Overview
With its stylish look, spacious cabin, and fun-to-drive edge, the 2024 Seltos earns its place in Kia’s lineup, which is full of other vehicles with similar values. The Seltos slots in between the smaller Soul and the larger Sportage, but its slightly-larger-than-subcompact size makes room for more cargo than rivals such as the Hyundai Kona and the Nissan Kicks. A styling refresh for 2024 makes the Seltos even more attractive than before and its interior has been updated with better infotainment technology too. A duo of four-cylinders is available, including a 195-hp turbocharged engine that provides good pep. Most models come standard with all-wheel drive, and even the base-model Seltos provides good value and utility, making it one of our favorite small SUVs.
What’s New for 2024?
The Seltos has received a refresh for its exterior and interior styling for 2024. A restyled grille and updated lighting elements elevate the SUV’s exterior along with new wheel designs and a rear light bar that connects the taillamps. The cabin receives an updated infotainment panel with two large screens and the current model’s more traditional shift lever appears to have been replaced with a rotary controller. The Seltos’s optional turbo 1.6-liter four-cylinder now makes 195 horsepower, up 20 hp from last year’s model, and adds a new eight-speed automatic transmission to replace the previous seven-speed unit. A rugged-looking X-Line model also joins the lineup and features unique exterior styling.
Pricing and Which One to Buy
The best value lies with the Seltos’s EX trim. The SX model comes loaded with almost everything, but the EX is well-equipped, too, and much cheaper. It includes faux-leather upholstery, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, a wireless smartphone charging pad, and the new dual-screen infotainment system with in-dash navigation. All-wheel drive is available as an option for those who need it.
Engine, Transmission, and Performance
Kia offers two different four-cylinder engines in the Seltos: a 2.0-liter that makes 147 horsepower or a turbocharged 1.6-liter that pumps out 195 hp. We sampled the Seltos with the turbocharged 1.6-liter back when it made only 175 horsepower and found its power to be more than adequate. While the base engine is mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), the turbo comes with an eight-speed automatic. All-wheel drive comes standard on all but the S and EX trims. The Seltos offers a firm but mostly smooth ride, and handling is sharp for an SUV—it’s far more entertaining and composed than rivals such as the Jeep Compass and Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.
Fuel Economy and Real-World MPG
The EPA estimates that the Seltos will deliver fairly efficient MPG figures. Highway fuel economy is estimated to be as high as 34 mpg for front-wheel-drive models with the 2.0-liter four-cylinder. On our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test route, an all-wheel-drive Seltos with the turbocharged 1.6-liter managed 30 mpg. For more information about the Seltos’s fuel economy, visit the EPA’s website.
Interior, Comfort, and Cargo
Inside, the Seltos offers noticeably more space for people and cargo than the Hyundai Kona. The materials used throughout the cabin are refined enough to seem right at home in the showroom next to the brand’s excellent Telluride SUV. Interior ambient lighting is standard on the upscale SX model and can be set to pulse along with the music like the system Kia offers in the smaller Soul SUV. During our test drive of the pre-facelift model, the cargo area easily swallowed our suitcases, backpacks, and photo bag; in our testing, we fit eight carry-on suitcases in the cargo hold and 20 with the rear seats folded. We expect the Seltos’s cargo-carrying capability to be unchanged for the 2024 model year.
Infotainment and Connectivity
The Seltos’s infotainment setup has drastically changed for 2024, with a new seamless panel stretching two-thirds of the dashboard serving as both a digital gauge display and an infotainment touchscreen. This arrangement is optional and similar to the offerings of other modern Kia models. A smaller display with an analog gauge cluster is standard. Kia hasn’t said yet, but we expect to see Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, and an onboard wi-fi hotspot.
Safety and Driver-Assistance Features
Kia offers a standard suite of driver-assistance tech on the Seltos, but higher-tech features such as adaptive cruise control are optional. For more information about the Seltos’s crash-test results, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) websites. Key safety features include:
- Standard automated emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection
- Standard lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist
- Available adaptive cruise control with a lane-centering feature
Warranty and Maintenance Coverage
Kia’s warranty is the best in the industry, and the company continues to offer the 10-year or 100,000-mile powertrain coverage on its models. The only other rivals that can match it are SUVs from sister company Hyundai.
- Limited warranty covers 5 years or 60,000 miles
- Powertrain warranty covers 10 years or 100,000 miles
- No complimentary scheduled maintenance
