Kia ProCeed Review 2024

We'll keep this short, as there's only one engine option when new. If you look on the used market you'll find the ProCeed GT, which offers a bit more power and an ever so slightly more enjoyable driving experience. It's hardly fast and exciting, though. 

On a more rational standpoint the 1.5-litre engine does at least offer decent economy and refined cruising. In terms of trim levels, you'll only get the ProCeed in GT-Line trim anyway nowadays. 

There's only really one car that fits in the same bodystyle category as the Kia ProCeed and it's the Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake. It's a bit nicer to drive and has an impressive-looking cabin, but it's hardly a fair comparison as a like-for-like engine is about £10,000 more than the Kia. 

Really, the main competitors for the ProCeed are style-focused mainstream estates such as the SEAT Leon estate and Peugeot 308 SW. Neither are perhaps quite as striking as the Kia, but they do offer similar driving experiences and a more modern feel inside. 

You won't step inside the ProCeed's cabin and gasp at the sheer style and luxury, but spend a bit of time in there and you'll realise it's actually a very pleasant, well-made interior that feels built to last. 

Most areas of the cabin are covered in fairly dense, soft-touch plastics, and only in the lower reaches of the doors and dash are there hard to the touch. We also like the metal-effect touches, even though they're quite obviously plastic It feels more special inside than the Ceed than the rather bland-feeling SEAT Leon's innards, and it's a match for the Peugeot 308. There's still some way to go before it can compete with a Mercedes, but what do you expect for the money? 

With only one trim level on offer, the Kia ProCeed doesn't come with the smaller, more basic infotainment offerings of cheaper Ceeds. 

That means you get a nicely clear and smart 10.25-inch infotainment screen with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, plus sat-nav. It's a more responsive system than many rivals, even if it doesn't have the sheer number of features of newer models. The menu layout is logical, too, and we like the simple, physical shortcut buttons. 

One thing that might be disappointing is that a digital dial display isn't even an option. This is an area that shows the Kia's age relative to VW Group and Stellantis models, although the central display is easy to get on with and the dials themselves are very easy to read.

Physical buttons on the steering wheel and a proper climate control stack with temperature knobs reduces your interaction with the screen on the move, which is a good thing. It's a shame that Kia doesn't sell you the GT Line S model any more, though, as that brings and upgraded sound system and wireless phone charging. 

One of the best things about the Kia ProCeed is how it doesn't sacrifice too much in the way of practicality over the Ceed Sportswagon estate, despite a more rakish profile. There is some things to note, however. 

Space up front is pretty much identical to the Ceed, despite the lower roofline. Really, only the exceptionally tall will take any issue with the slightly reduced headroom. In the back there's a little more of an effect, largely because it's a little more awkward to climb in and out of the seats without banging your head. 

The actual space on offer isn't too badly affected, although those over six foot will find their heads touching the roof. Legroom is identical, however, and it's certainly roomier than a traditional coupe back there. 

The most impressive thing is the amount of boot space on offer. There's about 50% more capacity back there than the regular Ceed hatch at 594 litres. That's 31 litres less than the regular Ceed Sportswagon, and still pretty competitive with traditional family estates. The seats split 60/40 to allow expansion of the load area, while there's some underfloor storage, although the now defunct ProCeed GT is the only one with a powered tailgate. 

In terms of exterior dimensions the Kia ProCeed is 4,605mm long, 1,800mm wide and 1,422mm tall. That makes it just 5mm longer than the Ceed Sportswagon, with a 43mm lower roofline. 

As of 2022 there's only one engine, available with a six speed manual gearbox. The ProCeed used to be offered with a dual-clutch automatic as well, but that's fallen by the wayside. 

With 160PS on tap, the turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder delivers ample but not breathtaking pace. 0-60mph takes 8.3 seconds (8.5 with the automatic) about part for the course for an engine of this size and output, but it does need revving a bit more than the 1.5 TSI engine in a SEAT Leon estate to extract the required performance. 

Doing so isn't entirely unpleasant - it sounds a little more inspiring than the Leon's unit - but those used to an almost diesel-like slug of torque at low revs like some competitors offer might expect a little more. Happily, the manual gearbox has a reasonably nice shift, but the clutch is a bit vague, which means you might struggle to pull away smoothly until you've grown accustomed to it. 

If you bought a pre-facelift ProCeed you could buy a 1.6-litre turbo petrol with 204PS in the GT variant. It's more flexible and faster, but still stops well short of the sort of pace and enjoyment a Skoda Octavia vRS can offer. There was also the option of a 136PS 1.6-litre diesel, or a lower-powered 140PS 1.4-litre petrol that was superceded by the 1.5.

Refinement is generally good in the ProCeed, with wind noise kept to a minimum and little noise from the suspension. However, there's more road noise over rougher surfaces than we'd like, meaning a VW Golf estate is a fair bit more refined at speed. 

The engine is also a bit more vocal than similar units in the VW or Ford Focus Estate, although the sound it makes is (slightly) more engaging than the Golf 1.5 TSI's bland humming. You'll hardly take it to the redline to relish the soundtrack, however. 

The Kia ProCeed hasn't been specifically tested by Euro NCAP for safety, but the closely related Ceed was awarded five stars in 2019 - the maximum score.  

Standard safety kit includes Forward Collision Assist that can detect pedestrians and cyclists, a driver attention warning, lane keeping assist and high beam assist. You also get something called Leading Vehicle Departure Warning, which reminds you that the car in front has moved off and you need to pay attention again.

One omission that might put some off is the lack of adaptive cruise control on the GT Line trim. It's available on the now-defunct GT Line S and GT, however. Some prefer the simplicity of standard cruise control anyway. 

We've not heard of any major issues that have affected this generation of Kia Ceed or ProCeed, and the brand usually performs pretty well in reliability surveys. In the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index Kia finished and impressive fourth out of all brands surveyed, just behind its sister firm Hyundai. 

Of course, you get an industry-leading seven-year/100,000-mile warranty to give you ultimate peace of mind if anything does go wrong. 

The Kia ProCeed in used form was at its cheapest to insure as a diesel, where it sat in group 12. The 1.4-litre petrol was in group 14, while the ProCeed GT was in group 21. 

As of 2022, the sole 1.5-litre petrol option puts the ProCeed in group 15, or 16 with the automatic gearbox. Those are identical groups to the Ceed on which its based, which is handy and makes it pretty competitive on running costs.

With CO2 emissions of 131g/km the ProCeed costs £230 to tax in the first year, a figure which falls to the standard £165 annual flat rate after that. Unlike the CLA Shooting Brake, you can't spend over £40,000 on the Kia, so you don't get stung by the premium car tax either. 

The Kia ProCeed is only available in one trim level when new, but its a pretty well-specified GT-Line trim. 

That means standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels, a full-width LED taillight, privacy glass, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, keyless entry and start,  a reversing camera and the 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. 

However, if you want more kit including leather/suede trim, a wireless phone charger and a JBL sound system upgrade you'll need to look at GT-Line S variants on the used market, or the more powerful ProCeed GT.