Faults:

CD Auto-changer ceased to operate on channel 2.

General Comments:

Overall performance is excellent and I am generally very pleased with the car.

It tows my large caravan like a dream.

The big letdown is the fuel consumption which initially was about 22 miles per gallon which I was told was not surprising in a new car. After 12000 miles it is still only 26 miles per gallon after a careful brim to brim test on a motorway. Nothing like the 42 mpg quoted in the brochure. I understand that I do not drive at a steady 55mph as the testers do so would have been satisfied with a figure in the mid thirties. The dealer is carrying out a road test later this week. I await his results with interest.

Faults:

- 1000 km after periodical maintenance service, the air conditioning stopped performing when driven uphill or downhill (desert temp 46 C deg!!). Service manager statement- Everything is OK

- 2000 km after peridical maintenance service battery had to be exchanged 2000 (was the battery checked for capacity?)

Service Manager statement: Not KIA responsibility.

- Asked 3 times to exchange wipers during periodical maintenance service.

- Maintenance service book disappeared during the service

- Steering wheel vibrating in the range 130 km/hr.

General Comments:

- Called 3 times the service manager, message taken but the call never returned.

- Never experience so bad service in Australia, Asia, Europe or America.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong on the car as of yet. We've only had it for a little over two months.

General Comments:

We were skeptical about buying a Korean made SUV; but after weighing the 10 year - 100,000 mile warranty; the drivability, fit and finish of the car, we were sold.

Faults:

Sorento LX – A tough mid-size four-wheel drive SUV that I use daily in the Canadian Oilfields. This is my third Kia and another ALMOST winner by KIA. I average two to three hundred kilometres per year and go through at least two vehicles per year. All vehicles have their faults which I can live with, but vehicle safety and vehicle control are always my main concern, and I have never had a complaint about KIA, but the Sorento has three very dangerous faults.

The stock tires are made for parking on dry pavement only. Being over width for aesthetics only - these wide tires make the Sorento’s steering heavy, unpredictable and extremely dangerous on icy, snow-covered, wet or muddy roads. Not a major problem to change to narrower tires, but a $1000.00 of additional cost for replacement tires, and always a battle for warranty when the tire size is changed.

Typical of most new vehicles, the Sorento has lots of blind spots, and unfortunately with small and totally inadequate outside mirrors, rear and side vision on the Sorento is dangerously impaired.

Then there is the 5-speed “Steptronic” Automatic Transmission A5SR1 designed with normal operation in drive and reverse, and an option to shift manually through all 5 gears.

There is a constant shudder in the transmission when starting off. Also there is no way to shut off the overdrive for pulling a trailer or slow driving, without shifting through all gears manually, and the manual shift option is painfully slow and not very responsive.

These items are annoying, but not dangerous. What is dangerous, and has caused me several visits to the ditch and other unplanned “Swamp Tours”, is the driver cannot select a gear such as fourth, third or second, and stay in it as with a normal automatic transmission or a manual transmission. In manual mode, if the Sorento’s wheel speed slows down, the transmission will shift down automatically, and if you are on ice or mud, the wheels will lock and slide. Being a short vehicle, the Sorento will be out of control faster than you can react, and now as your vehicle is either headed for the ditch or across the centre line, you have to deviate your attention to manually shift the transmission.

Don’t even think about operating this vehicle in Low Range four-wheel-drive in manual mode, as when you think you are under control, creeping along in a tough slippery spot, the wheels slow down, the transmission shifts to first, all four wheels lock, and the vehicle starts to slide.

If you think the limited slip rear differential will help, it won’t, it only makes control on slippery surfaces worse, and I see KIA has dropped it in 2006.

If you are planning to drive on California freeways without pulling a trailer, the automatic transmission would be great. If you need to know the vehicle is under control in all conditions, especially in four-wheel drive, and you want a Sorento, consider another transmission or look somewhere else for a vehicle.

General Comments:

Kia will be my next choice for a vehicle, but with a "real" transmission this time.