especially lower variants offer this. 8. Placement of wireless charger makes it hard to place the phone and remove it. 9. Slight back pain if you ride for long without figuring out the perfect position for your height. You’ll have to tryout various seat adjustment positions. I’ve tried and found mine and it got so much better since then. Overall it’s been an excellent ownership experience as a first car. It’s almost perfect in every sense be it having good powertrain, good comfort, perfect size to go around in the traffic and all the features you need in a car. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
