Kia Carens (06 on) - Review

A smooth ride combined with a spacious interior make the Carens a comfortable car to travel in, even for long journeys. The middle row of seats slides forward to make more room for those in the third row if necessary, so a decent compromise can be found where up to seven passengers should have enough leg room. However the rearmost seats are pretty cramped and only really ideal for children while all the chairs could do with more padding. On the plus side air conditioning is standard across the range as are electric windows.

The seven-seat version of the Carens is a good choice for larger families, but the downside is that luggage room is minimal when all seven seats are being used with just 74 litres of boot space. Both second and third-row seats fold flat (the middle row has a 60/40 split) and the mechanism for folding them is very straightforward. There are plenty of useful storage compartments in the cabin including a large central cubby and big door pockets too. One quirk that doesn't quite work is the foot-operated parking brake - it's especially tricky in manual cars.

The Carens has a pleasant cabin design, with clear instruments and a smart dashboard (with an integrated audio system) but there is a (slightly cumbersome) foot-operated parking brake to free up space between the front seats. Unfortunately the steering only adjusts for height and not reach but the quality of the finish is impressive and all the materials used are good quality. It is a little drab, with lots of grey plastics, but the overall layout is easy to get on with and there's no hint of the budget feel Kia used to be associated with.