Category: Small Family 
Price Range: No data available
Equipment levels, seven-year warranty, competitive price
Ride too harsh, residual image perception, no steering feel
Good enough to make us reconsider Korean cars
The materials used in the Cee'd show that Kia has been paying attention to the likes of VW's offerings. Gone are the hard, cheap plastics previously associated with Korean cars, replaced by more solid, tactile surfaces that make the cabin a more pleasant place to spend time. The leather used on the thick-rimmed and substantial-feeling steering wheel and gear knob in all but the most basic trim level, and as part of the seating in the two upper-end trims, also feels better quality than previously found in Kias.
Console materials are well thought-out and include tactile surfaces that are a real step up from the plastics of yore. The buttons and dials on the centre instrument stack and steering wheel (standard on all trim levels) also feel positive and of a quality we've come to expect from well-built European cars.
The seven-year warranty - the longest of any carmaker in Europe - suggests that reliability is unlikely to be a major issue with the Cee'd, the company claiming that one car has already covered nearly 125,000 miles to test its durability.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Kia Cee'd
wrote on 29 09 2007
wrote on 13 09 2007