Kia Cerato

Cerato S highlights:

• 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 4.2-inch instrument cluster display screen
• Cruise control
• Air conditioning
• Six-speaker sound system
• Automatic healdights
• Automatic high-beam
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• 16-inch steel wheels
• Tilt and telescopic adjustable steering column

Cerato Sport adds:

• 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• DAB digital radio
• Illuminated vanity mirrors
• Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel and shifter
• 17-inch alloy wheels

Cerato Sport+ adds:

• Blind-spot assist
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Leather-appointed seats
• Keyless entry and start
• Heated front seats
• Dual-zone climate control with auto defog function
• Electrochromatic rear-view mirror

Cerato GT adds:

• 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre turbo engine
• 18-inch alloy wheels in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres
• Multi-link rear suspension
• LED headlights and tail lights
• LED interior lighting
• Leather-appointed ‘sports tubular’ trim
• Flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Wireless phone charging
• Eight-speaker JBL premium sound system
• Hands-free power boot-lid (sedan only)
• Dual exhaust
• Alloy pedals
• Paddle shifters
• Tilt/slide sunroof
• Ventilated front seats

The Cerato range is available in nine finishes:

• Clear White
• Snow White Pearl*
• Mineral Blue*
• Silky Silver*
• Horizon Blue*
• Steel Grey*
• Runway Red*
• Platinum Graphite*
• Aurora Black*

*Premium paint adds $520

The Cerato is covered by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

Maintenance is required every 12 months or 15,000km in 2.0-litre Cerato models, and there’s capped-price servicing for up to seven years or 105,000km.

Those seven visits cost $275, $469, $339, $623, $309, $596 and $328, totalling $2939 for the life of the program.

Over the first five years, the Cerato will set you back $2015 in scheduled maintenance, which is still on the higher side of the segment.

For example, a Toyota Corolla costs $205 a pop for the first five years, making it almost half the cost of the Kia.

In the case of the turbocharged Cerato GT, scheduled servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km – the first seven visits quoted at $275, $454, $354, $498, $309, $695 and $649 for a total of $3234.

The 2.0-litre petrol was barely adequate when the current generation launched, and against the current crop of rivals it feels old-hat while also lacking in grunt and refinement.

Keep your demands gentle and it’s well-mannered enough, but push any harder and it’s a noisy and gruff engine over 3000rpm.

It feels like the Cerato gets off the line well enough, but try to get up to 100km/h on the freeway on-ramp or go up a steep hill and it’s just unrefined and laboured. A lot of noise – not a nice note either – and not a whole lot of performance.

Why Kia has persisted with such an ageing drivetrain format for any reason other than cost remains to be answered. Even swapping out the (snappy) six-speed auto for the continuously-variable transmission from the related Seltos would have been a better move – North America gets this setup too.

Beyond the lacklustre drivetrain, the rest of the Cerato’s on-road behaviour is pretty good.

Its locally-fettled suspension tune – with torsion-beam rear in non-GT models – errs on the side of firm, but it’s comfortable enough in town and settles well on the highway.

The steering, likewise, is tuned to be a direct and engaging. The Cerato has a lively feel to the ride and handling, though in most variants lacks the drivetrain to back it up.

Road noise is a little intrusive on rougher patches of blacktop, but it’s definitely not the worst in the class. Wind noise, meanwhile, is well suppressed.

If you want a bit more go then you can opt for the top-spec GT with its peppier 150kW 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, but while the jump in performance is welcome the occasionally jerky DCT as well as the much firmer ride of the warm performance model are notable drawbacks.

Kia’s latest driver assists are generally pretty good, with the standard lane-keep assist not feeling too intrusive and the adaptive cruise control being a handy addition for long stints on the freeway.

We like the Lane Following Assist active centring function for the open road, though some may not like how it takes charge.

The Cerato’s adaptive cruise system has been improved from my experience with the previous model, but it still will drift 2-3km/h above or below the set speed on hills and when you let off the throttle if you take over for a moment – it’s certainly not as accurate as rival systems.

Overall, the Kia Cerato remains a solid, if uninspiring package on the road.

There's no options for the Cerato other than the $1000 Safety Pack on S and Sport grades.

Additional features include:

• Upgraded AEB with cyclist detection
• Electronic parking brake
• Upgraded 15-inch rear disc brakes
• Electric folding mirrors
• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• 'Premium' leatherette steering wheel and shifter

While Kia has been battling supply issues and long wait times for a variety of its models, the Cerato seems to be in better supply depending on variant.

A quick scan of the classifieds shows a a decent amount of new and demo vehicles in stock, though we've heard of wait times on the GT spanning a few months.

Being classified as a Small Passenger car, the Kia Cerato competes with a wide range of competitors including the Hyundai i30, Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla.

Kia sold 18,114 examples of the Cerato in 2021, a 3.2 per cent increase on the year before. It finished third in the small passenger segment overall.

The only two rivals to outsell it were the Toyota Corolla (28,768 units), as well as the related Hyundai i30 (25,575 units).

If you want a no-nonsense compact car, the Cerato has a lot going for it. The decent spec levels and leading seven-year warranty bolster the roomy cabin and boot.

To our eyes, both the sedan and hatchback are quite attractive inside and out, and Kia's infotainment systems have proven to be better than Toyota's in terms of features and functionality.

Lower grades with the 2.0L petrol engine are lacking in performance compared to most rivals, however, and it's a shame S and Sport models require the Safety Pack option to match the safety kit offered as standard in a growing number of competitors.

Overseas versions of the non-GT Cerato are offered with Kia's IVT, or Intelligent Variable Transmission – the company's branding for its CVT.

The IVT automatic is available on 1.6-litre petrol models in Korea as well as 2.0-litre petrol models in North America. Oddly, Kia Australia offers the related Seltos with this transmission.