Kia Carens Review (2013-2019)

The third-generation Kia Carens is a seven-seat people carrier that competes with the likes of the Ford Grand C-Max, the Vauxhall Zafira Tourer, the Renault Grand Scenic, and the Volkswagen Touran.

It was sold in the UK between 2013 and 2019, and came with Kia’s market-leading seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty. That was leaps and bounds ahead of the industry-standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty offered by most competitors. This, coupled with Kia’s good reliability, made the Carens an appealing choice for those seeking stress-free ownership. It was also much better looking than the bland and boxy second-generation Carens, courtesy of a sleeker exterior.

The Kia’s immensely versatile interior is its trump card. There are three individual middle-row seats, with built-in belts, and the outer seats tilt and slide to improve space and access to the rear. Behind those are two individually folding third-row seats, but they’re more for occasional use than anything else, because the space around them is on the tight side.

The outer second-row seats have Isofix child seat fixings, and there’s a multitude of storage points dotted around the cabin, including a standard-fit cooled glove box, and large door pockets and cup holders. Fold down the two rearmost seats and you have a hefty 492-litre boot.

The cabin is durable, if a little drab, and isn’t finished to quite the same fine degree as that of a Volkswagen. That’s more than made up for by the sheer ease of use, comfort, and flexibility, which will be of more importance to many buyers. Crucially, the Carens MPV also scored the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing when it was tested.

The is where the Carens tails its rivals. It was designed to be more compelling than its predecessor, with suspension and steering tuned to deliver a more engaging and composed driving experience. It’s certainly comfortable and easy to drive, with light and precise controls, but it isn’t as capable or as polished as the Volkswagen Touran or the Ford Grand C-Max.

The entry-level engine is a 1.6-litre petrol called the Gamma GDi. It produces 133bhp and can generates a 0-60mph time of 10.9 seconds. The other option is a 1.7-litre CRDi diesel, in 114bhp or 134bhp outputs. The less powerful version grants a 0-60mph time of 12.6 seconds, while the more powerful one can hit 60mph in 10.0 seconds.

Three trim levels were available when the Carens was launched. The entry-level 1 has LED daytime running lights, electric heated mirrors, air-conditioning, electric windows, cruise control and a six-speaker stereo with Bluetooth connectivity. The mid-level Carens 2 includes 16-inch alloy wheels, tinted rear glass, chrome trim, automatic lights, electric folding mirrors, and dual-zone climate control.

The top-grade Carens 3 features 17-inch wheels, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, second-row sun blinds and a reversing camera, among other improvements. A high-specification SR7 model was also briefly offered, while a 4 grade was introduced not long after the car was launched, which added luxuries including front- and rear parking sensors.

The Carens should be inexpensive to run. If you’re looking at an example that still has some warranty – and there are quite a few of them – then check that it’s been serviced according to the manufacturer’s schedule to maintain the cover. A missed service won’t necessarily invalidate the warranty, but a failure that could be attributed to a neglected service would.

You aren’t required to use Kia dealers to maintain the warranty though; any VAT-registered workshop that uses genuine or high-quality parts is good enough. It’s worth shopping around in any case, because Kia’s maintenance prices are reasonable, so a main dealer might not prove that much more expensive than an independent.

Kia does also allow you to get quotes for and buy Kia Care service plans online. This makes it very easy to get a handle on future costs and requirements. A two-year service plan for a 1.7-litre diesel Carens, for example, cost £319 at the time of writing. Cars up to five years old are eligible for service plans, and you can even book services online.

Fuel bills shouldn’t prove too arduous. The basic petrol model is returned 44.1mpg on the old NEDC test cycle, the entry-level diesel 60.1mpg, and the most powerful diesel 56.4mpg. The automatic diesel model clocks in at a lesser 46.3mpg, but you can expect the real-world figures for each model to fall some way short of the official ones.

Later, facelifted models are slightly more efficient, on paper at least. Some of the earlier diesel models are cheaper to tax, though, so there are potential savings to be had by going for a pre-1 April 2017 model if you’re set on saving every possible penny.

The Gamma GDi petrol engine has a timing chain rather than a belt that needs to replaced, as do the CRDi diesel variants, further reducing costs.

You have little to worry about on the reliability front with used Kias, because the brand has a reputation for making reliable cars. It often fares very well when it comes to customer satisfaction, too, and a ninth-place finish in the 2021 What Car? reliability survey is not to be sniffed at. There have been no recalls issued for this generation of Carens, either, so the Kia should be a far more straightforward proposition than, say, a Citroen or a Peugeot.

It’s still worth carefully inspecting any used Carens, though, to make sure it’s not going to need new parts – such as a clutch or brake components – and you’ll want to pay extra attention when the car is no longer covered by its warranty.

Keep an eye out for cars that have been used primarily for short trips around town, because that can exacerbate wear and cause problems for the emissions control systems in diesel models, known as the diesel particulate filter.