The 2021 Kia Seltos starts at $21,990

"LJ909" (lj909) 01/31/2020 at 11:49 • Filed to: 2021 Kia Seltos

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All new for ‘21, the Kia Seltos is the newest crossover entry from Kia. Slotting between the Soul and Niro, its attractive pricing, Kia warranty and features should have these things flying off the lot. Here’s the pricing/options.

The Seltos comes in 5 trims, all familiar Kia trims: LX,S, EX, S Turbo and SX Turbo. These trims are spread across 2 engines and 2 transmissions. Seltos LX,S and EX get powered by a 2.0 liter I4 with 147 horses. That engine gets paired to “intelligent variable transmission”.

S Turbo and SX trims get powered by a 1.6 liter turbo I4 with 175 horses. The difference here is that the S Turbo gets the same transmission as the first 3 trims, while the SX gets the turbo engine paired to a quick shifting 7 speed DCT. Interesting. AWD is also standard along with what Kia calls TVCC or Torque Vectoring Corner Control.

The base Seltos LX starts at $21,990. With this being Kia of course, standard features are extensive. Its standard features include both Apple CarPlay & Android Auto, an 8” touchscreen, 17” wheels etc. Its nicely equipped.

There are only 4 exterior colors available on the LX: Black Cherry, Snow White Pearl, Steel Gray and Neptune Blue All are no charge. Interior options are just Black cloth. There are no options at this trim. None. Aside of course from accessories like remote start and mud flaps, of which there are quite a few more. Which brings in the total price for the Stelos LX to just $22,335. Not bad.

The next trim up is the S. It has the same starting price as the LX, $21,990. The S trim, if your’e familiar with Kia trims, is more sporty. The weird thing though about the S is that its the only trim that doesn’t get AWD standard, but still somehow comes with Kia’s Torque Vectoring Corner Control. One of the standard features that stood out to me on the S trim is the standard LED light bar. Pointless but pretty cool nonetheless. The main exterior and interior difference on the Seltos is that it gets an additional color option to the standard 4 called Mars Orange. Inside instead of just Black cloth, you get Black cloth with suede like gray inserts and Blue seat stitching and Blue dash trim.

The S sees the availability of a few options. There are heated seats, but for some weird reason it requires adding AWD, which brings the total cost to $1500. There’s also forward collision avoidance, a power sunroof (which conflicts with the Mars Orange exterior color. So if you’re wanting a sunroof and an Orange exterior you’re SOL), a two tone roof color along with contrasting mirrors. All in, a Seltos S will set you back just $23,490.

The next trim is the EX. This is the trim I suspect will be the volume trim as its pretty much the doorway to get popular features either standard or as an option. Starting at $25,290 it comes standard with things like a power sunroof, LED DRL’s and tail lights, rear USB ports, remote start, a suite of driving aids etc. It has the same exterior and interior color choices as the S. With the same options of sunroof, forward collision avoidance, blind spot avoidance, heated seats and remote start selected, a Seltos EX rings in at $26,410.

The next trim is the S Turbo. It starts $200 more than the EX at $25,490. Its literally the S trim but with the 1.6 175 horse turbo 4 and a few differences like 18” wheels and the 7 speed DCT. Its also gets more safety tech standard over the non turbo S. exterior colors on this trim differ in that you can choose, in addition to the standard colors, 3 two tone colors with contrasting roofs: Dark Ocean Blue with a Clear White roof; Starbight Yellow with a Black Cherry roof; and Clear White with a Black Cherry roof. All are no addition cost as well. The S Turbo also gets the option of the black cloth seat with blue stitching interior, though that is only available with certain exterior color choices of course. Another interesting thing is that you cant get the power sunroof with any of the contrasting exterior colors. So with the same options selected besides the sunroof, an S Turbo rings in at $26,955.

The final trim for the Seltos is the SX Turbo which is the main pic on this article. Starting at $27,890, the two main differences on this trim is that you can get the two tone Starbright Yellow with Black Cherry roof and LED fog lights. Other than that its the same interior and exterior colors along with the same options save for one. The SX Turbo sees the availability of a Bose Premium audio system with the most hilarious feature I’ve seen in a car yet: a mood lamp. Connected to the audio system, its similar to what the previous gen Kia Soul’s speakers would do with music. The light pulsates and changes color to the beat of the music. Cool but gimmicky. With every option selected or standard, the Seltos SX rings in at $30,055.

Overall this looks to be an interesting entry from Kia. It will most likely sell well, but with the abundance of crossovers, was a vehicle really needed in their lineup that sat between the Soul and Niro? Depends on how you interpret the dimensions of it. Its longer than both Soul and Niro (though its only longer than the Niro by .5 inches) while being the exact same width as the Soul but being .2” less in width than the Niro. It also has a slightly shorter wheelbase than the Niro of course. Inside it actually has more rear legroom than the Niro but the exact same as the Soul, but the Niro has them both beat in cargo room. Its too close in measurements to warrant existing. But it looks to be an excellent value with some interesting standard features that set it apart from its competition.

Khalbali > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 13:19

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I'm confused, does the s turbo get the ivt or the dct? You said both.

Textured Soy Protein > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 13:30

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Since the Soul and Niro are both fwd only and the Niro is a hybrid, to me the Seltos is more something to slot under the Sportage but still offers all the SUV-ish trappings. Namely AWD and the extra ground clearance. Closest equivalent is probably the Mazda CX-30.

Whatever my wife’s next car ends up being, it’s gotta have driver’s seat memory so she can get her seating position dialed in once and she doesn’t have to keep readjusting every time I drive her car. I don’t think the Seltos offers it but it’s available on the top couple trims of the CX-30.

LJ909 > Khalbali 01/31/2020 at 13:38

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My bad. The S Turbo and SX Turbo both are the only 2 to get the DCT, while the other trims get the IVT.

LJ909 > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2020 at 13:44

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Yea I’d say the same thing. But with how Kia pictures it sitting between the Soul and Niro, its almost like they think of the Soul as a small crossover. But realistically its under the Sportage like you said. But yea this is a CX-3/30 competitor. Oddly enough but not surprising , its related to the Hyundai Venue.

I checked and this doesn’ t come with seat memory. You can get 10 way power drivers seat with 2 way lumbar adjustment but its only on the EX and SX Turbo. All other trims make do with a 6 way manual drivers seat. All trims get 4 way manually adjusting passenger seats as well.

Khalbali > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 14:10

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Gotcha, I was mildly intriqued by turbo/ivt because I've read not-great things about the dct, but alas. Also I'm brokepoor.

LJ909 > Khalbali 01/31/2020 at 14:31

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Wait about a year or 2 until that Korean depreciation kicks in and you can pick one up cheap.

fintail > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 14:32

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Another soft roader with an upkick in the C-pillar.  Cool!  I was thinking these were going extinct, so few in production these days.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 14:34

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Damn this thing is going to be popular. Looks decent for what it is, standard AWD, and really good base features. The Koreans doing pretty damn good these days. 

Khalbali > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 15:02

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Meh I'd get a cx3 first, or a different 1.6t with a stick like the Veloster r spec or new forte gt.

WiscoProud > LJ909 01/31/2020 at 15:14

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Thats actually a pretty nice looking CUV. My wife’s family have all owned Kia thanks to a good dealership by their old house. My FIL had a Niro hybrid for commuting and my BIL still has his Soul. Honestly, aside from the dealers, Kia makes a great product. I have no reason to doubt this won’t be the same.

Personally, I’d go for the SX Turbo for the power and DCT. 

LJ909 > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 01/31/2020 at 15:46

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Yea they really are. I’m mad because it’s another damn crossover but it’s value packed.