Kia Carens (2006 - 2011) 2.0 CRDI GS 5d (7 Seat) Owner Review

The Kia Carens 2008 model, or any Kia model is not something I would have looked at, we found one at a garage just by chance. The build quality is good, mine is nine years old with 90,000 miles on the clock and all the doors shut nice and tight, windows all work and all switches work fine. The seats are hard wearing and have stood up well-something that a similar priced and age, higher spec Citroen Grand Picasso seats hadn't, both seat side bolsters gone with far less mileage too. The leg room is good front and back but there is no lumber support on either front seats. Mine is the seven seat version and the last pair of seats are only good for children as leg room is very limited. The interior space is good with good door pocket storage, rear central ashtray and cup holders with heating vents-down side is no rear 12V charging point. The front storage is excellent with trays, double lift up armrest, cup holders and sunglasses storage fitted into the roof light. There is also two 12V points, one in the armrest that the power lead can come through for using satnavs etc and one just below the gear leaver in a tray-this housed the cigarette lighter. There is also a pull out storage tray under the passengers seat. The glove box is large and holds a fair amount, there is also room above the glovebox to store pens, glasses etc but, beware these items slide off when cornering. The boot area is small with last two seats up but with them down it is improved dramatically, there is also a lift up storage area just infront of the boot which houses the jack and tools and the release for the under floor space saver wheel, there us a space at the side of this to store fuses, deicer etc. The floor is all flat from front to rear seats with no lip so that is handy for sliding items in. There is also a full roof rail system with adjustable bars. The 2.0L diesel I have is noisy but performs well, like most diesels the power is slow and then comes in lumps but there is enough power to get to 70 on the motorway while still in fourth with plenty of go to overtake in fifth and sixth. The main issue is the hydraulic clutch system that seems to be an issue on this and maybe other Kia's. Once the slave goes you have no gears at all, so that can be an expensive fix-one thing to bear in mind is that this car is fitted with a duel mass flywheel so if you need to replace the clutch after a hydraulic failure get that replaced at the same time. Overall not a bad car, not got the greatest of looks but not too bad, basic no-frills interior but does what you want it do. As a family car with kids, dogs, shopping etc this could be a cheap buy, a lot of car for not a lot of outlay. Just check the service history and CHECK THAT CLUTCH AND GEAR CHANGES!