[Kia-enjoy]

I am thinking about getting a Kia Seltos SX with sunroof and had a few questions for those in the know! Thank you.

1)Does the 2023 model have Wireless (apple) CarPlay and does it work well or just wired CarPlay?
2)Is the sunroof small or large?
3)Is anybody aware of any plans for a panoramic sunroof?
4)Do you find it a good car for long highway drives or not it's strength
5)Is it bad, decent, or good in snow?
6)Are the roof racks practical or looks only?
7)how do you use them if you do?
8)Do the roof racks create road noise
9)Can the roof racks be removed if they come on a new seltos and I did not want them or not a good idea (just wondering, maybe they would grow on me or have a use?)
10)Would you buy it again or get something else (do you recommend it), any major complaints
11)Looking for a car with panoramic sunroof, wireless apple car play and good in snow but really enjoy 2018 soul (has panoramic sunroof for that year and heated seats, good stereo, good milage and other cool features) any other suggestions?

 

[SHCS]

1) Wired only from the factory. I'm an Android Auto guy, but that works flawlessly when wired. No reason not to think the CarPlay experience wouldn't be similar.
2) Small. The first press to open ... maybe 12 inches. Second press you get a couple more inches. If you'd really like me to go measure it I can. Those are guesses. What I do like is that it opens into the interior, not externally. So the back of the Sunroof drops down and slides back in between the roof and headliner, rather than out the top to interfere with anything you might have on the roof rack.
3) Yet to be confirmed. Lotta rumors out there but none trustworthy.
4) Yet to experience so I'll leave that for someone else to comment on.
5) Yet to experience personally.
6) Practical, but you need to purchase the cross rails. To be clear the SX comes with 'Roof Rails'. Roof Rails support a 'Roof Rack' that you would purchase separately. You would not load something directly onto the roof rails, you'd load stuff to the affixed Roof Rack.
7) Daily driver.
8) The existing factory rails don't. But most cross rails will. How much noise depends on the quality of the cross rails. Can't comment on the factory rails.
9) The Roof Rails can be removed, but shouldn't be. You'd have to figure out ways to waterproof and seal the mounting locations. Roof Racks if you were to purchase them could relatively easily be removed and attached as needed. Though most would likely just leave them on.
10) If I had time to wait I would have gone hybrid, likely the Sportage HEV, despite its horrendous looks and larger size. But I didn't have a year to wait for one. The incentive in that would be ONLY the hybrid. The Seltos for me was the right size, right looks, had a lot of extra features not available in the competition and allowed me to create a stealth storage location for tools beneath the hatch floor. Looks wise the Kona was probably better looking, but it lacked the rear hatch room and we were ready for an SUV rather than a large hatchback. Others I looked at, Nissan Rogue and Kashqui (Rogue Sport) (felt over-due for a refresh), Mitsubishi RVR (great warranty but a whole lotta low-quality plastic everywhere), Chevy Trailblazer (dealership couldn't even find one to show me), Chevy Equinox (too big, anemic performance), Volkswagon Taos (I wrote it off cause no storage under the hatch floor, but ultimately exterior felt a little dated as well), Honda CRV (noisy cabin), Mazda had some good looking competitors with compelling features but refused the Mazdas cause in my location, they all show signs of rust inside of three years. Mazdas don't like Winters.
11) Look at the Volkswagon Taos for panoramic and wireless CarPlay.

 

[GeoCanada]

In relation to Winter Driving:
- I live in Alberta, Canada. We have solid winters, lots of snow and some of the coldest temperatures. Often there is packed ice. I also take my Seltos through the Rockies regularly during the winter.

I have pretty good winter tires and the AWD system is fantastic. Never an issue. A key strength is that from a stop, it starts with power going 50/50 front and back - it doesn’t wait for slip to send power to all four tires.

I have been really impressed with how the Seltos handles the snow and ice. The AWD system is a lot better than I expected and out performed my friends Forester.

 

[Speedtek22]

Reference the Pano sunroof, there were rumours it would be included on the 2024 model, however preview images from reviews of the redesigned Korean model do not have it.

I had ours on a nice 1200 km trip just last month and it was fantastic, great fuel economy and very comfy.

I'm looking forward to trying it out in the snow, I think the performance will be very good. As GeoCanada mentioned the Kia AWD system splits torque from a start as opposed to waiting for front slippage (like most other FWD biased systems).

 

[Kia-enjoy]

Thank you everyone for your insight and experiance, this was super helpful.

I am also considering the sportage due to the “comfort/luxury type” features including large sunroof but actually like the feel of the seltos. I also don’t really want a car/suv that big (unless it would grow on me haha who knows).
I test drove the taos yesterday (thank you for making me aware of it, was not considering VW, and it is good to know, I thought it was soo nice to have all the features but the seats (and feel) in the seltos were much more comfortable to me).
Ps Are people having success with the wireless apple carplay kits?
Thanks again your replies are super helpful.

 

[Speedtek22]

Thank you everyone for your insight and experiance, this was super helpful.

I am also considering the sportage due to the “comfort/luxury type” features including large sunroof but actually like the feel of the seltos. I also don’t really want a car/suv that big (unless it would grow on me haha who knows).
I test drove the taos yesterday (thank you for making me aware of it, was not considering VW, and it is good to know, I thought it was soo nice to have all the features but the seats (and feel) in the seltos were much more comfortable to me).
Ps Are people having success with the wireless apple carplay kits?
Thanks again your replies are super helpful.

Been using my Carlinkit 3.0 for a couple months now…love it. There’s a couple other threads here in the forum about them.

 

[reno.katscher]

My 21 ex has a sun roof and wireless android auto and car play. Works great.

 

[Speedtek22]

My 21 ex has a sun roof and wireless android auto and car play. Works great.

Yes, all the smaller screen systems are wireless CarPlay and Android auto…only the larger screen in the EX+ and SX are not…