Kia Picanto JA GT-Line Manual (2023-2026)

Great value and surprisingly well built – Bought my picanto after reading good reviews and pretty much only city car left in Australian market. Needed a good run around car that was cheap to buy and most importantly cheap to run. Have ended up loving this little car and genuinely enjoy driving it. I do a long 65km daily commute to work the picanto handles both highway and city driving with ease. Fuel average in below generally below 5L/100km.

1.25L engine isn’t overly powerful but it’s sufficient and haven’t had issues flowing with traffic. Engine can be noisy while accelerating but is pretty standard for these types of cars. The 5 speed settles at just shy of 2800rpm when doing 100kmph and is pretty relaxed at this speed. But while powering thru gears it gets pretty loud after 3500rpm.

Haven’t had any problems or warranty issues yet after 30,000km Apple car play was problematic at first but after disabling Bluetooth media playback for my phone it fixed the issue and has worked flawlessly ever since. Purchased from Werribee Kia and they have been great.

Flimsy front grill – Front grills are supposed to provide a good deal of protection to important equipment behind. My experience is that there is very little as was proven by a recent collision with a pheasant. I use my gt-line getting around and shopping in Cumberland 3 to 4 days a week

All I need, perfect to park – MY 2021, manual, white GT Line. ( i.e. the fancier looking one, but without turbo) 6 months, 4000 km in and every day I feel so grateful to Kia for producing this car and me be lucky enough to get one. Pros:. Manual transmission available!!! Thank you!!! I often get the street car park that's left that no one else can fit into! The features and thoughtful touches for the money are just incredible...eg stereo volume turns down when reverse engaged, power windows can be closed after ignition turned off until the door is opened, hill hold etc It doesn't feel like they're treating entry level buyers as cheapskates and palming off crap on to us... I actually feel like I am driving a really well appointed and finished car... My dad who is a 6-ft 2 engineer / mechanic can't stop raving about it and he can actually sit comfortably in the driver's seat. It is no underpowered slug...with three adults it goes up steep Brissie hills with ease and has good acceleration if you need to do a quick manoeuvre.

Cons: I would like a bigger fuel tank ...but hey, it's a tiny car so I guess a tiny tank is par for the course! I can get about 480 km of mostly city driving per 32 litre tank. (Disclaimer: Maybe I got a bit spoilt as I used to own a 2010 diesel Ford Fiesta Econetic that got 1000 km per 40 litre tank!)

The survey Kia sent following purchase was unnecessarily complicated, intrusive and time consuming so I didn't finish it which is a pity as I like to give feedback of the positive and negative variety ( in case you can't tell ha ha)

That's my only whinge really. I love this car!!