Kia ProCeed Review & Prices

If you’re looking for a car that’s more practical than the average family hatchback but don’t fancy a boxy estate, the Kia ProCeed could be just the ticket. This slinky five-door is a roomier alternative to cars like the Hyundai i30 Fastback and comes with plenty of sporty features.

You get eye-catching red details on the bumpers, doors and peeking out through the grille. Big wheels also come as standard and some trims pieces are inspired by Kia’s big Stinger sports saloon. Other neat details include the chrome fins on the back doors and the sloping roofline that looks a bit like Kia’s designers photocopied a picture of a Porsche Panamera. You can think of the ProCeed as a Ceed that’s ditched its dull 9-5 wardrobe for a more alluring Friday night outfit.

The ProCeed’s interior looks pretty striking, too. You get a lovely leather steering wheel as standard and loads of nice metal-effect trim pieces. There are soft, squidgy plastics, and GT models have contrasting red stitching on more supportive leather seats.

You also get a 10.25-inch touchscreen-controlled infotainment system in every ProCeed. It’s not the most advanced system but as easy to use as Ford’s and much better than that decidedly awkward system fitted to the latest Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda alternatives.

You might think that the ProCeed’s slinky styling would make its back seats cramped, but you’d be wrong. There’s enough space in the back for two adults to get comfy and fitting a child seat is a doddle. Six-footers could do with a bit more headroom and it’s tight for three adults. But there’s plenty of space to carry three kids without them complaining.

You can also pack an impressive amount of luggage in the boot. There’s room for a few sets of golf clubs or you can squeeze in some large suitcases and a baby buggy – perfect for a family weekend away.

The ProCeed has been available with quite a wide range of engines in the past, but since early 2022 it’s only been available with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with 160hp. It’s a decent engine that balances good economy with useful performance.

You’ll find the ProCeed is easy to drive and mostly quiet to ride in, but you don’t get a particularly good view out of the back and its lowered sports suspension and large wheels mean other small family cars are more comfortable. It does come with a generous helping of safety features as standard to help prevent avoidable accidents, but the VW Golf still leads the field in terms of high-tech kit.

The VW Golf won’t turn heads like the ProCeed will, though. If you’re looking for an eye-catching small car that’s more fun to drive and roomier than your average family runabout, it’s well worth a look.

To find out how much you could save on a new Kia ProCeed when buying through carwow, check out the latest offers on our Kia ProCeed deals page. There are even a number of used Kia Proceed examples available.

There aren’t many direct alternatives to the Kia ProCeed – that is, more practical versions of small family cars that add style without losing any practicality. The closest alternatives are the slightly cheaper Hyundai i30 Fastback and considerably more expensive Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake.

You could also consider more traditional estate cars of similar size to the ProCeed, including Kia’s own Ceed Sportswagon, the Peugeot 308SW, Skoda Octavia Estate and Volkswagen Golf Estate. Of those, all but the Golf undercut the ProCeed’s starting price; however models that match it for equipment and performance can actually cost quite a lot more.

The ProCeed is quite easy to drive and can be good fun, but tyre noise takes the edge off generally high levels of comfort

In town

The ProCeed is quite a compact car, so threading it through town and slotting into gaps in traffic is pretty easy. It has a good driving position, too, with lots of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel, so you should be able to find a position that’s comfortable and gives you a good view out. To the front, at least.

The sloping roofline and tiny back window means there isn’t much to see looking over either shoulder. Fortunately, the door mirrors give a good view, and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera are fitted as standard. Thanks to that lot, and slightly heavy steering aside, manoeuvring the ProCeed into a parking space is no more difficult than in any other small estate car.

The 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine gives decent performance around town and thrums away quietly in the background. The six-speed manual gearbox (there’s no automatic option) isn’t the slickest but it hardly makes changing gear difficult.

As the ProCeed has a sporty emphasis the ride quality is a bit firm, which you will notice driving on potholed, speed-humped roads. But it never becomes too uncomfortable, and is aided by lovely supportive seats.  

On the motorway

The ProCeed feels solid as a rock on the motorway, so the prospect of travelling hundreds of miles at a stretch presents no worries. You may want to turn up the stereo, though, because the tyres generate rather a lot of noise, compared to alternatives like the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf. The ride remains on the firm side of comfortable, too.

The engine needs to be worked quite hard to give all the performance it has available, so you may find yourself having to hold third or fourth gear a bit longer to get up to speed on a sliproad. But once you’re there, it happily sits at 70mph. Standard cruise control and various safety features that help keep you on the straight narrow take some of the strain off, too. We’ll cover those safety features in more detail later.

There are other cars of this type that are more relaxing on a long journey, but we’d have few qualms about using the ProCeed for a long road trip. 

On a twisty road

The ProCeed’s sporty looks are to some extent backed up by how it drives on a country road.

It changes direction with minimal fuss, which not all cars of this type do, given their purpose is more humdrum.

The engine and gearbox don’t really add anything to the experience, but neither do they detract from it. There’s enough power to make rapid progress, you just might yourself using third and fourth gear more than fifth and sixth to do so.

A Ford Focus is ultimately more fun to drive than the ProCeed, but the gap between them isn’t actually that big.

There’s plenty of passenger space in the ProCeed, but the boot is a bit compromised

Practicality

You’re unlikely to have any issues with the amount of space in the front seats of the ProCeed – unless you’re exceptionally tall. There’s plenty of leg, head and shoulder room, so it’s easy to get comfortable.

There’s a decent amount of storage space, as well. The door bins hold a half-litre bottle; between the front seats there’s a deep cubby hole under the armrest, a pair of cupholders and some slots to keep random small items in. In front of the gearstick, there’s another small cubby hole and a shelf for your phone. The owner’s manual occupies most of the glovebox but take it out and there’s space for all the snacks you need for a road trip. There’s also a glasses holder in the ceiling.

There are more door bins in the back, plus a pair of cupholders in the armrest and nets on the back of the front seats.

Space in the back seats

Anyone under about six feet tall should have plenty of space in the back of the ProCeed, despite its sloping roofline. However, longer-legged passengers may find their knees are above their hips, which can become uncomfortable on a long journey. And three adults will feel decidedly squeezed in the back, but that’s true of every car of similar size to the ProCeed. Stick a few kids in the back, and there’s unlikely to be any complaints about space or comfort, though smaller children may not have a good view out of the small back windows.

Boot space

Kia quotes a boot capacity figure of 594 litres for the ProCeed, which is up there with the most capacious small estates, including the Skoda Octavia. But, while there’s space for a couple of large suitcases or pushchairs, it certainly doesn’t seem like there’s all that much space in the ProCeed. So what’s going on?

That 594 litres actually includes several storage compartments concealed underneath the boot floor (you access them by lifting up that bit of the floor). They’re really useful for carrying all those bits you might want to keep in the car like shopping bags, umbrellas, maps, dog leads, walking shoes, the boot cover and so on. The back seats also fold down easily if you need to load in anything really big and bulky.

If practicality is your main priority, a more traditional estate will work better for you. But the ProCeed is still more practical than the vast majority of small family hatchbacks and you can get quite a lot of stuff in its boot – you just have to be a bit creative about how and where you pack everything in.  

It’s all pleasant enough inside but doesn’t quite live up to the exterior style

The ProCeed’s interior isn’t the most interesting that you’ll find in this type of car (see the latest DS 4 for that) but it’s jazzed up with bits of silver trim on the dashboard and doors. Otherwise, the colour scheme is several shades of black and dark grey. The relatively slim windows mean the interior can feel a bit dark, especially in the back, but there’s a sporty atmosphere that suits the car’s remit.

A 10.25-inch touchscreen display that gives access to the infotainment system sits on top of the ProCeed’s dashboard. There are alternative cars whose infotainment systems have crisper, more modern graphics but the screen responds promptly when you press an icon or zoom in on the sat nav map. Again, there are alternatives whose systems feel a bit slicker, but it’s significantly better than the deeply irritating one fitted to the latest Volkswagen Group cars, including the VW Golf, Skoda Octavia and SEAT Leon. Alternatively, you can connect to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and circumvent Kia’s ‘native’ system.

Other standard features include dual zone climate control, heated front seats and steering wheel, Bluetooth, DAB radio, and aux-in and USB ports.

Note that the ProCeed is currently only available in GT-Line trim. Other, higher-spec trim levels have been available in the past.

The ProCeed is currently only available with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and manual gearbox. The combination can give an average fuel economy of 48.7mpg, according to the official numbers, which should translate to around 40-45mpg in the real world. You’ll probably see a lot less than that driving around town, though you may well exceed the official figures cruising along at 60mph or so.

CO2 emissions of 131g/km put the ProCeed in one of the more affordable tax bands if you’re a private owner, but company car users may want to scrutinise the benefit-in-kind rates before settling on one.

Car safety experts Euro NCAP haven’t assessed the ProCeed itself, however they have looked at the very closely related Kia Ceed hatchback. That car scored a four star rating with the safety features fitted as standard, or five stars with some optional features added. As it’s quite a high-spec car, the ProCeed likely qualifies as a five star car.

Standard safety features include automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, a driver attention monitor and many airbags.

Kias always do very well in owner satisfaction surveys, with very few reliability problems reported. The ProCeed doesn’t sell in big enough numbers to feature in such surveys, but there’s no reason to suppose the ownership experience will be any different.

Certainly, the industry-leading 7 year/100,000 mile warranty Kia gives all its cars as standard speaks volumes about the confidence the brand has in its cars. Reassuringly, there haven’t been any recalls for the ProCeed, either.