By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Nowadays, you're lucky to get a pine tree air freshener!
Basic system, is it available in other vehicles where you can review how well or not it works. Descriptions I have read sure sounds like what is available in the likes of Volvo and others.
Wonder if Ms. Cleo knows?
I get to the dealer and sales guy shows me the vehicle. It was sweet. Silver metlaic ex 4x2 with abs and rear spoiler just what i wanted. Now comes the reality part. There was a extra charges posted next to the official msrp. The hood protector $300. Undercoating $900. Fabric and Paint sealant $600. pinstripes $200. The added options brought the total to almost $27,000. The sales guy tells me, the manager is having a special today and he can get $2000 off if I would buy it today. I told him they were crazy and walked out.
I guess it does not matter what brand the vehicle is. As long as the dealer smells the vehicle is a hot seller they will continue to play this kinds of games.
I'll add that to my mental survey, Dallas is still acting crazy.
I was going to make a rude comment about did they throw in a Bill Clinton intern special....but this is mostly a family area.
Ms. Cleo I think sees the price dropping some in the future. By the way, Ms. Cleo has a new service for car shoppers.
1 900-DLR-SCRU
I agree with others who said Sorento has a touchy gas pedal. I also found steering to be very sensitive. Neither is a negative....just observations. On the positive side, it is very quiet, has a powerful A/C, and it takes parking lot speed bumps very well. I'm surprised at the many critical comments about the interior not being quite up to par. We have owned a Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and Infiniti. I think the Sorento is comparable to any of these, especially given its price. I'm not bothered by the fake wood trim at all. The brushed chrome is preferable to bright chrome....hides fingerprints, dust, etc.
Another strong positive is the comprehensive package one gets for under $25,000. With many other cars and SUVs, you have to pay extra for: keyless entry, alloy wheels, side cladding, cargo net, cargo cover, extra 12V outlets, HomeLink, CD changer, and side airbags.
Bottom line is that it felt good sitting in the driver's seat and looking around.....you know, that nice warm-&-fuzzy feeling of ‘my car-my space’ versus just a means to get from Point A to Point B. So what's holding me back? Only the thought that by waiting a few months, I can save a thousand clams!
I do acknowledge that the price does drive the quality of the materials, having said that, the materials used are fine, just a slight grade lower than say a Honda.
Same with controls, on a Honda you reach out to where you think they should be, and there they are. On the Kia, reach out to where you think a control should be, and it's there but a little out of place. Hard to describe, but is one of those things that Honda and Toyota have down to a science, the cars just "fits" you.
Also glad to hear that it was not just me, the gas IS touchy, and the steering is a bit over boosted at low speeds at least to my way of driving.
They stayed an hour and a half past closing (on a Saturday, yet - they're not open Sundays) to work with us on a mutually acceptable financing strategy; and when we finally came to a solution insisted that we take the vehicle home that night - even though they could have been sticky and asked us to come back Monday.
Then they discovered that the gas tank wasn't full, so they told us to fill it up and keep the receipt in order for them to reimburse us.
I wish all purchasing experiences were as pleasant
That was not a good sales ploy to use with me as I have been test driving all kinds of SUVs in the past week plus I've owned SUVs for 20+ yrs.
Do you all think this is a good company and that the Sorento will keep a good resale value? I can't see paying over 25K on an SUV anymore as I don't need 4x4. I felt that the Pilot over-steered; not the Sorento. I felt no problems with the gas in the Sorento as well and liked the roominess. The gas mileage isn't as good as the top of the line SUVs, but I think that's bc it sits on a truck chassis (vs a cars). It was very quite and did well on the freeway. Being from So Cal and having just come back from driving 2500 miles in Spain and Portugal, I felt the Sorento passed my drive test with flying colors. It seems to be a pretty good ride. The Pilot felt heavy and a bit awkward in manuverability due to the heaviness. Since the Sorento is so light, is it safe in windy or bad weather conditions?
Inquirying minds want to know. Thanks.
Nance
What city was the dealer in that gave you "business"?
In in So Cal, and the Long Beach dealer was OK, but did not appear to want to dicker.
A pleasant surprise is that the fit and finish is definately up to Honda standards.
I realize I'm not comparing to a 2002 model but having test-driven a 2002 I find the basics (fit, finish, power, handling, ...) aren't that radically different.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
-mike
I'm driving a Jetta or the wife's Grand Prix and I really liked the Sorento ride- not as harsh as I expected, and better IMHO than the Highlander which surprised me considering the very differnt underpinnings. I did find the steering to be a little too soft, but maneuvearability was not an issue- very easy to drive and park with good visibility. Handled like a smaller vehicle (surprisingly Jetta like to me) They also ship with Michelin tires on them.
THe fit and finish is not high end, but no worse than a Toyota or Honda, and I was not expecting Lexus quality, but I would not be afraid to be seen in the Sorento. Considering that I was looking at the mini suv's before and I cold get a nicely equiped EX to sticker @ 25k, I think I'll be going to the SOrento for the next ride. I was also impressed withthe Indigo blue color.
The one I drove was an EX 4wd, leather, spoiler and ABS for 25,600.
The rear seats fold flat and the ergonomics are good. This one had an in dash 6 cd changer too.
I found that I was almost looking over minivans, a felling that I did not get even in an Explorer or TrailBlazer. Torque was pretty good, and overall the Sorento looks to be a good value. I have an in at this Kia delaership (I used to work for the parent company) so I get the real deal on the issues. So far, the newer Kia models are not in for a lot of warranty work.
There is a 4 months waiting period for delivery of a new Sorento.
2003 Sorentos to be sold from 10/18/02. There is a major improvement in ride quality with the improvement in shock absorbers (engineered and supplied by Germany's Sachs).
There is an argument as to if Sorento is a mini SUV or midsize SUV. There are arguments for both and people are voicing that the Sorento is cheap if considered as a mini SUV and expensive if considered as a midsize SUV. The arguments are out there but no clear cut answers.
I think Sorento is a blockbuster for the US market in terms of styling, price and size.
or think of them in terms of capability instead of pigeonholing into a size category.
If anything Korean parts are cheaper than Japanese parts, i.e. Toyota, Nissan, etc. Future availability is not determined by the insurance company and they can never know if the demand will be there...
They may be just taking you for a ride... no pun intended again! How many ins. co. did you check with?
In any event, it's a good question. I'd like to know too for when I get the Sorento ;-)
-mike
To the person who traded in the CR-V after one model year... I hope you don't think you can do the same with the sorento after only a year.... the resale will NOT be what you got for the Honda.
While driving it, I did wonder.... when the same 3.5L motor is dropped in the Santa-Fe next year... you will DEFINATELY be able to find sorentos below invoice... Most people buying SUV's don't go off-road and want car-like handling.. that's the santa-fe advantage... when they have the same HP, I think many will go car-based over truck-based.
-mike
Don't forget 4-Lo!
"... Most people buying SUV's don't go off-road and want car-like handling.."
I disagree with that statement. Most people who get SUV's DO go offroad, and understand that it will handle differently than a car.
Otherwise, why don't they just buy a regular wagon or van?
How do we know this? There's another discussion on these boards with some 23,000 posts debating the point.
Otherwise, why don't they just buy a regular wagon or van?
Who says they are logical? ;-)
tidester, host
In my case I'll do very little offroading. I do enough off-roading in military vehicles. I will however be doing lots of driving on snow-covered roads. I guess I'm one of those GM was talking about.
This rig is built to go off-road and it gives people that "up-high" feeling. It's true, my wife and I enjoy the '01 Sportage's "up-high" feeling and the perception that you're safer. The Sportage does give me the feeling that I'm in a small tank-it is REALLY solid and as I throw the 5-speeds around I can tell it's a heavy rig. Sorento is similar but only available in an automatic tranny-yes, that is nice but some of us wanted 5-speed manual offered. Which makes the waiting grueling to see what's next for '04 Sportage. Gonna be a blast to see what the boys'll come up with for '04.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Although they sponsor offroad events and promote "offroadness" in their advertising, there is some very very deceptive wording in their warranty that specifically voids your warranty if you take your Jeep product offroading. I find that to be hysterically funny.
On a side note, I saw several broken Jeeps (2 blown T-cases, 1 rear axle, 1 front diffy) this past weekend while offroading in Central North Carolina at Uwharrie National Forest.
-mike
Paisan, what year were those broken Jeeps? What were they doing or had they done in the past to those things?
I think you are wrong on the warranty about going offroad. I took one on a test drive through some frozen cornrows and up across a small stream and up a hill ("mountain") when I was in college. Told the frightened salesman upon return that I wasn't interested in something so "used and abused". Hey, we all grow up eventually... :-)
The Jeeps ranged from ~80something up to recent years, and not sure if they were abused or not in the past. This was on a rocky hill-climb @ the ORV section of the national Forest.
On a side note no SUVs come with MTs anymore. The only ones I know of are few and far between, and non of them come with full-time/dry capable 4wd systems.
-mike
CR-V
Liberty
RAV4
Tracker
Tribute
Wrangler
Xterra
XL-7
Liberty
Tracker/XL7
Wrangler
Xterra
Of those, I know the Wrangler, Xterra and Tracker/XL7 don't come with FT 4wd so you are left with the Liberty as the only FT 4wd that might have a MT available.
The other ones listed are merely raised up wagons.
-mike
Steve, Host
-mike