Kia Ceed SW (07 on) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 21 May 2010
The Kia Cee'd SW is a great value small estate that's cheap to run. It's also attractive, filled with little luxuries and comes with an unrivalled seven-year warranty as standard - one of its main selling points. But don't let the Kia badge fool you - this is no budget car, it's well built with a quality interior that belies its price tag. The Cee'd moves Kia a step further away from the bottom of the market image it previously had and it's not far behind the Ford Focus in terms of comfort and refinement. The engines are pretty good, too - the 1.6-litre diesel really stands out. It's clean, powerful and returns up to 58mpg. The Cee'd SW was tweaked in late 2009 getting a new shaped bonnet, grille and front and rear lights. The interior was also improved and a low emissions EcoDynamics model was introduced with start/stop technology.
4 out of 5

Other Kia reviews

3.5 out of 5

Running costs

Kia residual values have improved greatly in recent years and the seven year warranty helps as buyers are willing to pay a little extra for the peace of mind it provides. All the models are efficient, the petrol averages 44mpg while both the high and low power versions of the CRDi return 60mpg.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,364 - £1,534 *

Diesel

£1,034 - £1,335 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

10,000 miles.

Warranty

Seven years/100,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£30.00 - £170.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

3 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
    119
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
    165
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The 1.6-litre diesel emits 122g/km of CO2, which is impressively low for a car of this size, although it's not as cheap to tax as the hatchback version. It performs well on the economy front though, returning 61mpg in everyday driving. The 1.6-litre petrol performs adequately (though not spectacularly) with 151g/km emissions and around 44mpg. The EcoDynamics model - with Kia Intelligent Stop and Go system - was introduced in late 2009 and is the greenest model with emissions of 119g/km and impressive economy of 62mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2