FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 Kia Cerato Sedan

So… How big is the boot of the Kia Cerato Sedan?

From empty, I could fit 15 shopping bags in the Cerato Sedan's boot, which is impressive as it's comparable to bigger sedans such as the Toyota Camry Sedan which held 16 shopping bags and the Kia Stinger which held 13 shopping bags.

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 is 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.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted with five shopping bags beside it.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with eight shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with eight shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 13 shopping bags beside it. Like a lot of sedans, though, the bulky boot lid hinges can get in the way, so wouldn't shut with the exact layout shown in the photo below. You have to plan how you load the boot to make sure tall items are not near the hinges!

I found it difficult to change a nappy because you had to bend down into the mouth of the boot and you wouldn't put a dog in there with the fixed parcel shelf. Posting things in and out of the boot could sometimes be a bit tricky because of the shape of the boot opening.

Storage in the front of the cabin was good. The front door bins were just big enough to hold a large refillable water bottle.

The central console storage box was small with a 12V socket inside and there are two cup holders in front of it, they held a reusable and disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fitted too.

In front of the gear lever is a well for your phone and has two USBs, a 12V socket and AUX inside it too. There is a tray above that too which will hold a phone too.

The glove box is not enormous, it would hold my wallet and iPad, but with the manual in there too but it only just closed!

There is a glasses case in the ceiling and lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

The doors have storage wells in them where the handles are, which is a great BabyDrive feature. I find them really useful for putting keys or whatever my daughter has in her hands when I am loading her into the car.

The door bins in the back of the Cerato Sedan are really small, I could just wedge my large refillable water bottle in them. There are no map pockets just two cup holders in the fold-down central armrest which will hold a re-usable and disposable coffee cup.

So… How noisy is the new Kia Cerato Sedan?

The media system in the Kia Cerato Sedan is really easy to use, it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The rear camera image is a good size and the image is quite clear too.

I found you could turn the parking sensors on and off using a button down in the central console.

There is lane keep assist which gently steers you back into your lane, you can turn this off with a button by your right knee.

The Sat-Nav is easy to use and the voice can be easily muted on the map screen by pressing the icon on the left-hand side, which is a nice and easy action while driving.

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.

The indicators are nice and quiet in the new Cerato Sedan, as are the windows and doors opening and closing too. I found I could come to a stop and open the door, take my seatbelt off and get out of the car with the engine and air-con running without any alarms sounding!

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 seatbelt removal alarm makes a warning sound and a light, between the air-con knobs, alerts you on the dashboard too.

Road and engine noise is pretty good, especially on the motorway at faster speeds on smooth roads. I did find around our hilly little town that the engine was loud going up the hills!

So… How many child seats fit in the Kia Cerato Sedan?

There are three top tether points across the rear fixed parcel shelf in the Cerato Sedan, I didn't find them easily accessible, the space behind the headrests is minimal and between those and the rear windscreen, it is hard to get in there to connect and disconnect them. Also with the child seats in position, it gives even less space to access and work in. The top tethers are within plastic guides that are clearly labelled.

The two outer rear seats have ISOFix that are not within plastic guides and are quite deeply set between the back and seat base cushions which just made them a bit trickier to connect to.

I managed to fit two child seats into the Cerato Sedan really nicely and found I couldn't squeeze a third child seat in between them. I used the rear-facing Britax Unity infant capsule and forward-facing Britax Platinum Pro in the two outer seats.

Posting bub into their child seat from inside the car is easiest as from the outside the roofline is very low and I found we had a few bumped heads over the week we had it and I found bending down and in to swing a toddler into her child seat tricky!

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 if you only have one child seat installed. The seats are upholstered with woven fabric which would be harder to wipe clean than leather.

I found legroom was good in the Cerato Sedan and a 180cm passenger could sit in front of the rear facing capsule with 28cm of knee room.

So… How comfortable is the new Kia Cerato Sedan? And how good is the Kia Cerato Sedan to drive?

In the front of the Cerato Sedan, the seats are extremely comfortable and have manual adjustments. The seats very nicely upholstered with a woven fabric which would be a bit harder to keep clean than leather with kids spillages!

I found I could have a ponytail while dring the Kia Cerato Sedan.

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable and there is a small hump in the central footwell you have to straddle if sitting in the central seat.

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 was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The cruise control is on the right side on the steering wheel and I found it easy to use but not particularly accurate at 60km/hour on undulating roads.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central horizontal ones and a small round one at either end. There are no air-con vents in the back though.

The controls for the aircon are three large dials on the central dashboard, which I found nice and easy to locate and use whilst driving.

There are lit vanity mirrors in both visors in the front and the visors are not extendable. There is also a glasses case in the ceiling.

The interior lights for the rear are in the ceiling centrally between the front seat headrests, which is perfect as I can reach from the driver's seat to turn it on and off while driving!

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

Visibility in the Cerato Sedan is tricky with that lower roofline, and once child seats were in vision out of the rear was very difficult! However what visibility I do have is at the level where kids will be so I found that useful.

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 parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, the Cerato Sedan was not too difficult as the camera was good!

There are handles above both rear doors which are well positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing little passengers.

The door panels in the Kia Cerato Sedan are plastic, not fabric, so they would wipe clean easily.

There are carpet floor mats throughout the model I tested.

So… How safe is the new Kia Cerato Sedan?

The 2018 Kia Cerato Sedan has not yet been tested by ANCAP.

Six airbags come as standard, dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers. The Kia Cerato Sedan has seatbelt reminders for all seats.

As standard, all models of the new Kia Cerato Sedan come with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning (FCW) for cars only (pedestrian and cyclist avoidance optional on all except Sport Plus model), lane keep assist (LKA), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), brake assist (BA), electronic stability control (ESC), traction control system (TCS), vehicle stability management (VSM), hill-start assist control (HAC), emergency stop signal (ESS), seatbelt warning chime and light on all positions, high-mounted rear stop light, dusk-sensing automatic headlights, rear fog lights, door open warning on driver display, speed-sensing auto door lock and impact sensing auto door unlocking.

Blind spot detection (BSD) and rear cross traffic alert (RCTA) are available as optional extras.

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!