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

4.5 out of 5

Safety

The Cee'd was Kia's first car to get a five-star Euro NCAP rating so the SW should be equally as safe. It has dual front, side and curtain airbags, ABS, Isofix child seat anchor points and active head restrains which help support the driver and front passenger’s necks to prevent whiplash injuries. The only let-down is that electronic stability control - which helps the driver to keep control of the car in a skid - was originally only optional on the top model. However, following the Cee'd's facelifted in 2009, ESC is now standard on the 3 and optional on all other trim levels.

NCAP Test

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4 out of 5

Reliability

The Cee'd SW is assembled in Kia’s European factory, where build quality standards are very high. No major problems have so far been reported but anything will be covered by the unbeatable seven year warranty - a demonstration of the faith that Kia has in its build quality.

Car check problem points

Body

No problems reported.

Engine/Gearbox

No problems reported.

Other

No problems reported.