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Seven-year warranty proves popular with Irish motorists

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

Finishing second to Ford’s Mondeo in the Semperit Irish Car of the Year competition with their Cee’d gave Kia a major boost in the Irish motor trade. After a few distribution problems in the 1990s the Korean manufacturer is now well and truly established here with their headquarters in Ballymount, South Dublin.
Obviously the idea of a seven-year warranty is proving extremely popular with Irish motorists and Kia’s cars and SUVs are also improving all the time.
In 2002 Kia sold 400 cars in the Republic. Last year their total sales figures for cars and SUVs was over 4,300. They now have 38 dealers nationwide.
Kia is now offering a station wagon version of their popular Cee’d which is my test car this week. Also coming up in the coming weeks is the Proceed, a three-door sporty version of the Cee’d, but with its own quirky name.
Sales people in the motor industry tell me that there is already a noticeable slowdown in new car sales with many people waiting for the changes to C02 emission to kick in on July 1. Most of the cars sold in January were pre-booked prior to Brian Cowen’s budget.

Kia should do even better come the Summer especially with this diesel estate version, which is low on C02 emissions.
I drove a black model and it looked very impressive. The front headlamps were very sporty and being a station wagon, there was naturally plenty of boot space.
The interior of most new cars nowadays is black, but in this case a touch of grey which came half way up the doors, really lifted the décor. And there is plenty of room for five adults in a car that should be well able to compete in the family saloon section.
It’s a while since I drove the original Cee’d and apart from the extra space the most obvious changes I could see were the two silver roof rails, which give a people carrier effect, even though it‚s not a high car.
This is a very comfortable motor and the 1.6 diesel engine gave me all the power I needed. Now that they have located the indicator and wiper switches in the European position Kia is a match for anyone. And there are slave controls for the radio/CD on the steering wheel.
A seven-year guarantee is very impressive, but only time will tell what type of faults or itch will occur over those seven years. Most people will change cars within the guarantee period, but the warranty, which is free, carries over to the next owner.
Prices for the regular Cee’d start at e19,695 for the 1.4, while the sports wagon 1.6 diesel I drove costs e24,395.

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