2016 Renault Samsung QM3, Test Drive with Shako Buachidze

Today we have a used car introduction day and I need to present to you a very interesting model that isn't as widespread in Georgia as it could be. But several are already around, though you probably wouldn't recognize it directly when you look at it. It has a logo that's strange to many, probably, and quite an unusual name too - QM3. At first glance, it's an unusual model, but anyone who knows cars well and looks at this car will very quickly notice similarities to one very famous model, which is the Renault Captur. The Renault Captur is a very famous compact crossover, and I'll tell you more - this car is absolutely identical to the Renault Captur that many of you know.

Renault Samsung QM3 - Korean Twin of Renault Captur

Alright, let's not waste much time and say directly what car this is. If you're now thinking this is a Chinese copy of the Renault Captur, you're wrong, it's not like that.

This is actually a twin of the Renault Captur, but South Korean. This is a South Korean brand model, Renault Samsung Motors', the same Renault Captur, but for the Korean market. In other words, simply put: the South Korean brand, Samsung, decided to collaborate with the Renault-Nissan concern and used the fact that Renault produced the Captur and created the QM3 on the same identical base. Absolutely the same car, with a different name and different logo.

What's very interesting: this model is the first South Korean brand car that was manufactured outside South Korea's borders. The Renault Samsung QM3, including this model, was manufactured in Spain at the Valladolid factory, which is Renault's factory. In Valladolid, both the regular Renault Captur and this car were manufactured - on identical platforms, with identical engines, identical transmissions, etc.

When this car was first presented in South Korea, and this happened in March 2013 at the Seoul Auto Show, it became so popular that 7,000 models were sold in just a few minutes, right from the start, and later this car became a bestseller in South Korea and also won the title of Best Car of the Year in South Korea. The demand was quite high. You can probably see that it looks very fun, it has, for example, a white roof, meaning the body is done in two colors. In short, this is a city compact crossover, budget-friendly, more for young people who don't have much money but want this kind of fun-looking city car, not premium, not very luxurious, and cheap accordingly.

What Does It Cost to Import a Renault Samsung QM3 to Georgia?

Who brought this car to Georgia and how you can import it. In South Korea there's Autowini, the largest trading platform, as you know, and Autowini's official representative in Georgia is Auto Import Georgia, which is oriented specifically mainly toward importing accident-free, undamaged cars like this from South Korea.

This is an absolutely accident-free car, came in this condition, and its import to Poti cost $5,900, customs clearance $600, and in total, in the condition you see it now, its price is $6,500. Mileage: 55,000 kilometers. This is very interesting. A 2015 car with 55,000 km mileage for $6,500. Finding something better at this price isn't easy. But let's now get to know in more detail what kind of car this is, whether there are any differences from the Renault Captur that almost everyone knows, etc. Let's find out how much fuel it consumes, what engine it has, etc.

Renault Samsung QM3 Engine and Transmission

In South Korea and specifically on Autowini, this model has a lot of visual choices. Visually there are many colors, there are two-tone bodies too, as you see now, but all models are the same in terms of engine and transmission. The Renault Samsung QM3 has only one engine when manufactured for the South Korean market. This is a 1.5 turbo diesel, 4-cylinder, 90 horsepower. 90 isn't much, but since it's a turbo diesel and exactly the same engine is in the Renault Captur, by the way, you won't feel a lack of power. In any case, this car is liked more by girls and of course by men too, but more by women, and they definitely won't lack power. 1.5, 4-cylinder, 90 horsepower, turbo diesel, and considering diesel power and diesel capabilities, it won't be too little for anyone under any circumstances.

Regarding the transmission: this is automatic, but it's a 6-speed robotized automatic transmission, the so-called "robot." This means it's quite finicky and needs maintenance. When a car has only 55,000 km mileage, you shouldn't worry about the "robot," but obviously, you'll cover many kilometers and this car is sold in South Korea with high mileage too for cheaper, and you must definitely consider that the "robot" is finicky. How does this manifest? You shouldn't overload it and you need to maintain it, you need to change the oil on time, and at certain periods, such a transmission, i.e., the "robot," needs cleaning. This cleaning isn't expensive, you just shouldn't forget about it and you need to have a specialist clean it. If you act this way and if you don't demand some special dynamic driving from the car, etc., don't drive it sportily, don't haul much cargo with the car, then the "robot" is also okay, if I may say so, and you need to maintain it.

Renault Samsung QM3 Cargo Space

Let's see the car's cargo space, of course. This is a compact crossover and there can't be a large and grandiose cargo space here. Its minimum volume is 377 liters, which isn't little, but it's not very much either, but if we fold down the rear seat backs, we get a 1,230-liter cargo space, which is already sufficient capacity. So, although I told you not to haul much cargo with this car, when you're going on a trip with some cargo, this, of course, won't overload the "robot" transmission. I meant hauling heavy cargo. This car's payload is approximately 450 kg, which is factory-allowable, which won't overload the transmission, and a few suitcases plus this 1,230-liter cargo space is absolutely good news.

Renault Samsung QM3 Interior

Now let's see what's happening in the interior. Basically, the interior continues that fun mood that's visible on the outside of this car too. I mean these roof-colored decorations that it has in the middle, on the air vents here too, and here as well, and also on the steering wheel. But the steering wheel has this cover that South Koreans generally love. Almost every car imported from South Korea has this kind of thing on the steering wheel. I want to remove this, and I removed it because first, I want to see what its real steering wheel looks like, and it's like this, which I've also encountered in the Renault Captur. And here too it has these decorations, and by the way, I prefer it to be removed, though probably the owner would recommend keeping it on, but I wanted to see the real steering wheel and also wanted to check whether the steering wheel shows wear, i.e., to verify the mileage. This car has covered 55,000 kilometers, its mileage isn't rolled back, which besides being verified, is also visible on the steering wheel.

Its steering wheel shows no wear, and by the way, such budget cars usually show that wear exactly on the steering wheel. Now I need to show you the glove compartment, the so-called "bardachok," but I don't like using "bardachok" and generally prefer to call it a glove compartment, for example, as Germans call it "Handschuhfach" or glove compartment, but in this case, this is literally a compartment. See, it really comes out like a compartment and it's very large, this is very practical and a good solution, and it's also in a fun color and not black, which is also good.

What else does this car have? This car has a start-stop system: when you stop at a traffic light it turns off, as soon as you start moving it starts by itself, this saves fuel. Earlier this didn't save fuel, but now in modern cars start-stop really does save fuel. It also has an eco mode that lowers RPMs and consumes less fuel in eco mode. We also have front seat heating, we have cruise control, Bluetooth - in short, that minimum everything that such a car should have, and by the way, it starts with a start button. With this button, but do you know what the key is like? And first, where is it? Here. It has this kind of key. It really doesn't look like a key, but it is a key that has its specific storage place in this car, but it opens exactly at that time, but it's not necessary to place it there anyway. If you have it in your pocket and sit in the car, it will start and go.

Seat adjustment is semi-electronic, meaning what I mean is, you need to pull it by hand, but the seat back is electronic, but it took me time to figure this out. Because here it has this kind of rotating thing, which should actually move the back, but as soon as I tried this, I realized this doesn't work, more correctly, doesn't move from its place. The right seat has exactly the same thing and it doesn't move either. So I realized both couldn't be broken and I started looking for an electronic button. I found it here, in a quite strange place, and briefly, the back is really electronic, but what's most interesting is that when you move the back electronically, this also moves. This is a simple solution. So that it doesn't have an electronic turning function, it has this and you pull with this, but both really have it. So you move it with the button, this also moves, and money was saved. So in this case, this is here for nothing, it turned out like that. And one more thing this car has is these easily removable floor mats that are easily washable. You remove them this easily, and in this case, inside it's in absolutely new condition, but you don't even need this, what's really good is that you can easily remove them, easily wash them, and then easily put them back. Good, now it's time to start moving, but before we start moving, I want to say two words about the quality of materials used in the cabin. I already told you about the visuals, but regarding quality, of course, there's plastic here. A lot of hard plastic. Hard surface, less softness, but visually, visually it's wrapped so that you'll like it, it's eye-catching, but ultimately these are plastics, and these sounds, of course, aren't pleasant, but at this budget price it's acceptable. The Renault Captur doesn't have better materials than this! We have start-stop and let's go.

The first thing I need to tell you is that the Renault Samsung QM3 is only front-wheel drive, meaning if you import it from South Korea, it's only front-wheel drive. It has quite high clearance, and this means you can drive on certain bad roads, but this, of course, isn't an off-roader, though in winter if you put on winter tires, good winter tires, you won't have problems in snow. To some extent, of course, because it's front-wheel drive, with good winter tires you'll go to Gudauri without problems and you'll reach Bakuriani to some hotel. On the other hand, yes, it's front-wheel drive, only front-wheel drive.

Renault Samsung QM3 Fuel Consumption

Accordingly, we need to talk about fuel consumption now. It's a diesel engine, let me remind you, 1.5 turbo diesel, 90 horsepower. The official promise for fuel consumption is approximately 5.5 liters, this is realistic. When it comes to diesel engines, usually the promise is close to reality. And this time too, but we tested this car for 3 days, in the city, outside the city, in traffic jams, and ultimately the average consumption came out to approximately 5.7-5.8, meaning you'll burn 6 liters too, if you really try, maybe more than 6, 6.5 for example, I don't know, you can raise it to 7, but ultimately 6 liters, let's honestly say that this car's average consumption is 6 liters of diesel per 100 km, which is, in my opinion, a very good result.

As you can hear, at high RPMs the diesel engine sound is audible, but I still couldn't call this a disturbing sound. Although this car doesn't have ideal noise insulation and sounds come in from outside, but the diesel engine sound itself isn't disturbing. The sound is what a compact crossover with a diesel engine should have. Generally, when it comes to cars imported from South Korea, questions arise regarding mileage, whether the mileage is rolled back. This is logical too, since South Koreans love rolling back mileage. And the consumer automatically, of course, logically has this fear that they shouldn't buy a car that has rolled-back mileage.

ENCAR Cars Cheapest on Autowini Platform

Auto Import Georgia, which is Autowini's representative, has its mechanisms to check whether mileage is really rolled back. First, they have representatives there themselves, because there's an official representative there, and they'll check for you whether mileage is really rolled back, and second, everyone knows well, if not everyone then many already know about so-called ENCAR models, specifically on Autowini there are ENCAR models too, where mileage is verified, already in South Korea itself. So if you see an ENCAR car on Autowini, and this is clearly visible in all ads when it's an ENCAR car, there you can be sure that the mileage is exactly what's written and generally the car is checked and all data written is absolutely accurate, primarily the mileage. Although ENCAR models always cost slightly more than regular ones, I think it's worth it for you to be more at peace. Besides, if it's not an ENCAR car, you can still have Auto Import Georgia check whether mileage is rolled back, and then too you can be at peace if the company tells you that no, this car really has original mileage.

I should also tell you that ENCAR cars can't be seen anywhere else cheaper than on Autowini platform. Autowini is ENCAR's partner company, accordingly, the cheapest ENCAR models, verified models, are specifically on Autowini, so pay attention when you're looking for a car on Autowini, pay attention that it should be a so-called ENCAR car, though if it's not ENCAR, in this case too you can specifically have Auto Import Georgia check the mileage issue.

Summary: What Kind of Car is the Renault Samsung QM3 and How Worth is Its Purchase in South Korea?

Let's summarize everything I talked about in this video. So, Renault Samsung QM3, imported from South Korea, with diesel engine - yes, diesel engines need much more maintenance than gasoline engines. Yes, the "robot" automatic transmission is more finicky and needs more careful maintenance. This car doesn't have a luxurious interior, an interior made with luxurious materials, and noise insulation isn't outstanding either, but once again, this isn't a premium car. This isn't a Mercedes, BMW, or Audi - you know better than me what 2016 premium cars with such low mileage cost. At this price though, and let me remind you this car cost $6,500 with its customs clearance, this is a very normal choice. I'll tell you more, Renault Samsung QM3s in South Korea, on Autowini, the same ENCAR models are sold even cheaper, just with slightly more mileage. So $6,500 is the maximum that QM3 import can cost you.

In short, a 2016 car, in such condition, accident-free, what can cost you at that price is a very optimal and normal choice. By the way, one important issue, you'll probably have the question of what to do about parts, where to find parts for this. First, Renault Captur parts fit, but let's leave this aside because Renault Captur parts might be expensive. What's important is that Auto Import Georgia's partner company imports QM3s to Georgia for dismantling, meaning they're already being dismantled, accordingly, you won't have a parts problem. In short, if you're interested in Renault Samsung QM3s, go to Autowini, browse, then contact Auto Import Georgia and import one.

The video partner is "Auto Import Georgia," the official representative in Georgia of "Autowini" - the largest South Korean trading platform, which imports second-hand, undamaged cars from South Korea.