2005 Kia Picanto LX from Finland - Comments

Occassionally after braking and the car comes to a stand-still, the gearstick needs to go into another gear before selecting first. I'm not 100% sure that it's actually the car at fault here, as it may also be because I tend to change down gear rather lately (if at all) when braking.

This is my only complaint about this car, and for the car's low price I can live with this.

Fantastic brakes.

Plenty of storage room when the rear seats are lowered.

Fuel economy figures are roughly what the manufacturer states, despite some other negative reviews that I've read.

Plenty of inside room.

I drive roughly 110Km per weekday and have had no major problems.

At the time of buying the Picanto, it had only been available in Finland for roughly nine months and I hadn't seen any on the roads, which I was a little cautious about. But, after test driving it, I was quite pleased.

At the time of writing, I have been driving this car through three months of severe winter weather (average temperature -7c) and have had no problems whatsoever. However, I do have an engine block warmer installed.

I have found the gearbox to be a bit stiff too, and also have to try to slot into another gear, particularly when going for reverse. I think its just because it's a new gearbox (my car has only covered about 1000 miles so far) but will no doubt loosen up.

Interesting to see that I'm not the only one who's had this problem. However, the car's now done 32000km and I don't even remember when the problem last happened.

I think the previous comment was probably correct in saying that this problem is probably due to the gearbox needing to loosen up.

I'm still very happy with the car!

Update: 09.11.06.

My Picanto's now done 37,500Km. Around 35,000Km, one of the rear registration plate bulb covers broke off when closing the boot, but was replaced for free under warranty.

Other than that, it's still going strong.

47000Km and another Finnish winter.

Still going strong.

The car has now done over 70,000Km and survived its third Finnish winter. Rear disc brakes were just replaced. Other than that, all's well.

The car has now had its 95,000Km service. Rear pads were replaced again, and the camshaft timing disc was also replaced free of charge under warranty.

One negative thing, though: in cold conditions, the car's front suspension now squeaks when decompressing (meaning going back to its normal state after driving over a bump). This started in autumn 2008. I changed Kia dealers for the 95,000Km service (because of job relocation) and wasn't happy that they couldn't also fix this suspension squeak problem. I was simply told to 'drive carefully' as they claimed their testing machines couldn't find any faults. Personally, I think it's a worn suspension bush, but I'll take it to a local independent service station once the squeak comes back - it always goes away during the summer/warmer weather.

I'll write an update about this once the problem is finally solved. I'm still happy with the car, though. It's driven close to 100,000Km now so I accept things like worn bushes as normal wear and tear. However, I won't be returning to the same Kia dealer, though; I'll return to the original dealer - even if it means a longer drive.