Nice little review. We needed to downsize from a much larger car that was costing us a lot to run and we bought a secondhand 2004 Picanto 1.1 SE. It was only a few years old at the time, had 21,000 miles on it, had one owner and cost us £3300. We didn't really know what to expect but it turned out to be one of the best cars we had ever owned. It averaged 45 mpg and we drove it everywhere, quite often with four of us in it. "Yeah but you wouldn't drive it in the motorway would you"?... Oh yes, we did - a lot. Ok, it doesn't have a lot of power but will sit at 70 all day (and more if needed). The materials are cheap but robust and very well put together. No squeaks or rattles and it's actually quite refined compared to some other small cars (Citroen c1 etc). I believe all these models were all built in Korea and shipped over to the uk. Steering is quite nicely weighted and precise. The seats are quite comfy and ok for longer journeys. I never expected much from it but it always done more than I thought it would. Incidentally, if you get the SE model it's only £30 a year tax whereas the LX is £110 (I think or thereabouts) it's exactly the same engine but the emissions are lower on the SE (you also get a mild factory fitted body kit, which makes it look a bit better.) The SE has discs all round - not sure if the LX did as well. I did all my own servicing except cambelt changes. Basic servicing is dead easy. Hardest thing is changing a headlight bulb. We sold it 8 years later for £580 with over 106,000 miles on it. So we drove over 80,000 and never let us down. Still the same engine, gearbox and clutch. The clutch cable snapped around 90,000 miles and I changed it myself. So if you want a cheap car buy one of these. It will last if it has been serviced every year / 10,000 miles and I always used good oil. Later models had revised front and rear bumpers and had some changes to interior and look much better, but essentially the same car. So your cousin made a good choice. Hope it gives him many years of faithful service. 👍
Blee Carswell There's one thing I forgot to mention, which you must have found out Blee, that the indicator stalk is on the right on the early Picantos. This was switched over to the left in the facelift model. You soon get used it though 👍
I didn't think the noise was too bad! My parents have a diesel fiesta of the same age and once you get up to motorway speed you have to shout at your passenger if you want to converse. Not so in the Picanto!
Had our Kia picantp new since 2012. It's not the most exciting car but boy is it reliable and cheap to run. So far just over 100000 miles and nothing major broke. Just regular servicing.
I’ve had my Picanto SE for about 3 years, I love it. I do find that I have to change gear late with it, and watch the speedo run backwards when going uphill as it loses speed, but I’ve done about 25K miles in it to date 😂
My Porsche 986 S is good for the weekend but my brilliant 2006 Kia Picanto 1.1 Glamour (what a stupid name) is so practical, spacious and puts a smile on my face when driving it ;)
I had a slightly bigger Kia Rio as a stop gap. 55 plate, great nick and a laughable 400 quid. We ended up keeping it for 2 years and it cost pennies to run. The 1.5 diesel is a great engine and it was surprisingly fun to drive. I regret selling it and if I didn't have to have a bigger car, I'd have another tomorrow - the badge snobs are missing out.
My dad bought his from new,,it’s on 236,000. Miles,,hence 3 clutches,,but the fucker wont die,,,me and my two sisters still use it,,and honestly even with that mileage,it does not smoke,,and it’s only ever had 1 service,,and my dad done that,,he changed the oil,lolol
I have one - 2009 1.1 L, 4 cylinder petrol, 4 speed auto with 200,000 km. Great reliable car with character. Suspension a bit choppy and fuel consumption so so, but otherwise nice to drive, stable at 130 km/hr and just keeps going. Serviced by specialist every 10,000 km and using good mineral SAE 20W40 Oil.
My 05 pecanto gs 1lt is just reliable 4 door hatch fun all I need to wiz round the lake District on a egg cup of petrol, the speakers where rubbish so I got some new ones from a charity shop boom boom it's a pensioners dream in my 70s 😃
I have one, 2004 1.1L SE. Is my first car (with a full license. Don't get a fiat, they brake) and I'm ready to move on, and as I'm ready to more power, see how good my little car dose, Bisto Chicken Gravy is a back road beast (Bisto as its the orange, like bisto chicken gravy). And mine it's now got almost 77K in the clock, I got it in February of 2020. At 71K miles, I've been thru storms, wind, snow, surprisingly capable. Only problem with mine! Headliner is sagging bad with tapped air so when it gets hot it comes down more. And my stereo needs to heat up. As when it's cold and reads a CD, u his any bump, any anything it will jump and screech
Bought one exactly this, covered it in "gumball 3000" decal stickers but regret it as I'm having to admit when asked .. "no, I've not done the gumball rally in it".. obviously 🤣😎🤘
Im still thinking about selling my opel (vauxhal) corsa b from 1999 and getting one of these little kia picanto, guess im not gonna regret it if its reliable 😃