The Kia Cerato was awarded 2016 Australia's Best Small Car under $35,000 and is a popular little car! I am keen to see how it is as a family car and give it our BabyDrive testing!!
The Cerato gets big ticks for interior space! Even with a rear-facing child seat installed, there was 26cm of knee room in the front passenger seat!
The boot was surprisingly practical too. I could fit 10 shopping bags from empty which is the same as in the Hyundai i30, one less than the Mazda3 and Honda Civic and two less than the Holden Astra. But I was more surprised to find I could fit the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot with a shopping bag, so the shape of the boot space was very user-friendly!
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with three shopping bags, the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle stroller and Nano fitted with two and seven bags respectively.
Storage inside the cabin is basic but practical and cup holders and door bins are well sized. There's a well for your phone with USB, AUX and 12V sockets in the front, decent sized central console storage box and glove box. A lined glasses case is in the ceiling and there are extendable visors with vanity mirrors too. In the back, the Cerato has no map pockets but it does have two cup holders and good size door bins.
For installing child seats in the back, there are ISOFix points in each of the outer rear seats. I was disappointed with how hidden they were between the seat cushioning and not very easily accessible. The central seatbelt also came in front of one of the anchor points, which made it even more difficult to connect.
There are three top tether anchor points in the boot floor and I found I needed an extension strap for the rear-facing Britax Graphene child seat. I also found I had to bring the seat backs forward slightly to post the top tether hook through to the boot as the gap between the seat back and parcel shelf was not big enough to post it through. But they were easily connected once the straps had passed through into the boot.
Two child seats fitted in the back really nicely, in the outer seats. There was definitely no room for a third, or for a person to sit between them but I just couldn't get over how spacious the interior of the Cerato was with two child seats installed! There is a fantastic amount of legroom for a car of this size! Also for a forward facing child seat with a 185cm driver in front, they still have a really big amount of legroom too!
The media touch screen system is okay, it is basic but it has sat-nav and is easy to navigate. The Cerato also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which just makes life so simple!
The Cerato is a surprisingly nippy little motor car! The engine squeals and revs when trying to decide which gear to select when you accelerate but apart from that it is great around town and you have no worries for parking because it's so small!
As a basic and practical family car and a BabyDrive, the Cerato is hard to go past with its low price and seven-year warranty! It is SO generous with space inside and the boot is practical too fitting a twin stroller! It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too. If you are a family of four, do mostly around town driving and the occasional long run then it's an amazing amount of practicality and car for the price!
The Kia Cerato got a 5-star ANCAP safety rating in 2014. It comes with six airbags as standard.
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
In the front of the Cerato, there are two cup-holders in the central console that will hold a disposable or reusable coffee cup, but they rattle a bit. My large refillable water bottle fits in there too.
There is a little storage well in front of the cup holders and the central console storage box is not too small and it has a little tray in the top as well.
In front of the gear lever is a good size storage area for your phone with a retractable lid. There are two 12V sockets and a USB and AUX in there as well.
There is a small glovebox in the Cerato but it will hold an iPad and wallet with the manual but not much else will fit!
The door bins in the front will hold a large refillable water bottle but the rest of the space is not very usable I found.
The doors have large wells in them as handles, which I find great for storing small items from my daughter's hands when you’re trying to get them in and out of their child seats, or for the keys whilst doing up their harnesses.
In the ceiling, there is a well-lined glasses case and both the visors are extendable and have mirrors in them.
In the back there are no map pockets, just a fold-down armrest in the central seat back with two cup holders. They will hold a large refillable water bottle and a disposable or reusable coffee cup.
The back door bins will hold a large refillable water bottle too.
The boot of the Cerato was surprisingly practical, and although it wasn't enormous it would hold 10 shopping bags. Compared to its competitors it held the same as the Hyundai i30, one less than the Mazda3 and Honda Civic and two less than the Holden Astra.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres ia not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
I was more surprised to find the shape of the boot space was very user-friendly! I could fit the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot with a shopping bag,
With the Britax Flexx tandem stroller, I could fit three shopping bags.
Our Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle stroller fitted with two shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller would fit laying down with seven shopping bags.
If you remove the parcel shelf you could carry a small dog in the boot.
Loading things in an out of the boot is relatively easy and space is open and easy to access. Baby can easily lay down for a nappy change on the boot floor, as it is large enough and an even surface.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
There are front and rear parking sensors in the Cerato I tested. The sensor visual display is only for the rear sensors but the audible alert is for both. You can turn the sensors off with a button by the gear lever in the central console but I couldn't find how to just mute the volume and keep the visuals.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
When you come to a complete stop and have turned the engine off and open the door, the Cerato has a loud ‘bong, bong, bong' noise until you take your key out of the ignition. It is really loud, annoying and baby waking! You can come to a stop with the engine running and open the door and there is no ‘bong, bonging'!
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The indicator volume is pretty quiet and would not affect sleeping children on board, which is just as well because the volume cannot be altered.
The sat nav voice volume can be adjusted or turned on and off by pressing an icon on the sat nav map screen that takes you to the sound screen where you can adjust it all.
It was really easy to connect my phone to the Cerato as it has Apple CarPlay, which makes things easier. I had my nursery rhymes already playing on my phone and soon as I plugged in the USB the song played out of the car speakers.
The media screen beeps with each touch, which I could not find a way to turn off in the settings and I found the noise really irritating. If my daughter was asleep then I wouldn't press a thing that beeped!!
The doors and windows are both a bit noisy, the windows are to open and they both are noisy to close and I think would disturb a sleeping child.
The doors and windows can be locked from the driver's door control panel and of course, there are the rear child locks.
The Cerato does not have auto engine cut out to save fuel when you are stopped at lights.
There is a seat belt removal alarm and a warning light display on the dashboard next to the clock to tell you which seatbelts are not fastened.
Road noise is fine in the Cerato but the engine is ‘revvy' and quite loud when accelerating and going uphill!
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
The Cerato is a little five-seater hatchback. There is ISOFix in the two outer rear seats, but they are not within plastic guides and are well hidden in the seat cushions, so they are quite difficult to connect to. I also found the central seatbelt was in front of one of them, which made it even harder to connect to.
There are three top tether anchor points in the boot floor, they are within plastic guides and easy to connect to. I did find I needed an extension strap for one of the rear facing child seats because the anchor points are so far down. The top tether straps would not easily post through to the boot as the gap between the parcel shelf and seat backs wasn't big enough without bringing the seatbacks forward slightly.
I could fit two child seats easily in the back of the Cerato, but there was no room for a third seat in between them or for a person to travel in between the two seats. With the two child seats installed, it was very spacious in the back and there was a huge 26cm of knee room for the front passenger with a rear-facing child seat installed behind them. I was so surprised by the amount of legroom in the Cerato, and for a little car it is very well designed.
Posting baby into their child seat from inside the Cerato was fine, although from outside the car I did find with a forward facing child seat that the height of the car made it a bit more awkward to get bub into their child seat because it was lower and you'd have to bend into the lower roofline than you would in a higher-up SUV.
Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed Bub in the back seat if you only have one child seat installed. All the seats in the car are covered with a woven upholstery that would trap child crumbs and spills in the weave and be harder to clean than a black leather for example.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
Comfort in the Kia Cerato is good for such a basic little hatchback!
The seats in the front are very basic but comfortable. I find the seat base is a bit long and sticks into the back of my calves, but I'm 164cm tall and everyone else who travelled in the Cerato loved the length of the seat bases for the support on the back of their thighs! So I guess it depends on your leg length!!
In the back, the seats are basic but outer seats are comfortable. That said, the central seat is not, as the base and back are both very hard and the seat base is shaped like a mound. The second-row seats do not adjust for legroom and the backrests do not adjust for reclining their angle either.
For the first year of Tulsi's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in and out and up and down. The buttons for cruise control are on the steering wheel. They are easy to use but the cruise control is not very accurate on undulating roads at 60km/h.
There were only the four vents across the front dashboard for aircon in the Cerato I drove, and none in the back. It is a small car but it gets hot inside and those four vents have to work very hard to keep the rear passengers cool as well. The controls for the airconditioning are central on the dashboard, and they are well located and easy to use while driving.
Visibility out of the rear side windows is quite good. They are not particularly deep but they are quite long and the child seats do not block visibility out of them, which helps with visibility. Because the Cerato is a small hatchback, you know where the beginning and end is with it so parking and maneuvering are easy.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get the cars as parking is tight in our apartment block carpark, but the Cerato was nice and quick to park!
The rear windows do slope up at the back, so the view is a little limited for rear-facing children.
The vanity mirrors in the front of the Cerato are not lit but the visors can slide out, so when you use them to shade the side windows you can extend them out to cover the whole window from the side.
There are two lights in the front ceiling and there is just one central light in the rear ceiling, which is easily reached by the driver while driving.
I find it important to reach the interior rear lights so that when I am driving bub at night I can turn the lights on while she is awake so that she is not scared in the dark and then I can switch them off once she is asleep.
The Cerato is great around town for nipping about in! It is small, agile and fun and as long as you aren't doing too many big journeys it would be really comfortable as a daily car. The engine is a bit revvy and screamy when accelerating up hills as it tries to select which gear it should go in!!
There is a handle above both back doors, which are well positioned to hold a child's toy.
The Cerato Sport I drove is obviously one of the cheaper models but the interior is still quite pleasant, and I found it neat, tidy and uncluttered. It does have the shiny black plastic I associate with cheap Mitsubishis on the gear lever, steering wheel and central console but apart from that, it is practical, clean and nice. Most surfaces are easily wiped clean apart from the seats.
There are floor mats throughout the Cerato. The doors and boot can be unlocked from the key fob.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
The Kia Cerato scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2014. It was awarded a total score of 35.51 out of 37. For the frontal offset test, it scored 14.51 out of 16 and for the side impact test it got 16/16. Scoring 2/2 for pole test and pedestrian detection was rated acceptable.
The Cerato has six airbags as standard. Driver and front passenger frontal airbags, front side airbags and curtain airbags for front and rear passengers.
The Kia Cerato comes with anti-lock braking system (ABS) with emergency brake distribution and brake assist, electronic stability control (ESC) with traction control, vehicle stability management (VSM), hill-start assist control (HAC), emergency stop signal (ESS) and speed sensing auto door lock and impact sensing auto door unlocking.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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