2023 Kia Seltos Review

Price Range: $16,998 - $24,998

The 2023 Kia Seltos is stylish, roomy, and available with plenty of the latest technology and safety features. It's rather quick, too, as long as you get the optional turbocharged engine. Comfort is lacking, however, and it's not a particularly fun SUV to drive. But overall the Seltos is worth a look along with other popular models such as the Honda HR-V, Hyundai Kona and Mazda CX-30.

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2023 Kia Seltos Review

Pros

Plenty of cargo space
Upscale interior design and materials
Distinctive styling and paint choices add personality

Cons

Front seats aren't very comfortable for long drives
Less than athletic handling

What's new

New standard safety features added to S trim
Acoustic glass windshield added to all models to reduce road noise
Part of the first Seltos generation introduced for 2021

Overview

Written by automotive expert Mark Takahashi

10/25/2022

The Kia Seltos may be suffering from middle-child syndrome, receiving less attention than its Kia siblings on either side. On one hand, it's priced higher than the funky-cool Kia Soul. On the other, the all-new Kia Sportage is making a splash with its crisp, aggressive styling that will likely dictate the look and feel of the brand's future lineup.

Continue reading Edmunds Expert Rating below

For sale near San Antonio, TX

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2023 Kia Seltos
S 4dr SUV
$16,498
great price
- 20,634 miles
- No accidents, 1 owner, personal use only
- 5 Seats, 27 City / 31 Hwy MPG
- Hyatt Cars of Houston (183 mi away)
- AWD/4WD
- Back-up camera
- Bluetooth
- Keyless Entry/Start
- Blind Spot Monitorin...
Close
Located in Houston, TX
AutoCheck Vehicle History Summary
Accident Free Vehicle: Yes
Personal Use Only: Yes
History Provider: AutoCheck
Title Details: Clean Title
Salvage Vehicle: No
Frame Damage: No
Theft History: No
Lemon Status: No
Free History Report: No
Features and Specs:
29 Combined MPG (27 City/31 Highway)
Listing Information:
VIN: KNDEUCAA8P7406323
Stock: H406323
Certified Pre-Owned: No
2023 Kia Seltos
LX 4dr SUV
$18,999
great price
- 6,211 miles
- No accidents, 1 owner, personal use only
- 5 Seats, 27 City / 31 Hwy MPG
- Elite Auto Traders (183 mi away)
- AWD/4WD
- Back-up camera
- Bluetooth
- Tire Pressure Warnin...
- USB Inputs
Close
Located in Houston, TX
AutoCheck Vehicle History Summary
Accident Free Vehicle: Yes
Personal Use Only: Yes
History Provider: AutoCheck
Title Details: Clean Title
Salvage Vehicle: No
Frame Damage: No
Theft History: No
Lemon Status: No
Free History Report: No
Features and Specs:
29 Combined MPG (27 City/31 Highway)
Listing Information:
VIN: KNDEPCAA5P7360392
Stock: 2700
Certified Pre-Owned: No

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Being stuck in the middle is not the only reason you might pass on the Seltos. As much as we like the Seltos for its large cargo capacity and distinctive styling, its front seats could stand some improvements to make them more comfortable over long distances. It's also not all that inspiring to drive on a winding mountain road, and even the turbocharged engine upgrade can feel underpowered from a stop.

We expect Kia will update the Seltos styling next year, following other recent Kia redesigns (Sportage, Niro) and possibly even adding a hybrid engine option. If the seats and suspension are also upgraded, it could go a long way to lifting the Seltos out of its rather low standing in the extra-small SUV class, as documented in the Expert Rating below. As it stands, it's a ways off from challenging Edmunds' top-ranked Volkswagen Taos, Chevrolet Trailblazer and Mazda CX-30.

Edmunds Expert Rating

edmunds TESTED

by the Edmunds Experts

Average

7.6

out of 10

We drove the 2023 Kia Seltos on our test track and on real roads. Our Edmunds team conducts rigorous independent vehicle testing, driving 500,000 miles a year.

Performance

7.5/10

How does the Seltos drive? We tested a top-of-the-line Seltos SX, which comes with the turbocharged engine. Acceleration is sluggish from a stop, but after that this little SUV is pretty punchy. In Edmunds' testing, the Seltos sprinted from 0 to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds. That's great for this class and means you can quickly get up to highway speeds. The transmission shifts smoothly and quickly.

The Seltos is less impressive once the road bends, however. The responsive steering and taut suspension tuning should be beneficial, but drive with some enthusiasm and the Seltos just feels overly nose-heavy and ill-suited to the task.

Comfort

7/10

How comfortable is the Seltos? The Kia Seltos is comfortable enough for your daily routine and short road trips. It absorbs most bumps without trouble and isn't overly floaty on the highway. The front seats are OK, but they don't have enough thigh support and cushioning to make them truly comfortable on long drives. The rear seats are actually pretty comfortable for an extra-small SUV.

There's a fair amount of road noise that enters the cabin, and the climate control system is a little weak when it comes to thoroughly cooling the cabin down on hot days.

Interior

7.5/10

How’s the interior? The Seltos' interior is simple, practical and roomy. Special mention goes to the available 10.25-inch infotainment screen; it has crisp graphics and is easy to use. The bottom screen, which displays the single-zone climate settings, is equally sharp.

As one of the larger extra-small SUVs (yes, that's kind of an oxymoron), the Seltos has enough room for most people. As long as you're under 6-foot-2, you should find the Seltos pretty accommodating in both front and back. The Seltos is also pretty easy to get in and out of.

Visibility is somewhat hampered by thick roof pillars. It's always good practice to glance twice to make sure there are no pedestrians walking toward you from the right side. The wide-angle rearview camera is definitely beneficial when you're backing up.

Technology

8/10

How’s the tech? The Seltos comes with a pleasing number of features. The Bose audio system (SX trim only) produces clear sound and punchy bass. The navigation system is easy enough to use. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration is standard across the board but works best on the available 10.25-inch infotainment display. Our test car had two USB ports, a 12-volt power port and a wireless charging pad in front. Rear passengers will fight over the single USB port.

The advanced safety and driver aids in our top-of-the-line Seltos SX worked well and weren't overly intrusive with warnings. But the adaptive cruise control is very conservative with its following distances.

Storage

8/10

How’s the storage? You can hold a lot of stuff in the back of the Seltos. It's one of the leaders in its class with a maximum cargo capacity of 62.8 cubic feet. Leave the rear seats up and there's still 26.6 cubes. Loading cargo isn't a hassle either thanks to a wide liftgate opening and decent cargo depth.

Interior storage for front passengers is sufficient. There are plenty of water-bottle-size pockets, a small cellphone tray in front of the gear shifter, a small console box and a glovebox. As for child safety-seat installation, the Seltos' car seat anchor points are clearly marked and easy to access. You'll be able to install a rear-facing safety seat without too much trouble.

Fuel Economy

7.5/10

How’s the fuel economy? The Kia Seltos has a few powertrain combinations. We tested the SX, which has the more powerful turbocharged engine, and our vehicle had all-wheel drive too. The EPA estimates that combo will get 27 mpg combined (25 city/30 highway). That's below the class average, though a base Seltos with front-wheel drive gets a more respectable 31 mpg combined.

We recorded 27.9 mpg on our 115-mile mixed-driving evaluation route. Overall, we believe you should be able to match the EPA's numbers without much trouble.

Value

7.5/10

Is the Seltos a good value? The Seltos is a better than average value for the class thanks to its pleasing number of standard features. The top SX trim is pricey, but it adds a lot of stuff, including the turbocharged engine. Build quality is solid, but the interior materials lack substance and the abundant plastic makes it feel a tad cheap.

Kia's limited and powertrain warranties are fantastic. You get five-year/60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage.

Wildcard

7.5/10

The Kia Seltos looks a little bit like a Land Rover Evoque SUV, and you can enhance its style with contrasting roof and body paint colors. It definitely stands out in the extra-small SUV class. The rest of the package isn't very inspiring. But is it practical? Definitely.

2023 Kia Seltos trim level differences

The 2023 Kia Seltos is available in five trim levels: LX, S, EX, Nightfall Edition and SX. You'll generally get progressively more features on each one, plus a more powerful engine for the Nightfall Edition and SX. Standard feature highlights include:

Which Seltos trim does Edmunds recommend?

We think the Seltos EX trim has an optimal balance of features and price. Standard equipment includes all-wheel drive, faux leather upholstery, heated seats, and a larger touchscreen with navigation. You could opt for the S trim instead and add the touchscreen and navigation for still less than the EX. But the EX's additional features make it a stronger value. And if you need all-wheel drive, the price gap shrinks even more.

Compare 2023 Kia Seltos trim levels

Helpful trims summary and side-by-side comparison chart

Cost to Drive

Monthly estimates based on costs in Texas

$117/mo

$143/mo

Avg. Compact SUV

Calculate my fuel costs

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Kia Seltos Owner Reviews

4.1

39 reviews

5(54%)

4(20%)

3(10%)

2(7%)

1(9%)

See all 39 reviews Write a vehicle review

Most Helpful Owner Reviews

So far, very VERY good!!!

Will, 11/13/2021

2022 Kia Seltos EX 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)

A month ago, I traded in my 2013 base Soul for the 2022 Seltos EX, and love it. I've put just over 400 miles on it, most of it cross town commuter driving. I'll start my review discussing what I've read in other reviews, then finish up with some general observations. I agree with most of the reviews concerning front seat head and leg room. I'm 6' tall and find both to be substantial, … even with the sunroof, which is standard with the EX. Some reviewers were also impressed with back seat legroom, but I beg to differ there. If you're a 6 footer and will be carting around 2 or 3 other large adults, you should probably opt for a larger vehicle. The back seat passenger(s) will not be very comfortable in the Seltos. That's a non-factor for us, as it's usually just my wife and me. If we'll be taking anyone else, we'll take her Equinox. One of the "cons" from expert reviews is that the standard engine is under powered. I find that it has plenty of pep. Unless you want a car to take to the drag strip or the Indy 500, the base engine will do just fine. When I have taken it on the highway, I've had plenty of power to merge into traffic and pass slower vehicles. One complaint, primarily on owner reviews, is that if you don't want to use ISG (Idle Stop Go), you need to turn it off every time you start the car. Well, that's not unique to the Seltos, or even Kia in the whole. Most modern cars have that feature, and most of them default to "on" every time the car is started. More about ISG later. Now for my general observations. I find the Seltos extremely comfortable. I'm a 70 year old six footer, and have no trouble getting in and out of it. I've got plenty of driver's head and leg room, and my foot goes easily between the accelerator and brake - unlike some cars I've driven. The leatherette seats in the EX are plenty comfortable for short local driving, but may leave a bit to be desired for longer trips. I like the leather padding on the steering wheel. I've put a cover on the wheel of most of the other cars that I've owned, but didn't need to do it with the Seltos. I had never before driven a car with either CVT or all wheel drive. I fully expected that they would take some getting used to, but that has not been the case. If anything, the CVT is smoother and quieter than some of the cars I've had with traditional automatic transmission. When I first got the car, I had the display on that shows how much power goes to each wheel. It showed that under normal situations, all power went to the front wheels. It rained on a couple days and on those days, there was a bit of power going to the back wheels as I was accelerating, the switched to front wheel only once I got up to speed. I've gotten excellent gas mileage. Most of my driving has been in town, and I've been getting 28-29 MPG regularly. The infotainment system, navigation, and driver displays all took a little effort to learn, but they make sense. For the size car, there is ample cargo space - even more when we fold the back seats down. And we can drop the back floor down a bit and give even more space. I like the fact that the Seltos actually came with a spare tire. A lot of cars sold today just have a tire repair kit - no spare. The car came with a complementary 1 year subscription to UVO. It was kind of glitchy at first, specifically using it to remote start the car. However, I was able to get it fixed after a couple of emails to tech support. An interesting note is that for a week or so after I got the car, each time I got home and parked the car in the garage, I got an email reminding me that my doors were unlocked. After that, the emails stopped coming. Maybe the app "learned" my habits and determined that it was the normal situation Back to ISG. I like it. The engine always starts up again as soon as I take my foot off the brake pedal, and it's smooth and quiet. The only way I know that the engine has started again is the tachometer and the engine stopped symbol is not illuminated. I frankly do not understand why anyone would NOT want to use it. One argument I've heard is that more gas is burned each time the engine is started. That is false. It may have once been the case, but not with modern fuel injection engines. Another argument is that it's hard on the starter and the engine. Again, both have been improved. For example, 30 years ago, a starter could typically last 50,000 start events before failing. Now, that's been increased 10 fold - up to 500,000. And motor oils have also been improved. Also, it's COLD starts that put more pressure on the starter and engine - not warm starts where the oil is already circulating. True, ISG does not result in a huge fuel savings, but every little bit helps. And ditto with reduced pollution.

Great Car

Brandon, 10/25/2021

2022 Kia Seltos EX 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)

Pros: The infotainment system works well and has a lot of features. The touchscreen is one of the biggest I've seen for a car. The Apple CarPlay feature works great. The safety features are also great and not intrusive while driving. The interior is synthetic leather and gives this small SUV an upscale feeling. I love the exterior appearance of the vehicle. The audio sounds good, even …

Fantastic gas mileage for SUV

DrJJloveman , 04/04/2022

2022 Kia Seltos S 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl CVT)

I love this vehicle. It's the perfect size and mine with the 2.0 4 cylinder engine with AWD gets roughly 28 mpg. It's unbelievable. I have the S AWD trim. It has heated seats and mirrors with a nice 10 inch infotainment screen. The infotainment is a little finicky and I wish there were a few more options to tweak it but it's pretty cool. Has remote start and surprisingly a lot of space …

Dashboard goes blank

Chan, 09/19/2022

2022 Kia Seltos SX 4dr SUV AWD (1.6L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)

I purchased my 2022 Kia Seltos in November of 2021. I didn’t have any issues until recently. I was casually driving in mid-day traffic and all of a sudden my dashboard goes completely blank as if I had turned the car off. A few seconds later the dashboard illuminated all the caution signs. The check engine, check oil, transmission light, windshield fluid light just to name a few. the …

We have a limited number of reviews for the 2023 Kia Seltos, so we've included reviews for other years of the Seltos since its last redesign.

See all 39 reviews of the Kia Seltos

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2023 Seltos Highlights

Trim:

Base MSRP Excludes Destination Fee	$23,340
Engine Type	Gas
Combined MPG	29 MPG
Cost to Drive	$117/month
Seating	5 seats
Cargo Capacity All Seats In Place	26.6 cu.ft.
Drivetrain	all wheel drive
Warranty	5 years / 60,000 miles

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Safety

Our experts like the Seltos models:

Blind-Spot Collision Warning: Warns you of vehicles in the Seltos' blind spot and illuminates a light in the mirror as an alert.
Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning: Alerts you of vehicles or objects crossing the Seltos' path when reversing.
Driver Attention Warning: Monitors your driving patterns and displays an alert if it senses you aren't paying attention to the road.

NHTSA Overall Rating

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration offers independent analysis.

Frontal Barrier Crash Rating
Overall4 / 5
Driver5 / 5
Passenger4 / 5
Side Crash Rating
Overall5 / 5
Side Barrier Rating
Overall5 / 5
Driver5 / 5
Passenger5 / 5
Combined Side Barrier & Pole Ratings
Front Seat5 / 5
Back Seat5 / 5
Rollover
Rollover4 / 5
Dynamic Test ResultNo Tip
Risk Of Rollover15.1%

IIHS Rating

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety uses extensive crash tests to determine car safety.

Small Overlap Front Driver-Side Test
Good
Small Overlap Front Passenger-Side Test
Good
Moderate Overlap Front Test – Original
Good
Moderate Overlap Front Test – Updated
Not Tested
Side Impact Test – Original
Good
Side Impact Test – Updated
Not Tested
Roof Strength Test
Good
Rear Crash Protection / Head Restraint
Good

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2023 Kia Seltos Review

Selling or Trading-In?

Price & Payment

2023 Kia Seltos Review

Pros

Cons

What's new

Overview

For sale near San Antonio, TX

2023 Kia SeltosS 4dr SUV

AutoCheck Vehicle History Summary

2023 Kia SeltosLX 4dr SUV

AutoCheck Vehicle History Summary

Edmunds Expert Rating

Performance

Comfort

Interior

Technology

Storage

Fuel Economy

Value

Wildcard

2023 Kia Seltos trim level differences

Which Seltos trim does Edmunds recommend?

Cost to Drive

Kia Seltos Owner Reviews

Most Helpful Owner Reviews

So far, very VERY good!!!

Great Car

Fantastic gas mileage for SUV

Dashboard goes blank

2023 Seltos Highlights

Safety

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