Kia Sorento

lok888

I don't much about Kia Canada. All I know there is no 10 years/100000 miles powertrain warranty in Canada (just 5 years?), same thing with other countries. I think your example showed how strong the body structure and frame are on Sorento. I wonder the side curtain airbags didn't go off when she the sidewall/guard rail and rolled over.

mikesf

Good observation (re: the body structure strength).

I also wondered about the side air bags not going off as well. I guess the impact was not abrupt enough and the snow must have somewhat cushioned the blow.

Mike

slan_canada

Hi Everyone,

Just took some pics of my upgrades (SPORT VISORS, BUMPER GUARD, SPOILER, STEP BARS) on my Sorento.

Take a look here (look in June section) :

http://www.powow.com/mysorento/

nymphetamine

Finally, someone around here knows how to upgrade their ride.

Your Sorento kicks [non-permissible content removed]. What size are those scorpions? Where are those Step-bars from?

And how come Canada gets the EX with one body color and USA has to get that ugly grey molding?

Kia will suffer for irritating American consumers.

slan_canada

Hi Nymphetamine,

Thank you for your comments on my Sorento. The tires are P245/75/R16. For the Step Bars, they are from " Tal & Hadas ".

BTW Nymphetamine, here in Canada, we have the 2 tones too (EX models). My preference go to the "one" color Sorentos (LX models).

nymphetamine

slan - yours is an LX? You got an LX with the fog lights? Is the rear spoiler from Kia? Where is that bumper guard from? Were you thinking about buying the chrome tube bumper guard?

slan_canada

Yes Nymphetamine, My Sorento is a LX. The fog lights come standard on LX models in Canada. The rear spoiler is from Kia, yes. The Bumper Guard is also from Kia; I like it a lot. I don't like big bumper guard so the one from Kia is the best for me.

lok888

Nice. Did you install the bumper guard by yourself? The service manual showed there are some screws, bolts and clips for the bumper guard.
There is still no info about the bumper guard in US. Someone mentioned Kia is not importing them here. The side step bars that you have don't seem that they are from Kia. Right?

slan_canada

Hi Lok888,

My dealer installed the bumper guard (they also got it paint in black to match my Sorento). You are right, the step bars are not from Kia; they are from Tal & Hadas; my dealer sold them and installed them for me.

luvmysorento

When I recently went to my KIA dealer, I picked up an accessories brochure. They have the bumper guard listed and pictured. They also have the tow hitch, Chrome accents, license plate frames, valve stem caps, block heater, step bars, rear spoiler, mudguards, bike attachments, ski attachments, sport visors, wood grain kits, cargo nets, cargo trays, sunroof deflectors, hood protectors and front masks. The bumper guard and step bars have a note saying "Late Availability. See your Kia Dealer for details". Hope this helps!

lok888

I already got that little brochure six months ago. No dealer has any info on bumper guard and side step bars. Some poster mentioned a while ago that they are avaiable in Canada.

nymphetamine

"The fog lights come standard on LX models in Canada"

"No dealer has any info on bumper guard and side step bars. Some poster mentioned a while ago that they are avaiable in Canada."

Kia would be the first company on the planet to give preference to the few million Canadians instead of the few hundred million Americans.

lol good job Kia, one step forward, two steps back.

luvmysorento

My service department was very helpful. One of the guys came outside after my work was finished to check out a question I had about my SUV. We talked for several minutes about the Sorento. I am interested in finding the nudge bar I saw on a pic of a Sorento once that is tubular in shape and had Sorento written across the middle. He said that if they don't have the actual part, they can order it if I would get them the parts numbers for it and they will install it for me.

saber86

if you do a little research then you would realize its not only Kia who markets different configuration/options for different markets. Here is one example. On honda cr-v, the folks up in canada can get it with sideview mirror de-icer, leather seats, and heated seats. Those options are not available for US bound vehicles.

lok888

He/She wouldn't have the time to do research because he/she has spend a lot time here to ask us to give up our Sorentos.

It would be non-sense to say "Kia would be the first company on the planet to give perference..."
without checking out the facts.

luvmysorento - Did you check out www.truckaccessories4less.com? The Corba Tubular front guard cost $389. It designs to attach to existing fitting points on your vehicle. No drilling. Also, check out the sidestep, rear bumper guards and more.

nymphetamine

And what is "Nonsense" is comparing the CR-V to the Sorento in regards to the fact that any aftermarket products available in Canada (or Germany lol) were first available in USA, and with Kia, they are STILL not available in USA for the Sorento. What a joke.

dalancroft

That's my 2 cents.

tidester

Enough trolling! :-)

tidester, host

pmassche

Canada has 31.5 million people, FYI.

nymphetamine

GNP of Canada is approx. $600 Billion

GNP of USA is approx. $8 Trillion

Someone at Kia isn't very good at math! :-)

helluvaguy

In general, how capable is Sorento in terms of offroading without adding any mods? Would it be compatible or close to the SUVs such as Jeep Liberty or Toyota 4Runner?

horst1

My personal feeling about off roading with the Sorento is minimum like the Jeep Liberty or 4Runner. That means it will get you out of a bind but is truly short of real off road capapilily like the Teep TJ or similar vehicles. Having sad that, statistically only about 10% of all SUV are being used occasionally for that purpose. However, the permanent (full time)selective all wheel drive in the Sorento is more than adequit for the normal SUV owner even in our canadian winter it will do just fine. If you really stuck, lock it in 4 wheel drive it will pull you out. I would call the Sorento an all perpous vehicle like the Mercedes 320ML, BMW X5, Hyundai Santa Fe etc. Just to name a few. If you are an enthusiatic off roader, you want a truck or SUV with all manual controls. In many respect the Sorento is better than the above mentioned SUV's because it has a frame and body construction with the exception of the 320ML. That means the towing capacity will be larger than SUV's with unit bodies. Honda Pilots and MDX does not even come close to the Sorento, even so it has a HP advantage (4000lbs tow ratin max.). FI. in Germany the Sorento is listed to tow 2800kg. which is 6160lbs. In Canada and USA tow rating is 5000lbs.My point is, why spending a lot of money for a SUV if you only are able to tow a wheel barrel behind it. I think, I have sturred up enough. Happy motoring.

saber86

yeah some people keep putting their foot in the mouth then tries to come back with some smart remark which only makes them look more stupid. Just think while you and all the other sorento owners are enjoying your new sorento, some people without mentioning names cries and whine because he/she can't afford to buy one. This person is so dense they can't even comprehend why honda cr-v was mentioned.

This person reminds me of typical child who didn't get a toy they desperately wanted and now are just lashing out because they are so jealous.

saber86

yeah I guess people at other manufacturers can't do math as well since they market different option/configuration vehicle for canadian market.

dbgindy

To all of you great Sorento owners and admirers out there have a happy and safe Independence Day. To all of you who come here just to stir things up I wish......... a happy Independence Day also. That's part of what makes America great is that we have the freedom to disagree!
Be safe and have a great 4th of July
everyone! :-)

pmassche

http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/econ70.htm

Take a look for yourself.

Canada's GDP is $994 Billion, US is 9.55 trillion, in CDN dollars.

nymphetamine

"Canada's GDP is $994 Billion, US is 9.55 trillion, in CDN dollars."

Correct ^ USA has ten times the funds, Canada has ten times the aftermarket options. lol

brooklyn1951

I don't think anyone should bother responding to the "troller". Everytime someone responds to his/her post, he/she gets off on it. The response empowers him/her. Just don't respond and he/she will go away - deflated and powerless.

nymphetamine

Trollers who only want to read good news should go to disney.com, otherwise re-read the rules for this forum :-)

Back to car facts - USA has ten times the funds, Canada has ten times the aftermarket options. This is a hilarious marketing "technique" by KIA.

The Sorento is just not a car made for or marketed for the US market (the largest market in the world) which is why their sales continue to drop.

stever

Often get more good stuff for less than we get down here in the US. The car makers adjust pricing so that Canadians can "afford" the cars, just as they adjust pricing for any other market. And the climate up there necessitates such things as engine block heaters and electric mirrors. So the car is tailored for the country of destination. I think US buyers are used to paying more for less.

Little wonder that many people try to import Canadian cars into the US.

Steve, Host

dbgindy

Steve- good point.

Joel -you are exactly correct. :-)

dried

I agree with the points that horst1 made regarding off-roading. Have to be careful about definitions here becasue 4wheeling means something a little different to everyone. "True" off roaders never go alone. You wouldn't want to be stuck in the places they go to without help. But for more moderate 4-wheeling, the Sorento has a couple of edges on similar SUVs.

1) Better clearance - nothing hanging down below bottom of body, like suspension components.
2) skid plates - this is pretty unusual on SUVs nowadays.
3) truck frame - better for towing and "rough" roads.

Now for the story:

 I actually had a chance to get some off-road time last week. The trip started with towing my camper (about 2500lbs) plus about 750 pounds of people and dogs in the Sorento. I was very pleased with the way the car pulls up the mountain passes. Although the top was only 9000 ft, I had no cooling or power problems. It was very stable with this load in a good crosswind - probably 50 mph gusts. Absolutely no problems. Next day after a great night camping, I took off on a trek in search of a B17 wreck, something that's been up there since 1943. Having some idea where to go, the maps showed 4WD roads up to a trail head. These roads only really needed clearance to get over them, but 4WD made the trip really fun. The Sorento handled the roads really nicely - the low center of gravity kept me from worrying about angles, and the solid truck frame just felt well - solid. I used 4LO on the way down to keep off the brakes and again the steering and response was great. Anyway, never found the wreck, but I'm closer now, and had a great week camping. The more I use this car, the more I like it.

By the way, someone asked me if it had a tranny cooler in it and it does. Some SUVs don't include that as standard. Just another little plus for the car.
--Dave

dbgindy

Very good points and great off road story! Thanks for sharing it.

lok888

Thanks for sharing. I hope you took a lot of pictures of her.

ivan4741

Yes thank's for sharing. It's nice to hear from someone really using their Sorento.

ivygrnsorento

Wow. Iv'e been gone a week or so and come back to the same ole' Nymph. All I can say is that he/she/it is consistent. Just hope he/she/it isn't a lawyer!

Ok...first. I live in Colorado and just recently had my 15,000 mile checkup. Things went well, had a few warranty issues fixed and learned some interesting things while waiting for my car to be serviced. Though the dealership I have been dealing with here BLOWS, they do carry in stock all the a aftermarket products they show in the Catalog. Including the front bumper guard. As a matter of fact, they have a fully loaded Sorento EX in there show room with all the accessories they sell. I won't say it looked very good, but it had all that crap on it.

Now, if you want some of the European or Korean specific aftermarket parts, those will be tough to come by. But my dealership has told me they will do whatevery they can do to help me locate and buy these parts.

Nymph...never assume...because so far you have been wrong every time. And I'm keeping score:)

yosorento

I'm glad to say that lately I've been seeing more and more Sorento's on the road. Used to be we were the only one (and loving it!)...

But we just got back from a great vacation, and I thought I'd let you know I saw a brand new white Sorento...

in Papeete, Tahiti.

luvmysorento

I just got back from vacationing in Mass. It was a 12 hour trip each way and my Sorento did wonderful! No complaints about cramped legs from anyone...including my 3 boys. My son pointed out my Sorento's twin in Plymouth. I got to see what my Sorento looks like with a big splat of sea gull poop on the hood. Ewww! On the trip home, we were flying down the interstate and all of a sudden traffic would be at a dead stop. Man, am I happy the Sorento has excellent brakes! We also hit a huge storm somewhere in PA and vehicles were pulling off the road. I had to slow WAY down but never feared for our safety and kept on truckin'. Sorry, no offroading experience to talk about except that time I parked in my brother-in-law's yard.
  I've been seeing alot more Sorento's on the road lately. It's good to see people have good taste!

nymphetamine

2003 J.D. Power and Associates' annual vehicle dependability survey, Kia ranks dead last:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030709-0728-autodep- endability.html

ivygrnsorento

Yep, saw that article 3 days ago. But heres another one you should read...because it addresses the Sorento independantly against all others in the Mid-size SUV Catagory.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030606/laf004_1.html

And for those that don't want to read the article...basically it ranks the Kia Sorento First...tied with the Toyota 4-Runner for the number 1 spot in Initial Quality Survey of 2003 models. And then the article listed all the other "awards" that the Kia has won over the last few months.

Hey Nymph...since you know what we all drive. What are you driving these days?

abc246

The study you posted for initial quality is not the same type as the JDPower. The JDPower is quality after 3 years, thus the Sorento is not included because it was not out in the year 2000.

ivygrnsorento

...and I didn't mean to confuse anybody here by suggesting this is a JD Powers Survey that I am referring to. Its another independant companty based out of San Diego...or something like that....that has done this report.

lilac0422

There isn't one of us here that doesn't know that Kia has had problems. It is going to take some time for a JD Power survey to accurately represent what I think may be the "new" Kia with the introduction of the Sorento.

Also, with this type of survey, we only see how manufacturers did as a whole. One cannot make any assumptions about the individual models. In years past, Chevrolet did pretty okay but let me tell you my Lumina and almost all Luminas that I have heard about are pretty much crap. All of the other Chevrolet models could have had very few initial problems with the bulk being with one particular model.

That is why I don't put much stock in this survey. Most people know that statistics can be skewed any way that you want to prove what you are trying to prove.

Bottom of the survey or not, I still love my Sorento.

bnhbucks

Pardon the intrusion from Sedona owner, but I think that the 'New' Kia includes the Sedona too. It has had some very good reviews as well and all of us - despite some minor issues - are quite pleased with what we have. Go Kia.

lok888

I am glad the study was only based on responses from the original owners of 2000 model year cars and light trucks because the Optima, Sedona and Sorento were not there yet.

No one here doesn't know the Hyundai's past and Kia's problems, especially pre-2001 model year cars. My in-laws' 2000 Honda Odyssey and my brother's 2000 Ford Focus have more dealer's visit for repairs. They were so happy about their cars initially. There was nothing to report except rated "Excellent" on this or that question on their surveys. Then we have the study now.

ivygrnsorento - I don't know the answer. But I am sure he/she is not driving a Kia and properly not a Lexus too. I don't think he/she will tell us anything. Remember anonyumous01?

dlb14frost

Greeting lok888,,, I always enjoy reading your posts,, but feel it necerssary to point out one thing cause it just keeps buggin me. Please do not take offense but you keep using the word properly, intead of the word "probably"

lok888

dlb14frost

stever

You're prolly the only person who noticed that....

It'll be interesting to revisit JD Power next year, and the year after, and see how the stats go on their reliability reports.

Steve, Host

dbgindy

I think the vast majority of us here will be re visiting that each year and hope to see the numbers go as most of think they will. :-)

dlb14frost

I keep looking for them to release something on Sorento. I'm sure we all recieved their survey. Wonder when the will publish their report.