Kia Sorento review!! Affordable luxury at its best!

My husband and I were given the opportunity to drive a Kia Sorento for 2 weeks and we LOVED it!! I’m going to give you a he said/she said review because my husband can give more detail about the mechanics of the car, and I will fill you in on the comfort and amenities

Ladies first, so here is what she said:

I was so excited to find out the Kia Sorento has third row seating. I have 4 kids and really want to avoid driving a mini-van for another few years so we’re in the market for an SUV with third row.  Plus, I need it to have a good stereo and fun features Okay… maybe that’s just a strong want, but same difference.

The hubs and I decided to take the Sorento to Colorado from Phoenix, it’s about a 14 hour drive. It was such a nice trip!! The Sorento had Sirius radio and a navigation system. The satellite radio was so nice because we drove through the middle of nowhere and we wouldn’t have had any music if it weren’t for that.  The navigation system was a bit hard to get used to at first, but it did get us from point a to b so I can’t complain. (I’m pretty sure it was user error, but let’s not dwell on that point)

I loved the fact that it has built in bluetooth. I was able to talk on my phone hands free and it was awesome!! My most favorite feature was the memory button for the seats and mirrors! My husband is 6′ 3″ and I’m 5′ 3″ so there is a significant difference in where we place our seats and mirrors. I loved that the only thing I had to adjust after he was driving was the rearview mirror.

I really had no knowledge of Kia before this whole experience and after driving the Sorento, I am just in love with it! The Sorento is a quiet and comfortable ride plus it’s so well priced! If I could describe the Kia Sorento in just a few words, it would be affordable luxury.  It’s so well priced for something so well built and that comes with so many features!!

If you don’t believe me, go drive one for yourself and see!! I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do!!!

Now…. this is what he said:

I had the opportunity to have a 2012 Kia Sorento EX for two weeks. I had thought about purchasing one several years ago and decided against it. I bought a brand new 2006 Hyundai Sonata V6 instead. I have driven just about everything from a Ford Pinto to a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (the perks of working at car dealerships). I have become somewhat of a Hyundai snob though. I love just about everything about my Sonata from the build quality to the amazing warranty. I was pleased to find out that Hyundai bought out Kia. I was not a huge fan of the look of the older Sorento and was pleasantly surprised by the model that we were given to drive.

This model was the 2012 Sorento EX 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine with the addition of the premium package (leather trimmed seats, heated front seats, auto dimming mirror with Homelink, power folding side mirrors, memory drivers seat and mirror position, power passenger seat, navigation w/Sirius satellite radio, Infinity surround sound audio, and a 50/50 split third row seat)

I am going to go through the impressions that I took from driving the Sorento as thoroughly as possible. The body style of the Sorento seems so much nicer and stylish than previous models. I used to think that it was the worst looking of the comparable models, but the 2012/2013 vehicles are quite nice looking and one of my favorites.

The exterior of the Sorento was a nice Tuscan Olive. I prefer the white or silver cars, but this was a really good looking color as well. I saw many 2012 or 2013 Sorentos while driving “ours,” but had never seen that color.  The side mirrors were color matched to the body paint and the door handles and roof rails were a chrome/silver color. These appointments make the Sorento look very nice and stylish. I really appreciated the attention to details. The 18 inch alloy wheels were a grayish flat-silver color in hyper-finish and looked great. The back of the Sorento had a sporty rear spoiler and a wiper that worked very well! The side mirrors had the built in turn indicators for higher visibility to other drivers. The only negative I found was the antenna. It was a short screw in type. This is just a personal preference. I worry that one day I would try one of those places that washes cars and it would get torn off or removed and lost.

The interior of the Sorento that we had was fantastic. It is my opinion that the leather seats in the Cadillac vehicles is the best I have ever felt. With that said, the Sorento leather was a real eye opener for me. It was not like sitting in an overstuffed easy chair like the Cadillac, but is was soft and supple why retaining a sporty and comfortable feel. We spent roughly 14 hours in the Sorento on a road trip from Phoenix to Denver and another 14 back. The seats were very comfortable and I could not find a single thing wrong with them (other than my wife finding it hilarious to turn on the heated seats when I was not paying attention to make me think I was on fire).

 The dash and doors were accented by beautiful black and silver mixed trim. It was not a swirl pattern, but more a blend. It was very nice. The underside of the door trim had red accent lights that could be intensified or darkened with a knob that controlled the other dash/instrument lights. It gave the cabin a soft reddish glow that was very pleasant.  The instruments were very well placed and were very easy to see during the day or night. I love how technology is integrated into vehicles and Kia did a great job of that.

It seemed like the Sorento kept surprising me at every turn. My wife and I connected both of our phones via the Bluetooth connection. It had all of our contacts and could be easily accessed by a simple touch of a button either on the steering wheel or touch screen stereo. The navigation and radio had voice control as well. I was looking forward to trying out the stereo (because isn’t that what everyone tests out first?).  I pushed the mode button and apparently the stereo connected to my phone via Bluetooth and started streaming the music on my phone. The stereo had come alive like a fire breathing dragon! This was true of the music listened to through Sirius radio, Bluetooth, or iPod cable. I am quite demanding of car audio (my Sonata falls way short) and the Infinity system in the Sorento is beautiful sounding. It is not going to rattle your brains out, but it can be like having a concert with you at all times.

As I said earlier, the seating was very comfortable. I am 6 foot 3 inches tall and a bit over the festively plump size. The second row of seats were very comfortable as well. I do not think i would have made a long road trip though. I did not even attempt getting in the third row (I may have never made it out!).The Sorento was very roomy and comfortable. The third row needed to be folded down to give you excellent cargo room. The second row seats folded and lifted up to give easy access to the third row for smaller folks.

The handling and performance of the Sorento was very good too. I do not know our exact miles per gallon, but the sticker says 22 city and 32 hwy. The mileage seemed better than our Sonata and Mazda5 as well. I love the power of my v6 is great and I thought that I was going to be extremely let down. The acceleration was quite snappy. It was no problem going from the on ramp to the highway speed of 75. Acceleration seemed really good when you were in the 3000 to 4000 RPM range. The Sorento was quite deceiving in the acceleration category. I often had the feeling that I was going very slow when I was actually going the speed limit or more. The ride was very smooth and comfortable with very little road noise (any road noise could easily be taken care of courtesy of the sound system). I did not test the body roll very much, but the Sorento handled very smoothly in corners and seemed very stable. We drove through a pretty severe rainstorm in Colorado and the Sorento handled like an absolute dream. I had a white knuckle death grip on the wheel, but the Sorento handled amazingly!

There were several things that I really liked about the Sorento. I loved the key system. You never need to touch the “key”. Put it in your pocket and you are good to go. You unlock the doors by touching the black square and the car unlocks as long as you have the key fob with you. To start the car simply push the brake and the start button. You lock the car by pushing the black button again. I loved the folding side mirrors. It seemed like it gave you a lot more space when parking. You can fold them in via a button on the drivers side door armrest or by pushing the lock button on the key fob twice. The stereo/navigation system/steering wheel controls were my favorite part though.

In the end, would I lay down the $30,600.00 sticker price for a Kia Sorento like this one? I would do it without thinking twice. I loved this vehicle so much. I would love to try the all wheel drive models along with the 6 cylinder models too. I can honestly can say that I do not think I would change anything. I started my two weeks with the Sorento with the mindset of not thinking I was going to like the Sorento. I could not have been more wrong. All the amazing features and positive aspects (did I mention the 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, 5 year/60,000 mile limited basic warranty, 5 year/60,000 mile roadside assistance warranty) make this an absolutely amazing vehicle.

If you are looking for a great crossover that offers an absolutely fantastic bang for your buck, look no further. The Kia Sorento is the crossover for you. I am sold!!!