2025 Kia Cerato review | CarExpert

Should you’re available in the market for a brand new Kia Cerato, time is operating out.

Notice: That is an up to date model of a assessment first revealed in June, as there have been no main modifications to pricing for specification up to now six months since publication.

We’ve got up to date key particulars reminiscent of pricing and specs with the freshest data obtainable. Learn the unique model of this assessment here

WATCH: Paul’s video assessment of the 2023 Kia Cerato GT

A budget and cheerful small automobile will probably be changed by the all-new K4 very quickly, ending a manufacturing run of 4 generations and over 20 years.

It’s nonetheless comparatively inexpensive, nonetheless has a protracted guarantee, and nonetheless packs energy from a petroleum four-cylinder.

On paper, the Cerato isn’t precisely going out with a bang. No modifications have been made in its closing 12 months on sale, whereas costs rose $900 throughout the vary early on in 2024 – regardless of the value rise, it’s nonetheless lots of metallic for the cash.

You’ll have to pay extra for a Hyundai i30, Toyota Corolla or Mazda 3, so it’s as a substitute aligned with high-end variations of the smaller Mazda 2.

Is it nonetheless price snapping up a Cerato earlier than they’re gone for good?

How does the Kia Cerato examine?

View an in depth breakdown of the Kia Cerato towards equally sized autos.

Kia

Cerato

How a lot does the Kia Cerato value?

Kia provides nationwide drive-away pricing for the Cerato lineup, with hatchback and sedan physique types costing the identical.

The check car featured here’s a Security Pack outfitted S sedan with no extra choices.

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s the Kia Cerato like on the within?

The inside of the Cerato is boring, however purposeful.

Arduous black plastics dominate the house, together with the centre console, door playing cards, and sprint.

That’s not sudden for an financial system automobile, and Kia has been very selective with how its restricted funds is distributed throughout the Cerato S.

Included within the Security Pack is a leather-wrapped steering wheel, which sits satisfyingly within the fingers. As does the gear lever, which can also be trimmed in leather-based, and the plastics utilized in high-traffic areas such because the armrest have a smooth contact.

Small items of plastic aluminium-look trim break up the ocean of black, nevertheless it’s clear they aren’t the actual deal.

Comparable sentiments apply to the seats.

Trimmed in material, they don’t look particularly premium, nevertheless it was straightforward to get comfy because of supportive facet bolstering and well-judged cushioning.

The headrests are contoured, which is a reasonably neat and unusual function that makes them gentler in your head.

Behind the steering wheel you’ll discover a small display flanked by an analogue tachometer on the left and a equally old-school speedometer on the best.

There’s no digital instrument cluster right here – regardless of a ten.25-inch unit being obtainable in South Korea – and the Cerato feels older than it’s consequently.

The puny digital show might be customised to indicate car settings, gas financial system, and velocity data, and suggestions for sure security programs. It’s straightforward sufficient to navigate, however the button controls are cheesy and unsightly to make use of.

Transferring from the gauges to the infotainment system, it’s like stepping by way of a time portal from the mid-2000s to 2024.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen is befitting of its trendy standing, full with wi-fi smartphone connectivity.

Some premium new automobiles nonetheless required a wired connection for smartphone mirroring, so I used to be pleasantly stunned to see wi-fi functionality on the spec sheet for this little funds sedan.

With that stated, Apple CarPlay was vulnerable to dropouts throughout my time with the automobile, and it’s tough to exit the mirroring display with no bodily house button.

There’s additionally a noticeable lag between urgent a button and one thing occurring on the display, which stands out given we spend a lot time utilizing lightning-quick telephones and tablets in 2024.

Though the infotainment system is wi-fi, there are two USB-A ports and a 12V outlet positioned below the local weather controls, so each entrance occupants can cost their gadgets concurrently.

Talking of local weather management, the structure will probably be acquainted to anybody who has pushed a automobile within the final 30 years.

All capabilities are adjusted by way of three rotary dials, one every for mode, temperature, and fan velocity. Air is distributed by way of 4 vents up entrance.

Easy and efficient, a giant plus for any rental-spec car.

Cupboard space advantages from such an uncluttered sprint structure – you get two seperate iPhone-sized cabinets below the local weather dials, so each driver and passenger are sorted.

Nonetheless, elsewhere house is proscribed. The entrance door bins are small and poorly laid out, whereas the armrest cubby and glovebox are equally tight.

Twin centre cupholders are every sufficiently big for a 1L drink bottle, and there’s a drop down holder for sun shades above the sprint.

Storage can also be at a premium within the second row. Like many different compact automobiles, the rear door bins are solely good for a small drink bottle, tops.

Map pockets are absent from the seat backs, though you do get a centre armrest with two fastened cupholders.

Connectivity is effectively lined within the entrance row and rear passengers aren’t uncared for in that area both, with one USB-C connection level obtainable.

In relation to house for folks, the Cerato will get a cross mark.

Adults of a mean dimension will match comfortably, though taller folks might discover their hair grazes towards the headliner when sitting upright. There’s loads of room for ft below the entrance seats.

Fortunately, the sunshine headliner and a pair of air vents additionally stop the automobile from feeling claustrophobic within the again. Whether or not you’re using solo or travelling with a carload of passengers, the boot within the Cerato sedan gives loads of cargo room.

With 502L of house, the Cerato has probably the most boot house within the small automobile section, though the aperture is on the small facet. Should you want extra room, the rear bench folds 60/40 to unlock additional capability.

Annoyingly, there’s no solution to open the boot manually with out the important thing fob. That’s unacceptable in my ebook, and an actual knock on practicality.

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s below the bonnet?

All Cerato variants besides the flagship GT are powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

Our gas financial system determine was measured over 170km of largely peak-hour commuting, with some quick stints on the open highway – therefore the pretty excessive indicated readout.

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the Kia Cerato drive?

The Cerato is a simple and pleasing automobile to drive with a flat studying curve.

All of the controls are easy to function, and the small stature of the automobile makes it straightforward to position in metropolis site visitors and tight suburban streets.

That additionally applies to parking. The Cerato will slot in nearly any parking house and a reversing digital camera is readily available to make the method even easier.

Whereas the S doesn’t declare to have any efficiency credentials, it feels sporty on quieter roads with easy, naturally aspirated energy and correct steering.

You get 112kW and 192Nm from the two.0-litre engine, which is greater than sufficient for city driving. It’s happiest while you’re taking issues straightforward, put your foot down and also you get a lot of revs, a lot of noise, however not all that a lot efficiency.

The steering specifically stunned me, as another trendy steering programs might be overly gentle and inconsistent.

A forgiving suspension setup ensures that the Cerato manages to be each sporty and comfy, even over potholes and velocity bumps.

It’s not at all flawless, although.

A few of the extra security programs included with the Security Pack are too intrusive of their default settings, specifically blind-spot monitoring and ahead collision-avoidance.

The blind-spot monitoring system has the tendency to warn you if a automobile is driving alongside in a separate lane, whereas ahead collision-avoidance tech at occasions brakes and abruptly shudders the Cerato in the event you cross narrowly between parked automobiles or attempt to navigate a decent metropolis laneway.

A few of these points are remedied by adjusting security settings by way of the infotainment display, however not all.

I wouldn’t mess with the rear cross-traffic alert function, nevertheless, because it functioned seamlessly and took the nervousness out of reversing into busy streets.

Out on the freeway the Cerato is comfy cruising, retaining a cushiony experience at excessive speeds.

The cabin is effectively insulated from outdoors noise, so longer highway journeys don’t change into a chore. In case you are making an attempt to speed up uphill with a load on board, nevertheless, you get a lot of noise from the petrol engine because it strains to get the job carried out.

Adaptive cruise management comes with the Security Pack, and the expertise operates easily on these prolonged journeys.

It was exhausting to get a good gauge on the effectivity of the Cerato throughout our check, as many of the kilometres had been chalked up in metropolis site visitors, however I used to be nonetheless stunned to see a gas consumption determine of 12L/100km.

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

The S is the entry level into the Cerato vary, though our tester was fitted with the $1500 Security Pack – right here’s what you get with every variant.

Cerato S commonplace tools:

• 16-inch metal wheels
• 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wi-fi Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
• 4.2-inch instrument cluster display
• Cruise management
• Air con
• 6-speaker sound system
• Automated headlights
• Automated high-beam
• Tilt, telescopic adjustable steering column

Cerato Sport provides:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wired Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
• Satellite tv for pc navigation
• DAB digital radio
• Illuminated self-importance mirrors
• Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel and shifter

Cerato Sport+ features:

• Leather-based-appointed seats
• Heated entrance seats
• Twin-zone local weather management
• Auto defog perform
• Electrochromatic rear-view mirror
• 15-inch rear disc brakes
• Digital parking brake
• Energy-folding exterior mirrors

Cerato GT provides:

• 18-inch alloy wheels 
• Multi-link rear suspension
• LED headlights and tail lights
• LED inside lighting
• Leather-based-appointed ‘sports activities tubular’ trim
• Flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Wi-fi cellphone charging
• 8-speaker JBL premium sound system
• Palms-free energy boot-lid (Sedan)
• Twin exhaust
• Alloy pedals
• Paddle shifters
• Tilt/slide sunroof
• Ventilated entrance seats

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the Kia Cerato protected?

The Kia Cerato was final examined by ANCAP in 2019, with two totally different rankings overlaying the vary.

Commonplace security tools consists of:

• Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection
• Lane-keep help
• Lane Following Help (lane centring)
• Rear occupant alert
• Driver consideration alert with main car departure alert
• Reversing digital camera with entrance and rear parking sensors
• Tyre strain monitoring
• Entrance, front-side, and curtain airbags

Security Pack (S and Sport) provides:

• Adaptive cruise management
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
  • incl. pedestrian, bicycle owner detection
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Protected exit warning

Sport+ provides:

• Blind-spot help
• Rear cross-traffic help

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

How a lot does the Kia Cerato S value to run?

All Kia Cerato variants are lined by the model’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee in Australia.

The Kia Cerato S, Sport and Sport+ require companies each 12 months or 15,000km, whereas the GT has a stricter schedule with 12-month, 10,000km intervals.

To see how the Kia Cerato compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Tackle the Kia Cerato

The Kia Cerato S is a sensible and competent financial system automobile that’s prepared for a refresh.

It has sufficient infotainment and security expertise to maintain up with the pack, and is comfy to drive each within the metropolis and on the open highway.

You additionally get extra room within the second row than most equally priced hatchbacks, whereas Kia is the category chief in relation to boot house.

Having stated that, none of that is new and costs have jumped $6800 because the present mannequin hit the market six years in the past. The inside is a relic of that point, as is the inefficient powertrain.

Sedan rivals on this value vary are exhausting to return by, however the Hyundai i30 Sedan rolls on a more recent platform that provides the choice of hybrid effectivity and superior inside polish… in the event you can stretch your funds.

Thinking about shopping for a Kia Cerato? Get in contact with one in every of CarExpert’s trusted sellers here

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