Kia Sorento

bored

Go to http://www.kia.ca Kia Canada has a pretty good list of options and their options shouldn't differ from the US.

Gas Mileage: I wouldn't expect it to be no more than EPA: 18/24 or something like that. The reason why? The XG350 uses the same engine, and I expect the Sorento to be just a little more heavier, if not lighter.

Kia EPA estimates are always lower for some reason, but actual Gas Mileage is always 3-6 MPG more.

arizonian: I bet that Sorento had Dealer Plates on it!

paisan

The car could have had MFG plates on it.

-mike

bored

arizonian

But in AZ a front plate is not required and it went by to fast to turn and see the back plate. The dealers here say that they are not in stock yet and so it was broblably a test car.

Its not uncommon to see test cars here because of the weather. 110-112 degrees for the last few days.

petz462

I have lived in South Korea for the last three years and have sort of made it a hobby of mine to keep an eye on new models over here. I have seen many Sorentos on the road the last 3-4 months, they seem to be everywhere. I started seeing the new Ssangyong Rexton about a year ago and got a chance to ride in one for about 6 hours. It is a follow-on to their excellent Musso, although the Musso is still available too. I was thoroughly impressed with the Rexton. It is the SUV of choice amoung Koreans who can afford it, above the Hyundai Terracan(another new model) and way above the Santa Fe and Sportage. Not to say the Santa Fe or Sportage are bad, there are tons of them on the road here too. It's just hard to beat the options on the Rexton (DVD/Navigation system, heated leather seats, three rows, etc). The Sorento appears to be a cut below the Rexton and it's price reflects that. I've talked to a few SUV owners here and they tell me the Sorento is going to be an excellent value. I talked to one guy who upgraded from the Santa Fe to the Rexton and he thinks the Sorento is high quality at a good price. I think alot of people here who can't quite justify the price of the Rexton ($30-33k) are snatching up the Sorento at around the $18-23k price here. I've seen it with 3 rows of seats here, leather with lots of goodies. When I return to the states next year, I will be considering it seriously...since the Rexton is not available in the states and it's a better value.
P.S. if you do searches on Google.com and look for Ssangyong Rexton and Musso and also Hyundai Terracan, you can find good pics of all.

stever

Thanks for the report. Any "imports" over there?

Steve
Host
SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards

petz462

Oh yeah, they have imports here. Just drive around Seoul and you'll see Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, etc. I hear the Koreans pay very high import taxes on them. Not many imported SUVs though other than Jeep.

bored

But I would like to see the Title of the board changed from "Kia Sorento" to MY 2003= Kia Sorento. I don't know why, it just makes more sense to me

carspy01

It's been a while... and I do not really have a whole lot of news. However, to sum it up:
The US & Canada will only get the 3.5l V6.
The first Sorentos are in transit (approx. 60% LX, 40% EX). Expect more info from Kia US around end of the month.

atlankoke

www.kiaofagincourt.com

carspy01

Forget it. Nothing informative. Either you work there or you bought a car there...

atlankoke

hey did you not see the movie in future vehicle?

atlankoke

Lx model to start at $27595.00 and go up to $38,000.00 top model ex lux.

petz462

Last night we stopped at a restaurant about 40 miles south of Seoul. There were 6 new Sorentos parked outside, 1 white, 1 black and 4 silver. Sharp lookers. They all had round stickers on the rear windows that said "Club Sorento". I have seen other car clubs here and they all had websites, if I find one for this club, I'll pass it on.

carspy01

Sorry, bud, but I posted the link to the movie on June 5 with #67. And you might want to check the links from March 6 & 7 (#'s 13 & 14) to the Korean site & see what we will NOT get...

carspy01

OK, peace, my friend - we are on the same page here! Tell us, please, the following: your Canadian pricing, is that in CAD or did you convert already into USD? I'm not too familiar with the sales tax in Canada... but is it included in your prices like in Europe? What percentage? If those prices are USD without any sales tax, etc., plain old net, then, well, I guess somebody at Kia needs to recalculate pretty quickly - and not with a solar calculator under the blanket... Those prices would be outrageous - considering the level of equipment, compared to the levels and prices in the homemarket resp. in Europe... for 27 Grand (US) for the base version, people would jump directly to the Honda Pilot... Please clarify before we have to ask Kia "what are you smokin'?"... thanks.

carspy01

I would understand, as a rule of thumb, approx. 12 percent max. on top of the Sedona-van MSRP-prices for the Sorento, LX and EX-versions....

atlankoke

Hey guy what I'm smoking is a cuban...hear you can't get them in the states. I did say Canadian pricing but I guess you missed that. Those prices would be plus frght and PDE plus Sales taxes depending on what province it is 15%. Sedona starts at $24595.00 here . Highlander starts at $31990.00 for FWD base. Anything else I can help you with TEX.

ssk77

This site explains who designed certain components in Sorento.

http://global.kia.co.kr/scripts/corporate_info/notice/atbbs01.asp?Sn=141

kiaowner1

Does anyone have further info on when they will definitely be available in the US? I noticed one of the posts above mentioned that they were in transit as of July 8th but I also read the article at the link above and it mentioned September.

My wife and I are waiting for them to arrive so we can go down and grab one. She wants a fully loaded EX Luxury with all the options but I don't think she is going to want to order it...so we will probably end up with just an EX model.

Can anyone confirm the pricing again. Most places, including the local dealership, are saying between $19 and $24 K as a range but I have also seen $24-$27 K listed.

Thanks ahead of time.

bored

Basically, here in the US............

It will Start off Like the Sedona, $18,000 to $24,000.

I got this from the Currency Converter from http://www.onlineconversion.com

pmassche

Further you your Canadian pricing atlankoke,
will they have a 2wd in Canada?

I hope that pricing includes the 4wd and the body cladding/fender flares.
Great for the offroad.

Can you give me any further info. on the pricing?
Thanks,

bored

Canada will only get the 4WD version, whether it be Part-Time or Torque-On-Demand. If I'm not mistaken, ALL Canadian Sportages are 4 Wheelers.

Maybe it's because in almost all of Canada, snow is Guaranteed.

atlankoke's pricing is correct. the LX to start off at around ($18,000USD) ($27,705CAD) or hopefully less while the EX may start off around ($21,000USD) ($32,323CAD). It will hopefully Stop around ($24,500USD) ($37,710CAD)

The EX is the one with the Body Cladding, the LX will not have it, I think...................

atlankoke

Did you guys see the info tha kia.com sent out today. The are also calling for a delivery date change. Instead of summer they are now calling for a fall Delivery for US. In canada we have been hoping for 1st week of August. They are not firm on price yet because the competitors are watching Kia's benchnark pricing. Here in Canada chrysler just brought out 7year powertrain to compete against the 5-5-5 warnty. Bet hey if you have not seen the new flash at kia.com check it out but make sure you have high speed conection first.

bored

For the US, there is 2WD and Body Cladding for the LX Model, just no Two-Tone.

That Sorento is here on our shores now. I know it. Kia just wants Dealers to sell it all at the same time.

For the US, I think Kia should try lowering the price down to around $17,500.

badoogi

What do u guys think about the potential resale value of sorento? Will be it be worse than Hyundais?

paisan

Who cares what the resale is? If these trucks go 150-200K w/o issues it doesn't matter what the resale is. They will probably have really crappy resale, but you get the discount upfront by a lower selling price.

-mike

abc246

For one, I do. This is an area of concern for me and could be the reason I do not buy one.

paisan

If you think you are gonna have good resale might as well not buy it.

Kia
Isuzu
Hyundai
Daewho

All these vehicles plumet in resale, but on the plus side you are guaranteed 100K+ miles of trouble free or at least no-cost repairs. Also the selling price on these is significantly less for the same or better amenities as others. So you either get resale on high priced vehicles like acura and MB and pay out the butt initially, or you pay less and get back less.

-mike

atlankoke

As a Fleet Manager for both a Toyota Store and a Kia Store. Iam suprised by who much resale there is in a Sportage and a Sephia. We have only been selling them since Aug of 99. A Sportage that originally sold new for 27,000.00 in 2000 still with about 30 kms gets us about $21,000.00 to $22,000.00 on the road. In the US they had to go through the bad wires and Hub updates in the early 90's which gave KIA its not so great name for reliability, but we fight it everyday here. Since the Magentis (Optima) arrived along with the Sedona quality has gone up to the point that I feel that sometimes I'm driving a Toyota. Curently I drive a Sedona, and before that was a Sportage to get our vehicles out there. For the past 15 years I blead Toyota. But now I know what KIA is capable of ... hell I might even get a Tatto. This page alone with all the intrest and excitement over the Sorento makes me feel that yeah down the road these vehicles will be worth something still as a used truck. Even our current customers have equity in there lease end values and they are only at the halfway mark.

paisan

Yup there is nothing but perception working against Kia, Hyundai, Isuzu and the likes. I think they are as good or better than the "big" makers because they have to fight the bad press. My dad has a sonata and it's been great for the $. My Rodeo went 120K miles w/o a visit to the dealer over the 3 years I had it. And my Trooper has been great so far.

-mike

anides

I signed up to be notified about the soon to be released Sorento mid-size SUV and just got an email from Kia directing me to their new flash microsite at:

http://www.KiaSorento.com

This site is great! Well worth the download time especially on a 28.8 modem.

Packed with information including photos, videos, 3D tour and color your car. There's even a download desktop wallpaper section.

I also signed up to receive one of their "first-run" brochures and read that they will be offering a "Lord Of The Rings" DVD test-drive offer sometime this summer.

I think Kia's got a real winner here! Looks like a Lexus RX300 at half the price. Can't wait for the test-drive.

Enjoy!

paisan

It won't ride like an RX300. Lets remember it's a truck here. People cross shopping it with the RX300 are gonna be disappointed in the ride. I think it's great though.

I'm just disappoionted by the rather low towing capacity.

-mike

badoogi

thanks to Korean font program, I'm able to browse

through all the korean sites about sorento.

According to Kia executives, sorento is being

imported to outseas (including U.S. and Europe)

in July.

It is already available in Korea.

Sorento was a much awaited vehicle in Korea as

well and overwhelming number of people agreed

that this is going to be a blockbuster hit!!

People acknowledged of sorento's exhilarating

acceleration from the stop light. Also, the

interior noise is very small even at high speeds.

Many people worry that the ride will be choppy

because of truck based platform. However, test

drivers admitted that the sorento rides

surprisingly smooth much like sedans. This is

because Kia worked with the world-renowned

porsche suspension department in order to

eliminate tough suspension.

In addition, all the amenities inside the car are

uncomparable to those of other SUV's.

While it is not as refined as RX300, sorento is

definitely worth the price.

We're getting a better deal at U.S. because

domestic sorento in korea come with 3rd row seats

and it cannot be removed taking away precious

cargo space. However, we are not getting the

headlight washer which I found very interesting.

Sorento also has automatic sensor that

automatically turns the headlight on in tunnels

or at night.

This is going to be a really good buy. Can't wait!

badoogi

of all the automobiles sold in the U.S.?

93fsu1

http://autosite.com/editoria/asmr/svolsu.asp

scattershield

Today I went to a Jeep dealer and test drove a Liberty. Next door is a Kia Dealership so I stopped by and asked the Sales Manager about delivery on the new SUV. He said very early September. I asked if any brochures were available but he had none. Route 1 North, MA.

brandona

I've seen 2 in the last two days...they must be demo models since KIA headquarters is just around the corner here in Irvine, CA. They look awesome!!! I thought is was a new Lexus, until I saw the Kia emblem. This is absolutely the best looking mid-size SUV I've seen. Better design than a Highlander or boring Pilot. As for quality....I am hopefully optimistic. Can't wait to drive one.

paisan

It has a TRUCK frame and the engine is in the proper direction.

-mike

bored

You just don't know when to stop do you?

BTW: I FULLY agree with you.

And, has anyone ever SEEN the Highlander? It looks like a station wagon with a MASSIVE lift. At least other manufacturers make their crossovers look like Real SUV's. But then again, I guess that's what Crossovers are supposed to look like.

paisan

I'm a fan of the Sorento! Especially since the Trooper is DOA.

-mike

nautiker

Hope some dealers will get them in before Sept. My wife is looking at the Hyundai Santa Fe--she likes the looks. . .why, I don't know. I showed her this veh and told her it would be in the same price range. Same warranty as well. Has more power and a much more aggressive look. Everything I've read says that this will be quite an SUV for the $$$. We'll have to wait andf see.

bored

You must remember not to cross-shop the Santa Fe and the Sorento. The Sorento is Mid-Sized, while the Santa-Fe is a Compact.

I've seen two here in Detroit, it was unmasked except for the Kia Logo, and was much larger than I thought. The local dealership was doing a test drive, which says that the Sorento has been over on our shores since MARCH. I saw two actually, one was a Red-Beige EX, like the one at the auto shows, and the other one was a White LX. Both of them were about the size of the older Explorer, but much Wider.

carspy01

Yepp, but please do not forget that those were the initial Korean-market ones undergoing several evaluations, testings, etc.

carspy01

The Sorento will be sold in the US starting in September 2002 at a price under $20K!!!!

Check out:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5161

bored

Hmm, I thought we already confirmed Pricing..........months ago...............

carspy01

Yes, bored, I did when you were not even here in this forum, nor in the previous "Kia BL"-one...

bored

I have been reading these boards a long time, but I just decided to sign up to post.

You were also the one that first thought that the Sorento, Carnival/Sedona, and Terracan were built off of the same Uni-Body Platform. I'm not saying you were wrong, heck, even the Spy Shot people were saying that it was the 2003 Sportage.

Do you live in Korea carspy?

paisan

I wish they'd bring that here...

-mike

bored