Kia Rondo 7

Ticks all the boxes – I oversee a community transport operation & we took possession of 11 diesel Kia Rondos in mid 2015.These vehicles have been fantastic in terms of reliability, comfort, performance + value for money. I can't understand why there aren't more of them around. Feedback is the same from passengers & drivers.  Show details

The best car I've ever had - feels like a Mercedes – I agree with everything that Winky wrote - this is a marvellous car. We have had a Honda Odyssey 1999 model for the past 10 years - it was a great car, and a true seven seater, but this Rondo (2014 SLi Diesel model) is at another level. It is very solid, stable and quiet. It is a bit smaller than the Odyssey, but last night we had 5 adults in the… Read more

car and everyone said it was very comfortable. The rear extra seats are really for small children - there is limited head and feet room. They no doubt will be useful occasionally though.

Something I am delighted with is the fuel efficiency - we have not been out on a country drive yet, but around Melbourne, we are averaging 8.5L/100Km. I think the Odyssey was more like 12L/100Km.

I researched all sorts of cars before purchasing the Rondo. We have three teenage children - two boys nearly 200cm (6.5 ft) tall, and a tall daughter too. I wanted a car that is small on the outside, but roomy and tall on the inside. I wanted a higher seating position because my wife has a bad back and doesn't do well with low cars. It also had to have low running costs. The Rondo SLi diesel ticks all those boxes, plus more.

Perfect for growing family - – I like to drive this model though it looks ugly for some. I value more for what it does than looks. Good leg space More over all spare comparing to others Good on fuel More open and driving is easy Only Con is - which doesn't bother me This is not for one who needs instant pickup, lags in pickup.  Show details

Perfect, Fuel Efficient Car For a Growing Gamily – We love our Rondo! We got the Diesel Si model and were really pleased with how quiet and stable it is compared to our previous diesel Holden Captiva. The fuel efficiency is amazing - we average 6.3L/100km. It costs around $70-$75 to fill from empty (with fuel around the $1.30/L mark) and we get about 850 - 950km per tank. Recently, we drove… Read more

from the Gold Coast down to Sydney for around $100. Furthermore, we very comfortably fit in three children, two adults, one dog and a weeks worth of luggage for said passengers.

The front seats are so spacious!! The kids loved that their seats in the back are adjustable and can recline a little.

We bought this car in February as an ex-demo model - it only had 120km on the clock when we picked it up and seeing that we live 100km away from the dealership we quickly doubled that number in the first day!

Four months later, we've put 15,000 on the clock and have had second service. Kia offer capped price servicing for the first 7 services. That's one little peeve that I have....

Kia advertise 7 years capped price servicing.... however they assume that people will drive no more than 15,000km a year. In actual fact the capped price servicing (and presumably the subsequent road side assist??) ends after your first 7 services which for my family, will likely be more like 3 to 4 years. Once the fixed price servicing is over I won't continue to take it to the dealership for servicing - they are WAY too expensive. I do appreciate, however, that the dealership have washed my car with each service!

I do miss some things that my Captiva had, but essentially my new Rondo is the entry level model and the things I'm missing can be found in the Sli and up. This is the first time I've had a reversing camera and I am totally in love! It's amazing. I've never been a confident reverse parker, but now I can do it with ease. I also like how high up you feel in the Rondo. Coming from an SUV, I haven't felt like I'm sitting really low like I thought I might. I don't know if that really makes sense though.

Overall, I would highly recommend this car to anybody considering it. It's great for our three kids and occasional guests. Be aware that it isn't a dedicated 7 seater so if you are often having more than 5 passengers this may not be the car for you. Once the back row is up, the boot space disappears. Additionally, the third row is difficult to get in an out of (think: getting in the backseat of a two door hatchback. Not impossible .... yet difficult to achieve gracefully )

Another sad demonstration of poor manufacturer support – After truly enjoying the driving of my Peugeot 308, but hating the appalling support from Peugeot Australia, I wanted something that was reliable and had a more extensive dealer network than PA had. My wife and I really liked this New Rondo (as it is called, from time to time to distinguish it from its less sexy predecessor). It was fine to… Read more

drive, quiet, had adequate performance, and seemed far better-finished than our Peugeot. And so it is.

It's relevant to discuss the Rondo in terms of my 308 because they are nearly identical in size and both claim seven-seat capacity. My 308 was a 5-seater but I once set it up with a third row seat and concluded that I wouldn't want to travel far in there. The same goes for the Rondo. Interior flexibility sees a big score for the Peugeot, but in terms of apparent quality, the Rondo eats it for breakfast. For 3 years I tolerated a whiny heater fan (every loan car I got had the same issues) in my 308 and the switches felt cheap and flimsy; the dash was low enough but looked to be made of some cheap plastic sheeting stretched over a frame. The Rondo controls feel far more robust and the temperature controls move smoothly, like the volume knob on an expensive sound system. The 308 boasted far more interior volume and load space than the Rondo though, with all seats removable to yield over 2 cubic meters of load space! That said, the Rondo has a more usably-shaped load space, being rectangular as opposed to Peugeot's near-square volume. (Fairly common on European cars, in my experience.)

My Rondo is the Platinum version and has heated and cooled seats, a heated steering wheel (! Don't laugh, it's great), leather interior, satnav, and glass roof. (My 308 had a glass roof but it didn't open, unlike the Rondo.)

The petrol engine lacks torque and needs a good shove to get it going, but once you are moving feels fine. Where my 308 would lug up shallow hills with cruise control active, my Rondo swaps gears and accelerates a little before picking a higher ratio and losing speed then repeating the process. It is also thirstier than my 308.

I had a raft of ongoing-issues with my 308 and it appears that the situation is set to repeat itself with the Rondo. My 308 had BT problems through out my ownership with dealers blaming my phone each time I raised it. According to them, I had 3 faulty phones in a row.

My Rondo was delivered with the USB media connection not working which is very, very poor so I had to take it back. Since it was fixed I can confirm that it will not play MP3 or WMA files properly, pausing randomly during the playback, and regardless of the media used. The dealership's response: no problem detected, they played for 2 hours without issue. Never mind that I had recordings of it happening, they went into denial, which they have since changed their minds on though they go quiet when I raise their initial report. The satnav takes longer and longer to fire up, currently being somewhere around 20 minutes. The promised feature of video playback through the 7" screen doesn't work and I'm getting the "That's only for overseas models" excuse. It's in the manual, it should work. Finally when streaming music via BT, the song progress bar remains blank, which I am assured is deliberate. (Why would anyone program this?) I've received repeated promises that the head unit will be replaced, and this has been reneged-on each time. The latest is a claim that software needs to be rewritten and I have to wait, despite the dealership telling me the head unit was found to be faulty. This is the same item that is found in other Kia and Hyundai models, so my skepticism antennae are now on high alert: excuses and dishonesty are in the air.

3 months into ownership and I have a fine vehicle that doesn't work properly and may never do so. It is quiet, comfortable, well-made, and well-appointed, but I can't recommend it because the support is so poor, something that seems to be at epidemic proportions across many brands. If anyone is considering buying a new car, nowadays you need to acknowledge that if it has a fault - intermittent or otherwise - it is probably going to be there for the life of the vehicle.

Sadly, this is how I lived with my 308 and now I think this is how I have to live with my Kia Rondo.

If I had paid for the car with a cheque that was worth one cent less than the face value, I'd be up on charges right now. Yet dealerships and manufacturers fob off customers as soon as delivery takes place, initially going into denial and then just wearing owners down until they lack the energy to fight.

Not good enough, Kia Australia. Quietness, comfort, features, size, interior room. Poor quality, lack of support.

Great car for kids and oldies – We bought our Rondo new two years ago to help with dropping off and picking up grandchildren. It feels like a small car to drive but is roomy inside with sometimes six or seven seats in use. Love the height of the seat for driving - very comfortable to get in and out of for those of us on the mature side. Roomy, comfortable, fuel efficient and good value for money

KIA Rondo 7 SI 2011 – I have the 2011 SI model. I was sceptical about the drive train before I bought it (2L with 4 speed auto) but that faded away very quickly. The car is responsive and feels lightweight even when loaded with 2 adults and 4 children. It looks small but feels spacious on the inside and the family travels well in it. The wife loves it and finds it much… Read more ·  2

easier to drive and more convenient to run around town than the Grand Carnival.

The kids love it too, very comfortable and all their iPod music is available on the car stereo. My wife also loves the Bluetooth feature and the ability to answer phone calls from the steering wheel even when her phone is in a bag at the back of the car. The car is resonating very well with the whole family.

As for me, it has been a pleasant surprise, I didn’t expect the family to like it that quick especially after being used to so much cabin space in the Grand Carnival (loved that car too). I’m loving the fuel economy too around 10.4L/100km driving on Canberra roads with lots of roundabouts. Compared to the Grand Carnival I’m saving around 5L/100km. I do more kilometres on a 55L tank in the Rondo than the 80L tank in the Grand Carnival.

I’m not sure what its like on the highway yet but around town this car is a real winner. Unbelievable value for money and the quality finish & comfort is surprisingly good. With 4 star ANCAP crash test results, stability control and curtain airbags as well as 5 years unlimited KM warranty all for $27,990 drive-away. What can I say, I got a lot more than what I expected for a lot less than other competitors without comprising on safety or comfort for the family. 4 STAR ANCAP, Stability Control, Curtain Airbags, CVVT & DOHC engine, Fuel Economy, 5 Years Unlimited KM Warranty, Bluetooth & iPod connectivity No Cruise Control but wife prefers Bluetooth option on the steering wheel instead.

Excellent – I love my Kia and would reccomend it to anyone. We got the leather seat fancy option and it is worth it for the easy to clean seats. Excellent value for money and great to drive a small family around I LOVE this car. It is spacious, comfortable to drive and very snazzy looking. We have 2 kids but wanted a few extra seats for visitors. … Read more

Everything is easy to use and a 5 year unlimited warranty makes me feel secure. Very fuel efficient. All the seats fold flat if required and I have utilised this option for carrying long items. Love the 12 drink holder and little storage bits and bobs. My kids love the sun roof. It swallowed my CD, but I can get it fixed under the warranty. It has hardly any cons really. I guess when all 7 seats are used there is little luggage room in the boot but as we only accasionally use the extra seats it is of little concern.

fantastic car for the medium sized family! – I sold my Mazda CX7 and bought a Rondo SI manual, and I am kicking myself that I didn't buy one sooner! I spend about $52K on the Mazda, and $25K on the Rondo, and the Rondo holds my whole family of 5 plus any extra kids that tag along (kids' friends!) and the best part..... It's so fule efficient! I feel as though I have hardly filled up with… Read more ·  3

petrol at all! Power is okay and it shifts through gears well. Air-con is sufficient, stereo okay (what do you expect for the price), steering wheel controls for bluetooth phone and radio (on the 2012 model) is fantastic! Features I like: cupholders in all doors and two in front, middle console in two parts with all different plugs for ipods etc., large enough glove box, really comfy seats (and many ppl comment on this to me), and heaps of room for the kiddies in the back. Only con is that the designer for the manual was probably on crack when they designed the handbrake for the manual car. You have to put it in neutral before you can put the hand brake on because it's on the floor!! But, besides this one little flaw (which wouldn't be an issue if you bought an auto.... I really love my car and don't regret it for a second! Great value for money! A lot of car for $25K and very very fuel efficient!!!!!! Affordable 7-seater! Love it! hand brake is on the floor! What the? In a manual this can be tricky and annoying.

Great seating options – This is a great family car. It can seat 7 people. We have 4 kids and always have one of the older ones sit in the back and they have enough space plus you can fold the other back seat down to leave lots of boot space. There are plenty of cup holders and great features with multiple spaces to charge phones or play dvd players. The only let down is… Read more

no cruise control but for the price i guess you can't expect it. Overall i would be happy to recommend this car to anyone. Reliable, great price, great seating options. No cruise control.

Underated People Mover – We have had the Rondo for 2 years and it accomodates our three young children comfortably allowing for occasional guests. We purchased crossbars for the rails and a roof box to store extra luggage when we go on long trips. For us, it's a great family runabout, if you're not into driving aggressively. The disappointment is that there were no… Read more

better engines available (it does struggle fully laden) even if we wanted to pay the money. With the standard engline working hard, I have no idea how they get the fuel economy numbers posted on the sticker. Around the city, we're doing closer to 14L/100kms. It was a bit of a shock after owning a 1.8L Toyota Corolla Wagon which runs on the smell of an oily rag. Lack of a factory cruise control like they have in other markets around the world was also disappointing.

But boy, for leather seats, sun roof, climate control air-conditioning, reversing camera and all the other mod cons for $30k on the road, we thought it was a pretty good buy despite its short-comings.

PS: we noted that some equipment like reversing camera has been removed in the latest model. That was one of the best pieces of equipment and essential if you have young children and poor direct visibility. Incredibly flexible seating, price, great equipment level for top of the range Drinks fuel, no cruise control, would be better with a larger engine/diesel option