2007 Kia Carens [ARCHIVE]

[itlog na pula]

mqavila, like wave, i'd drop the optra. the others are fine choices naman.

i'm a first time korean made owner and of course, i can't say what's going to happen down the road. siyempre bago yung sasakyan and you can't really complain at this point if problems/issues will come out later. you just try to take care of it the best you can and that is already lowering the chances of problems later on.

like i said in another post, you need to identify your needs really. is it a family vehicle? how many passengers on average? do you need extra cargo room? is fuel economy a priority? do you usually encounter flooding in your area? etc etc....

if you are able to identify your needs, it will help narrow down your choices. then your budget will narrow it down some more...

my wife didn't want another sedan since she and my 4 year old daughter usually stay at the back. a sedan doesn't really allow much room for us. and when we go home to her hometown and bring along the other relatives there, we'll total to about 6 persons. so a 7 seater was the only choice. it was a toss up between a van or an mpv. an suv would be nice but most are 5 seaters (like the tucson) and i'm really not bothered by driving through flood. my thinking is, wait, if you can, for the floods to subside a bit before venturing out...

i agree with niky that it boils down to driving habits and, more importantly, how you take care of your car.

sa side ko naman, i wanted only two things: 1) fuel economy and 2) convenience. so diesel and automatic nasa wish list ko.

we chose the carens using these considerations and we feel we made a good choice, using our needs.

so far the fuel consumption is pretty good. i'm getting about 12kms/liter. i'm quite confident naman it'll improve some more as soon as the kilometers go by and as i master lightening the foot some more. ang hirap kasi when you've got strong torque for a diesel! and even if walang abs, malakas ang mga preno. i've never had abs in my cars so i figure i'm not missing much...

if you do check out the carens, notice that some of the components have both the kia and hyundai logos like the compressor. so your pretty much assure kia and hyundai share the knowledge base amongst themselves. i've a neighbor who has the spec up hyundai tucson (4x2 crdi) and we have the exact same starter from denso!

as for the service quality, i can only answer you after january 3. i've scheduled the car for 1000kms change oil at my dealership (signet mandaluyong) today. they said the oil filter is P400 and oil (mineral) is P150/liter. the car will use about 6 liters... since 1000kms check up siya, no labor charges. i'll try to ask what their fees will be when i hit 5000kms.

as for the "korean stigma", ganito lang yan. the japanese went through the same thing when i was still a baby (or maybe even before i was born). so this really isn't an issue. if you dwell on it too much then you get worried. i won't debate this. but while there is so much said on the shortcomings of korean vehicles, i wonder why they are still popular? you still see lots of kia prides, vans (both kia and hyundai) on the road.

the stigma will still be there, and more likely be for a while. but the good news is when you look at the showroom floor, you see a lot of eye candy now. both hyundai and kia have really great line ups. just remember, japanese brands have their share of problems too. so it's not a monopoly...

good luck on your search. if it's a carens in the end, good for you! personally, panalo tayo because we've never had these much choices in the market. enjoy the empowerment that comes with shopping for your car.

hope this helps!!!

[buboymunti]

wavecxs,

ay siya ,,,,, baka makakapunta nga po ako sa balai at nang makapag test drive nire.

ay kung magugustuhan at maganda ang offer nila ay bakin nga hinde ...

Mga kabayan .... FYI po, got my Carens CRDi LX AT yesterday .... my new baby in light almond beige ....

Ay kasarap ihataw sa STAR toll !!!!

[bogart]

FYI to everybody.

Had my 2nd full tank just yesterday and computed my FC at 9.5 km/ltr. Mixed city/ highway driving.

The figure could have been higher if not for the usual Christmas traffic. I was spending longer hours on traffic than driving.

Next full tank, I'll post the actual kms and time spent for every trip.

Happy New year to everybody!

buboymunti- welcome to the Carens world!

[bengmd]

Hi to everyone. I've been reading the thread for a long time now. It is very interesting, today i finally decided in joining in. I previously own a crosswind xuv, a/t, and i noticed that the vehicle was very slow. I decided in selling it after 5000 km of use. I bought an innova and found the vehicle very pleasing compared to the crosswind. It was quite fast and responsive. To add, the interior as well as exterior appts. are refined compared to the previous vehicle. The fuel consumption of my D4D innova averages 10.4km/li in city driving and 15km/li in long/highway drive. The suspension is very good. My odometer reads 34000 km.

Now,the reason I am writing now is to give you my humble observation regarding my Kia carens crdi m/t. I bought it last august after so much deliberations and research in the internet as well as prayers that we will be buying a reliable vehicle.

As of now, my odometer reads between 3000-4000km. The fuel consumption is very satisfying that i am able to register 9.5 km/li in very strict city driving and a whooping 23km/li in long highway driving. I am not exagerating my figures nor am working for Kia motors. I am too was very surprised. I was with my wife, 2 daughters and 2 home company, and we drove the car all the way to tagaytay using the coastal road going and the SLEX back. The ride was very comfortable.

As far as durability, we still can not tell. Hopefully it will behave always good because its a nice looking vehicle.

If service is your concern, I brought it to Kia Pasig, and the people at the shop are very professional, hopefully they will always be like that. The dealership where I bought my unit was at novaliches, and also the agent( Janice dl Cruz) who made us decide to give the brand a chance was very good. She made drove the car 2 times for my satisfaction w/o the commitment to buy it. Very good sales strategy compared to other car brands.

So far, Iam happy with my loot. We just can't help but compare it with the innova, with the Kia carens getting theadvantage. I am not surprised to see it getting an award in the recent Car of the year awards (COTY).

Hope this piece will help the undecided. Its a bang for the buck.

Enjoy your KIA.

[Hanren]

There is something about this Carens that'd make it a potential hit. Last Friday (Dec. 28, 2007) me and wifey went to Calasiao (Pangasinan) Kia Branch and saw for ourselves the new Kia Carens. I liked the unique style. Can't say anything about the performance but the OIC told me it has a monster under the hood (140 bhp). I was able to see the LX CDRi A/T worth 925k but I would have preferred the M/T version which was selling at 875K. Too bad their promo is only until Dec. 31 this year (free 3 years LTO, 1 year insurance, tint, and matting). Their showroom however, is quite cramped which made me feel uneasy about the future support (and space) they could provide you when you need them.

Bu since then, I've become a frequent visitor of this thread (and two other related threads). I hope I could get this baby next year but I need to convince my wife first...

[itlog na pula]

hanren, pangasinan ka? malasiqui ako although based sa sta. rosa, laguna.

as for the calasiao kia branch, that is run by the laus group which is big in terms of dealerships, kia and several other brands. according to their sales rep in san fernando, pampanga, they were number one in the kia mechanics olympics, ahead of columbian motors themselves! so you're assured they're going to provide excellent service.

i saw their branch when i was shopping around for the dealership where we were going to get our unit. don't let that affect your decision to get one. actually you can get your unit from any dealership and have it serviced elsewhere if you want.

bengmd, thank you for your post and congratulations on your unit!!!

buboymunti, congratulations too on your purchase!!! sarap ihataw yan. pero hinay hinay muna dahil break in period ka pa... hehehe...

[Hanren]

hanren, pangasinan ka? malasiqui ako although based sa sta. rosa, laguna.

as for the calasiao kia branch, that is run by the laus group which is big in terms of dealerships, kia and several other brands. according to their sales rep in san fernando, pampanga, they were number one in the kia mechanics olympics, ahead of columbian motors themselves! so you're assured they're going to provide excellent service.

i saw their branch when i was shopping around for the dealership where we were going to get our unit. don't let that affect your decision to get one. actually you can get your unit from any dealership and have it serviced elsewhere if you want.

Thanks for the advise.

Yes I am here in pangasinan right now together with the family (sa San Jacinto kina esmi). My folks are in Lingayen and in Malasiqui (ka apelyido namin yung Mayor) but I work and we all stay in Baguio. Sa Laus group nga yon. May web site din sila. I think I concluded early on nung nakita ko yung maliit na showroom but I can shop around..Isa pa lang nakita kong Carens dito sa Pangasinan (natsambahan lang siguro though I know that there are more out there)... Talagang head turner siya at marami kaming napatingin (at napahanga) sa style nung nagpark siya sa Jollibee Lucao. It was a white one..

[mikey177]

Maliit nga ang showroom ng Kia Pangasinan, pero mahusay ang technician nilang si Edward na mag-diagnose ng problema at magtrabaho. I have been having my 2002 Carnival serviced there since they opened last June.

[mqavila]

Hi Niky, WaveCXS, Itlog na Pula, Bengmd, thanks for all of your inputs on my queries. It certainly helps clear a lot of things for me. However, I ran across a post in another forum that really really concerned me. I will post both the link as well as the entire quoted message here:

http://www.kia-forums.com/kia-carens...ilippines.html

"I recently bought a diesel automatic careens in Southern Luzon, Philippines
First, the good things.
1. air-con is very good.
2. the interior is spacious.
3. plenty of gadgets
4. lighting panel is impressive.

Now the bad things.
1. As cautioned by previous reviews, the after sales service of KIA is lousy.
After a month of using the Carens on smooth roads and about 20 kms. a day, I saw three (3) wires protruding from the left front Hankook Optimo tire that came with the car. They wouldn’t replace it. They’ll tell you they’d refer it to blah-blah but after a month of this and that, nothing.
2. the suspension is too low that when you go down from an embarkment, you’ll hear a loud thump from the underchassis. It will guarantee to break your heart every time you hear it.
3. when you go up a hilly road, there is so much noise and the car is huffing and puffing. In Tagalog, hirap ang makina.(the engine is having a hard time going uphill).
4. first gear is so noisy.
5. there is side-to-side wiggling at low speeds.
6. paint is bad. There are small, white round splotches on the paint and they will not buff it for free.
7. paint easily gets scratch off no matter how well you take care of it.
8. interior gets scratch too easily compared to my Toyota. Because of the cheap plastic.
9. going back to the suspension being too low, you’ll hear a thump when you park front first in malls with barriers at the parking lot. Again, your heart …
10. pang-babae ang Carens.(a car for women) Test drive it and you’ll know what I mean.
11. there is considerable noise even when windows are closed. Try test-driving it in SLEX (Expressway), you’ll hear the sound from the barriers. Ask your children to count it by the sound they’ll hear.
12. marami pa (thre’s plenty more) but my heart bleeds for an almost one million investment."


I really hope that this is all not true because it is the first negative post I've seen on the Carens...

[crichton]

hi mga carens owners, happy new year to all.

with regards dun sa complaints nun isa, maybe he could tell us which dealer yung pangit after sales so we could avoid it. yung wires na nakalabas and wiggling at low speeds dapat maayos nun dealer kasi warranty pa. no questions asked dapat yan.