Riding Large In The 2012 Kia Sorento EX AWD

Forget riding dirty. I was hauling 7 peeps in that thing!

Man, this thing worked out with perfect timing for my family to visit us. With 1 car that fits the 4 of us only, I was a tad worried. The offer came to review this 7 seater and I wondered how much room you can really have in an SUV comfortably.

We picked up 2 family members and all of their luggage with absolutely no problems. Tons of space and it was an easy ride home for all 6 of us. I simply folded the extra seat in the back down and laid their luggage on top with my oldest daughter sitting in the seat next to it. I should say passed out, because it was so much of a non bother, that she fell fast asleep. I will say the 2nd back seat has limited leg room so its more for a tween.

The Kia Sorento EX gets great gas mileage thanks to the ECO mode; averaging 28 MPG on the highway and 21 in the city. The one i reviewed was a 4 cyl engine, so no get up and go balls if you are into drag racing. It has an all wheel drive with locking center differential (aka- it helps if you like drifting corners). It does have airbags in every nook and cranny; dual front, front seat mounted, and side curtain. Car seats are no problem with the LATCH feature.

The luxury features (at least for me) were Power everything; windows, door locks, outside mirrors, and even the seats. Although the seats had memory position which is my uber favorite thing ever. Press one button and your seat adjusts to your favorite setting everytime you get it. Perfect if you have a taller/shorter spouse. The Kia Sorento also has Bluetooth wireless so you can stream your music off your phone/ipod/ipad. I think my second favorite feature is one every car should have, and that is the back up camera. Kia provided one in color, I am not sure why but a black and white camera bothers me.

A few extras this model had were heated leather seats, auto dimming mirror with homelink, power folding mirrors (great in a car wash), power passenger seat, Navigation System with Sirius Traffic, and Infinity Surround Sound.

There was one thing I did not like about this car. The keyless entry & start. I know that seems like a cool feature, and it is…until you lose the key. Then what do you do? How do you get in and start the car? There is no “spare” key that you can just stick in and go. You are SOL (pardon my french) should you forget that key somewhere. I would rather a purse full of keys than have to tattoo that key on me. Especially with kids.

The base model Kia Sorento retails for (around) $27,650 and the model I reviewed was $32,300. Overall, it was not a bad vehicle. Kia has come a long way since the Sportage that I wanted in 1999. I would have slapped myself for buying it back then, but now, this Sorento is not to shabby. Well worth the test drive. Go check it out at your local dealer, you don’t have to get all the extra’s either, the base model is just as good!

I was provided a vehicle to test drive for a week. No monetary compensation was received, but gas and some insurance was provided. Opinions are 100% my own.

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