Busy motoring mum and gran Chris White lives in Sussex and needs her car to suit a wide range of family uses.
We interviewed her recently about her much-loved Kia Carens and she is the first member of FOXY Lady Drivers Club to be featured in the new Club Corner section in the June e-newsletter.
Please tell us about you Chris, your car and what you use it for.
I live in a rural Sussex town with my husband. You need a car to live here and for a multitude of reasons. Now that we’re retired our time is our own of course, so our car is used more for pleasure; for shopping and when we want to go out at night. We have local family and grandchildren now so our car has to be very versatile too on occasion.
Have you always bought a Kia car?
This is our first Kia and we’re very happy with it. Before that I drove a Citroen C3 and my husband had a Chrysler PT Cruiser automatic. Last year we decided that we really didn’t need two cars any longer and that we should choose one that seemed best for both of us to share.
What made you choose the Kia among other similar models?
We took our time doing our homework because we knew what we wanted but we didn’t know what our model choices would be. The car had to be an automatic, it had to be a high seater too and we expect to be comfortable in it. Although there are only two of us for everyday use, we also needed it to accommodate family on occasion so we gradually refined our choice. We went to a well known local car supermarket to see a lot of our short-listed models at the same time but we eventually decided on the Kia with its 5 year warranty (rather than the normal 3 years) and found exactly what we wanted at our nearest car dealership. Which is doubly convenient of course; when you buy a car from a local rather than a distant dealership it’s nice to know you can easily pop back in if you have any queries or concerns about it during the early days of ownership.
What are the five most important features of the Carens would you say?
I’ve already mentioned that we were looking for comfort, high seats and an automatic gearbox but I’d add space and practicality to make up my tally of five key features. When we need to, we can seat seven in the Carens and yet it still feels spacious! I also like the fact that it still looks like a car rather than other ‘people carriers’ that look more like buses!
Are you sufficiently happy with your car to recommend it to others?
I can definitely recommend it and whilst we’ve only had it for about a year I’m sure we’d be happy to buy another one when the time is right.
NB: The car came from the West Sussex Motors Kia dealership at Washington in West Sussex. When we talked about car servicing, Chris explained that her husband Cliff looks after that side of things so we spoke to him about its MOT and servicing. He told us he had taken it back to the dealership for this whilst it was within the Kia 5 year warranty period but probably wouldn’t do this after its fifth birthday, for loyalty reasons to a local independent garage.
Cliff explained…
‘Once it’s outside the warranty period I plan to take it to Sussex Servicing Autos in Small Dole; they’ve serviced and MOT’d our cars in the past. It’s not just a question of cost, although that is important of course, but this is a good independent garage that has always been honest and fair with me so I have come to trust them more than others over a period of years.’
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Thank you Chris and Cliff for this foxy review. The Kia Carens is clearly an ideal car for those of us that are looking for that all-important combination of affordability, reliability, access, practicality and comfort. Of particular note is Kia’s 5 year warranty which is better than most and with two spare seats to be called upon when needed it can then become a 7-seater to suit most family occasions, particularly when grandchildren are involved.
FOXY