2004 Kia Picanto LX from UK and Ireland - Comments

I like our Picanto,..but it is still a pain!

Had our first flat tyre which was a nightmare, luckily the AA guy managed to inflate it enough for us to drive to local garage and have tyre repaired, but its stupid not to have a spare fitted!

Plus already pulled bumper off by reversing out of car park and being too close to the car next to me. Was only going 3mph, but still ripped through bumber hinges!

Hate to see what would happen in a crash.

Sometimes new cars seems to be made a lot less stronger than older ones.

Give me back my old Nova any day. That ones bumper really did work as a 'bumper'.

I can't really comment on the build quality of the newer ones versus the older models, but mine seems perfectly OK. One thing that has impressed me though is I read that the Picanto has the lowest depreciation of any new car in the UK (Parkers Guide) which just helps to underline that buying one has been quite a good idea!

Just reading the previous comment about the bumper and overall strength of the car. I was disappointed with the crash test scores which were only 3 stars. I wouldn't like to be in any major accident, but saying that, I do find the car's brakes have good bite, and could be relied on to slow you down quickly (providing you noticed what's coming in your direction of course). It's a pity though to read about the bumper coming away from the car so easily. I guess it's all comes down to money and a case of getting what you paid for. A few extra side airbags would be nice. Still, I'll take my chances in the Picanto, as I've driven some death traps in my time. Anyway, enough of the gloomy talk. You've got to love the Picanto's cheeky face.

The Picanto's crash ratings aren't quite as bad as they appear. I think that the car gets three stars for front occupants, four stars for rear passengers, but only one star for pedestrian protection which is where it drops the marks. This is because of the short bonnet - if you hit someone, their head will potentially hit the stiff panel at the base of the windscreen - no nice squashy bonnet here!. So try not to get run over by a Picanto...

I absolutely love my picanto to pieces and she has a pet name of "Bumble" which we believe is quite fitting for her shape, however I must admit that we must have the rogue picanto!As we have been back to our garage 8 times and had the rac out three times in the past ten months with a different problem every time. And yet I am still not prepared to give her up for anything. Excellent handling, superb brakes, nippy round town and for looks I don't think anything comes close. Love My Picanto!!!

Our one is called Pikachu!

My Picanto is called Poppy, and a good car too.

Good news in regards to the UK depreciate figures, incase no one has yet heard. The Kia Picanto between 2004 to 2005 was one of the UK's top cars that 'LEAST depreciated'. So to all those people who believed the Kia would decrepiate as fast as a rock falling off a cliff, I hope they stand corrected. Not that anyone would want to sell there Picanto, but getting a respectable price could well be possible, so long as the sales garage doesn't try to pull a fast one.

Can anyone verify if there have been an official recall for Picanto's 'badly-designed' crankshaft?

I worked for a Kia dealer when they came out so got to test drive one lots of times before we bought ours. I would recommend this car to anyone, we find it uber reliable having only had 1 small issue with a crunch on 2nd gear. For those of you having issues getting into reverse simply release the clutch and try again it works OK then.

We have 20k on our 04 SE model which I got £800 off list price as it was a static demo. Looking forward to owning this at least 5 years as I never get bored in it. Handles motorway like a rep car and we get 260 miles out of its £23 tank which suits us all. One thing to point out is that it has a 6 litre reserve tank, that's massive on a car this frugal. As for crash testing your going to be stopped in less than half the legal stopping distance and steers very positively so will be unlucky to be involved in a crash in it.

My picanto is a 2004 se model. its also a driving school car and has 33000 miles under its belt. apart from its absolutely rubbish cd player (its been replaced under warranty and the new ones still as bad, it jumps and skips on cd s) its been very reliable and comfortable over this mileage having never broken down. as for the crankshaft re call, yes it does have one so go see your dealer before the end pully flies off apparently.

I've got a couple of question to fellow Picanto owners. Firstly, the fuel economy. I've done the maths a million times over, and I struggle to get my Picanto over 42 MPG (and that's with treating the pedal with a "feather" touch). I know that Kia suggests in the region of 54 MPG, but there would be no way on earth I could achieve those results, not unless I really push my luck between petrol stations, and go hughly into the reserve tank. Secondly, the recall mentioned on the crank shaft. Does anyone know how serious this is? I'm due a service in about five weeks (or 2000 miles), and wonder if it can wait till then?

Still really pleased with my Picanto after just over a year's ownership and about 12,000 miles. I wish the front doors opened just a bit wider, though - I use a wheelchair to get about and it's a bit of a tight squeeze to get it stowed away properly! Haven't had any problems with the cigarette lighter and I use it regularly for a plug-in tyre pump. Regards safety, I had the bad luck to be run into by an Army Landrover a few months ago and there wasn't that much damage - new rear door and panel and new bumper - so all in all I felt lucky and well-protected. I do a lot of motorway mileage and it's quite happy to trundle along at the official speed limit all day, although it's noticeably more thirsty at 70 than it is at 60 - not surprisingly! Just for the record, the key fob drives me nuts too!!

Re the Crankshaft issue, there is a problem with earlier cars. Speak to Kia customer service who will first claim not to know anything about it before asking for your registration number to see if the recall affected your car! Mine was OK, but there is a Kia Forum on the web and the Picanto crank issue keeps cropping up. Apparently noticeable loss of power is the beginning of the problem, and a new engine may be needed. Good luck!

I phoned Kia over the weekend, and the recall doesn't effect 54 plate Picanto's (that's great for me), but not sure about other batches. Worth calling them!

I plan to rent a car on my next trip to Greece and can pick between a Picanto and a Hyundai Atos. How do they compare to each other and which one should I pick? Renter advertizes both of them as being 1100 cc.