Long Term Update – Kia Cerato
July 1, 2009 by Nadine Armstrong
After 12 months doing duty as the female voice of the CarAdvice writing and road test team Rose Harris is moving on to other things. We won’t be losing complete contact with Rose as she will continue to contribute to CarAdvice from time to time.
The change has meant that Rose’s long-term Kia Cerato has found a new home, the inner city garage of our new writer, Nadine Armstrong, who’s now had a couple of weeks to get to know her new transport. – David Twomey, Editor
Words – Nadine Armstrong
Picking up where Rose left off, I agree with many of the observations made to date. There is a lot to like about the Cerato and for the price (the SLi starts at $22,990), you get a very respectable package.
I first drove the Cerato under launch conditions in January this year, at which time I was impressed. My first impression was that Kia had really stepped it up a notch, in terms of style and performance.
Living with the Cerato as an everyday drive for a couple of weeks now, for the most part, my first impression stands, and I remain a fan of this car.
I’m really fond of the Cerato’s styling, inside and out. The exterior is smooth and offers delicate, well thought out lines. Also the well-proportioned rear end is worth bragging about – nice form.
This simple styling flows through the interior as well and the centre console and dash is nicely laid out, while the instrument cluster is easy to read.
The 2.0-litre engine is a nice fit for this vehicle, however the manual gearbox and throttle seem to be in a constant battle to deliver peak form.
While the gearshift itself is short and simple to switch through the ratios, I’m finding it really difficult to find a smooth transition at low revs.
The accelerator almost catches you by surprise when it delivers power with the lightest press, and after two weeks in this car I’ve still not mastered the gearbox/throttle relationship.
I’d say things have got marginally better as I have become more familiar with this car. Most often it results in a less than smooth, slightly embarrassing, jerky ride. Talking to others in the office, I’m not alone. Phew!
Push the Cerato above 3500rpm however, and it’s a whole different story; hops and hiccoughs disappear. The engine note is lively and this car discovers a new lease on life. It’s very responsive and shows signs its perky, almost sporty aspirations.
Sadly, well north of 3500rpm, you’re also quickly pushing the legal limits in most suburban street zones. I’m working hard to find a satisfying, legal balance in this regard.
The size, style and versatility of the Cerato creates a package that will potentially appeal to a broad range of buyers – families included. The comfortable and well-equipped cabin offers nice space and all the modern must-haves like iPod connectivity, cruise control and a multi-function steering wheel.
With 415 litres of boot space on offer, the Cerato can easily cope with a decent load of luggage. The 60:40 split folds seats increase this capacity significantly.
I have to say I don’t like the operation of the split fold function. You can only engage the split seats from levers in the boot, which is fine, but I can’t reach through to push the seats forward from the boot – so I have to go back around to the second row to flatten the seats. I prefer either a spring loaded split seat, requiring little effort, or operation of the split folds from the second row.
Next weekend the Cerato will be put to a variety of rigorous tests; also known as the school holiday road trip to the country.
On a trip that includes: freeway and country roads; lots of luggage; my husband, a 12 year-old daughter and my Mum – all experts in their own field and ready and willing to give feedback; the Cerato will have its work cut out. I have no doubt it’s fit for the challenge.
I’ll also be able to report a range of fuel consumption figures in the coming weeks.
To date, the Cerato is proving to be a very comfortable and easy car to live with, with most of my ‘teething problems’ fairly minor in the overall scheme of things. It’s fairly happy travels so far.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
*Might* really be interested in this car for us, to replace a invisable *Corolla* which we alleged own lol.
Waiting to see if Kia have any run out deals towards years end.Lets wait and see!
The hybrid one might be the way to go, subject to the realistic RRP!
Still think the SLI should be the base model [wheres the leather like in NZ?]
Needs 5 speed auto, less fugly steering wheel and fixed price servicing.
Hatch out in May 2010
Whats Nadine look like, photo please!
Cheers
F-0
Welcome Nadine, looking forward to some great reviews.
its really time for the cerato,corolla,focus,cruze,lancer,mazda 3,i30 comparison….
This car is now off my list … why would a family buy this car with ANCAP 4-star safety when the other Korean, the Cruze, is much safer and similarly priced?
This low torque off the mark seems to be a issue most Hyundai/Kia fours share and is especially noticable in manual guise.
The old Lantra/Elantra,latest perol i30 etc etc. Can be annoying as u have to drive them like a racing car to keep the revs up in the lower gears for smooth changes without stalling.
Heres a test. Try reversing a manual Cerato up an incline without slipping the clutch excessively.
Fix gripes like this that become annoying day to day and Fugal one would be justified in replacing his Corolla with one.LOL
Paul the Cruze also has more equipment and the interior is much better looking. But this is a massive step up from the old Cerato. Good job on Kia but some competitors are much better. BTW Wheelsmag this month has a mega test on all small cars ie Lancer, i30, Golf ,Focus ,3, Cruze, Tiida. etc.
Thanks Shak, sounds like its worth a read … anybody done a comparison between the Soul and Cerato? They’re in similar price brackets, with similar utility, but the Soul might be safer, with poorer performance?
I think it’s hilarious that the Car Advice girls have the keys to the Kia Cerato while the guys are driving Aston Martins.
I agree with you FrugalOne about the steering wheel. What’s with that cheap-looking faux silver panel on the bottom of it? And the Kia badge should be much much smaller.
CarAdvice has just completed a comparison test involving both the Cruze and the Cerato. Look out for it in the next few days.
^ Oh goody, Cruze or Cerato? YAWN.
Oh well, a story for the girls to read anyway.
Good news David, looking forward to reading your Cerato vs Cruze showdown …
Another long list of comments with “experts” who make judgemental comments without ever having set foot in the car…yawn…
i’d probably be suggesting the auto Cerato SLi is stretching the bounds of what people would pay for such a car
$26k on road? maybe if it was US spec with a 2.4 and six speed auto
the lack of balance between box, clutch and throttle is worrying… i’d be waiting for series 2 at this rate…
Tony^^^^
With you on this one, its Mazda3/golf etc money so i dont know if they are going to sell all that many upmarket models at that price, no matter whats inc. [NO leather like in NZ though!]
The simple fact is if Kia where serious and REALLY want to make a stir and do huge volumes, is sell the upper loaded SLI at the price of the baseline S.
ie SLI auto $22k driveaway, then i could accept the 4-speed-auto!
Cheers
F-0
looking to replace my trusty 7 yr old suzuki liana gs, tested mazda3 yesterday which i believe was the best small car i’ve driven so far, i’ll be doing the cerato and the cruze next week, and probably squeeze in the lancer. Corolla is out of the list, just plain boring.
I have a choice to make…Corolla/Lancer/Cerato/Jazz
as many shopping for a new car would also.
So Please wrap up a comparison pronto!
My estimates so far are:
Corolla=can’t lose if a tad old hat…
Lancer= new boy on the block with good looks
Cerato= all-round equal to anything you might want to throw at it…
Jazz=competent, conservative,slightly overpriced…
Looks like the Corolla and Lancer are equal firsts, unless Cerato has a secret
knock-out blow I am yet to discover…
otto