Kia Cee'd

Wearing thin! No, not our patience with our Kia Cee’d, but the tread on its tyres. After 14,600 miles, the Michelin Energy rubber needed changing, as they were down to the wear indicators.

But instead of replacing like-for-like, we opted for a set of Goodyear HydraGrips instead. Our thinking is that the Cee’d spends a lot of time in Scotland and Ireland when not on product testing duties, and these tyres are ideal for wet roads. At £71 per corner, including fitting and balancing, they’re relatively good value, too.

Last month was a busy time for our Kia, as it passed its 12,500-mile first service interval. The work was carried out at Charles Hurst Kia in Belfast on a trip home to see my parents in Northern Ireland. While the staff were friendly, the technicians seemed to struggle to fix the problematic handbrake we had previously reported on (Issue 972). It took them four hours to adjust it – a job which is normally completed in a matter of minutes.

The dealer claimed this was the first Cee’d it had worked on, and none of its technicians had been trained up on the model. This meant they were relying on their online manual as a guide.

Back on the road, the Kia is a good companion on motorways. According to our calculations, the diesel hatch averages 43.1mpg. After 16,574 miles, the gearbox has a smooth feel, with the exception of a notchy change down into first.

The in-car entertainment kit is excellent, as there is a socket to charge and play an MP3 player, which comes in handy on long journeys where you often get bored listening to the radio.

What’s more, the audio controls on the steering wheel are brilliant. It’s only when you drive another car without them that you realise how useful they are.

After putting 2,000 miles on the Cee’d since changing the tyres, the new rubber is settling in well. We’re looking forward to some more gripping tales...