Kia Picanto vs Wagon R (both brand new)

HelaS · March 26, 2019

Hello there! Friends, which of these two is better for use as a family car that will be driven both in-city and outstation, anticipating family trips and stuff like that?

WagonR seems to have more backseat space, overall more legroom and some nice additional features, but how does it compare with the more powerful Picanto in terms of driving - acceleration, stability, quality of suspension, etc?

I know that the used market has better specd cars but as a first-time car buyer I really don't want to deal with shady sellers, have no warranty or live in a garage for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for your replies in advance!

noddy · March 26, 2019

last month purchased a wagon r so go for the FX as the others have safety and stingray which are difficult to maintain -they mostly switch off the safety.

If you buy from A*W it will be the the FX with a fog lights. ALL wagon r have great economy and a lot of room inside but the jeep like interior has a bouncy ride at high speeds.

KIA is good but does it gave ABS ???

iRage · March 27, 2019

When you say Wagon R brand new I hope you are planning on buying it from the agent A*W (what they call WagonR Premium Hybrid). The zero mileage Japanese imports with warranty sold by the car sales people cannot be trusted.

Although both cars look like small hatchbacks they fall in to two different categories. The Picanto is a compact hatchback whilst the Wagon R is a kei-car which is pretty much the smallest city car that has restricted power and engine capacity (by law).

Personally for family usage I believe the Picanto will be a better choice. The shape of the body might make it seem like the Wagon R has no space but the Picanto is a tad bit bigger in terms of dimensions (the Wagon R really does not have much space for luggage with the rear passengers. The Picanto on the other hand does have sufficient space for luggage larger than a few grocey and duffle bags even with the rear seat up). The Picanto is heavier than the Wagon R...so on long trips you will feel less road fatigue on the bodies (human bodies). Yes the Wagon R is a comfy car but for city usage...long drives you do feel the road vibe.

On the other hand, the Wagon R will be quite economical on petrol, especially in the city (being Hybrid). The electric motor will give you a lot of oomph from start...BUT it will be high revving at high speeds which also adds to the strain the body feels on long trips. Unlike the old model the new Wagon R does a lot better on pulling up hills and stuff with a load. The WagonR (atleast the Japanese version) comes a bit more well equipped in safety features.

If you are going to be driving in the city 90% of the time..then go or the Wagon R but look in to renting a car for long family trips (I know some people who do that and this method is not that expensive). If you want to have a single overall car....then go for the Picanto

kush · March 27, 2019

We are currently running both cars brought brand new from agents.

As iRage mentioned they are two different cars

Kia has a more bigger feel than the size suggest, rides, handles much better. Comfortable and very predictable handling you can throw the car around corners without any drama. Very stable at high speed. Only down side is since the car has very good dynamics you tend to drive fast and as a result fuel economy suffers expect 10kmpl city 15kmpl urban.

If you go for the highest grade you will get 2 air bags and ABS, no climate control so a/c will be a pain to control

Wagon R has more space inside due to its shape and boot and rear seat space and be adjusted which is a plus. Engine is a pain if you want to drive little spiritedly and very loud (little wheezy brat). Not stable after 80kmph, can get caught in cross winds.

Will do 14kmpl city 18-20 kmpl urban

2 air bags, ABS, stability control (must in this due to awful handling)

To sum it up I love the Kia, my wife and kids the WagonR

HelaS · March 27, 2019

Thank you very much, everyone, for detailed replies. Only the highest grade Kia in SL has ABS, which is around 3.5 million. The lower grade manual and automatics are 3 million and 3.2 mil respectively. Is it worth spending 2 to 5 lakhs extra for the ABS, because I don't care about the other stuff which are not significant?

iRage · March 27, 2019

Whether the extra money is worth to have ABS...My opinion is yes.......I will gladly trade all the other stuff like the stereo and the carpets and funky head and tail lights for ABS.

It is sad that in this day and age ABS and Airbags are still not a standard feature across all the grades for markets such as Sri Lanka.

Do the calculation as to how much your monthly payments, depreciation,etc... would differ if you go for the highest spec one as opposed to the low grade. My guess is it won't be too much of a difference and that difference would be worth the peace of mind.

Hyaenidae · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 5:28 AM, HelaS said:

Thank you very much, everyone, for detailed replies. Only the highest grade Kia in SL has ABS, which is around 3.5 million. The lower grade manual and automatics are 3 million and 3.2 mil respectively. Is it worth spending 2 to 5 lakhs extra for the ABS, because I don't care about the other stuff which are not significant?

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YES.

Aside from obvious safety issues, reselling a lower grade Picanto will be difficult, potential customers would definitively be put off by the lack of ABS in a car made in 2019.

gdgy · March 27, 2019

On 3/26/2019 at 11:03 PM, noddy said:

last month purchased a wagon r so go for the FX as the others have safety and stingray which are difficult to maintain -they mostly switch off the safety.

If you buy from A*W it will be the the FX with a fog lights. ALL wagon r have great economy and a lot of room inside but the jeep like interior has a bouncy ride at high speeds.

KIA is good but does it gave ABS ???

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This is wrong. What A*W sells is a rebadged version of WagonR FZ.

I too was in the same boat as you few months back. Ultimately made the decision to go with the agent imported WagonR.

I would like to give my exeperiance in case you opt to go for a WagonR.

WagonR is a fast moving car or as our mudalils say "sata gala yanawane, market badune".

Therefore you will come across all kinds of shady units dressed up for sale. I have seen a car with only 100km in the odo but has almost 20+hours in idle stop timer? (most probably the guy who reset the odo forgot to reset this timer?).

But the one that shocked me most is an unit which was bought by a very close friend of mine from a popular place. It seemed like a proper little car until I stepped on the foot break (hand break)

When you press down on WagonR foot break you hear Tak Tak (wheel locking sound) sound which I think is a mechanism designed to keep the paddle from coming up. This is very audible and you could almost feel the tactile feedback when pressing down. But in my friend's car which was sold to him as a brand-new car had no tactile feel and the Tak sound is alomst non existent. You could hear it but it's day and night compared to mine. Think of how many successive operations this particular mechanism had to undergo. And it was a so called zero milage Brand new car. So if you decide to go with WagonR consider this.

Edited March 27, 2019 by gdgy

kush · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 5:28 AM, HelaS said:

Thank you very much, everyone, for detailed replies. Only the highest grade Kia in SL has ABS, which is around 3.5 million. The lower grade manual and automatics are 3 million and 3.2 mil respectively. Is it worth spending 2 to 5 lakhs extra for the ABS, because I don't care about the other stuff which are not significant?

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Apart from ABS you get better seat material, 3 adjustable head rests with three point seat belts for three rear passengers, alloy wheels and audio controls in the steering.

I had the same dilemma when i brought the car but opted to ABS as i did not want to compromise on safety.

Edited March 27, 2019 by kush

HelaS · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 5:48 AM, iRage said:

Whether the extra money is worth to have ABS...My opinion is yes.......I will gladly trade all the other stuff like the stereo and the carpets and funky head and tail lights for ABS.

It is sad that in this day and age ABS and Airbags are still not a standard feature across all the grades for markets such as Sri Lanka.

Do the calculation as to how much your monthly payments, depreciation,etc... would differ if you go for the highest spec one as opposed to the low grade. My guess is it won't be too much of a difference and that difference would be worth the peace of mind.

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Thanks, everyone. Yeah, it sucks that ABS isn't offered across the range in SL at present. Didn't it become standard in the industry many decades ago?

HelaS · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 6:58 AM, kush said:

Apart from ABS you get better seat material, 3 adjustable head rests with three point seat belts for three rear passengers, alloy wheels and audio controls in the steering.

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Ah yes, a Kia staff member kindly sent me all the details like this very quickly when requested. Head rests are kind of important for safety but the rest don't seem vital. What do you think of their post-purchase customer service?

kush · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 7:04 AM, HelaS said:

Ah yes, a Kia staff member kindly sent me all the details like this very quickly when requested. Head rests are kind of important for safety but the rest don't seem vital. What do you think of their post-purchase customer service?

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Take ages to service the car, I generally give in the morning and pick up in the evening,

Prices are reasonable, they require oil change every 5000 km / 6 months although book says 10000km / 1 year

Accident repairs are costly make sure you have good insurance.

vag2 · March 27, 2019

is the Kia picanto made in India,with weak body structure and low quality steel like the Altos?

kush · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 7:30 AM, vag2 said:

is the Kia picanto made in India,with weak body structure and low quality steel like the Altos?

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Made in Korea, Hyundai i10 is made in India

HelaS · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 2:33 AM, kush said:

We are currently running both cars brought brand new from agents.

As iRage mentioned they are two different cars

Kia has a more bigger feel than the size suggest, rides, handles much better. Comfortable and very predictable handling you can throw the car around corners without any drama. Very stable at high speed. Only down side is since the car has very good dynamics you tend to drive fast and as a result fuel economy suffers expect 10kmpl city 15kmpl urban.

If you go for the highest grade you will get 2 air bags and ABS, no climate control so a/c will be a pain to control

Wagon R has more space inside due to its shape and boot and rear seat space and be adjusted which is a plus. Engine is a pain if you want to drive little spiritedly and very loud (little wheezy brat). Not stable after 80kmph, can get caught in cross winds.

Will do 14kmpl city 18-20 kmpl urban

2 air bags, ABS, stability control (must in this due to awful handling)

To sum it up I love the Kia, my wife and kids the WagonR

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By the way, how does the Japanese Alto perform compared to the WagonR? They have similar engines, right?

HelaS · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 9:27 AM, kush said:

Made in Korea, Hyundai i10 is made in India

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An excellent reason to stay away from the i10 ?

iRage · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 10:17 AM, HelaS said:

An excellent reason to stay away from the i10 ?

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Not fair statement at all. The taxis here in Vietnam are for the most part Picantos and i10s. I have seen i10s that are like a year old that have clocked nearly 200,000km and two and three year old ones that have neared 300,000km. They are holding up really really well. Now don't forget these are taxis ! Thousands of people who do not care a $#(Q*#& about them have ridden on them on all kinds of roads....so yeah...the i10 being built in India has no bearing to its quality. Much like the Baleno....the materials used and the refinement is not on par with Japanese Suzuki but so far they seem to have been built quite well.

On 3/27/2019 at 7:24 AM, kush said:

Take ages to service the car, I generally give in the morning and pick up in the evening,

Prices are reasonable, they require oil change every 5000 km / 6 months although book says 10000km / 1 year

Accident repairs are costly make sure you have good insurance.

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Well...the manual might indicate 10000km pressuming its normal usage...in Sri Lanka we do have severe usage conditions with short runs and lot of idling time in heavy traffic. So considering the usage environment and possibly the oil type available 5000km might be reasonable.

HelaS · March 27, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 4:53 PM, iRage said:

Not fair statement at all. The taxis here in Vietnam are for the most part Picantos and i10s. I have seen i10s that are like a year old that have clocked nearly 200,000km and two and three year old ones that have neared 300,000km. They are holding up really really well. Now don't forget these are taxis ! Thousands of people who do not care a $#(Q*#& about them have ridden on them on all kinds of roads....so yeah...the i10 being built in India has no bearing to its quality. Much like the Baleno....the materials used and the refinement is not on par with Japanese Suzuki but so far they seem to have been built quite well.

Well...the manual might indicate 10000km pressuming its normal usage...in Sri Lanka we do have severe usage conditions with short runs and lot of idling time in heavy traffic. So considering the usage environment and possibly the oil type available 5000km might be reasonable.

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I stand corrected, then ? If Indian factories can maintain quality control, that's good for them. Which makes me think isn't it about time we had a real car industry here in Sri Lanka? The Chinese micro nonsense doesn't count.

kush · March 28, 2019

On 3/27/2019 at 4:53 PM, iRage said:

Well...the manual might indicate 10000km pressuming its normal usage...in Sri Lanka we do have severe usage conditions with short runs and lot of idling time in heavy traffic. So considering the usage environment and possibly the oil type available 5000km might be reasonable.

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Well not in my case it was two trips per day 45-50 km each way on urban and highway. Any my car was not expose to any of the severe conditions as per owners manual.

I had to get it serviced every other month which was a pain. When i inquired about this no body gave me a reasonable explanation needless to say I stuck for their recommendation as i did not want to have issues with my warranty which was one of the reasons i went for this particular vehicle.

Wagon R has oil change every 10k km irrespective of driving conditions (agents schedule)