Used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 2012-2018 review

The Kia Cee'd Sportswagon may be an estate car, but it's essentially a stretched family car. That's no bad thing, though, because the family car in question – the 2012-2018 Kia Cee'd hatchback – happens to be rather good.

The Cee'd Sportswagon originally was offered with a choice of 89bhp 1.4-litre and 126bhp 1.6-litre diesel engines and a 99bhp 1.4-litre petrol. A facelift in 2015 brought the 1.6-litre diesel up to 134bhp, while a 118bhp turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine was added to flesh out the petrol range. Despite its small size, the 1.0-litre engine makes good progress if you're prepared to rev it a bit, while the 1.6-litre diesel has enough pace for most and much more low-end grunt than the petrols. It can be a little gruff around town, however, and when cold. All models came with a six-speed manual gearbox, although there was an optional six-speed automatic available on the 1.6-litre diesel.

Entry-level 1 versions got air conditioning, front electric windows, central locking, an iPod-compatible CD stereo and Bluetooth. Rear parking sensors were standard from 2 trim, while 3 and 4 added a rear-view camera. Meanwhile, 4 Tech added a system that can automatically steer the car into kerbside spaces. GT-Line and GT-Line S brought more aggressive exterior styling tweaks and some unique alloy wheel designs.

The Cee'd Sportswagon isn’t the most exciting car to drive, but it does everything with a surprising amount of competence. It's assured and stable in corners, with plenty of grip, but it's not exactly fun, with numb steering and handling that stays on the side of safe and predictable. However, the payoff for that is a comfortable ride that dismisses small road irregularities well. On top of that, it’s impressively refined in terms of road and wind noise, so it's a generally smooth and quiet car.

Inside is a good driving position and a pleasant dashboard with a logical layout, although rear visibility can be a little restricted by the rising window line at the rear. The infotainment system is wonderfully intuitive, unlike those of some rivals. Big, bold displays and clearly labelled controls are the order of the day, and the wealth of steering wheel-mounted buttons are easy to get used to. Overall, interior quality is good, with mostly pleasing materials on display, although some of the seat fabrics look a little cheap.

There’s plenty of room up front and rear passengers get enough leg and head room, although three abreast is a bit of a squeeze. The boot is impressively spacious and usefully quite square. It also has a low loading lip to make loading and unloading a breeze.

If you're interested in finding a used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.

High-mileage Cee'd Sportswagons can be had for less than £3000, but we’d probably advise looking for a car with an average mileage for the year and a full service history – in which case you’d be looking at a starting price of around £6000. Between £7000 and £9000 will find you plenty of good 2015 cars that satisfy that criteria, while around £11,000 starts to secure 2017 cars.

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MPG

It’s the 1.6-litre diesel that’s the most economical, with claimed average fuel consumption of 72.4mpg and corresponding CO2 emissions of 102g/km, while the less powerful 1.4-litre diesel is almost as economical, at 67.3mpg and 109g/km. The post-facelift 1.0-litre petrol model claims an average of 54.3mpg, but the naturally aspirated 1.4-litre petrol is thirstier, at 47.1mpg and 139g/km.

Road tax

Road tax costs for Cee'd Sportswagons registered before April 2017 varied according to CO2 output, but all were cheap to tax. However, those registered after that date will pay the flat rate in road tax, which could be considerably higher.

Insurance and servicing

Insurance groups are low, running from 11 to 15 for the top-spec diesel model.

Servicing is required every 12 months, but turbocharged petrols require an oil change every 10,000 miles, while diesels and the 1.4-litre petrol can go 20,000 miles between visits. The cost of servicing at a Kia dealership is pretty reasonable, but it’s worth checking whether the car's previous owner had taken out one of Kia’s servicing packages, because this covers the first three or five years of servicing for a fixed price and can be transferred to the car's next owner.

There’s no getting away from the good fuel economy figures the diesel Cee'd Sportswagons claim, so we'd seek out one of those. If you want a petrol, though, you'll be perfectly happy with the 1.0-litre turbo unit.

We’d also suggest going for a model in 2 trim, because it will have loads of standard equipment.

Our favourite Kia Cee'd Sportswagon 1.6 CRDi 2

The Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer has plenty of room inside and is well equipped as standard. There’s a range of smooth petrol and fabulously economical diesel engines, the ride is comfortable and it’s pretty good to drive, too.

The Volkswagen Golf Estate is the one to beat in the small estate class, because not only is it great to drive, but it also has a large boot, a supple ride and an appealing interior. It’s well equipped, too, as well as supremely classy.

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If you're interested in finding a used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.