Used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon review and buying guide (2012 to 2018): which one to buy and what to check

Which used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon should you buy?

The safer Cee'd Sportswagon is a manual whose oil has been changed on schedule for its whole life, whichever engine it has. The 1.6 GDi petrol and the 1.6 and 1.7 CRDi diesels each carry a known High fault: the 1.6 GDi petrol's timing chain tensioner can fail and let the chain jump teeth, and the 1.6 and 1.7 CRDi diesels can lose their turbo when carbon blocks its oil feed.

Neither of those is the clean one, and the 1.4 T-GDi petrol has nothing on record beyond the dual-clutch fault, which makes it unknown rather than clean. So the lesser risk is the car with the best paperwork and the fewest miles. The chain trouble usually arrives between 60,000 and 100,000 miles and the turbo failure between 70,000 and 120,000, so a car nearing those figures with any gap in its oil changes is the one to leave.

Go manual rather than automatic if you can. From 2015 the Cee'd was offered with a seven-speed dry dual-clutch gearbox that's known to judder pulling away and hesitate between first and second, and Kia's own fix was a new clutch assembly plus a software update. Cars from the 2015 model year also got bigger brake callipers, which one owner was told rules out 15-inch wheels.

Which Cee'd Sportswagon engines and gearboxes are the safe choices?

No Cee'd Sportswagon engine can be called safe: the 1.6 GDi petrol and the 1.6 and 1.7 CRDi diesels each carry a known High fault, and the 1.4 T-GDi has too little on record to call it clean. On the petrol it's the timing chain tensioner, which is sensitive to dirty oil and can let the chain jump teeth and wreck the engine, usually between 60,000 and 100,000 miles.

On the diesels it's the turbo. Skipped oil changes let carbon build up and block the oil feed pipes and strainers, the turbo runs short of oil and fails, typically between 70,000 and 120,000 miles. One owner also said in 2013 that dealers were remapping the 1.6 and 2.0 CRDi turbos to stop overboost and help them last, which cuts pull noticeably between 1,800 and 2,000rpm.

The manual's the gearbox to have. The seven-speed dry dual-clutch automatic, sold on the 1.6 CRDi and 1.4 T-GDi from 2015, can overheat with repeated creeping in traffic, and left alone the clutch pack wears out and the mechatronic unit can follow. Nothing's spotless, though: one 1.6 CRDi 126 owner found the gearchange got worse between 18,000 and 21,000 miles.

What should you check when viewing a used Cee'd Sportswagon?

Read the service history first, because the petrol's chain tensioner is sensitive to dirty oil and the diesel's turbo fails when oil changes are skipped. You're looking for oil changes on schedule with no gaps. A car that's missed some, or had its oil stretched, is a gamble on either engine however tidy it looks, and it's worth leaving on the forecourt.

Start a 1.6 GDi from cold yourself and listen for a rattle in the first few seconds, which points to the chain tensioner; an engine warning light, misfires or lost power point the same way. On a CRDi, listen for a siren-like whine from the turbo, watch for blue smoke and feel for any loss of power.

On a dual-clutch automatic, drive it in slow traffic from cold, creeping and pulling away over and over, and feel for shudder or a lurch between first and second. Ask whether the clutch assembly's been replaced or the gearbox software updated, and get that in writing. On a manual, go through every gear several times and note any stiffness.

Ask for both keys, since a Cee'd key can't be cheaply copied on the high street. If extra wheels come with a car from the 2015 model year on, check their size, because Kia told one owner the bigger brake callipers fitted from then won't clear 15-inch wheels.

Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.

What does a used Kia Cee'd Sportswagon cost to run?