Kia Carens 6000 km Long Term Review: Nightingale Helps Me Move

We put the Carens’ RV tag to the test by using it instead of regular commercial transport to move all of my stuff to the new place. 

In the past few months, the Carens has proven its space and practicality prowess time and again. In fact, it stood its ground even when compared to the Toyota Innova. But the next challenge for it was going to be a big one -- in volume. I was about to shift to a new place in Pune and having lived here for five years, I had a tonne of stuff to move. But knowing how spacious the Carens was with its second and third row folding down and making an absolutely flat floor, I wasn't worried. My parents, on the other hand, were skeptical and wanted me to hire packers and movers. So Nightingale not only had its own reputation but mine as well on the line. 

As soon as the new place was finalised, the first things I decided to move were the non-essentials like scale models and other stuff packed into cardboard boxes. And along with it a bed. Yes, a folding rod iron bed with a mattress. While any other car, or an MPV in the same budget would have required me to hire a pickup, Nightingale is no ordinary MPV. With all the seats folded and a layer of protective and sacrificial quilt over it, it was ready to be loaded. 

As I started to load, the bigger boxes went all the way ahead and the smaller ones took to the middle. Then it was the turn of the mattress. This 6ft x 5ft mattress went in diagonally, with minimum effort. And pulling it into the cabin was also made simple with the large and wide-opening rear doors. The mattress did not bend much with the support of the boxes under it which kept me worry-free regarding its safety. Then, it was time to load the bed. Though it was dis-assembled into shorter pieces, the head was still a fairly large unit. Still, the large boot opening of the Carens not only made it accessible, but the very wide and tall cabin was accommodating enough to not make it touch any of the corners. Loading this up was fairly simple with the large boot and the large second-row doors. When my folks saw it (after initially being critical of my choice to use the Carens), they were fairly impressed. Nabeel + Nightingale: 1, packers and movers: 0. 

With this move, even my parents were now confident about the Carens’ loading capacity. So in the next market run, where we had to buy some large items like a gas stove, mixer, microwave, clothes’ drying stand, (and much, much more), they did not hesitate. However, this time around, there was no long flat floor as there were the three of us in the car. This had me worried, but not Nightingale. It took all the smaller stuff under the boot tray and the larger items were easily placed one over the other with lots of room still left for rear visibility. Later in the day, I even added a computer table in the mix and the Carens still did not break a sweat. 

The different configurations that the seats can fold in and the tall roof makes Nightinage an ideal moving partner. I was afraid at times that maybe I might be too optimistic about the space, but the Carens kept on offering more. In the end, I did not have to call the packers and movers after all. It moved me, my stuff, and my family with ease and comfort. The point here is that the Carens is not just spacious, but versatile enough to let you use that space as per your requirements. Kia wasn't kidding when they called it an RV. Next on my list now is taking it camping. Wish me luck!

Date Received: Feb 25, 2022
Kilometers when received: 2000km
Kilometers done till date: 8000km
Mileage: 12.5kmpl (City with full load)