1 hour ago, Offski said:

Or as those that have had Beemers with winter tyres in the past, get x-drives now and the 2nd set of wheels with winter tyres and let those nice people at the main dealers store your wheels / tyres and change them for not very much cash money.

 

Now I can't remember where I saw it, but there was either a video or TV programme about BMWs fitted with winter tyres and the host/presenter found the BMW which is RWD was not much cop with them fitted compared to a FWD car. 

 

I had my winters changed out today for my normal 19" summer wheels. 

vRSAnt,

i still have a Suzuki Jimny Automatic i bought new in 2003, £11,000 , 57,000 miles on it now & i could sell it tomorrow for £2,000.

If the new Jimny is not what i want when launched later this year i am going to buy one of the last of the Jimny's they have built.

Production of them has just stopped.  I have a 1999 one as well.

 

Re the BMW and winter tyres, plenty youtube showing them doing OK with winter or Snow tyres, obviously in Continental Europe many get on just fine as do drivers in the UK, then there is all the ones you see on Scottish roads in winters in ditches and on recovery trucks.

 

 

Edited 21 May, 20188 yr by Offski

I thought Dacia had stepped nicely into the spot that Skoda vacated when VW decided to take them upmarket. We bought our first Favorit in 1990 and it was great fun and simple. I had a Kia Sorento for 12 years and it was brilliant in most respects except rust protection where it was nowhere near as good as our similar aged Fabia. I did 140,000 miles in it and had two breakdowns, one with a failed fly by wire throttle, and another with dissolving fuel tank paint that blocked filters. Kia also did some free repairs to axle brackets when it was 12 years old. Since the Ceed, Kia/Hyundai for Europe are designed and built here with a design studio in Germany, so its hardly surprising they are poaching staff and designers from all the German companies.  Their stated aim is to have European dynamics in the cars, but they are still well behind on engines it would seem......and probably quality of steel and rust protection.

 

I also think Kia's model change cycle is too aggressive. They change them too often, but again that is a very Far Eastern trait. 

Edited 21 May, 20188 yr by alfalincs
spelling

Skoda went a bit Pete Tong with the non rusting when they got to the Mk2 Fabia Face Lift in 2010.

Then we will not mention the little Zinc Inclusion issue with Yeti and the troubles owners are having getting Skoda to still accept that if the paint is bubbling and the bare metal has rust in less than 6 years there is a problem, and it is not stone chips.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/450331-fabia-rear-door-corrosion 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/366353-paint-blisters-zinc-inclusion-rust 

 

One might wonder how Skoda CZ can get door seals so wrong, even on new Karoq.  

More than a century of manufacturing vehicles and rubber & H2o seems to be something they have not got the hang off.

 

http://autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/analysis-are-car-makers-ready-wltp 

Edited 22 May, 20188 yr by Offski

To answer the original question, Kia may well be the new Skoda, based on the number I see driving around my area. They are everywhere and must be taking market share from someone. I think many are drawn by their relative cheapness and the 7 year warranty although, from what I have read, it is not worth the paper it's written on

On 5/21/2018 at 23:39, Offski said:

vRSAnt,

i still have a Suzuki Jimny Automatic i bought new in 2003, £11,000 , 57,000 miles on it now & i could sell it tomorrow for £2,000.

If the new Jimny is not what i want when launched later this year i am going to buy one of the last of the Jimny's they have built.

Production of them has just stopped.  I have a 1999 one as well.

 

 

 

Yes, that is the way to do it, better than mine in terms of long term ownership by a few years, but only difference is little Fabia has taken me over 2x the distance of that ( adding never broken down touch wood either).
 

Had the usual issues that crop up, cable loom issue, expansion tank fault, door seals water ingress, noisy alternator pulley and noisy DMF ( all cheaply and easily fixed apart from last one left as is - by me), but nothing that has left me red faced and stuck on a mway. Bmw owners take note ahem.

 

Plus also, its been a total love relationship all the way, happy to take a punt at more expensive equipment along the way like 330d, amazing car sold me on vRS. In a way actually drives better than the Octy ( before you scoff) but its just so much smaller and easier to drive, part the reason I can't part and still have this car and the octy and have even contemplated if I rushed into buying the octy and perhaps to do away with it and keep the Fabia

 

But also waiting on the full diesel rot to take hold to force me to scrap, maybe some incentive from gov't you never know

53 minutes ago, harrylime said:

the 7 year warranty although, from what I have read, it is not worth the paper it's written on

 

No experience of the Kia warranty myself but my friend who had the original Sportage had no problems with warranty claims, although it was always the same spare wheel bracket corrosion that it went in for. The new Sportage she has been faultless but it’s still new. I know two people with Picantos, one has never had any warranty required. The other, a neighbour, had a wheel replaced due to corrosion. 

My experience with Skoda was shocking but I put that mainly down to the dealer, DM Keith

A 7 year warranty is great if you like paying for at least 6 expensive Kia annual services to keep that warranty valid. Unlike most people commenting on this thread they rust like old Escorts having actually owned one for 4 years.

Servicing not expensive at my local Kia Dealership,1 mile away, and Warranty claims & repairs and warranty if required not an issue IME.

As to the rusting / corrosion of the Kia's built in the past decade i have no idea which the ones with any issue are.

I see plenty and am a time served car sprayer and not aware of any concerns from owners / buyers, but maybe i am just 'Tommy'.

 

 

Edited 24 May, 20188 yr by Offski

2 minutes ago, Offski said:

Servicing not expensive at my local Kia Dealership,1 mile away, and Warranty claims & repairs and warranty if required not an issue IME.

As to the rusting / corrosion of the Kia's built in the past decade i have no idea which the ones with any issue are.

 

 

Not to mention the fact its completely illegal for them to insist on Kia servicing it. It can be service (to the correct schedule) by ANY Vat registered garage. I've been through his with Toyota already. Won't happen with the skoda as they gave me free servicing for the length of the warranty anyway.

21 hours ago, harrylime said:

To answer the original question, Kia may well be the new Skoda, based on the number I see driving around my area. They are everywhere and must be taking market share from someone.

 

Funny you say that, I was only thinking the exact same thing on my commute home tonight......I saw at least five of them.

 

Ironically, four of them were being driven in the same manner to which I have become used to seeing BMW's and Audi's driven (i.e particularly aggressively and badly).

I have also starting noticing Kias everywhere!

It’s funny how the mind works. 

 

Then I get home today in time to watch some late afternoon test match cricket only to see that Kia are sponsoring the Sky coverage - lots of images / footage of a Stinger with appropriately deep V6 engine revving / rumblings etc. 

Edited 24 May, 20188 yr by dunc69

About GT that was thread starter.
Also the more I think about it, Nissan 370Z (New or used) makes far more sense used or new, either way will be cheaper.

Makes for a bargain against the Kia, lacks the newness and novelty factor but its even more purposeful.

So go to ask who really would buy one ?

 

5 minutes ago, vRSAnt said:

About GT that was thread starter.
Also the more I think about it, Nissan 370Z (New or used) makes far more sense used or new, either way will be cheaper.

Makes for a bargain against the Kia, lacks the newness and novelty factor but its even more purposeful.

So go to ask who really would buy one ?

 

Can’t put two kids in the back of a 370Z, so different market. 

 

A 370Z would be very nice though if I wasn’t a Dad!  Wouldn’t be too far removed from my TVR Chimaera that I had pre-small people! 

The Stinger is in family car territory for petrolheads and all those who will miss a decent petrol engine when electricity takes over.......

"Family sportscar thoroughbred "

Yeah I can see how that just doesn't really work for me - seems like a compromise,

though I can see how with the seats issue it would work for others.

They are only a different market for you if you need 2 more seats, but not everyone lets not forget. So the Nissan for many still makes a LOT of sense if you can forgive the seats. That is definitely what I would go for personally.

Its similar to german "big car" markets sporty oriented ( in fact the Octy is one of those)

and maybe its intention is stealing sales from cars like m5 or those who can't afford them) but whilst still offering the seats.
Yeah, doesn't work for me, based on lack of sales I'm not along on that
Probably they are expecting this and trying to use it to "upsell" the whole brand  like Audi and BMW that sell a large amount of underspecced mediocre models.

Is kia the new Skoda ...........for me it will be,i think the Skoda’s are pretty well made and have a great finish and would have gone from a VRS and yeti to a karrot but I think because of the vag diesel gate ,killing off diesels in Europe their lying over the  FIX which brought misery to thousands and their lack and denial with warranties when something major goes wrong (2.0 petrol engines)etc etc.which were replaced in the states but denied in the uk.also after just looking at building 1.5l karrot the price soon rises from £20,000 ish to £30,000ish to get the same spec on a (slightly smaller )kia.because u can’t  select 1option unless u BUY on or two more taking it from a fair priced car to a quite expensive one and with dealers under pressure to deny most warranty work to claw back money from the billions lost by vag it’s makes the warranty hard work with all the problems that occur with SOME unlucky owners,so no more of my money to VAG from me.

I just followed a Kia down the A38 expecting it to rust before my eyes.

 

 

 

it didn’t.

This yeti did

5 hours ago, KevC_Derby said:

I just followed a Kia down the A38 expecting it to rust before my eyes.

 

 

 

it didn’t.

 

That was me.

 

I had it Waxoyled after reading this thread.

I have to say my job is Warranty

i have done warranty for Skoda when I loved Skoda 

not too bad , not many issues

Although I am now unemployed I did Warranty for Hyundai as everyone knows sister company for Kia

The warranty on Hyundai was amazing , the cars reliable and I do like them , so much so 3 of my family members now all drive Hyundai's

The Hyundai warranty is 5 years unlimited mileage and I have seen a fair few I40's with 250k on the clock

Kia's warranty 7 years , but is capped at 100k miles

Kia is more expensive too , so my money would go on Hyundai and I adore the Tucson

Ti be fair I had a Fabia and out about 160k miles on the clock and loved it , but don't think I would buy another newer one

Love the MK 1 Fabia's , Octavia's and would adore a Fun

Sorry , just my opinion

Sarah

We bought a Ceed SW 1.6 CRDi back in 2010, kept it for 5 trouble free years. We liked the Octavia Estate but when we drove 2 of them the road noise was deafening, the Kia won hands down.

 

Move on to 2016. Liked the Optima estate but we needed a petrol, the only one on the list was the 2.0 petrol which was an auto only costing almost £30000 with no discounts. Bought a Superb 1.4 TSi 150 hatch for about £19000, it won hands down.

 

Move onto earlier this year. Wife wanted new car so we looked at the Rio. Neded top spec to get climate etc but it came with "plastic" seats and little discount, total cost over £15000. Bought a better speced Fabia for £12000 after discounts.

 

Might be a kia next time, who knows.

4 hours ago, skidpan said:

We bought a Ceed SW 1.6 CRDi back in 2010, kept it for 5 trouble free years. We liked the Octavia Estate but when we drove 2 of them the road noise was deafening, the Kia won hands down.

 

Move on to 2016. Liked the Optima estate but we needed a petrol, the only one on the list was the 2.0 petrol which was an auto only costing almost £30000 with no discounts. Bought a Superb 1.4 TSi 150 hatch for about £19000, it won hands down.

 

Move onto earlier this year. Wife wanted new car so we looked at the Rio. Neded top spec to get climate etc but it came with "plastic" seats and little discount, total cost over £15000. Bought a better speced Fabia for £12000 after discounts.

 

Might be a kia next time, who knows.

Conclusion if you want less space for more money buy a Kia!

& if you want a Skoda buy a Skoda, not a VW, SEAT or an Audi. 

On 24/05/2018 at 08:24, shyVRS245 said:

A 7 year warranty is great if you like paying for at least 6 expensive Kia annual services to keep that warranty valid. Unlike most people commenting on this thread they rust like old Escorts having actually owned one for 4 years.

So you buy a new Skoda with 3 years warranty then pay over £500 for 2 extra years warranty plus at least £150 per service for 5 years that’s.........at least £1250 and it’s still 2years short of a kia warranty not that the kia services are any dearer than the skoda