Kia Bashing and Holidays

[Howard]

Well gang ,

I am back from my hols , a sunny week in Southern Spain , sitting by the pool , drinking beer and BBQing !

Hired a pretty much brand new Kia Picanta , and within an hour of picking it up had stacked it .... damn the pillars in the covered parking at the Eroski Supermarket !

Anyway , the little Kia ( other than the destruction wrought upon it by us ) performed admirably , carrying 4 of us and all our luggage and a weeks shopping into the mountains .... the air con worked a treat , even if we were into second gear on some of the ascents ....

Got to the Finca , what a surprise , just been converted , we were only the second people to ever hire it , everything really nice.

Anyway , here is the view from the pool ....

Gotta earn the money to pay for it all now !

 

[V8mate]

How did you get on handing the car back to the hire company? Heinously penalised, or reasonable and polite service? What firm did you rent from?

 

[wemorgan]

With a 7 year warranty Kia are upping the odds against the competition. Good luck to them. It's about time some more premium brands offered longer warranties to show customers that the manufacturers have faith in their products.

Great view BTW.

 

[Howard]

The hire company ( TopCar ) just outside Malaga airport were fine about it ...

We rang them just after it happened , and told them , they asked if it was driveable ( it was ) and they were ok.

When we dropped it back to them , there were a few jokes about 'It's usually the larger cars that get damaged' , but that was that . Smiling people and they dropped us to the airport ( as the hire place is just outside the perimeter )

We had taken out the highest level of cover so we had no penalties.

160 Euros for 7 days hire , gotta say , that the Kia was really quite good ...

Stayed happily at 120 kmh on the motorway , 4 up ..... struggled a bit in the mountains , but it was only 1 litre and it was pretty heavily loaded. As a runaround , i'd be happy to have one.

 

[Dieselman]

gotta say , that the Kia was really quite good ...

Sorry Howard. I didn't quite hear you properly there.

 

[gina2201]

Great view, where abouts did you stay? I'm off to southern Spain in August (health permitting), tend to go Marbella area.

 

[st4]

Looks nice (pic of Spain that is). I want to retire to Spain someday, probably up to the mountains like where you've been.

Have you ever been up the Catalonia way, we did on a Geology trip at uni and the scenery was breath taking.

The Spanish roads are very good from what I have experienced.

 

[Howard]

It was a little village called Competa ... head east out of Malaga and then turn north at Torrox ...

I'd like to go and live in Spain one day , and live out my ' The Business ' fantasy

Looked in the local estate agents , seems you can get a nice finca , 3 beds , little bit of land and a nice sized pool for about two hundred and fifty grand sterling around Competa.

You are right , the roads were excellent , the Autovia in particular , even the mountain roads were very good (even if the Armco was just for show ) ....

 

[Defiant]

With a 7 year warranty Kia are upping the odds against the competition. Good luck to them.

Interesting. Over here, they're giving 10 years, 100,000 miles. Now owned by Hyundai, it's clear from what they're turning out that they "get it".

 

[Carrotchomper]

As some of you might know, I've stopped owning a car for the time being

It's a bit scary, but in the City Car Club I have access to a Kia Ce'ed. From what I can see, it's the base model, but it's a pretty good car really. Engine is willing enough and it's good to drive around town. The only thing I would take issue with is the general build quality.

Supposedly they are priced equivalent to Ford Focuses... The general "feel" of the interior is far below that of the Ford. But a 7 year warranty is an attractive proposition!

I would not buy one personally. But they are decent cars...

 

[Sp!ke]

Sticker price is £5995 for the Kia OTR, can you get a Focus for that?

Even a ford Ka is nearly 30% more and with only 3 years warranty.

Its probably better put together than it feels.

 

[Carrotchomper]

Sticker price is £5995 for the Kia OTR, can you get a Focus for that?

Even a ford Ka is nearly 30% more and with only 3 years warranty.

Its probably better put together than it feels.

I was looking at the Ce'ed, which has been designated as a Focus competitor... Which is rather more expensive! Bold figures are OTR prices. Sorry for crap formatting!

1.4 S£8,889.36£1,555.64£10,445.00£11,095.001.4 GS£9,570.21£1,674.79£11,245.00£11,895.001.4 SR-7 Special Edition£8,804.26£1,540.74£10,345.00£10,995.001.6 S£9,336.17£1,633.83£10,970.00£11,645.001.6 GS£9,974.47£1,745.53£11,720.00£12,395.001.6 GS Auto£10,825.53£1,894.47£12,720.00£13,395.001.6 SR-7 Special Edition£9,208.51£1,611.49£10,820.00£11,495.001.6 SR-7 Special Edition Auto£10,059.57£1,760.43£11,820.00£12,495.001.6 LS£10,825.53£1,894.47£12,720.00£13,395.001.6 LS Auto£11,676.60£2,043.40£13,720.00£14,395.001.6 CRDi S£10,068.09£1,761.91£11,830.00£12,395.001.6 CRDi GS£10,706.38£1,873.62£12,580.00£13,145.001.6 CRDi LS£11,697.87£2,047.13£13,745.00£14,395.001.6 CRDi LS Auto£12,527.66£2,192.34£14,720.00£15,395.002.0 CRDi Sport£12,719.15£2,225.85£14,945.00£15,595.00