REVIEW: The Kia Seltos is a $29,000 SUV that looks and feels too fancy for its own price tag — until you start noticing the details
What's interesting about Seltos is that all-wheel drive can be had on the cheapest of its offerings, but with a trade-off. The base LX and S trims both start at $21,990, with the LX trim being AWD and the S being front-wheel drive. All of the higher trims have standard AWD.
In terms of crashworthiness and safety features, the 2021 Seltos hasn't yet been rated by the International Institute for Highway Safety or the US Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It's also a brand-new model for Kia, so there aren't any prior crash or safety ratings to base its potential on. The 2021 Kia Seltos.The Seltos, upon first impression, feels a lot more expensive than it is.
The tech features on the Seltos also feel upscale for a $29,000 SUV. Its backup camera allows the driver to choose one of two different angles: a typical back-out view or a trailer-hitch view. The sound system automatically lowers speaker volume to a whisper when the car is in reverse, saving you the extra arm movement to turn down the radio and focus on not backing into someone or something.
The lower rear of the car is adorned with what looks to be a sporty, meshy grate and dual geometric exhausts. Step a little closer, though, and it's all a facade. The real, singular exhaust pipe is underneath the two imposters, and the "mesh," just like the fake pipes, is actually a pattern on a black panel.
The biggest thing the Seltos has going against it, though, has little to do with the car itself. It's more about what the car is made of. While the Seltos looks sleek on the surface, it's not the kind of sleekness that stays around. It takes maintenance, in the form of a whole lot of cleaning, to keep the abundance of glossy black surfaces inside looking as nice and glossy as they did in the showroom.
Some of the Seltos' competition includes the related Kona at Kia's sister brand, Hyundai, along with the Mazda CX-30 and Subaru Crosstrek. All four vehicles start in the $20,000 to $22,000 range and reach toward the $30,000s, but there are some important differences between each.Alanis King
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