2012 Kia Sorento

My favorite of all my SUVs

Saturday, December 14, 2019

In the past I’ve had a BMW X5, GMC Envoy, GMC Jimmy, and Range Rover. I’m an SUV girl...I want to feel safe and I like being higher up to see the road better. Of all my past SUVs, my 2011 Kia Sorrento SX is by far my favorite. After 8 years of owning this, the steering has stayed tight, the seats are still really comfortable, it rides great, it’s been super reliable (just had my first repair this month...replaced fuel pump and water pump) and it has been one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I get about 19mpg city, 23mpg highway. I love the interior- mine is leather and has held up well- even with my dogs are in it. There are virtually no blind spots, but I don’t feel like it’s a fishbowl. As for the price...by far the best value. Better than GMCs, BMW, and RR...especially when it comes to repairs. Seriously...after 8 (almost 9) years my first repair was this month- that has never happened with any other car or SUV I’ve owned. People thought I was crazy getting rid of a “luxury” brand for “just a Kia”... but I wouldn’t trade my Sorrento for anything. I’m going to drive this until the wheels fall off...if they ever do. And if they do, I’ll go buy another one. Good job Kia...you made a great ride!

My 1st New Car is a Kia?? What R U Thinking!!

Saturday, June 02, 2012

We bought a 2005 Liberty Limited 4WD V6 from family and immediately discovered we wanted something bigger, with better MPG. Living in WV there is basically no flat land, so you realize the stated MPG ratings don't apply to you. My Jeep was rated 17/22 and I was lucky to get 14/19. Surprisingly I'm averaging 19 for 2012 SX V6 AWD which is rated at 18/24 so that’s not bad in my book for driving mostly in the city. Yes, WV has cities :-) We are picky people so aside from MPG and size we wanted more and for the price and features I just kept coming back to the Kia. Bluetooth and Sirius were standard on all models which are what originally had me looking at this car. We ended up with the premium SX package that included Push Start / Keyless operation, Heated Leather Telescopic Steering Wheel, Leather seats, Heated front power seats, cooled driver seat, Homelink for our garage, Power heated folding mirrors, Dual temperature control with digital settings, Backup camera, Voice command controls that control the touchscreen entertainment and Navigation system, Interior accent lighting, third row seating and rear air conditioning. We also have the Panoramic sunroof that was a separate addon. It also didn’t hurt that the Cup Holders were large enough for the huge fast food cups that we get on long road trips. The crossover rides pretty nice and overall my wife and I, who both swore we would never own a Kia, are very satisfied with this vehicle. The only downsides are the sunroof you have to manually slide the shade back when you open the roof and the noise from the shade when it rattles (I’ve never seen when you manually open and close the shade) 3rd row is tiny, the Bluetooth likes to fight between our two iPhones for the connection and the clips that hold the 3rd row seatbelt broke but the dealership replaced them. It also would have been nice to have the heated rear seats like the Optima of the same year, and that the cooled seat was also available for the passenger.

Over 210,000 miles and still going!

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Before I bought the Sorento, I had a Kia Optima. I liked the Optima, but I wanted an SUV. Kia offered a loyalty discount, so I decided to continue to the Sorento and I am really glad I did! I drive this vehicle ALOT (over 210k miles in 9 years!) and have had very few problems with it. I keep the oil changed every 3,000-4,000 miles and try to use Kia parts when possible. The parts (brakes, windshield wipers, filters, etc) are a little more expensive if you get them from the dealer vs. places like Walmart and Advance Auto, but they last SO much longer, which makes them a much better value! As far as the AWD is concerned, I use all terrain tires and it has always went well in the snow. When I tell people I have a Kia, some want to turn their nose up because of Kia is viewed as "cheap". However, when I tell them the miles on it and that I've had very few problems, they change their tune a little. Besides normal wear/tear (brakes, wipers, etc), the only problem I had was when I noticed around 180k that my air bag light stayed on. I had a friend hook it up to their computer and the code read that there was a fault in the drivers side air bag near the seat belt. Also during this time, both the horn and the audio controls on my steering wheel stopped working. I took it to the dealership and it turned out that they had a recall on the clock spring inside the steering wheel. They replaced it for free, which fixed the air bag light, horn, and steering wheel audio controls! Other than that, no issues other than normal wear/tear. I will say that I try to use Kia parts when possible. Even though they are a little more expensive, they last a long time. The only two complaints I have with this vehicle that I wish they would fix are 1) the cheap interior (it is very easy to stain - even rain water leaves spots after it dries until you use a cleaner to even it out) and 2) although it rides well, the seats don't feel as comfortable as I imagined an SUV would. They may have changed this with the newer Sorento models. Overall: judge for yourself! Do not let someone who's never owned a Kia tell you not to buy it because they think Kias do not have good quality.