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2018 Kia Cerato K3 / Forte (BD Series) + 2021 Facelift


Thecarboy302
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In Alexandra they wonât usually negotiate on the loan, mini 50k 6 years, but they do give an additional 2k discount to offset the early exit fee, so that you can cancel the loan straight away. Some forumers sais in Ubi they were able to get the 5k discount without even taking the loan

Congrats ! Which speakers are you fitting ? Amp ? Sub ? Changing the HU ? Iâve ordered Focal speakers, will install them straight away when I get the car, but undecided on the rest

Good to know that you are changing out the stock speakers!

 

I am simply changing out the stock speakers for HERTZ entry level speakers K165 component and X165 coaxial as I mostly listen to radio only on this car. I spend more time on my other car. Even doing this at just a low few hundreds make a BIG difference, though not phenomenal.

 

But key is doing soundproofing too, else any investment in audio system will be significantly negated by the noisy car. That's why I actually spent more on soundproofing (soundproofing whole car less roof) than on the audio system at this point. Upgrading ICE will depends on future plans in using this car.

 

But just to share my ICE upgrade on my family conti car. Went with the following configuration with considerations to my budget! Again a substantial part of cost went into the soundproofing.

 

1) Rainbow SLC6.2 Component Speakers (Front and Rear)

2) Esatto Comado CO-D6 DSP (with built in Amp)

3) Esatto Underseat Active Subwoofer AS69

4) 3 layers Soundguard soundproofing (all 4 doors)

5) Door seals (all 4 doors + Boot door)

6) Initial Tuning + Follow up tuning (~1 month later after speakers run in period) **FOC.

 

Had it installed only yesterday, tested it and giving it a THUMBS UP. Very happy with it.

 

If budget allows, will go for 3-way speakers and soundproofing the firewall and wheel arc. Soundproofing Floorpan is not necessarily for this car as it is already well insulated.

Frankly, how to price it right? It will surely be close to $100k at todayâs price in which it would be in the price range of some Jap n even lower end Conti cars though some of them may not be turbo. But will buyers bite a Korean albeit turbo car at this price level? These are questions which C&C Mgmt will have to ponder n not forgetting they will have to commit a certain number of cars to the Principal.

Agreed. I personally would not go for it beyond 90K. There will be many other options at that price level. Edited by GS418
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Frankly, how to price it right? It will surely be close to $100k at todayâs price in which it would be in the price range of some Jap n even lower end Conti cars though some of them may not be turbo. But will buyers bite a Korean albeit turbo car at this price level? These are questions which C&C Mgmt will have to ponder n not forgetting they will have to commit a certain number of cars to the Principal.

OMV will be 6-8k higher than SX, so pricing will most likely be in the 110-115k, similarly to Civic turbo but with better perf and equipment

 

But I won’t buy it either. The base Cerato is very value for money but the GT will be in a very competitive price segment

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Frankly, how to price it right? It will surely be close to $100k at todayâs price in which it would be in the price range of some Jap n even lower end Conti cars though some of them may not be turbo. But will buyers bite a Korean albeit turbo car at this price level? These are questions which C&C Mgmt will have to ponder n not forgetting they will have to commit a certain number of cars to the Principal.

I believe they can do it if they want. But if their mind is set on putting the GT model high up in the rank, then the price would only attract a niche group of buyers. Good to have bells and whistles stuff like sunroof or ventilated memory seats can make way to keep the omv similar to SX. Depends on how C&C wants to market this model, if they indeed are bringing it into sg.
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Neutral Newbie

Just got served by a dude whom was not interested at all. He was playing with his phone through out and when I asked him for more details, all he replied it's in the price list. Minimum loan 50k/6years @ 2.38%, blahblah.

 

No negotiations at all, I guess they r really living up to their standards.

 

I totally understand that feeling. Their SE I met a few like market auntie, not interested to sell you anything at all. How to sell a $200k car like Stinger like that, dont even have for test drive. If you go Audi or BMW, the sales more pro.

 

And the listed price thing, after some research, some got $5-10k discount off the listed price(include trade in, loan), so I thought got some hope (that's why I asked the bros if they got SE, if price is right would buy already), without that, we are paying over $10k from that $86k list price. In terms of comfort, car looks and despite a lousier engine, prefer Kia, as also good experience with an older model. But if actual price is higher, eg. $96k, similar range like Honda Civic could actually be cheaper at least their listed price is straight, only require insurance.

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I totally understand that feeling. Their SE I met a few like market auntie, not interested to sell you anything at all. How to sell a $200k car like Stinger like that, dont even have for test drive. If you go Audi or BMW, the sales more pro.

 

And the listed price thing, after some research, some got $5-10k discount off the listed price(include trade in, loan), so I thought got some hope (that's why I asked the bros if they got SE, if price is right would buy already), without that, we are paying over $10k from that $86k list price. In terms of comfort, car looks and despite a lousier engine, prefer Kia, as also good experience with an older model. But if actual price is higher, eg. $96k, similar range like Honda Civic could actually be cheaper at least their listed price is straight, only require insurance.

 

Interestingly, you did not say, if I am serve poorly, I just go 2 doors down to Hyundai. ..

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I believe they can do it if they want. But if their mind is set on putting the GT model high up in the rank, then the price would only attract a niche group of buyers. Good to have bells and whistles stuff like sunroof or ventilated memory seats can make way to keep the omv similar to SX. Depends on how C&C wants to market this model, if they indeed are bringing it into sg.

You believe they can do it is just your wishful thinking. Being in the car business for decades, cnc knows what can n cannot sell well in Singapore
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Managed to place the 500 refundable deposit on their promotion website for the red demo display unit at 73999 for the cerato ex with less than 100km mileage. Tmr gonna go down and discuss with one of the SE recommended by one friendly chap here.

 

Hope can get a good deal and join the cerato party soon!

Edited by walkofwinners
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Hi all,

 

Just want to share on my experience. I had previously drove various Asian and Conti cars.

 

My SE had advised me to change out the KUMHO tyres for a more comfortable and less noisy ride. I thought he was just more sensitive with noise and I brushed it off.

 

But indeed, the sound insulation of the car was totally horrible. It was extremely noisy (a combo of both road and wind noise) and I went to immediately changed out to a more comfort series tyres to reduce the noise. It helps a bit but still ridiculously noisy.

 

Side track a bit from the noisy issue....The sound system totally FLAT and cannot make it no matter how u adjust the HU settings! It's worse than the other Asian makes and the speakers could be the culprit!

 

The lousy sound system and the lousy noise insulation was a double whammy and made the rides totally totally uncomfortable and unenjoyable.

 

But don't be mistaken that I'm condemning this car. No, I'm not. In fact, I'm advocating that it's a good buy (at this price), the features great, exterior and interior styling absolutely nice, and the drive (engine wise) is smooth. But perhaps KIA has chosen to provide cheapo speakers and not do any sound insulation to bring down production costs.

 

My concluding comments is:

THIS CAR IS A DECENT BUY, BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER UPGRADING THE AUDIO SYSTEM AND DO SOME GOOD SOUNDPROOFING!

 

I said good soundproofing because there are many ineffective soundproofing materials out there. Spend a little more to get good quality ones and at least 2 layers.

 

I've sent in my car for the audio system upgrade and soundproofing works. Collecting my car tmr evening!

 

**Hope I am not offending anyone. Just want to share my experience to potential buyers the shortfalls and how they can overcome it. Cheers!

 

You're right.

 

What needs to be changed immediately are - 

 

1) Tyres (VERY noisy & poor grip)

2) Sound system (Can hardly hear anything especially when driving and worse when it rains)

3) Need to do sound proofing for all 4 doors (very hollow), undercarriage, firewall and wheel arch

 

The above will easily add another $3K to $5K to the price, which brings it very close to Honda Civic and Toyota Altis territory.

Edited by Vinceng
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Managed to place the 500 refundable deposit on their promotion website for the red demo display unit at 73999 for the cerato ex with less than 100km mileage. Tmr gonna go down and discuss with one of the SE recommended by one friendly chap here.

 

Hope can get a good deal and join the cerato party soon!

Congrats, looks like a very good price for EX
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You're right.

 

What needs to be changed immediately are -

 

1) Tyres (VERY noisy & poor grip)

2) Sound system (Can hardly hear anything especially when driving and worse when it rains)

3) Need to do sound proofing for all 4 doors (very hollow), undercarriage, firewall and wheel arch

 

The above will easily add another $3K to $5K to the price, which brings it very close to Honda Civic and Toyota Altis territory.

Altis and Civic factory sound systems are lousy as well... pretty much any standard sound system you have to upgrade.

 

I feel road noise not better in Toyota or Honda as well. You have to step in the 120-150k category to get something really better in my opinion

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Altis and Civic factory sound systems are lousy as well... pretty much any standard sound system you have to upgrade.

 

I feel road noise not better in Toyota or Honda as well. You have to step in the 120-150k category to get something really better in my opinion

Have driven both Toyota and Honda. Sad to say, both fared better than Cerato in both stock speakers and sound insulation. Kia managed to achieve (lower) new grounds.

 

Oh yes, might want to consider changing out the 'Little Lamb' car horn. Lower priority of course. :-)

Edited by GS418
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You're right.

 

What needs to be changed immediately are -

 

1) Tyres (VERY noisy & poor grip)

2) Sound system (Can hardly hear anything especially when driving and worse when it rains)

3) Need to do sound proofing for all 4 doors (very hollow), undercarriage, firewall and wheel arch

 

The above will easily add another $3K to $5K to the price, which brings it very close to Honda Civic and Toyota Altis territory.

Definitely much better experience after these improvements. Just collected my ride and gosh....It's a world of difference. Closer to BMW feel now. I LOVE MY CERATO now. :-)
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Managed to place the 500 refundable deposit on their promotion website for the red demo display unit at 73999 for the cerato ex with less than 100km mileage. 

 

where is this promotion website? do you mind sharing the url?

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Managed to place the 500 refundable deposit on their promotion website for the red demo display unit at 73999 for the cerato ex with less than 100km mileage. Tmr gonna go down and discuss with one of the SE recommended by one friendly chap here.

 

Hope can get a good deal and join the cerato party soon!

 

Price seems good but better get them to commit in writing on certain requirements you might have such as pulling the car off display after securing COE etc etc etc

 

There was a KIA Caren owner who had some issues with C&C over the display unit after signing on the dotted line 

 

Found the thread here..

 

https://www.mycarforum.com/topic/2709625-lied-to-by-a-salesman-at-kia-motors-and-i-need-advice/

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where is this promotion website? do you mind sharing the url?

Website is Kiabeyond, they have a cerato L display unit going for 68k.

 

Decided not to go for the display unit after chatting with the SE. The cost is not exactly that much cheaper since its 73999 with 6 bid non guaranteed even though the car is already ex stock. Even if interior scratched, gotta suck it up as they wont touch up, max they will do it's a polish. It makes no sense that even with a display unit, ready stock and the lead time for delivery is up to March. The car will be on display for another 3 months and by then the car interior will probably be wrecked.

 

Best deal I got was 40k loan for 6 years and have to take their in house insurance for 2 years. Everything adds up quite substantial with the interest as well. The reason I didnt get the car was the lack of electronic stability, hill start assist and only 2 airbags up to ex model. Almost all cars out there now are minimum 6 airbags and the features are given by default. However if you can see beyond all this and just look at price, it's a nice car with a beautiful interior. Drive is definitely an improvement over K3 as well. Dont just look at your monthly repayments cause of the longer loan but also the overall cost at the end of the day. Not here to shoot down the car as its wonderful designed and crafted for the pricing, but look deep into the T&C as well which adds up to quite a sum.

 

However, I just wanna say that the SE recommended by a chap here was really good and friendly. If you are sincere, go look for him and he will give you the best deals he can. Somethings are just beyond his control and he did his best but I cant look beyond the lack of safety features.

Edited by walkofwinners
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Is the turbo GT version confirm coming to sg? I've asked one SE in one of the road show and she told me it won't be coming.

 

The turbo version will be attractive if KIA is able to price it right.

A turbo version will raise the OMV and take this car into a whole new budget range.. I don’t think Kia will want that.. and most buyers won’t either..
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