Kia e-Niro First Edition - buy now or wait?
Discussion
Got an e-Niro on order. The First Edition has had some downgrades from the top spec one, cheaper interior, no ventilated seats... Biggest annoyance is no app for remote monitoring and climate control. One might come later but no idea if it will be retrofit.
Should I go ahead? If I cancel it will be another 12 months at least before I can get another one. Desperate to get back into an EV.
Model 3 is too expensive, Kona is not taking orders at the moment, Leaf 62 doesn't look very inspiring... What to do!
Should I go ahead? If I cancel it will be another 12 months at least before I can get another one. Desperate to get back into an EV.
Model 3 is too expensive, Kona is not taking orders at the moment, Leaf 62 doesn't look very inspiring... What to do!
Dave Hedgehog said:
the base model 3 is 39k on the road which is what 4k more than the kia / hyundia cars
£6k more, so roughly 20% and for that you get a Tesla with a significantly shorter range than the Kia. Whilst Tesla may have more experience of building EVs than Kia/Hyundai, they have an awful lot less experience of building cars.Personal preference I guess; I think personally I'd rather have the Tesla but I wouldn't pay an extra £6k for it.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 2nd May 13:38
sambucket: Delivery in a month or two. Ordered back in January.
Daaaveee: The app is the main one. Used that a lot in my Leaf, both to monitor charging (make sure it doesn't cut out) and to turn the heating/aircon on remotely before heading home from work.
Dave Hedgehog: It's £40,500 when you include the luxury car tax. There is no PCP, only HP which is £710/month. And that's for the basic black on black version, with less range.
But also I think it's too low. Going to look at one this weekend but I think it will be like the Model S, too low down for comfort. The boot is very small as well compared to the Niro.
Oh and the Niro is a lot quieter than the Model 3, which is important to me.
kambites: That's probably true, if I really don't like it could probably sell in a year or two at a good price. Looking at Tesla's more expensive cars in person and all the problems people have with them I expect the Kia will be better built.
Daaaveee: The app is the main one. Used that a lot in my Leaf, both to monitor charging (make sure it doesn't cut out) and to turn the heating/aircon on remotely before heading home from work.
Dave Hedgehog: It's £40,500 when you include the luxury car tax. There is no PCP, only HP which is £710/month. And that's for the basic black on black version, with less range.
But also I think it's too low. Going to look at one this weekend but I think it will be like the Model S, too low down for comfort. The boot is very small as well compared to the Niro.
Oh and the Niro is a lot quieter than the Model 3, which is important to me.
kambites: That's probably true, if I really don't like it could probably sell in a year or two at a good price. Looking at Tesla's more expensive cars in person and all the problems people have with them I expect the Kia will be better built.
I’ve had my e-Niro for about a week now and am immensely impressed (other cars are a leaf, just sold, and a c32 Amg).
I looked at new and used Teslas, and was quite torn, but every Kia I looked at was really well made (as is the Niro) and the same wasn’t true of any of the Tesla’s I looked at. The tech in the Teslas is much better, but on the older ones I’d take CCS compatibility over supercharging any day. Clearly the model 3 has this, which swung the decision a bit, but in the end a car with a 7 year warranty, well manufactured, with known cheap parts and servicing (we usually keep our cars a long time) swayed me to the Niro.
If I were making the decision now, with the M3 actually available, it would be a close fought decision, but realistically I’m not sure I’d regret either of them.
The non Tesla charging network is now so good that I think superchargers aren’t much of an advantage to me.
I looked at new and used Teslas, and was quite torn, but every Kia I looked at was really well made (as is the Niro) and the same wasn’t true of any of the Tesla’s I looked at. The tech in the Teslas is much better, but on the older ones I’d take CCS compatibility over supercharging any day. Clearly the model 3 has this, which swung the decision a bit, but in the end a car with a 7 year warranty, well manufactured, with known cheap parts and servicing (we usually keep our cars a long time) swayed me to the Niro.
If I were making the decision now, with the M3 actually available, it would be a close fought decision, but realistically I’m not sure I’d regret either of them.
The non Tesla charging network is now so good that I think superchargers aren’t much of an advantage to me.
I ordered mine in December which meant formal order in Jan, and I was eventually first in line (not initially, but #1 in the queue bailed when actually asked for the money!).
Edited to add - to put service costs in context, I’ve paid £500 for 5 years including MOTs. Not sure what the model 3 package costs, but that was a fraction of the Model S service bundle.
Edited to add - to put service costs in context, I’ve paid £500 for 5 years including MOTs. Not sure what the model 3 package costs, but that was a fraction of the Model S service bundle.
Edited by c32dave on Saturday 4th May 20:30
The Niro is a more refined, comfortable car than the M3. It's much, much quieter.
I found the Model 3 to be very low. Like 90s saloon cars... Maybe I'm just used to CUV or Leaf style now, but I wouldn't want to be struggling to get in and out every time so that ruled it out for me. The boot is a very weird shape too, deep but low and the opening is small.
I found the Model 3 to be very low. Like 90s saloon cars... Maybe I'm just used to CUV or Leaf style now, but I wouldn't want to be struggling to get in and out every time so that ruled it out for me. The boot is a very weird shape too, deep but low and the opening is small.
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