FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 Kia Seltos

How big is the boot of the 2020 Kia Seltos?

The boot of the 2020 Kia Seltos is a good size. It holds eleven shopping bags, that is the same as the Mitsubishi ASX which will also hold eleven shopping bag and comparable to the Hyundai Kona and Subaru XV that both hold eight shopping bags.

The twin stroller fits with two shopping bags.

The tandem stroller fits with three 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 single stroller fits with four shopping bags beside it.

The compact stroller fits with seven shopping bags beside it.

You can fit a medium-size dog in the boot of the Kia Seltos.

The boot floor of the 2020 Kia Seltos is nice and flat and carpeted so it is a good place for an emergency nappy change!

How good is storage inside the 2020 Kia Seltos?

The storage inside the Kia Seltos is compact and practical.

In the front, there are two cup holders in the central console that would hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.

There is a little well beside them and the central console storage box behind them is a good size.

In front of the cup holders is a phone tray with USB  and 12V sockets. Above those is another shelf for a second phone or I used it for my glasses.

The glove box would not fit my iPad but my wallet fits with the manual.

There is no glasses case in the ceiling but there are it vanity mirrors in both front visors.

The door bins in the front will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are storage wells in the door handles.

Storage in the second row is good, with the same door handle wells and door bins that will hold a large refillable water bottle.

There is a map pocket on the back of the passenger front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad.

In the back of the central seat backrest, there is a fold-down armrest with two cup holders that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.

How noisy is the Kia Seltos?

The Kia Seltos is a particularly beepy little car!

It beeps when you first get in if you start the engine without your seat belt fastened. The lane departure warning is a beeping sound rather than a vibration which is rather sensitive and peace disturbing! The Seltos also alerts you to school zones and pedestrian crossings coming up ahead, these are also very disturbing for passengers and I found them useful when I drove to somewhere new and found when it was in my day to day local driving they were irritating as I know where all the school zones etc are located.

The Kia Seltos has a new media system that gives you the three-part view across the home screen and you can touch on the part you want.

It is still as lovely and simple to use and navigate as the previous one.

And has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The rearview camera is a good size image and you can zoom in on the space immediately behind the car too which is helpful for parking.

You can keep the rearview camera on while you are driving which my daughter loved and reminded me of the Tesla Model S.

There is a button, down in the central console, that will turn it on and off at any time.

Within the media system, you can easily change the position of the sound so that nursery rhymes can only be heard from the rear speakers!

The cruise control in the Seltos is quite accurate on motorways although I found on undulating roads at 60km it did run away with itself and get 4/5km over the set speed.

The buttons are on the right side on the steering wheel and I found them easy to use.

The 2020 Kia Seltos was a fun little car to drive and felt like it had some character.

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 indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the Kia Seltos.

The doors and windows of the 2020 Kia Seltos close quite gently, so they are not too baby waking.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up! 

Road and engine noise are quite good in the Kia Seltos and wasn't disturbing inside for passengers.

There is a seatbelt removal alarm and you can also lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.

The screen in front of the driver tells you the distance to empty in km which is really handy.

How many child seats fit in the 2020 Kia Seltos?

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seats in the Kia Seltos, that are easily accessible through the boot. They are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.

There are ISO Fix in both the outer rear seats, they are not within plastic guides but are quite easy to connect to.

I could fit three child seats across the second row of seats, it is a squeeze and I found a combination of forward and rear-facing fits best because the car narrows toward the top of the seats so three forward-facing was a struggle.

With a rear-facing child seat installed in the second-row, we could sit a 170cm driver in front.

Posting bub into their car seat easy from outside and inside was fine.

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 plenty of room to feed bub in the back seats if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the 2020 Kia Seltos? And How good is the 2020 Kia Seltos to drive?

The front seats of the Kia Seltos are quite comfortable and easily adjustable using the controls on the side of the seat.

I found I couldn't have a ponytail in the 2020 Kia Seltos as the headrests are not adjustable.

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 quite comfortable too. Legroom is good too in the back and I had plenty of legroom behind a 182cm driver and I'm 162cm.

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/out and up/down.

Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents, they can be easily controlled using the buttons below them on the central dash.

There were no air vents in the back of the 2020 Kia Seltos and I think they definitely need them in the Australian summer.

When maneuvering or parking, the 2020 Kia Seltos was fine, it's a small car and visibility is not a problem and the rearview camera is good.

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, but the Kia Seltos, was pretty easy to park.

How safe is the 2020 Kia Seltos?

The Kia Seltos was given a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2019, scoring a total of 85% or 32.5 out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 6.90 out of 8 for the full-width frontal crash test, 5.54 out of 8 for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test and 6.82 out of 8 for the pole test.

For Child Occupancy protection the Kia Seltos scored 40.9 out of 49 which is 83%. Broken down into 13.49 out of 16 for the dynamic front, 8/8 for dynamic side. Child restraint installation scored 11.43 out of 12 and onboard features score 8 out of 13.

ANCAP said of the testing:

In the frontal offset test, protection of the neck of the 10 year old child dummy was rated as POOR. Protection of the head and neck of the 6 year dummy was ADEQUATE, while the protection offered to all other critical body regions of both child dummies was GOOD.

In the side impact test, protection of all critical body regions was GOOD for both child dummies and maximum points were scored.

Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, however the Type A capsule could not be correctly installed in the rear outboard seating positions, and one of the selected booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre rear seating position.

The 2020Kia Seltos is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.

As standard, all models of the Kia Seltos come with seat belt pre-tensioners in both the front seats NOT the rear seats, anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the city, Interurban and optional VRU, automatic headlights, automatic high beam, daytime running lights (DRL), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder and fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), reversing collision avoidance camera, speed assistance manual speed limiter and tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) all come as standard.

Optional extras are adaptive cruise control (ACC), adaptive headlights, blind spot monitoring (BSM) and rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA.

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!