2026 Kia Seltos: Lakewood Buyers Guide

The SUV for people who don't need an SUV that big

Ocean County has no shortage of three-row family haulers on the road, and plenty of buyers genuinely need one. The Seltos is for everybody else — the commuter cutting across Route 9 to Toms River every morning, the empty-nester who wants a Kia CUV without a Sorento's footprint, the first apartment-dweller in Lakewood who needs a car that fits in a tight lot without feeling like a compromise. It's Kia's entry point into SUV ownership, and it earns that spot with a higher seating position than a sedan, a hatch that swallows more than its size suggests, and a price that starts well under most of the compact class.

2026 is a running model year for the Seltos — no ground-up redesign, so the core shape, structure, and interior layout carry over from the current generation. What did change: Kia opened up front-wheel drive on the LX for the first time this year, meaning the cheapest way into a new Seltos got a little cheaper, and the EX picked up a new Sunroof Package built around a fresh 17-inch gloss-black wheel design. It's a small refinement, not a reinvention, and that's fine — the Seltos didn't need reinventing.

Two powertrains, one clean split

Kia keeps the powertrain decision refreshingly simple. LX, S, and EX all run the same 147-horsepower 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four paired with a CVT (Kia calls it an IVT), and you choose front-wheel drive for the best mileage — an EPA-estimated 28 city / 34 highway / 31 combined — or all-wheel drive for wet, snowy, or unplowed Ocean County side streets, which brings the estimate down to about 27/31/29. Step up to the SX and the whole equation changes: it swaps in a 190-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter and a conventional 8-speed automatic, and it's the only Seltos offered exclusively with all-wheel drive. That combination rates an EPA-estimated 24/27/25, which is the trade a lot of SX buyers make on purpose — this is the trim built for people who want the small SUV to feel a little quicker off the line at the Route 88 lights.

Pick your 2026 Seltos

What Lakewood buyers say

Search the Seltos on DiFeo Kia's Google reviews and one name comes up again and again: Vito. A buyer who leased her second Seltos in the fall of 2025 put it simply: "This is my second time getting a lease through Difeo Kia, Vito was a pleasure to work with... I'm so happy with my 2025 Kia seltos!" — Briana C. Another buyer walked in without a firm plan and left with a Seltos the same afternoon: "we got a new Seltos suv and were out of there in about three hours with an amazing lease price also. Thank you Joel for everything!!!" — David R. That kind of repeat business, and the same handful of names surfacing across years of reviews, is the sort of pattern that's hard to fake — and it matches the sales team listed on DiFeo Kia's staff page.

Owning one on the Shore

Buying is step one. The Seltos service & repair guide covers the maintenance rhythm, what salt air and shore traffic do to a small SUV over time, and DiFeo Kia's own DIY library — several of its how-to guides rank nationally, which tells you something about how often Kia owners search these exact problems. The money side — New Jersey's 6.625% sales tax, the destination charge, and what a Seltos lease actually costs per month — lives in the pricing & leasing guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2026 Kia Seltos any good?

For what it's built to do, yes. It pairs a genuinely spacious cabin for its footprint with a long list of standard safety tech, a low starting price, and Kia's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. The honest caveat: the standard 147-horsepower engine and CVT are unhurried rather than quick. Buyers who want more punch should test the turbocharged SX before deciding the Seltos isn't peppy enough for them.

How much should I pay for a 2026 Kia Seltos?

MSRPs run $23,790 to $31,490 across the four trims, plus the $1,495 destination charge and New Jersey's tax and fees on top. Where your actual number lands within that range depends on the month's manufacturer incentives — see DiFeo Kia's current offers, and the pricing guide walks through the full math.

Which is better, Seltos or Sportage?

They're really answering different questions. The Seltos is the smaller, cheaper, easier-to-park option, ideal for buyers who mostly drive solo or as a couple and want to spend less. The Sportage is a class up in size and price with more cargo and rear-seat room for growing families. DiFeo Kia sells and services both, so a side-by-side test drive on the same lot is the fastest way to feel the difference for yourself.

What changed on the Kia Seltos for 2026?

It's a carryover year on the current design, not a redesign — but two real changes matter. Front-wheel drive is newly available on the base LX, which lowers the entry price into a new Seltos, and the EX added a new Sunroof Package built around a fresh 17-inch gloss-black wheel. Everything else — the two powertrain choices, the trim structure, the safety suite — carries over largely unchanged.

Where can I test drive a Seltos near Toms River or Brick?

DiFeo Kia at 1320 Ocean Ave in Lakewood keeps the Seltos lineup in stock — browse live inventory or schedule a test drive online, with at-home delivery available across Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Four trims, one Lakewood lot

The trim guides above will do most of the narrowing; a test drive settles the rest. Whether it's the value-focused LX or the turbocharged SX, the whole lineup sits on one lot off Route 88, a short drive from Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway, at DiFeo Kia.