Kia Sorento

Wow just wow – Wow, just wow! We genuinely cant believe how good this car is! It is unbelievably smooth, comfortable, reliable and fun to drive. Not to mention that the 2.2 diesel goes like the clappers! it handles all road surfaces with poise and always feels sure footed. Interior build quality is amazing and the seats are so comfortable! The 10.25 inch… Read more

infotainment screen is super responsive and is easy to navigate and the 6 speaker 'base' audio system is astounding! It is a very attractive car and turns heads wherever you go! It honestly looks European. I can honestly say this is the best car we have ever owned! Buy one! You wont regret it!! No matter what model you buy S, Sport, Sport Plus or GT-Line Petrol or Diesel you are getting a well packaged nice driving exceptionally well equipped car!

The benchmark for 7-seat family cars when it comes to value for money – Kia is making strides in improving the build quality of their cars, both inside and out. The Sorento offers a level of superior quality, it’s one of the best value-for-money propositions in the market. When you open the doors on the new Sorento you can immediately feel a certain ‘heft’ and weight to them. This sensation of closing a heavy… Read more

door is something you would normally expect to see on more expensive vehicles.

The car I had for the week was the GT-Line Diesel, which is the range-topping version. Priced at $67,290 drive-away, this is certainly heading towards the expensive end of most people’s budgets.

This car both acts as a class leader for seven-seaters under $70,000, but also gives the luxury SUVs a run for their money.

Kia offers a 7 year warranty and also offer capped price servicing for the Sorento over these seven years, but only up to 105,000km. Your total cost of servicing over seven years comes to $3,463 - a fair price to pay for this amount of services.

Sound isolation in the Sorento was impressive to say the least. Road, wind and traffic noise was sufficiently kept out of the cabin, which translated to a relaxing ride for both the driver and the passenger. The diesel motor likes to make itself known under heavier acceleration, so it’s not going to be library-quiet in here. Being distinctly diesel in its ability to sound a little like a tractor, It’s not exactly a pleasant engine tone either. The sound system in the Sorento was better than expected, largely thanks to the Bose-branded audio it’s decked out with.

The car is fitted with autonomous emergency braking, which is activated if you have rear-cross traffic, someone in your blind spot, or have a car, pedestrian, or cyclist cross your path.

The Sorento I tested was fitted with Kia’s 2.2L 4 cylinder diesel engine, which produces 148kW at 3600rpm and 440Nm at 1,750-2,750rpm. Coupled with this engine is an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, which performs exceptionally well. 0-100km/h figures are in the mid 9’s, which is typical of a car in this segment with this motor. If you’re looking for performance, you might need a second car. Thanks to the torque, power delivery is strong throughout acceleration and smooth when you need it to be. The new Sorento is rated to tow up to 2 tonnes (braked), allowing you to hook most trailers up to it.

However, towing a caravan behind this family car might prove to be a bit tricky.

I can’t speak for the longevity of this transmission, but at least you have a 7 year warranty just in case.

I can, however, speak for the performance of the gearbox. Even though this is an 8-speed transmission, shifts are smooth and decisive. It doesn’t jump around trying to figure out which gear it needs to be in.

The Sorento will conquer the potholes and speed bumps that you’ll most likely encounter when rushing for the school pick-up or drop-off. Even when riding on wheels as big as these, this SUV offered absolute comfort across a variety of surfaces. Whether it’s traversing tarmac, gravel or snow; the Sorento tackles it all.

If you plan on heading off-road to a campsite or through the snow, the Sorento has a selection of terrain-response modes that help provide more grip for when you need it most. A feature like this is rare around this price point and is usually reserved for the likes of a Land Rover.

Kia claims a combined consumption figure of 6.1L/100km. I managed to average around 9.5L/100km, which was impressive nonetheless for a large SUV like this.

If you think the exterior looks a little restrained, the interior design is sure to win you over. This is the standout upgrade for the fourth generation Sorento. I’m of the mindset that interior design is always more important than exterior design as it’s where you’ll be spending most of your time with the car. The instrument binnacle is akin to that of a Mercedes setup with an instrument binnacle that stretches from the centre display through to the driver’s display. A pair of 10.3 inch displays are placed adjacent to one-another and are the main focus point of the cabin. Along the dashboard and doors are diamond shaped cut-outs that add not only visual flair during the day, but at night, are backlit in a colour of your choosing from 64 options. The touch-capacitive climate controls reduce the number of physical buttons placed on the dash,bringing down the amount of visual clutter in the cabin. Below that, your eyes are drawn to the cylindrical shifter, which also appears to be a leaf out of a Land Rover’s book. It works well to bring a level of class into the cabin without feeling cheap. Seats are blissfully bolstered with quilted stitching, adding more visual flair to this cabin. The Sorento features a minimum of 187L boot space with all 7 seats up, 616L with 5 seats up and a massive 2,011L with all seats folded flat.

The boxy design and flat-folding nature of the seats mean you have a large rectangular space with no awkward obstacles to avoid in the name of style. It’s easy to fold the middle row, too. With an electronically controlled one-touch button, you can fold either side of the seats in the middle row, all from the boot.

However, it’s annoying that in a car this big, you still have a 60:40 split in the middle row. This can be a nuisance when you want to make the most of the interior space whilst carrying 4 people.

The Sorento is a wonderful family machine.

Any seven seat family car needs to be reliable, comfortable, enjoyable and capable - all of which the Sorento achieves.

The Sorento has the warranty and capped price servicing to cover you in the running costs department. You won’t need to stress about finding another car for a while once you’ve chosen the Sorento.

Being comfortable is what the Sorento does very well. From its relaxed yet direct ride, through to a long list of creature comforts, including heated seats for four.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

Expensive but a strong PHEV 7-seat SUV family car option – Kia’s build quality is better than ever. It’s solid, there’s a conscious elimination of that ‘tin’ sound in the doors, and there’s never a squeak or rattle out of place. Some scratchy hard plastics exist on the interior. However they’re part of an element that’s there for utility rather than luxury. Buying this trim of the Sorento does not… Read more

necessarily bring any additional ‘build quality’ to the already impressive Sorento GT-Line.

However, adding extra weight via the form of a battery pack provides an illusion that the car is heavier on the road. Heavier cars are usually perceived as more luxurious, and this is a tactic used by brands like Bentley and Mercedes Benz. It works here for that same effect, even if you’re driving around in a Kia.

Is it worth spending $15,000 more for a $79,330 (before on roads) Sorento that’s able to reduce fuel consumption and run as a pure EV?

The answer depends on your needs and wants for your next family SUV. If you want to reduce your fuel consumption, CO2 output and have the ability to drive partly as a pure EV - this is certainly the best option out at the moment for a 7-seater PHEV.

The Sorento PHEV isn’t cheap, but as far as electric vehicles that are this big go, it’s a lot cheaper than the competition. Tesla Model X and Volvo XC90 Recharge are the only other 7-seater SUVs able to run as pure-EVs. Sure, the Model X is only an EV, but the point still stands.

If you don’t care about any of the above, then don’t waste your time, and just jump into the diesel powered Sorento GT-Line.

Two drivetrains prove to be a little more expensive than GT-Line diesel over 7 years of servicing. Kia has reduced the number of kilometres between each service, resulting in coverage for only 70,000km (or 7 years) vs the diesel’s 105,000km (same period).

Your total cost of servicing over 7 years comes to $4,903 compared to the diesel’s $3,463 total cost of servicing over 7 years.

I couldn’t help but notice the same brakes used on the Sorento PHEV felt a little more stressed than the ones on the diesel.

There’s just over 100kg in additional weight added to the Sorento PHEV compared to the diesel. Brakes are easy to modulate for a smooth operation, but the harder you push when traffic suddenly stops in front of you, the more you can’t avoid feeling there’s additional mass onboard.

The Sorento PHEV scores a petrol 1.6L turbocharged four cylinder unit producing 132kW at 5,500rpm and 265Nm at 1,500 - 4,500rpm. It’s paired with a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, producing 67kW at 2,100 - 3,300rpm and a whopping 304Nm at 0 - 2,000rpm.

Total output delivered through the AWD system is 195kW and 350Nm. This is a unique set-up, as the electric motor provides a hefty punch. This produces more torque than the petrol motor, and more kilowatts than the diesel engine.

The bulk of the torque delivered at 0 rpm is noticeable, and allows the Sorento to hustle off the line a lot quicker than its diesel counterpart. It’s silent and quick to react to acceleration. However, you can’t win against physics in a car this big. Speed begins to fall and you can feel the Sorento ‘run out of puff’ once that petrol motor kicks in.

I thought the way the petrol engine remained accelerating, despite me lifting off the accelerator for an additional second, was a terrible characteristic of this motor. It’s something that I hope Kia can eliminate from future Sorento PHEVs.

That electric motor is great for low-speed acceleration, but it’s no substitute for performance. It’s not going to be a budget Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid unfortunately.

Surprisingly, you lose the brilliant 8-speed gearbox for the more expensive PHEV model, and instead receive a 6-speed automatic. Nonetheless, it still does a great job of managing revs in a car like this.

Shifts never really missed a beat, although this gearbox occasionally missed opportunities to shift into a low enough gear to take full advantage of that low-down torque.

The Sorento is more than capable through corners, where it never faulted thanks to the batteries being lower down in the car's body. It only enhances the cornering ability of this Kia.

The bottom line is that it’s extremely comfortable.

1.6L per 100km was as low as I could get for the total consumption for the Sorento, and reached as high as 4.6L per 100km when the battery was depleted.

You can get up to just under 50km of real world range with the pure EV mode in the Sorento, and rely on the petrol motor to run this car as a hybrid when you run low on electrons.

The battery pack on board is a 14kWh battery, so it’s not enormous. That means if you want to charge from home, you can charge the battery from 15% to 95% in 3 hours and 25 mins using a fast charger.

But, at least with a plug-in hybrid, you don’t have to rely on plugging in the car to charge up the battery. The onboard charger can charge the battery with speeds of up to 3.3kW, so it's more like a trickle charger rather than something that can charge over just a few minutes of driving.

You do lose boot space and interior comfort to the battery pack located under the rear seats.

Boot space is down to 175L with all the seats up, 604L with the third row folded away and 1988L with all the seats folded flat. It’s now got less than 2000L of total space compared to the diesel’s interior boot space.

The only real incentive to buy this car in Australia is to either reduce your carbon footprint or to reduce your fuel bill. That means justifying paying $15,000 more than the diesel upfront to own and drive a car that still pollutes, but at a significantly lower rate. If you have a place to charge most nights, you can run on pure electricity for most of your daily commute.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

A hybrid SUV that falls short of beating Toyota at its own game – This is Kia’s other hybrid Sorento. There’s also a plug-in hybrid on offer, which we’ve already tested, but this is the petrol/electric hybrid that you don’t plug in. Kia’s Sorento is a well built car, and feels like it’ll withstand the test of time and the test of having kids rummage through its interior. Press on any panels, pull on doors… Read more

and put pressure on plastics, and the Sorento refuses to squeak or show preemptive rattles.

This car feels weighty, translating to a ride that feels higher quality than a lighter SUV. In addition to weight, technology feels right at home in 2022. The screens are bright, easy to use and quick to react to inputs.

Available only in the fully specced GT-Line model, the Sorento Hybrid is priced from $66,750 for the front-wheel drive model, and $69,750 for the all-wheel drive version. All of these prices are before on-road costs.

Toyota offers a better price for the Kluger Hybrid AWD, starting from $54,150. However, the Sorento offers a lot more equipment, tech and creature comforts.

The PHEV (plug-in hybrid) variant of the Sorento is priced at the top, starting from $81,080 before on roads.

Servicing is capped over 7 years or up to 70,000km (whichever comes first). Servicing totals $4,894 over this period.

A BOSE audio system is fitted to the Sorento Hybrid, and it certainly makes an impact. It’s not perfect, but it does enhance your audio with clearer highs and less ‘muddy’ sounding lows.

A major drawback was a high pitched whirring sound that emanated from the electric motor under the bonnet.

It was annoying when parked and driving at low speeds. Outside these conditions, however, it wasn’t noticeable. If you have older ears, you might not notice it. But to some of my passengers, it would have made them reconsider buying this car just because of how intrusive that whirring sound was.

Kia should have beefed up the brakes just a little for these heavier hybrid variants of the Sorento. It’s noticeable how soft that brake pedal feels when slowing for corners or when pulling up for an emergency stop.

Day-to-day, the brakes are easy to get used to, but they simply don’t hide the weight of the extra electric motor and batteries. It makes the hybrid feel like the diesel Sorento has been on a diet of burgers and milkshakes.

Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 132kW of power and 265Nm of torque. This is paired with an electric motor, making an additional 44kW from a 1.6kWh battery mounted between the engine and six-speed automatic transmission.

The total power is 169kW (226hp).

Combined power feels relatively rapid, thanks to additional power being available from 0rpm. It’s quite obvious when that 1.6L engine kicks into gear, and can sometimes be a little startling at low speeds. It can fool you into thinking you’ve just curbed your alloy wheels if it turns on while parking.

Power is being sent via a 6-speed automatic transmission all through to the front wheels.

A shift-by-wire rotary selector is a cool touch, and really easy to engage with.

Shifts are seamless and hardly felt by occupants, even if we’re missing the 8-speed auto found in the diesel Sorento.

Around the city and traffic, the Sorento is a fantastically comfortable SUV. It’s easy to cruise and avoid feeling the road underneath you. Although, hit a pothole hard enough and you’ll get an aggressive thump from the front wheels.

Through corners, the weight of the Sorento hybrid causes it to wallow slightly and perform pronounced shifts forwards and backwards under rapid acceleration and deceleration.

While lacking the ability to drive exclusively as an EV for extended periods of time, the Sorento claims fuel consumption figures of 5.5L per 100km combined. We achieved around 8.3L per 100km driving our Sorento Hybrid for the week.

There isn’t anything different between this GT-Line Sorento compared to other GT-Line trims with different engines.

There’s plenty of space, light and features. There are the same dual 10.25-inch displays on show both for the infotainment and driver.

Despite being a massive 7-seater, the Sorento Hybrid loses a little boot space in lieu of those electric bits and pieces.

On the inside, you’d never know it was slightly more cramped compared to the diesel/petrol variants. On paper, the boot space is 179L with seven seats in use, 608L with the third-row folded, and 1996L total.

That means there’s less total space than the other non-electrified Sorento models that boast just over 2,000L of cargo space.

As fuel prices fluctuate and become a pain point for many households, petrol electric hybrids are quickly becoming relevant again.

Fully electric SUVs are few and far between, with 7-seat options being obscenely expensive.

The Sorento Hybrid offers an ideal middle ground, offering diesel-like efficiency without the cost of filling up with the oily stuff and having to worry about diesel issues when strictly driven around the city.

I’d absolutely consider one if the PHEV Sorento looks a little too pricey to you, and the Toyota Kluger feels a little too sparse when opting for the slightly more affordable models.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.

GPS Failed – I've owned my Sorento My14 for about 5 years and it is now 'out of warranty'. My GPS no longer works and the clearcoat off the rear spoiler has worn away. Kia Service were not able to repair the GPS and told me it needed to be replaced at a cost of about $800! I've asked them to lodge a replace request with Kia under Australian Consumer Law guarantees. Let's see what happens.. Show details

The best car I’ve driven in my almost 30 years of driving experience – We needed a new car and I took my time to research the car options available in the size I wanted, with the features which were a must, and within our price range. We got lucky when purchasing that it was the last before the updated shape. This didn’t bother me and represented a significant price difference. I had narrowed it down to 2 different… Read more

makes and in the end, the two cars were almost identical, but our Kia was $10,000 less. After 3 years and 60,000kms it’s been a reliable car that is a real pleasure to drive. The GT Line has some lovely features and as our second Kia, after previously having a Cerato, I’m a big fan of Kias. I feel they’re becoming more on the pricey side compared to how the once were though. We’ve had one recall on something which needed to be replaced. We do find the car fairly noisy, but as my first diesel car, I’m told that’s commonplace. The one thing we’ve found, unfortunately, is that the steering keeps sticking and Kia can’t seem to get to the bottom of it. We’ve moved dealerships for our servicing and it’s made a big difference to wait times for servicing. I do just wish someone would figure out the steering issue. Towing has been easy. Reasonable fuel economy for our mixed driving. Car has loads of room for us. Very pleased with the car and reliability of Kia

Bad Experience with Kia Sorrento Hybrid 2024 – After three months of ownership, I can say with confidence that the Kia Sorento Hybrid 2024 is a disappointment. While the vehicle looks impressive and has many desirable features, the negatives far outweigh the positives. The most glaring issue is the uncomfortable seats. Both the driver's and passenger's seats cause severe tailbone pain after… Read more

just a short drive. Even my children complain of discomfort when riding in the back. Kia needs to significantly improve the ergonomics and padding in the seats to provide an acceptable level of comfort. Considering purchasing additional cushions just to find relief. This is an unacceptable compromise for a vehicle of this Caliber.

Beyond the seating, the Sorento Hybrid exhibits poor road stability. When other vehicles pass by, the entire car shakes violently, almost to the point of embarrassment. Even minor movements from passengers in the backseat cause the car to tremble, also this is exacerbated when my children move around in the backseat, causing the car to vibrate like it's sitting on a shaker. This lack of solid construction is unacceptable in a vehicle of this size and price range

Adding insult to injury, the fuel efficiency of this "Hybrid" model is shockingly poor. Despite the advanced powertrain, I'm only getting around 700 km per 65-liter tank in city driving - nowhere near the advertised efficiency. And forget about long road trips, as the range drops precipitously. The Sorento Hybrid's thirst for premium fuel leaving me disappointed and frustrated.

Another concern is the thin, fragile-feeling hood, which makes me hesitant to even clean the car for fear of causing damage. Lastly, the lack of an automatic locking feature and the subpar performance of the Bose sound system are additional annoyances, disappointing sound performance at higher volumes that further detract from the overall driving experience

In conclusion, while the Kia Sorrento Hybrid 2024 may have some appealing qualities, the numerous drawbacks I've encountered have left me questioning the value of my purchase. I urge potential buyers to thoroughly test and consider these issues before making a decision, as the comfort, safety, and performance of a vehicle are paramount. Kia must address these concerns to deliver a truly compelling and reliable hybrid SUV.

Overkill on all the unessacary features – There is no emergency cable for the fuel door for when it gets jammed and trust me it'll jam more than once and you will stand there life an idiot at the servo with no fuel and no way of putting it in. This car does not stop beeping at you or vibrating at you every second it gets. Complete overkill on all the features makes its incredibly… Read more

frustrating to drive. You can't lock the bloody thing without doing the correct process of park, handbrake and I still can't work out what else. The car handles well and is nice enough to drive but there is no permanent way to turn the ridiculous features off. If you don't hold the steering wheel in the correct manner it's beeps at you and says you need a coffee break. All this makes it very frustrating and I'm not able to relax driving the car.

Great for 5 years. Then! – We bought our Kia Sorento Platinum MY 2016 in December 2016. Apart from a door handle snapping off and a fiddly bluetooth it was a great car. Decent mileage, reliable (we serviced it religiously). As a family car: kids and dogs it served us well with space, practicality, good stereo system, low road noise, comfort and handled well etc. The diesel… Read more

engine had sufficient grunt but good fuel efficiency for a family car. A good package overall for the year 2016.

In 2022 the first half of the drivers door would not unlock with the key as the sensor failed requiring the replacement of the drivers door sensor system twice. Then straight after that the steering wheel lock mechanism failed and the car would not start (to prevent theft) requiring a tow from our garage on skis. The brake is electronic and was unable to be disengaged. Recently the car dropped the code for the key. $400 later we had both keys recoded to allow us to operate the car again. My wife and I discussed the reliability issues that seem to be becoming more apparent. To ensure we won't have an issue on a long driving holiday, we have decided to order a Toyota Kluger Grande Hybrid and upon arrival sell the Kia. The Kia is still under the 7 year warranty and should sell easily.

When you make a car complicated and rely heavily on technology that technology needs to be reliable. This is a challenge on cars which get hot and continuously absorb shock from driving. Reliability for us is the number one criteria.

Extremely bad after care service – I’m enjoying my Sorrento it’s the after care service that’s appalling. I was sent a letter today after a warning light came on my dashboard a week ago. It was a recall notice that was to replace a low pressure fuel hose clamp which as the letter states may result in engine fire, risk of accident, injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road… Read more

users.I got a rude man Nick in service who said it’s not really a matter of urgency. Will do it next week. I rang another Kia dealership who said they can do it in a month. No apologies I just hope my family is safe in this car until they find a repair time!!

The Kia Sorento is a top-class family SUV – It might be a big AWD SUV, but the Kia Sorento presents polished road manners and a surprising turn of pace. It rides on fully independent suspension and has a 35mm-longer wheelbase than the old model, which is intended to improve comfort levels. The ride is on the firm side, especially for a car in this class. The dampers take the edge off, but… Read more

you still get the odd jarring impact on poorly surfaced and dirt roads while the more aggressive speed bumps demand to be taken slowly

Great car apart from the electrics – Purchased a demo MY17 Sorento GT Line with 1000km on the clock. Car was brilliant.... the best I had ever owned... until 12 months ago. Then all sorts of weird electrical things started going wrong with it. Too many issues to list but the critical one is that the car would turn itself on.... yes I kid you not.... by itself in the middle of the… Read more

night. Not the engine but it would power up all of the electrics and blaze away with the headlights. The neighbours got used to this and would let me know when they saw it.... but in the past year it left me stranded 4 times when no one caught it and I came out in the morning to start the car but the battery was completely flat.

Went to multiple Kia dealers about this... most thought I was mad and couldn't see anything wrong with the car. Made a faraday cage for the keys in case they were going screwy... this did nothing. The roadside assist guys that came out whenever my battery was flat had never heard of anything like this in their careers. Auto electrician could find nothing wrong either.

There were multiple other weird electric things happening intermittently on seemingly unrelated systems.... but the killer was the car leaving me stranded multiple times. I need reliability.

Cut my losses..... sold it and bought a Mitsubishi Paid to Sport. This will be my fifth Mitsubishi and they have always been bulletproof for me.