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Let the korean offensive begin, because by the time the Kia Cee’d JD was launched, the koreans surpassed the europeans in terms of cars. It’s not necessarily a man’s most burning desire, but it’s a darn good car.

I still don’t understand why there is always an shift of popularity between the Kia Cee’d and it’s Hyundai i30 sister. For the first generation Kia Cee’d dominated the streets, for the second generation it was somewhat 50%50 between Kia Cee’d JD and Hyundai i30 GD and in the third episode people pretty much bought solely the Hyundai i30. Does it really matter which one sells better though? No, because they are sister cars and the profit still ends up in the family. Hyundai / Kia – the real family, not the one from The Fat and the Furious.

If up to this point the koreans only sold low-cost wheeled washing machines, cheap but reliable carriages that were bought only by those who had 500 euros extra and wanted something more pompous than a Daihatsu Cuore but 500 euros was the absolute most they would be willing to spend, here we are already talking about korean cars which were designed and built in Europe, for Europe. 

Why buy a Kia Cee’d and not something else?

• First of all, the Cee’d JD is part of the first generation korean cars that came with a 7-year warranty, which was a first in the European car industry. In practice you had a 7-year/150,000 km warranty, provided that all maintenance is carried out at the dealership or at an official Hyundai / Kia service. To show up and offer a 7-year guarantee means either you either lost it, or you are that sure of yourself and your products. Theoretically, this year you buy get an used Cee’d with valid factory warranty, if the mileage hasn’t been met. In any case, it is very unlikely that a person would have done the maintainance exclusively at the dealership for 7 years in a row, just for the sake of the warranty, especially for a medium cost car.


• It is a european car. The exterior looks as good as any other contemporary equivalent european compact like the Golf or the Megane or the Focus or our own Astra, and the interior looks like very german, very stoic and very gray. Personally, I find it too sober and boring but some people enjoy it. Imagine going out for dinner with that kind of people.


• As for the comparison between Cee’d and i30, Cee’d also came in the coupe version, Pro_Cee’d. i30 didn’t have anything like that. Oh wait…Veloster. But that’s half-coupe half-hatchback half-roadster. Hyundai Veloster – the manbearpig of the car world.

Kia Cee’d JD Engines

• 1.0 T-GDI Kappa II G3LC of 100 and 120 horsepower – This engine is a great metaphor for my salary – pretty good, but not enough. Not enough for the Kia Cee’d JD atleast. Available only on the facelift version, this turbocharged pencil-sharpener is decent enough reliability-wise.


• 1.4 Gamma G4FA of 99 horsepower – However the most popular engine for the Cee’d aswell as the i30 remains the good old naturally aspirated 1.4 petrol. Not very fast, not very economical, not very silent but atleast it’s reliable and gets you from place to place without much fuss. If you’re not in a hurry all the time and you don’t have to haul around a small family and it’s luggage, then this might be all the engine you’ll ever need. And the market has proven this aswell. 


• 1.6 Gamma G4FC and G4FD of 122 and 135 horsepower – The MPi version is older but sturdier, as opposed to the GDi one which has direct injection, which translates into carbon build-up and it no longer being LPG compatible. So hurry up and get the multi-point injection version before it’s too late and the GDi take over.


• 1.6 Gamma T-GDI Turbo G4FJ of 184 horsepower – End of the line for the petrol engines as this is an mostly european car. The reason why they gave this engine to the Cee’d in the first place was because of the Pro_Cee’d coupe version. At any rate, apart from occasional turbocharger issues and carbon build-up, this engine is worth the hassle.

Diesel

• 1.4 CRDi U II D4FC of 90 horsepower – No. I mean it’s not a bad engine, just that for 500 euros extra you can buy a 1.6 CRDi, which is the same engine but with much more power. But if you can’t find it or you’re the kind of person who literally counts the years until retirement, this engine is fair enough.


• 1.6 CRDi U II D4FB of 128 horsepower – The same 2nd generation U-Line engine as the 1.4 CRDi and the only diesel that is worth buying really. It has no specific issues, only that the particle filtre is more sensitive to driving around town than I am sensitive to the idea of ​​working on Saturday.

Kia Cee’d JD Reliability Issues

• Much like it’s i30 sisters, these cars are really fussy about tires, they don’t get along with every brand so you should do your homework beforehand about which tires to buy. In addition, the rear tires wear out faster thanks to the faulty alignment, and this is not included in the warranty because “it’s not a bug it’s a feature”.


• Buying retractable cargo covers seem to be a national passtime among i30 and Cee’d owners. This is because they tend to get stuck or break altogether.


• The steering box can move at the same speed as a goverment clerk office during weekend. Any clerk office where you need 2 signatures but without those 2 signatures you cannot do anything. And the lady at the counter knows this. And instead of giving you those 2 signatures, she sits on her phone and plays Farmville and bides her time until lunchtime. 

Kia Cee’d JD Verdict

One of the most frequent criticisms in regards to the Kia Cee’d JD is that it’s no longer a cheap and good car. It’s just a good car. And the fact that it was one of the first cars that came with a 7-year factory warranty says enough about it’s quality. And this was also reflected in sales numbers because this is the point when the european supremacy begins to falter. Not to mention that the next degeneration also sold like hot cakes. But until then, I recommend the Kia Cee’d JD if you don’t have too many demands from your car, but you want a decent car in everything and excellent in nothing. Where have I heard this before?

Which engines do I recommend? For most people the 1.4 MPI 100 horsepower petrol will probably be enough. As for the diesel enthusiasts, the best bet is on the 128 horsepower 1.6 CRDi.