Used Kia Picanto Hatchback 2017-present reliability

As with any city car, it’d behoove you to check your prospective purchase’s bodywork carefully for scuffs or scrapes, and to make sure the wheels haven’t been subjected to too much kerbing. Cheaper Picantos come with plastic hubcaps on steel wheels that are cheap and easy to replace if they’re damaged. Always remember, however, that significant damage to one of the wheels could be indicative of suspension that’s damaged too.

We haven’t heard of any common problems or issues with the Picanto.

There is just the one listed recall against the Picanto.

The audible warning when the rear fog lamp is left switched on, the ignition is switched off, and the driver's door is opened on some vehicles does not function.

Check with your local Kia dealer that this recall has been attended to.

The Picanto's performance in our latest reliability survey was terrific. It finished in second place out of 20 cars in the small car class with an excellent overall score of 99.3%.

Reliability rating 99.3%

• Most common faults: Gearbox/clutch 6%
  
• Average repair cost:100% £0
  
• Typical time off road: 100% less than a day

This version of the Kia Picanto may no longer be on sale new, but it’s well worth considering if you're after a bulletproof city car. It's good to drive, practical considering its compact dimensions, and well-equipped. The 1.25-litre petrol engine is our pick of the line-up and we'd go for mid-range 2 trim to get useful features, such as air-con and Bluetooth connectivity.

Whichever version you choose, your Picanto should be reliable. Owners told us that a mere 6% of examples aged up to five years old had any issues, and the only area to give any grief was the gearbox/clutch. Kia covered all repair costs, too, and its workshops resolved all problems in a day or less.

Used Kia Picanto buying guide

Kia Picanto review

Kia as a brand impressed in our survey. It finished 11th out of 31 manufacturers with an overall score of 93.4%. That placed it way above rivals from Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Skoda and Volvo, although below Lexus. For the full list of brands, click here.

Also worth noting is that Kia offers a seven-year warranty on all its cars, the Picanto included – and while the cover tails off in the last few years, that’s more than you’ll find on any other rival. If you buy your Picanto through the Kia Used Approved scheme and the car is under 20 months and 20,000 miles old the warranty will be automatically topped up to seven years.

Used Kia Picanto reliability: owners' view

We asked owners of the Kia Picanto to tell us about their cars as part of our annual Reliability Survey, and the good news is that most proved very reliable.

While some readers reported minor issues with the car’s air conditioning system, and rattles coming from the car’s doors on early models, these instances were rare among our readers. Even among those whose cars were faultless, though, Kia’s seven-year warranty was mentioned as offering extra peace of mind.

The trend of our reader feedback suggests that most who needed to interact with their local deals had a mostly positive experience, too.

To take part in our annual reliability survey with your car, please follow the link here