Kia Cerato auto 2005 review

I thought about responding that I was a clerk, or better, a librarian. What do you ask a librarian after "read any good books lately?"

Then the ride would have been quiet and I could have watched the scenery, listened to the music or just dozed off.

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"My mother just bought one," he said, adding he couldn't remember the name.

So I proposed a few: Rio? Nup. Cerato? Maybe. Optima? Nup. Cerato?. Yep.

"She loves it," he said, which led me to suggest she's right.

Because the taxi driver's mum had bought one of the best-value small cars on the market.

The Cerato shows, at least in this early stage of its life, that Kia is getting very serious about value, quality, performance and style.

The model, introduced late last year, is basically a remodelled version of its parent company Hyundai's Elantra.

But it looks a whole lot neater than the Elantra, thanks to more conservative lines and a wider stance.

The two cars share the same platform, drivetrain and suspension, though Kia has honed these components to create a surprisingly quiet, brisk and comfortable sedan.

Most of that is attributed to the Cerato hitting the market two years after the latest Elantra.

The Kia's cabin is on a par with the Corolla, with sufficient room for four adults and a spacious boot. There are no big surprises in the cabin, though Kia has crammed the car full of goodies and the price is a knock-out $18,990 with manual box.

The four-speed auto version I tested comes in at $20,990 and included airconditioning, electric windows and mirrors, dual airbags and a CD player.

Don't expect this car to compete in a weekend rally and you'll be rewarded with a neat handling, peppy machine that has quietness as one of its most endearing features.

It handles corners well, though you recognise quite early that there's a limit.

The brakes are fine, the steering feel is typically Korean -- like holding a dead bird -- though the ride is excellent for this class of car.

Kia has done a lot of good work on the suspension, which comes as a major shock, given previous examples.

The engine is torquey, has a strong mid-range power delivery and though it revs to 6000rpm it's a pointless exercise and will only cost money in extra fuel.

The auto transmission is a plain Jane four-speed without accoutrements such as manual selection, though it proved to be well-matched to the engine.

I would have liked better fuel consumption, though the car was an automatic and the 2-litre engine was no small fry.

The Cerato does its job of transporting people with efficiency and, despite the price, looks like it cost a few thousand dollars more than you paid.

This car will meet the needs of people who, unlike me, will contentedly beaver along the freeways and trundle through shopping centre car parks in comfort, with reliability and with spare change in their pockets.