My current car is a KIA Carens and is not the one I wanted but a substitute for a VW Touran.
Most important things for me in a car is auto gearbox plus the ability to load a fully assemble pavement scooter into the boot with a hoist and other toys are a bonus, sometimes?
The KIA has been a worthy workhorse for my disability and almost matches the Touran in its abilities and this is namely the KIA Electronic Hand Brake and Auto Hold and its lacking usefulness against the VW version. First it never had an EHB in the first place even though told by the dealer a damn right lie it had and the auto hold holds for two seconds, on the other hand the Touran does have EHB and a auto-hold that holds for as long as you want it to.
Apart from that disappointment I might have given the next generation of the Carens a butchers but they discontinued the model so that puts KIA right out of the running on my next order in July.
With the toys as Tony mentioned, the KIA has a few but I’ve never looked upon them as toys per-say but more of an aide to my disable driving and something’s have been great and other I could do without for instance, heated seats while nice but now having sampled them I would not pay extra for them however the car came with heated steering wheel something I’ve always looked upon as a posh boys toy but this item has been a big surprise for me even though I drive with just one hand on a steering ball I can catch hold of the wheel on the straights and slight bends and warm my frozen hand nice and toasty while the heated seats being leather (something else I will not pay extra for now I’ve tried it) just makes my backside feel uncomfortable.
One other item is the rear-view camera that I find very useful but as long as there’s a reversing aid like the VW versions I would not pay extra for that.
One other tiny niggle I have is the KIA Carens seems to have its MPG system set to US Gallons and therefore giving a false reading of 33 MPG overall where in fact, using a highly accurate PC program of fuel bought and miles covered the car is actually doing 38 MPG.
So thats my review of the KIA Carens that hasn’t missed a beat over 28 months but discontiued now so that has me returning to the VAG in October for sure.
My wife and I will have a financial boost soon so more that likely be going for a VW Tiguan AllSpace in lieu of the Touran and although the Touran would suit me down to the ground it’s lighting system is getting a bit long in the tooth for my liking and like my 64 plate Golf the standard headlights are naff.