Kia Sorento

Great vehicle

By Mert (IL) on Sunday, September 18, 2011

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 8,250

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"We bought our 2011 4 cyl. Kia Sorento last December. I read reviews about the mileage being a few gallons under the quoted mpg, but we have found that after the initial break-in of 3 months, driving 60-62 mph(our 2 lane highways are 55 mph) we get 30 mpg, and 67-69 mph on interstate yields the predicted 28 mpg. Drive faster and it'll be slightly lower; it's all in how fast you drive. City driving says only 13 mpg, but I think that's inaccurate because I can drive forever on a tank of gas. We traded a GMC Envoy for the Sorento, so my only real "complaint" is that the seats aren't as comfortable as my Envoy on long rides. I prefer cloth seats, so the Sorento heated cloth seats are a bonus for our very cold midwestern winters. The 4 cyl is just as good as our V6 was. I'm very happy with the zip in this vehicle. We have the 3rd row seating, although we usually have the back row down for storage. Still, it's nice to have the extra seating when we need it. The only other issue is with the Blue Tooth. Sometimes it rings phantom incoming calls and my voice name recognition won't work, but then I have a cheap cell phone. It all seems to work ok with my husband's phone. Overall, we are very happy with our Sorento and will trade for another when the time comes."

19 people out of 19 found this review helpful

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Excellent Quality CUV

By Stan of PA (PA) on Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 22,500

Pros: "Plenty of power,steerring response, quality,MPG"

Cons: "Can't dim Nav system screen"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"I have owned this Kia for 18 months and it has been flawless as of this writing. I have the 6 cyl EX version and I have gotten 26 MPG on long trips and around 20 around town. I have not had any problems at all and the KIA dealer has been right there for me with any service and the two very minor recalls. (light bulbs replaced and a wiring harness was replaced) neither caused me any problems before being replaced. The interior is high quality and beautiful to the eye. Gauges are nice and clear and bright white. This is my second Sorento (other was a 2003) and I would highly recommend a Sorento to anybody. Before I purchased the Sorento I looked at a Dodge Journey, Jeep Liberty and ford Escape, The Sorento was far better in quality and looks then all of those. Plus you get the top of the line warranty 10 years or 100K. It is a great vehicle. I would buy it again in a heartbeat."

17 people out of 17 found this review helpful

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Great vehicle for the price

By nomen (IN) on Monday, September 26, 2011

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 6,800

Pros: "Decent price, easy to drive"

Cons: "Noisy on some roads, third row seats nearly useless"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 8

"I bought a Sorento EX with the V6 and AWD in March 2011. With the option packages, it was basically the same as the SX model, but a couple thousand cheaper. I have not done a detailed comparison to see what I may be missing, but it cannot be much. I wanted the V6 because I do not believe a 4-cylinder can handle an automatic very well. Some of the earlier comments seem to agree with that. I wanted AWD because I live in northeast Indiana and we get plenty of snowy and icy roads. The AWD is another reason I wanted the V6. Considering I was downgrading from a Chevy Avalanche to this, my standards may be a bit high. Even with that, I am fairly impressed so far. The handling is good and the ride is good for a vehicle this size. I did a test drive before I bought, so I was pretty much expecting what I am getting. The AWD seems to drive a bit better than the FWD version I also tested. The FWD one seemed to want to pull to the right; the AWD does not. The mileage ratings are 18/24 for this, but I am getting 24 (according to the dashboard display) driving to work. A lot of the time, it is even coming in over 25. This is mostly 50 mph , so not a lot of city driving. I have owned the car about 6 months now and my total average is running about 22 mpg overall since I have owned it. I am a bit disappointed that the dashboard mileage calculator is so far off of my reality. The display is anywhere from 1 to 2 mpg higher than my reality. Take that into account if you are concerned about your mileage. Even with the V6, I was surprised that it downshifts on some hills. This is mainly at highway speeds, with little to no extra load in the vehicle. This seems to have gotten better as the vehicle broke in, but it does still happen on some hills. The quality of the road seems to have a big affect on the noise inside. On a new smooth road, all is nice. The minute you get onto an older, beat-up road or country road, the noise levels increase quite a bit. I wonder how much of this might be the tire tread pattern making noise. I wish the navigation system could bypass the startup screen. You need to select a language and touch the “Agree” button before anything else. I realize part of the intent of that screen is the warning message, but why not store the language setting and go straight to the system? How many times does the warning need to be displayed? I have gone thru all the manuals and there is nothing about bypassing this screen. The cruise control should remain on after stopping and restarting the car. I use the cruise a lot, and it is a pain to have to turn the cruise back on. There is a warning in the manual about accidentally turning on the cruise, but I do not see how that is possible. I love the Bluetooth connection for my cell phone. I can access my phone’s contacts and recent calls from the center panel. I have used it a few times to make calls, and the voice activation seems to not work when I need to access a secondary number in my call list. My cell phone stores multiple phone numbers under one name and those secondary numbers do not appear to have voice commands to get to them. So, I need to use the center panel to make a call a lot of the time. I was surprised once that it picked up a call I was on and started putting the sound thru the car speakers. Kia should have the 6-speed manual as an option on the V6 engine. It is only available on the 4-cylinder engine. But, I bet if they did that, they still would not have many (if any) on the dealer lots. The dome light settings are not obvious between door and the other buttons. It is very easy to hit the wrong button and end up disabling the lights. I have taken this car on a several 600 mile round-trips. The driver seat stays reasonably comfortable after 3 hours steady. The first trip was a bit rough, but I have gotten used to the seats and they are reasonable. Probably my biggest complaint about seating is the view of the dashboard. I like to sit high on the height adjustment. But then I cannot see the tops of the gauges. It is even worse if I lower the tilt steering wheel. I have had this problem with nearly every vehicle I have owned, but I guess I was hoping. There are cupholders for the center row of seats in the door panels. They are way too small to be useful for much over a small cup. Anything larger will not fit. Even with a small cup, I would be afraid to open or close the door with a cup in the holder because the contents would probably spill. Overall, I am happy with my Sorento. I hope Kia creates a hybrid version."

9 people out of 9 found this review helpful

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