2023 Kia Seltos Facelift Review

You can get insurance from elsewhere, just make sure it has a cashless facility with your dealership garage, You can get the 5-year/120,000 km extended warranty and save some money.

However, in my opinion, the My Convenience Plus Package is good value considering it has a 5-year free service package, 5-year Road Side Assistance, and 5-year Extended warranty all bundled.

Yes, the DSG on the VAG twins and some of the 1.0L Turbo DCT of the Kia Sonet, Hyundai Venue, and previous generation Hyundai Verna have been having issues lately.

The reliability of the new 1.5 Turbo petrol with DCT is still unknown as it launched just 3-4 months back with the Alcazar, Carens, and Verna being the first ones to get the new engine-gearbox combo.

I drove the Verna 1.5L turbo petrol DCT earlier this year and the same powertrain has been used in the Seltos. Now this is not the case where the engine is the same, but the tuning is different (Say the Thar and XUV700). You can even compare the peak power and torque figures and the corresponding rpms. Additionally, when we test cars, we check the rpm readings at various speeds and make observations accordingly. There are countless other factors on which we base our driving observations (we have an exhaustive checklist for observations too).

So, when it comes to penning down the observations, the engine characteristics are the same with the Verna and the Seltos. Hence, there’s no point in reinventing the wheel and giving an impression to the reader that they’re different.

There’s a massive difference when it comes to the suspension characteristics and the way both cars feel behind the wheel because of their body types. That's common knowledge. But judging a car based on just the way the engine behaves isn’t right.

Thanks for pointing it out . This has been corrected.

The pricing is spot on for the features and performance offered and it competes with wide range of cars in 15 to 35 lakhs segment. With facelift of Seltos, KIA has just killed the future of Honda in India. Honda Elevate doesn’t stand any chance against the Seltos. Some people compare Elevate's 1.5 NA CVT and the Seltos' 1.5 NA CVT, the reality is that most general car buyers won't delve into such technicalities. The real-world comparison will be Seltos vs. Elevate, and the Seltos outshines the Elevate in every aspect (barring GNCAP rating?)

While some enthusiasts may emphasize Honda's proven VTEC engine with CVT, the average buyer is likely to be swayed by the Seltos' overall features, looks, and feel. Even if Honda were to price the Elevate competitively, it seems that people would still be willing to pay a little extra for the Seltos due to its superior offerings and overall aesthetics.

It's unfortunate for the Elevate, and one can't help but feel sorry for Honda. But, launching a car in 2023 with a decade old powertrain puts the onus on Honda's poor management decisions. By being five years late to the market, Honda not only lost the time but also missed out on the opportunity to evolve the product effectively.

1. How can we check if cashless facility is available ? The dealer will not tell this for sure.
2. The average service cost per year /Kms with the convenience pack is Rs .5578 . Isn't this the same cost that one has to pay without the pack ? Yes there is some complimentary add ons like underbody and rodent treatment and wheel balancing and alignment.

This! I would love to go for the X line (post my test drive) but the hassles of maintaining a matte paint car is just too much, hence booked the Pewter Olive GTX+, really wish the chrome was a little less prevalent in this variant as well as a better interior finish.

I believe the engine power and torque outputs for both are pretty identical and the performance too is more or less same.

Seltos though is better equipped (Yes even in HTX variant ) than Elevate top end. All auto up down power windows, Pano Sunroof, Illuminated power Window buttons, Ambient lighting with sound mood lamps, a much better touchscreen, rear window blinds, Drive and Traction modes, DrVM, UV Cut glasses and windshield , Dual Zone AC, Ai purifier with Perfume diffuser etc. Just a few features the HTX has over the Elevate top end, and I am sure there are more. Top this, I believe the HTX IVT would be about 2-3 L cheaper than Elevate top end CVT, with Typical Honda prices.

Therefore Lane Watch Camera and ADAS features (only camera based), I don't see any other reason to go for Elevate.

So that leaves me with only Conti's. Michelins don't sell this size unfortunately. Not yet anyway.
Curious as to why would upsizing make the ride worse, would it not make it more comfortable as there would be more rubber (yes, every so slightly) to absorb impacts?

Has anyone had the taste of Seltos Diesel iMT?
Looks like an interesting proposition.

I had test driven the pre-facelift seltos diesel iMT. The powerdelivery was quite nice and the car has enough power, I was doing 120-140 in no time at all.

In fact, I had driven to the showroom in my friends seltos GTX+ DCT, and the diesel iMT felt like it had a better suspension setup over expansion joints and stuff. (maybe because of the R16 wheels or maybe they have different tunings for the dampers to accommodate for the heavier diesel).

But, what I didn't like about the car was that, when i was pushing the car hard, and trying to shift gears (at high RPMs, I had taken my feet off the accelerator ), the gearshifts took some effort, this was not present when i was shifting normally (i.e 1.8k to 3k rpm). I don't know whether it was an issue with the testdrive car, but this really did put me off.

The suspension on the Kia Seltos is tuned to be on the stiffer side.
If you increase the width of the tyres,the high speed stability and grip levels will be improved but you have to sacrifice the comfort as the contact patch of the tyres with the road is increased,even smaller undulations will be filtered through the cabin.
Myself upgraded the tyres of my Taigun GT plus to Michelin Pilot sport 225/50/17
The Stability and braking has improved drastically.
But now I feel each and every imperfections on the road as the suspension itself is a bit stiff in the Taigun.
The Steering wheel has now become a bit hard.
So let me make it simple,
If you are going to drive maximum in the city and occasionally highways stick to the stock size and upgrade to a good set of rubbers which have soft compound.
If you are driving maximum on the highways upsizing is a good option and it's worth it

I think I have seen one on youtube (Don't remeber which channel) comparing Virtus vs Varna and VW won that drag race. DSG still rule the auto gearbox in terms of sheer performance

I haven't driven seltos iMT. But I have a sonet iMT. I believe experience could be similar.

Gearshift is pinky finger light. Very easy and sureslotting to shift. Under 95% of time the gearshift is very precise and easy to shift. Only the 5% time when I get very aggressive with shifts then I feel, it becomes a little slow to engage. That said the 120 PS motor is extremely potent, and 3rd gear is like a overdrive one stretching from 20 kph to 150 !! If it's the same with Seltos that would be great .

Having owned two seltos at one point of time, I am mighty impressed with how Kia has tugged just the right strings to make another sales blockbuster with this rendition.

The few complaints I had with the previous seltos:
- Confused DCT at low speeds. Man, the throttle inputs felt like it was choking the car up until it hit the 2.2-2.5k rpm mark. Even simple uphills were a challenge to start at rest from.
- Paint quality - Difference in bumper and door shade started appearing very early on. Might be because of different materials, but it's still not a good sight on your new car.
- General button quality lower down in the dash, near the gear knob.
- steering leather wear out.
- SAFETY!!

Hopefully now though, they have addressed most of what it takes to make an already intuitive car even more so. If the safety rating improves, there's nothing holding the Seltos back this time. 2-zone climate control and standard rear disc brakes in a car costing this side of 25 Lakhs is no small thing honestly.

The sleeker dash elements and screen along with the digital instrumentation makes my seltos look obsolete. This is also one of the only few cars where enlarging the grille has made it look better. (Looking at you, 2013 Innova)

Fantastic job, Kia.

For
1) Your agent can share list of cashless garage or even insurance website will have it. You can just confirm if the one where you plan to give is listed there or not. No need of inputs from dealer


2) One benefit I see for this is price protection. Service cost will get expensive over time. With this package, you are locking the price but current Seltos owners need to chime in with respect to typical cost involved. Is there clear list on what all is included and what is not in this package?

Makes sense, I'll go with the Conti's.
Thanks.