Have you ever started something and wish you hadn’t? Around a month ago, a friend’s father was made redundant from his job of thirty odd years and along with it went his company car. Not being a “car person” in his words, he had no clue to what he was going to do next, so he enlisted my help in finding him a vehicle suitable for his needs.

The remit, on the face of it, was relatively simple. He was looking for a car which had a slightly higher seating position (for his wife), was not too big and was economical to run and insure. Budget started at £12,000 but could go higher if a car really caught his eye. Other than that, the rest of the specification was to be left down to me. Jobs like this are rarely that simple though!

I started a short list, which consisted mainly of Japanese and far eastern cars as generally they are the most reliable. I also included a Ford, the C-Max and a Vauxhall, the Meriva, as he had been used to driving both manufacturers vehicles as company cars. After spending a couple of weekends trailing round the local dealers and test driving the various cars, the short list was reduced down to just two vehicles, the Nissan Note 1.6 petrol and Kia Carens 2 litre diesel.

Personally, I liked the Note a lot, but this wasn’t my car, so I had to be careful not to bias any choice. The Carens though was a car which was off my radar before I started looking. Launched before the car that put Kia on the map, the Cee’d, I considered it as an also ran and clearly I wasn’t alone. Checking various magazines and internet road reports, information was sparse and what was available just wasn’t very informative. Poking around it at the dealership though revealed a half decent vehicle, something I wasn’t expecting considering what I’d read.

From the outside, it has a cohesive look if not a little “American” in execution. The nose is of course Kia corporate, flowing backing in to a large boxy body. The GS specification we were looking at came shod with 15” alloys which made it look a little under wheeled and made the body sides look somewhat slab sided, but overall it was neat if a little uninspiring.

Inside things improve with decent quality plastics on the majority of surfaces (although not all) and a pleasant design for the dash. The seats are comfortable and supportive although they are trimmed in a light grey fabric which for a people carrier may be seen as a slight error. That said it does create a light airy cabin, no doubt aided by the large glass area. Rear space was also good, courtesy of a sliding middle bench which meant that if it wasn’t carrying seven people then the rear passenger could lounge in comfort.

On the road was where the Carens really surprised me. I had though that due to the size and weight of the car, and Kia’s reputation prior to the Cee’d of lacklustre driving cars, that it would be squigy and unresponsive. Instead what I was greeted with was a punchy refined engine and taut chassis. Don’t get me wrong it was no hot hatch, but infinitely better than the Meriva that I tested a couple of weeks ago.

After some careful deliberation, the Carens won through. No it wasn’t the best driving of the two, but as an all round family car it just nosed ahead. Also in the mean time, after some calculations, it was decided to ditch the idea of buying new and look for a decent second hand car, a point I agreed whole heartedly with. So the new task was to find the best value Kia Carens up to two years old in two litre diesel specification.

In around an hour I came up with, what I believed to be the perfect car. An two year old ex Kia owned vehicle with 12k miles on the clock in a nice metallic red. One down side, it was 250 miles away, but the price was £1500 lower than the going rate and a quick call to the garage, a Kia main dealer, revealed that it was a good car. Not being a trusting person though, I wanted to check it over so I organised a Sunday outing, with its prospective owner to view the vehicle. After a pleasant, early morning run there, we inspected the car which turned up no nasties and the deal was done. So why was it so cheap? I always take car dealer stories with a pinch of salt, but this guy seemed to be genuine. It turns out that he had already sold the vehicle two months before to a buyer whose finance had fallen through. Being a trusting sort of chap he gave the potential buyer some time to re-arrange his finances, but it never happened. Eventually the sales manager pulled the plug and requested that the car be turned over as soon as possible.

Sorted? Well, not quite. I have been given a new task. My friend now wants an in dash sat nav installed along with rear parking sensors. The dealer suggested it wasn’t worth them doing it, so I’ve got the job. Oh well, lets just hope this goes as well as finding the car.