Kia Problems

You've missed my pick, and our current Car of the Year, the Kia Sorento. It's better than any of your contenders and a top car that gets The Tick from me.

The problem needs to sorted out with the dealer and Kia, so go back and tell the dealer you are unhappy with the car as it is and request them to fix it. Tell them you will not accept the car as it is. Ask them to demonstrate on another Cerato that the problem is 'normal'.

I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be allowable, the price could have been a sale price for a period of time, and went up when the offer finished.

It sounds like the right time to move into an all-new Forester, to power you across the divide and into retirement. No matter what you do with repairs to the current car, it’s going to be a gamble.

The XV will be fine around town but is very small in the boot, and the same goes for the CX-3. If you want a similar cabin and boot space to the Liberty then go for the CX-5, but also have a look at the new Kia Sportage.

Both the CX-5 and the Tribeca are good choices; they're capable, well built and reliable. Others to consider are the Kia Sportage and Sorento. While they are Korean like the Captiva, unlike the Captiva they're very good cars, well built and reliable.

The CX-5 is still best in class but a new Kia Sportage has just arrived and promises to be just as good. I’d steer you towards a Subaru Forester or Outback. They drive like a car, are more refined and easily handle country roads.

The Carnival only got a four-star score from ANCAP in July because of excessive movement of the parking and foot-brake pedals, with a heightened risk of injury to the driver’s legs and feet. Work has been done and there should be a re-test early in 2016 with ANCAP with improved cars on sale in the first quarter.

Kia Australia is aware of the problem, which is related to how the lockup clutch works in the transmission. The lockup points are currently set at 62km/h and 80-85km/h and Kia believes this is why you find it so noticeable. Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth says: "We have reported this to Korea and have asked them to look at improvements".

You could clean the throttle body to fix the miss. After that you should be looking at the electronics on the engine. The speedo is a mystery, but you would have to think that it is related to the car's electronics.