Item: Used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 2012-2018
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/astra/estate/used-review/n955">Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer</a> has plenty of room inside and is well equipped as standard. There’s a range of smooth petrol and fabulously economical diesel engines, the ride is comfortable and it’s pretty good to drive, too.

The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/golf/estate/used-review/n783">Volkswagen Golf Estate</a> is the one to beat in the small estate class, because not only is it great to drive, but it also has a large boot, a supple ride and an appealing&nbsp;interior. It’s well equipped, too, as well as supremely classy.

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

Some owners have reported doors failing to lock, while others have had headlight units replaced under warranty due to flickering driving lights. Check the Bluetooth and&nbsp;sat-nav (if fitted) work properly, too. Other than that, the Cee'd&nbsp;Sportswagon&nbsp;has been impressively immune from otherwise common faults.

The Cee'd finished in fourth&nbsp;place in the family car&nbsp;class of 31 in our most recent <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2019-what-car-reliability-survey-family-cars/n20053">What Car? Reliability Survey</a>, with an excellent overall score of 97.4%. Kia finished sixth out of 31&nbsp;manufacturers in the same survey.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2018-what-car-reliability-survey/n17798">To read more from our reliability survey in detail, check out the full results here.</a>

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Estate

Buyers seeking value for money should have Kia towards the top of their shopping list.

Although once a niche brand in the UK, today Kia outsells many more established brands, helped by its market-leading seven-year warranty and a strong reputation for reliability; in fact, Kia regularly finishes towards the top of our reliability surveys.

There are plenty of models to choose from, too, ranging from the small Picanto city car to the Ceed family hatchback and the Sorento large SUV. The Picanto was the first Kia to win its class at the What Car? Car of the Year awards.

CEED

The Cee'd Sportswagon is a spacious and&nbsp;comfortable estate car that comes with a long warranty. It's a viable alternative to the class leaders

Used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 2012-2018

It’s the 1.6-litre diesel that’s the most economical, with claimed average fuel consumption of 72.4mpg and corresponding CO2 emissions of 102g/km, while the less powerful 1.4-litre&nbsp;diesel is almost as economical, at 67.3mpg and 109g/km.&nbsp;The post-facelift 1.0-litre petrol model claims an average of 54.3mpg, but the naturally aspirated&nbsp;1.4-litre petrol is&nbsp;thirstier, at 47.1mpg and 139g/km.

Road tax costs for Cee'd Sportswagons registered before April 2017 varied according to CO2 output, but all were cheap to tax.&nbsp;However, those&nbsp;registered after that date will pay the flat rate, which could be considerably higher.&nbsp;To find out more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/advice/buying/car-tax-changes-in-2019-%E2%80%93-what-do-i-need-to-know/n1153">road tax costs, click here</a>.

Insurance groups are low, too, running from 11 to 15 for the top-spec diesel model.

Servicing is required every 12 months, but turbocharged petrols require an oil change every 10,000 miles, while diesels and the 1.4-litre&nbsp;petrol&nbsp;can go 20,000 miles between visits.&nbsp;The cost of servicing at a Kia dealership is pretty reasonable, but&nbsp;it’s worth checking whether the car's previous owner had taken out one of Kia’s&nbsp;servicing packages, because this covers the first three or five years of servicing for a fixed price and can be transferred to the car's next owner.

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The Cee'd Sportswagon is a spacious and comfortable estate car that comes with a long warranty. It's a viable alternative to the class leaders

High-mileage Cee'd Sportswagons can be had for less than £3000, but we’d probably advise looking for a car with an average mileage for the year and a full service history – in which case&nbsp;you’d be looking at a starting price of around £6000. Between £7000 and £9000 will find you plenty of good 2015 cars that satisfy that criteria, while around £11,000 starts to secure 2017&nbsp;cars.

Check the value of a used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon with <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/valuations/">What Car? Valuations</a>

There’s no getting away from the good fuel economy figures the diesel Cee'd Sportswagons claim, so we'd seek out one of those.&nbsp;If you want a&nbsp;petrol, though, you'll&nbsp;be perfectly happy with the 1.0-litre turbo&nbsp;unit.

We’d also suggest going for a&nbsp;model in 2 trim, because it will have loads of&nbsp;standard equipment.

Our favourite Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 1.6 CRDi 2

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Huge boot and excellent practicality</li> <li>Plenty of interior space so you can carry passengers as well as luggage </li> <li>Strong engines to pull a heavily laden car</li> <li>Comfortable ride, especially on the motorway</li> <li>Low running costs for company car drivers</li></ul>

If you’re after bags of space but you don’t want to commit to the van-like dimensions and styling of an MPV, there are some great estate cars on offer that should do the job.

Tricks to look out for include an electric tailgate&nbsp;that opens automatically when you wave your foot under the rear bumper; this is&nbsp;particularly handy if you’re trying to load in a heavy or&nbsp;bulky item. You should also look for handles in the side of the boot itself that can drop down the rear seats; these are much more convenient than having to walk around the side of the car to do it.

There are some terrific estates at most price ranges. The humble Skoda Fabia Estate offers cavernous space for not much cash at all, for example.

Further up the price range, another of our perennial favourites is the Skoda Superb Estate;&nbsp;it’s great to drive and as practical as most people should ever need. Meanwhile, for serious mile-munching ability and a premium, well-finished interior, it’s hard to look beyond the BMW 5 Series Touring.

It’s vital to check that your Cee'd Sportswagon has had its servicing work carried out according to the service schedule, otherwise the transferable seven-year warranty may&nbsp;cease to be valid for certain parts. Also look out for any scrapes or dents picked up in tight car parks all around the car.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/kia/ceed/hatchback/used-review/n834">Kia Cee'd</a> is a very&nbsp;likeable five-door hatchback, but for those who require a little more practicality and extra boot space, there's the Cee'd&nbsp;Sportswagon estate. Pretty much identical to the hatchback but with&nbsp;a more voluminous boot, and with the longest warranty in the business, a used Cee'd Sportswagon makes for a pretty compelling package.

The Cee'd Sportswagon originally was offered with a choice of 89bhp 1.4-litre and 126bhp 1.6-litre diesel engines and&nbsp;a 99bhp 1.4-litre petrol. A&nbsp;facelift in 2015 brought the 1.6-litre diesel up to 134bhp,&nbsp;while a 118bhp turbocharged&nbsp;1.0-litre three-cylinder&nbsp;engine was added to flesh out the petrol range.&nbsp;Despite its small size, the 1.0-litre engine makes good progress if you're prepared to rev it a bit, while&nbsp;the 1.6-litre diesel has enough pace for most and&nbsp;much more low-end grunt than the petrols. It can be a little gruff around town, however, and when cold. All models came with a six-speed manual gearbox, although&nbsp;there&nbsp;was an optional six-speed automatic available on the 1.6-litre diesel.

Entry-level 1 versions got air conditioning, front electric windows, central locking, an iPod-compatible CD stereo and Bluetooth. Rear parking sensors were standard from 2 trim, while 3 and 4 added a rear-view camera. Meanwhile, 4 Tech added a system that can automatically steer&nbsp;the car into kerbside spaces. GT-Line and GT-Line S brought more aggressive exterior styling tweaks&nbsp;and some unique alloy wheel designs.

The Cee'd Sportswagon isn’t the most exciting car to drive, but it does everything with a surprising amount of competence.&nbsp;It's assured and stable in corners, with plenty of grip, but it's&nbsp;not exactly fun, with numb steering and handling that stays on the side of safe and predictable. However, the payoff for that is a comfortable ride&nbsp;that dismisses small road irregularities well. On top of that, it’s impressively refined in terms of road and wind noise, so it's a generally smooth and quiet car.

Inside is a good driving position and&nbsp;a pleasant dashboard with a logical layout, although rear visibility can be a little restricted by the rising window line at the rear. The infotainment system is wonderfully intuitive, unlike those of some rivals. Big, bold displays and clearly labelled controls are the order of the day, and the wealth of steering wheel-mounted buttons are easy to get used to. Overall, interior quality is good, with mostly pleasing materials on display, although some of the seat fabrics look a little cheap.

There’s plenty of room up front&nbsp;and rear passengers get enough leg and head room, although three abreast is a bit of a squeeze. The boot is impressively&nbsp;spacious and usefully quite square.&nbsp;It&nbsp;also has a low loading lip to make loading and unloading a breeze.

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Used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 2012-2018 review

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