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New Owner

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 5:44 pm
by John pell
Hi all
I am picking up my new Niro 3 on Friday. I have not owned a Kia before and have only driven Diesel cars for the last 15 years. My present car is an Xc60. PCP is up and my worry is diesel is going to bomb. So decided to go petrol electric. Do you think I have made a good choice as I do love the Volvo but it has to go.
Thanks
John

Re: New Owner

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:33 pm
by niroal
I came from a diesel Kuga & as with you decided diesel was not an option. The choice was down to a petrol Tiguan or a Niro. Owing to VW's inability to deliver (or even give a build date) the Niro was what we went for. I do not miss diesel or the smelly pumps one bit!!

Re: New Owner

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 5:22 pm
by Recycleman
Love my Niro, but did you not think of the xc60 hybrid.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 5:41 pm
by John pell
Would be nice but my pockets don't stretch to xc60 hybrid I am afraid. When I test drive the Niro demo last weekend I was surprised. I was expecting it not to be up to the xc60 but I honestly thought this is a good a drive if not better my xc60 is R design which has quite stiff supension. I had read the Niro on 18 inch alloys was hard ride. I thought it softer myself.
Niroal
Not a lover of the tiguan in fact not a lover of VW at all. I did look at the Ford Eco Sport though but looks a bit cheap and the boot is to small.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:55 am
by niroal
John, wow the Eco Sport is a serious drop down, a Fiesta based crossover. I had to move away from Ford (after 5 previous ones) as I wanted a non diesel auto car. The Focus was too small, the Mondeo too large a road footprint and the Kuga only available as a 1.5 4wd petrol if you wanted an auto & that too expensive and very thirsty.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 10:45 am
by HaxbyPete
Hi John, So you will now have your new Niro 3 HEV and I hope that you are delighted. It will take quite a while for you to work out how all the 'bells and whistles' work as it is a very clever and sophisticated car. But I have had my Niro HEV 4 for 2 1/2 years now and it is the bets car I have ever had, even including the 14 Volvo estates I had over 25 year of business. I will replacing mine with another of the same later this year when the lease runs out.

So enjoy your new car this sunny weekend and ask any questions you have as you begin to explore it.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:35 pm
by John pell
Hi HaxbyPete

I have got the Niro picked it up Friday. I do have an issue which is I want to keep going out in it. I am very impressed, I have only had the car 3 days but as you said I can see this being the best move I have made. The infotainment centre is so straight forward as is the Sat nav. I have done around 70 miles and it is showing 57 miles to the gallon I am happy with that. I have taken the 3 services for £450. Which after having a few Mercs and the Volvo seems like a bargain. As said needed to get away from diesel and am sure I have done the correct thing.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:16 am
by HaxbyPete
Great ! As I got the very first Niro in York, almost three years ago, the very first versions of the First Edition didn't yet have Apple Car Play installed, just Android Auto. But I prevailed upon Kia through my local dealer and after much nattering of them about nine months later I git them to upgrade the software to include Apple Car Play. This integrates with my iPhone and Spotify to provide hours of endless enjoyment of high quality music reproduction through the eight speaker JBL sound system which is the best I have ever had in any car.

Also the way that Apple Car P{lay integrates with sat nav and hands-free phone calls through the Niro system is amazing.

You took the three year service package - my service charges are all included in my three year lease rates. But their seven year warranty on all KIA cars, including the battery on the Niro, is a great feature and gives peace of mind. I had reason to call on that warranty when the front passengers' door handle came away in my wife's hand. But they quickly replaced it no charge, no problem.

My only disappointment over the last three years is that KIA have not upgraded the Niro line by adding assisted parking and powered tailgate into the spec. as they have with the Cee'd and Sportage lines. So the HEV Niro now is exactly the same as it was when launched and it looks like I will be replacing my car with exactly the same when the time comes up in September.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:06 pm
by jerrytaff
My only disappointment over the last three years is that KIA have not upgraded the Niro line....
It seems that they can sell all the Niros that they can build, so there is little incentive to upgrade. Usually upgrades and facelifts occur when sales are sluggish.
The product line is very simple... A good set of baseline features and then very few options... the only option available on the 3 is the colour and even then the range is limited. This is the opposite to the philosophy of many manufacturers - like BMW, who offer a low base, and a bewildering choice of options. That seems to enable Kia to offer a more cost-effective solution, but they will lose customers who cannot get the combination of options they want.

Re: New Owner

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:51 pm
by niroal
jerrytaff wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 7:06 pm
My only disappointment over the last three years is that KIA have not upgraded the Niro line....
It seems that they can sell all the Niros that they can build, so there is little incentive to upgrade. Usually upgrades and facelifts occur when sales are sluggish.
The product line is very simple... A good set of baseline features and then very few options... the only option available on the 3 is the colour and even then the range is limited. This is the opposite to the philosophy of many manufacturers - like BMW, who offer a low base, and a bewildering choice of options. That seems to enable Kia to offer a more cost-effective solution, but they will lose customers who cannot get the combination of options they want.
The problem with Kia offering a large choice of options is delivery time. Compared to the 2 hours it takes a boat to get from Europe, coming from Korea takes much longer. I assume they need to keep choices reduced or the logistics would be a nightmare. It is not just Kia / Hyundai, all the Japanese manufacturers are similar. What smaller options are available are usually port or dealer fit rather than factory, just leaving a bulk premium pack rather than individual options. Interestingly Seat have stopped options completely now too I think.