Kia Sorento review

Introduction

Natural selection affects SUVs, not just animals, and seven-seaters that drink diesel are starting to look like dinosaurs. So the Kia Sorento – like a species with a strong survival instinct – has evolved.

Instead of simply slinging a petrol engine under the Sorento’s bonnet, Kia has used its expertise in the field of electrification to give the model regular hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) options. You can still get a diesel version, and every version gets four-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox as standard.

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1.6 h T-GDi Pure SUV 5dr Petrol Hybrid Auto AWD Euro 6 (s/s) (235 bhp)

Expected annual mileage	5000
Term months	60
Deposit months	12
Monthly payment	£482.09
Initial payment	£5,785.08

Step-by-step

Leasing works a bit like a long-term rental. You drive it, but you don’t own it.

• Choose your car, pick your terms and apply for lease credit online
• Pay monthly rental payments for your chosen term length
• Drive it, enjoy it, then give it back at the end

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• Full manufacturer’s warranty
• Road tax and roadside assistance included
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£5,785 initial payment, 60 month contract, 5000 miles p/a. Subject to status and conditions.

• Lower total monthly cost than PCP/HP
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• Road tax included

To keep the Sorento evolving and avoid extinction, a mid-life facelift updated its looks, its interior and its pricing. But it’s still up against premium rivals including the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Mercedes GLB as well as mainstream alternatives such as the Skoda Kodiaq and the closely related (and brilliant) Hyundai Santa Fe.

New Kia Sorento video

Is the Kia Sorento one of the best seven-seat SUVs you can get? Read on to find out...

What’s New?
April 2024: Facelift brings refreshed design inside and out; previous engines carried over. Kia reverts to previous 2, 3, 4 trims
September 2023: Vision special edition sits below Edition. Has opening glass roof, LED headlights, black leather trim, electric front seat adjustment, heated front and outer rear seats, power tailgate
July 2022: Edition trim replaces 2, 3 and 4
October 2020: Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) joins range with 1.6 T-GDi engine
September 2020: Fourth-generation Kia Sorento on sale with 1.6 T-GDi petrol/electric hybrid or 2.2 CRDi diesel engines. Hybrid has six-speed auto, diesel has eight-speed dual-clutch auto gearbox. Choice of 2, 3, 4 trims

Overview

The Kia Sorento is a brilliant seven-seat SUV and, while it's not a bargain, it offers truly fantastic practicality. Most buyers will be best served by the hybrid (HEV) model, although the plug-in (PHEV) will appeal to company car drivers and the diesel is the one to go for if you’re towing. We think the entry-level trim – called 2 – is the best choice.

Pros

• One of the more spacious seven seaters at this price
• A massive boot
• Well equipped

Cons

• Priced above mainstream rivals
• Hybrid engine isn't as fuel efficient as a Honda CR-V's
• Interior quality not as good as similarly priced premium rivals

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Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

Engine, 0-60mph and gearbox

The Kia Sorento HEV certainly feels nippy enough, with 212bhp and 0-62mph taking 9.7 seconds. True, there's a slight delay between you pressing the accelerator pedal and the car surging forwards, but it's not pronounced enough to become irritating, and you won’t struggle when it comes to overtaking or getting up to motorway speeds.

With a bigger 13.8kWh battery and a more powerful 248bhp electric motor, the PHEV has some extra punch and cuts the 0-62mph sprint to 8.8 seconds – just over a second slower than a Land Rover Discovery Sport PHEV. Like the Hyundai Santa Fe it can officially run up to 34 miles on electricity alone. That's about the same as the Discovery Sport but much less than the 70 miles of the Skoda Kodiaq PHEV.

While the Sorento PHEV has a maximum towing weight of 1,500kg, matching the Honda CR-V PHEV, the 2.2 CRDi diesel is the one to go for if you tow often because it can pull up to 2,500kg and has performed impressively at the Tow Car Awards over the years. The diesel also has plenty of low-down torque to aid everyday driving.

Suspension and ride comfort

The Sorento gets 17in alloys as standard on the entry-level diesel and HEV versions, and they give the best ride comfort. Meanwhile, the 19in alloys (standard on higher trim level HEVs) introduce a slight fidget over surface imperfections and a noticeable thud into potholes.

In short, it's comfy, matching the Santa Fe, but not as plush as a Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The PHEV comes with 19in alloys as standard, and is the least agreeable model. It's not uncomfortable but it is a bit more jarring over sharper imperfections and its ride is not quite as settled, largely because of the heavy battery pack.

Usefully, all Sorento trims except the entry-level one include self-levelling rear suspension, which is handy if you do any towing or carry heavy loads.

Handling

The Sorento’s reassuringly weighted steering allows you to place the car confidently on twisty rural roads and also makes it easy to track straight and true on motorways. In town, you’ll find the wheel becomes light enough to twirl easily.

As you might expect, this tall and heavy car isn't blessed with sports car handling. There's not a huge amount of grip but it feels composed enough at a moderate pace, with body lean well contained.

Body lean is most pronounced in the PHEV, but it's still less roly-poly than PHEV versions of the Discovery Sport. The self-levelling rear suspension helps improve the Sorento's stability and handling when it's being used for towing.

Seven-seaters don't tend to offer driving thrills, but the Santa Fe is more composed than the Sorento and also has more accurate steering.

Noise and vibration

If you're driving either the HEV or PHEV in electric mode you won't hear any engine noise. In fact, even when the petrol engine is being used, it frequently shuts off as you slow down and remains fairly quiet when you’re accelerating gently. Hard acceleration reveals a coarser edge to its timbre, but it’s not so bad that it’s a nuisance.

The switch between electric power and petrol power is smooth for the most part but can cause the Sorento to surge forwards at lower speeds. Better news is that the automatic gearbox shifts smoothly and the brakes are well judged and progressive, even in the PHEV, which has more aggressive regenerative braking.

The diesel Sorento is rather grumbly at idle, but that fades away once you’re on the move. Elsewhere, refinement is good and the Sorento never gets tiring, even if there is slightly more road and wind noise than the best cars in the class.

"While the Sorento still rides reasonably comfortably on 19in alloy wheels, I reckon the 20in alloys on the top-spec diesel will push things over the edge, so they’re best avoided." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

Driving position and dashboard

If you like a lofty driving position, you'll love the high Kia Sorento – although it’s a shame the entry-level 2 trim has manual rather than electric adjustment for the driver’s seat and no adjustable lumbar support. For those, you’ll need to go for 3 trim or above.

The 2 trim gets a basic 4.2in digital driver's display while all trims above that get a sharper 12.3in version. Changing what the screen shows is easy using the buttons on the steering wheel, but you can’t change the lay-out and it's not as customisable as the display in an Audi Q5 or Skoda Kodiaq.

Mercifully, Kia has avoided the temptation to bury all the heater and stereo controls within the centrally mounted infotainment touchscreen. You get proper knobs for the volume and heating, and a touch panel in between for some other functions, all of which are less distracting than using the main touchscreen.

Visibility, parking sensors and cameras

Perched up in the Sorento’s driving seat, you’re treated to a good view of the road ahead. The windscreen pillars don’t get in the way too much at roundabouts, and while the rear pillars are quite chunky, there are small side windows at the back of the car to help improve over-the-shoulder vision. The Honda CR-V is easier to see out of, but is not available as a seven-seater.

To help make parking a doddle, every Sorento comes with front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. You get extra side sensors on 3 trim and above, as well as remote parking using buttons on the key if you go for top-spec 4 trim.

Those higher trims also get a really handy blind-spot camera feature, which shows a feed from rear-facing cameras in the door mirrors on the driver's display when you use the indicators.

Sat nav and infotainment

You won’t be left wanting when it comes to infotainment. As standard, the Sorento has a 12.3in touchscreen with DAB radio, Bluetooth, sat-nav, and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. You get wireless phone-charging on 3 trim and above.

The infotainment system itself is responsive to all of your prods and the menus are easy to fathom. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that it’s one of the best touchscreens in the class. Unfortunately a 2024 facelift got rid of some helpful shortcut buttons earlier Sorentos had either side of the screen. And we’d still prefer it to have a rotary controller (like the BMW X5 has) to make it less distracting to use while you're driving.

To avoid squabbling over who’s charging what, all three rows of seats in the Sorento have USB ports (there are six in total). You even get a powerful Bose stereo system with 12 speakers on everything apart from the entry-level trim.

Quality

For the most part, there’s little to complain about when it comes to the Sorento's interior quality. You’ll find lots of soft plastic, including on the rear doors – something that's by no means guaranteed in seven-seaters.

There's chrome and piano-black trim throughout, all the switches operate with precision and everything feels solidly screwed together. If you want full leather seats you’ll need to go for 3 trim or above – the entry-level trim gets a mix of cloth and faux-leather for the upholstery.

Interior quality is about on par with the Skoda Kodiaq but can’t match the plush look and feel of the Hyundai Santa Fe.

"If, like me, audio quality matters to you on a long drive, the 12-speaker Bose stereo will definitely appeal. It sounds great, even if you turn the volume up high." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

Front space

We seriously doubt anyone will find a shortage of head room in the Kia Sorento, and the front seats slide back quite a long way to accommodate long legs.

There’s plenty of space between the driver and front passenger – because this car has one of the broadest interiors in the class.

The door pockets are a good size and there’s a load of storage under the front centre armrest. You also get a handy cubby in front of the gear selector, which is an ideal size for stowing a mobile phone, some keys and a wallet.

Rear space

Rear space is very generous. The second row seats slide and recline, and will even give six-footers loads of leg and knee room unless you slide them all the way forwards. There’s also a huge amount of head room and it’s only slightly compromised by 4 trim’s panoramic roof.

Sitting three adults across the second row is made easier by the Sorento's width and the minimal hump in the middle of the floor. The outer second-row seats and both third-row seats have Isofix mounting points for child seats.

All Sorentos come with seven seats as standard and there's more space on the third row than there is in a Land Rover Discovery Sport or Skoda Kodiaq, and a similar amount to the very practical Hyundai Santa Fe. Teenagers and adults nearing 6ft tall will have the backs of their heads brushing the sloping roof but leg room is more generous.

Seat folding and flexibility

The Sorento's sliding and reclining second-row seats have seatbacks that split 60/40 with no ski hatch. That means it's a bit less versatile than with three individually reclining and folding rear seats.

What is very handy, though, is that all versions have a button on the side of each outer seats that makes them tip and slide forward to provide easy access to the third row. There are also switches in the boot to fold down the second row of seats remotely, which makes loading a piece of flatpack furniture less of a faff.

You can’t order the Sorento with a six-seat configuration, like you can have in the Santa Fe.

Boot space

There’s barely any lip to contend with when you're loading items into the Sorento’s big boot and the load area is a usefully square shape, with recesses for extra width right at the back of the car.

Boot space is enough to hold an impressive 10 carry-on suitcases below the tonneau cover in five-seat mode, matching the Kodiaq and beating the Santa Fe (nine cases).

Even when the third row of seats is in use, there's enough boot space in the Sorento for a couple of carry-on cases – although a Santa Fe can fit in four suitcases in this configuration. In contrast, the Land Rover Discovery Sport has hardly any room for luggage at all when all seven seats are being used.

"I found the sliding middle row really useful when using the third row, because it allowed me to prioritise leg room for those in the back when I didn’t need to worry about luggage space." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

Equipment, options and extras

The Sorento is decently well equipped. Entry-level 2 trim includes heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry/start, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and automatic air-conditioning.

It’s quite a jump up in price between the trims. The step to 3 trim adds rear privacy glass, integrated window blinds for the rear doors, heated rear seats and an upgraded sound system.

Range-topping 4 trim adds some luxuries, including a system that lets you park the car remotely using your smartphone, a head-up display and ventilated front seats, but it pushes the price very high.

Costs, insurance groups, MPG and CO2

The Kia Sorento has quite a broad price range and in entry-level 2 trim it’s cheaper than a Hyundai Santa Fe with the same engine (the Santa Fe is only available in higher-spec trims). Even in the Sorento’s cheapest forms, it's priced above an equivalent Skoda Kodiaq – but it is more spacious than that car. It also undercuts premium rivals including the equivalent Land Rover Discovery Sport but it’s not exactly a bargain.

If you're a company car driver, you'll want to go for the PHEV because its 37g/km CO2 emissions and electric-only range combine to make for the lowest BIK tax. That said, you’ll pay a bit less if you go for a PHEV with a longer electric range – and much less if you choose an electric SUV.

The HEV and the diesel officially manage around 42mpg and 43mpg respectively, which is pretty reasonable and on a par with rivals. The PHEV, meanwhile, will officially manage up to 176mpg, but the only way you’ll get anywhere close to that is if you keep the battery topped up. Speaking of which, the PHEV takes around three and a half hours to charge from 0-100% using a home EV charger.

Reliability

We don’t yet have any specific reliability data on the latest-generation Sorento, but Kia as a brand finished a strong 11th (out of 31 manufacturers) in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey overall league table. That was below Honda, Toyota and Hyundai but ahead of most other rivals.

The Sorento comes with Kia’s fantastic seven-year (or 100,000-mile) warranty to fall back on. The only brand that can beat that is Toyota, which gives you 10 years, 100,000 miles if you service your car annually at a franchised dealership.

Safety and security

Euro NCAP awarded the Sorento five stars out of five for safety in 2020, and it scored reasonably well for both adult and child crash protection. Chest protection for the driver in a frontal impact could be better though.

All models come with active safety gizmos designed to prevent you from having an accident in the first place, including lane-keeping assistance and automatic city emergency braking (AEB), which can detect pedestrians and cyclists as well as other vehicles.

On 3 trim and above you get more safety equipment than the entry-level Sorento, including rear cross-traffic alert, a blind-spot camera system and parking collision avoidance (in effect, very low-speed AEB). Rear airbags are only standard on the most expensive 4 trim.

"It’s a shame the Sorento is quite pricey, but I’d still recommend it over a lot of rivals because of how it drives, the amount of kit you get and the warranty." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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