Kia Cee'd Sportswagon estate (2012-2018) - Practicality & boot space

With the rear seats folded, the Kia Cee’d SW offers a very impressive 1,642 litres of luggage space

Carbuyer Rating

4.3 out of 5

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Practicality & boot space Rating

4.5 out of 5

What the Kia Cee’d Sportswagon lacks in the ‘sports’ department, it makes up for with its ‘wagon’ interior space. For example, with the rear seats down, it has easily more luggage room than the Ford Focus Estate. Meanwhile, with the seats upright there’s decent boot space and room enough for four adults to sit in comfort. There are plenty of storage cubbies, too.

Kia Cee’d Sportswagon interior space & storage

Front-seat passengers will have no trouble getting comfortable in the Sportswagon. Behind them, there’s plenty of head and legroom for tall adults in the rear seats, but a tall driver who needs to slide their seat back will make things tight.

Useful cubbyholes abound. Kids will like the secret compartments, include a couple under the boot floor. There are useful load-securing net hooks, too, plus a 12-volt power socket. The 4 trim and above come with a useful sliding luggage rail and strap system, as well as a barrier to stop things falling into the cabin.

Boot space

With the rear seats folded, the Cee'd SW can claim a very impressive 1,642 litres of luggage space, the same as its sister model, the Hyundai i30 Tourer. Both trump the Ford Focus Estate (1,502 litres), Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer (1,630 litres) and Volkswagen Golf Estate (1,620 litres). However, the Honda Civic Tourer holds more (1,668 litres) while the benchmark in the class, the Skoda Octavia Estate, takes gold medal with 1,740 litres.

The Sportswagon’s rear seats are a little awkward to fold (you have to pull up the seat bases first) but once stowed, the floor is clear and opens flush with the tailgate. All versions have a retractable load cover. Seats up, the boot measures a still-impressive 528 litres.

Towing

Depending on the model and engine, the Kia Cee’d Sportswagon can tow up to 1,500kg. However, even the 134bhp 1.6-litre diesel can run out of puff without a trailer, so it would really struggle when fully loaded and pulling a small caravan. A Skoda Octavia 2.0-litre TDI Estate with 146bhp and a towing limit of 1,800kg would be a more capable alternative.

Richard is a former editor of Carbuyer, as well as sister site DrivingElectric.com, and he's now Deputy Editor at Auto Express. Having spent a decade working in the automotive industry, he understands exactly what makes new car buyers tick.

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