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Kia Carens 1.7 CRDi car review – efficient company car meets slick family transport

The new Carens is a transformed car. Great for work; great at the weekend.
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30 April 2013

Kia Carens
Like the rest of the Kia range, the Carens is a big step up on earlier models in terms of style and quality

Kia Carens 2 1.7 CRDi 6-speed manual ISG

What is it?

A car that doubles as a company minibus. It has seats for seven – no wait, for six if third row passengers want some legroom.

Actually it’s a compact MPV that’s handy as family transport and quite stylish for carrying colleagues. You could use it for mobile business meetings.

…it comes with one of the best warranties in the business, good for seven years or 100,000 miles.

Need more reason for a closer look? It is an all-new model that takes a big leap forward from the old car, and is the third generation of a model that has been around since 1999.

This one has a contemporary face and smooth swept-back styling that is a significant improvement over its boxy-and-a-bit-boring predecessor. What’s more, it comes with one of the best warranties in the business, good for seven years or 100,000 miles.

While the old car was hardly worth a second glance, this Carens has sped ahead in style, packaging and quality.  It looks much more businesslike and the figures stack up better too.

Kia Carens
The Carens is a lot of functional car for a reasonable price tag. Well equipped too

Tempted? It’s a quite lot of car for very reasonable money, one of the keenest-priced ways of transporting six other people in addition to the driver. On-the-road prices start from £17,895. That makes it remarkably good value, especially when judged on a per-seat basis.

So what’s new about it?

Kia Carens
Smaller on the outside, bigger inside – amazing what good design can achieve

The Carens has undergone a design revolution that brings it right up to date. It is the latest Kia model to get the Peter Shreyer treatment, transformed by Kia’s renowned design chief who has now redrawn the entire Kia range.

This Carens is smaller than the outgoing model, but has also been repackaged to shoehorn more space inside.

Seven seats are standard across the range, there is a choice of three engines, and three trim levels: called simply 1, 2 and 3.

All the engines are four-cylinder 16-valve units. One is a 1.6 litre, 133 bhp petrol motor. The other two are diesels, both 1.7 litres with common rail injection, with either 114 or 134 bhp. The standard gearbox is six-speed manual, and there is also a six-speed automatic.

Yes, but what about the CO2?

That can be as low as 124g/km with the most business-friendly diesel engine, which is pretty impressive for a seven-seater MPV. Go for the higher-powered diesel with an auto box, and it’s 159g/km. Still not at all bad for this category of car.

 

Kia Carens
Company car tax is at 19 percent – pretty good in this class

What’s hot?

  • Choice of three engines, one petrol and two diesels, both common-rail
  • Power outputs from 100 to 133bhp
  • Good value, with prices starting from £17,895 on-the-road
  • Seven seats standard on all versions
  • CO2 outputs from 124 to 149g/km
    Kia Carens
    Front seats are among the best and equipment levels are high with aircon, cruise control and Bluetooth standard across the range
  • Maximum torque in the diesels 192 or 244lb ft
  • Front seats some of the most comfortable on any similar size car, rear ones pretty good too
  • Most business-friendly version has a 60mpg official combined fuel economy figure
  • Long warranty on both time and mileage, seven years or 100,000 miles, and it’s transferable
  • Benefit-in-Kind company car tax for 2013/14 is 19% for the Carens 2, the best version for business
  • Intelligent Stop and Go (ISG) standard on all manual gearbox models
  • Good ride, slick gear action, handles well, pretty good refinement
  • Reasonable insurance costs, ABI group 12 to 16 depending on version
  • Different weight settings for the steering, can be lightened for easier parking
  • Cooled glovebox is standard, under-floor storage in the second row
  • Air conditioning, cruise control, Bluetooth and USB connection all standard across the range

 

Kia Carens
A transformed car compared with the outgoing model

What’s not?

  • Headroom and kneeroom rather sparse in the two rearmost seats, a bit of a squash for adults
  • Access to the third seating row is quite awkward, middle row seats don’t slide far enough to make it easy
    Kia Carens
    Bit snug in the 3rd row of seats, and access isn’t great
  • Combined fuel economy only 44 mpg if you go for the petrol Carens 1
  • Kia lacks the company car park cachet of other more up-market brands
  • Not the most catchy of car names

 

The Business Car Manager road test verdict

This new generation Kia Carens is a transformed car. You wouldn’t particularly want to be seen in the old one, but after a total revamp it is stylish looking, a practical seven-seater, good to drive and with unusually comfortable seats.

It’s a very viable company car; spending all day on the motorway in one of these would be no hardship. And at the weekend you have a versatile car for the family.

 

The Low Down…

Doors and body style  5-door MPV
Engine/gearbox  1.7-litre turbodiesel/6-speed manual
CO2 Emissions  124g/km
Economy  60.1mpg
Power/torque  116PS/260Nm
0-62mph/top speed  12.6 seconds/112mph
Insurance group  N/A

…and what it costs

P11D Value  £20,595
Monthly business rental (ex VAT)  From £341
Road tax (VED)  Band D
Company Car Tax Bands 2013/14 to 2015/16  19%, 20%, 22%
Benefit in kind 2013/14 to 2015/16  £3913, £4119, £4530
Annual/Monthly fuel benefit (20%)  £802/£67
Annual/Monthly fuel benefit (40%)  £1604/£134
Annual/monthly company car tax (20%)  £781/£65
Annual/monthly company car tax (40%)  £1562/£130
Figures correct at time of posting 
For latest figures Use our company car tax calculator

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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