The Cee’d family is growing into much more of an exciting prospect for dealers than they might have expected.

The standard Cee’d hatch and Pro_Cee’d hot hatch are viable options on C-segment shopping lists and the SW estate version is a great alternative for families looking for an affordable runabout that features solid build quality and decent performance.

Due to the Cee’d SW holding only 31% of its value over three years, it’s going to be an absolute steal as a used buy at around £4,600.

Bargain hunters will get a really well specified car with four years left from Kia’s seven-year warranty.

AM has had the Cee’d SW on the fleet since February and inheriting it for a week is always welcome news, especially if there’s long distance driving to be done.

The 1.6-litre diesel is great at cruising speeds and is returning good mpg figures, despite being more than 10mpg off the manufacturer quoted figure of 57.6mpg.

It’s not an exciting car to drive but it does its job well.

Delivery of power isn’t as smooth as it could be, with a lurch coming in the mid-rev range in lower gears.

There are some little niggles starting to crop up, inclidung complaints from colleagues of a notchy reverse gear and a gearknob that shouldn’t twist but does.

We’ve just booked the Cee’d SW in for its 12,500-mile service at Boongate Kia in Peterborough so any problems should be ironed out.

Specification

Price: £15,195
Engine: 1.6 16v diesel: 113bhp @ 4,000rpm; 188lbs/ft @ 1,900-2,750rpm
Performance: 0-62mph: 11.7sec; top speed: 117mph
Efficiency: 57.6mpg (official) 45.4mpg (actual); 128g/km CO2
Test period: Feb-Aug
Start mileage: 7,264
Current mileage: 12,423
CAP RV: 3yr/30k 31% 60k 27%
Likes: Economic and affordable
Dislikes: Notchy gearbox