2024 Kia Sorento S diesel review

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2024 Kia Sorento S diesel

When we start to consider the best choice for a new model, we often find ourselves going all agog over the top specification. I do it all the time, telling myself the best example of a car is only when every possible box is ticked. Only then is it worthy of consideration.

But the fact of the matter is, there’s often a sharper and better-value deal to be had lower down the ladder. And as new generation and updated models continue to bristle with the latest and greatest in terms of features and designs, lower-cost models can still pack a big wallop in terms of standard equipment.

The days of the true ‘poverty pack’ car are long gone, I think, in terms of safety, technology and features. Take one look at this Kia Sorento in its most basic S form, but equipped with the frugal all-wheel-drive diesel powertrain. It’s reasonably low cost for a seven-seat family SUV with four driven wheels, but doesn’t feel like you’re missing out on too much. Let’s sweat the details.

How much is the Kia Sorento?

With $54,090 drive-away on the sticker, the price of the Kia Sorento S diesel has been bumped up by a little over $3000 with the current new-look facelift.

Opting for diesel power (in comparison to the front-wheel-drive petrol V6) adds $3000 to the asking price, while stepping up to the better equipped Sport model will throw close to another three gorillas into the equation for a $60,090 drive-away asking price with a diesel engine.

Stuff we miss out on here, in comparison to Sport, includes an electrochromatic rear-view mirror, dual-zone climate control, 10-way electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, privacy glass, 18-inch alloy wheels, native navigation in the infotainment system, and third-row air-conditioning vents and controls. The front passenger sunvisor also misses out on an illuminated vanity mirror, along with being able to be extended.

The Sorento S does get 17-inch alloys (with a full-sized spare), six-way manual adjustment for the driver’s seat, cloth trim, automatic LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, electric-folding side mirrors, a 12.3-inch infotainment display, manual air conditioning, and push-button start.

The only safety features we miss here are the low-speed parking collision avoidance in reverse, as well as the remote parking function and more advanced Safe Exit Assist feature.

How big is the Kia Sorento?

We’ve got cloth seats with manual adjustment, and no whiff of nappa leather from the top-spec GT-Line grade. But while this grade of Sorento might look and feel a little more demure overall, it still proved to be plenty comfortable and fit for the purpose of family hauling.

The cloth seating material doesn’t feel like bargain-bin stuff, with some variety in colours and design to break up the look and keep it slightly interesting. They also balance the needs of broadness, comfort and a little bit of bolstering well enough.

Ergonomically, there’s enough adjustment as well, including tilt and reach adjustment through the steering column, to feel plenty comfortable and dialled in from behind the wheel.

Up front, the inclusion of things like push-button start, dial-style gear selector and big infotainment display makes the Sorento S feel like anything but a travelling salesman’s special, and allows the interior to feel modern, well equipped and with a clean-looking design.

Along with two USB-C power outlets up front, one of which is switchable between smartphone mirroring or as a dedicated power supply, there is a well-sized, lidded storage nook for things like phones, keys and wallets. Two cupholders sit alongside the rotary gear and drive-mode selectors, and you have a big centre console for any extra bits and bobs.

In the second row, you get a good amount of space available for fitting in kids’ seats and long-limbed adults. There’s tilt and sliding functionality with a 60/40 split, air vents at the back of the centre console, and a single 12V power outlet. If you want USB power for the second row, you’ll need to climb a few steps up the ladder.

But with cupholders in the doors, and two more in a folding central armrest, big door bins and space to burn, the second row is really well suited for a mix of kids, adults and in-betweeners to be comfortable and well accommodated in the back.

If you have baby seats fitted, access to the third row is a little trickier. The smart catapult-style moving seat you get in a Nissan Pathfinder (which admittedly starts from a much higher price point) does a better job in this regard. But kids might be able to squeeze their way into the third row with some manipulation of seating position. When there aren’t kids’ seats fitted, a one-touch button provides good access to the third row.

Permanently fitting kids’ seats into the rearmost seats might not be the best idea unfortunately. There is less forward and side visibility here, especially for smaller humans, and the third row is lacking any kind of airbag coverage.

On the plus side, the amount of space in the third row is decent, provided those in the second row shift their seating position forward a chunk to help accommodate. There are ISOFIX points in the back here (for four pairs in total) and top tether points (for five overall), which is good for flexibility of moving seats around if you so desire.

There are some cupholders in the third row, along with a 12V power outlet. However, this spec doesn’t get third-row air-conditioning vents or controls.

With all seven seats in play, the boot space of the Sorento is a small but usable 179 litres. This could fit a smaller run of groceries, or you could pile up the kids’ school backpacks. With the third row folded flat into the floor, you’ve got a sizable 608L, which is plenty of room for big suitcases, kids’ pushbikes, golf clubs, and other cumbersome things.

Does the Kia Sorento have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

The base-specification Kia Sorento gets an upgraded 12.3-inch infotainment display in 2024. It replaces the old 8.0-inch system, and is the same size across the range. It’s missing some of the features and functionality in this specification, but this entry-level screen rivals (or exceeds) the top-spec infotainment of some rivals.

The Sorent S gets wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, AM/FM/digital radio, and a seven-speaker sound system. There’s no native navigation, but that’s not such a great loss for most buyers who will stay in mobile range and use things like Waze or Google Maps.

This new operating system also syncs up with Kia’s companion app Kia Connect, which allows for features like location tracking, remote start and climate control, vehicle status, and navigation assistance.

Along with a bigger screen, this new operating system looks and feels much better overall. The menu structure is simple to approach and understand, and the quality of the screen is great, especially at this price.

The infotainment display is matched by a more basic set-up in front of the driver, which on first impressions does look quite impressive in terms of the size and design. There’s only a 4.0-inch LCD trip computer in the middle here, which is flanked by pseudo-digital speedometer and tachometer gauges. It works well enough and gives you all of the pertinent information you need.

Is the Kia Sorento a safe car?

The 2024 Kia Sorento keeps a five-star ANCAP safety rating that comes from testing back in 2020 and still applies to the current updated model.

Adult occupant protection is rated at 82 per cent, while child occupant protection sits at 85 per cent. Vulnerable road users (pedestrians) perhaps don’t fare as well with a 63 per cent rating, while the onboard safety and driving aids get a solid 89 per cent score.

What safety technology does the Kia Sorento have?

Despite being a base model, Kia Australia has chosen to include almost all of the available active safety equipment in the Sorento S.

Autonomous emergency braking is a relatively modern variant with pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection, and seems to be well tuned to not throw any false positives during regular driving.

And because the Sorento here is a facelift of a four-year-old model, it doesn’t have the same technology (and associated problems) that newer models have. Here, I’m talking about overt and overly active traffic sign recognition and driver monitoring systems, which can quickly draw the ire of whoever is in the driver’s seat.

However, the big omission here is low-speed autonomous braking in reverse, which can help avoid possible bingles (or worse) in places like driveways and car parks. And while we still have a version of safe exit warning here, which warns you of incoming traffic as you open a door, it doesn’t have the ability to temporarily lock the door and stop it from being opened into traffic or people stepping out into an incoming car.

How much does the Kia Sorento cost to run?

Servicing a larger, diesel-powered SUV can work out to be a little more expensive than others, and that is the case here. Three years of capped-price servicing costs $1398, which is an average of $466 per year, while a five-year total of $2632 costs an average of $526 per year.

This isn’t the cheapest in the segment, and looks noticeably more expensive in comparison to a hybrid Toyota Kluger over the first five years, with Toyota’s low-price servicing coming in at $1325 over five years.

Insurance costs stay relatively low, thanks mostly to the lower asking price of this model. Our quote for a diesel 2024 Kia Sorento S costs $1612 per year to insure. This is a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Is the Kia Sorento fuel-efficient?

One area where the new Sorento shines is through efficiency. While the Hyundai/Kia 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine has been around for some time, this new Smartstream model has been updated quite substantially. It’s now based upon an alloy block instead of the old cast-iron block, has changes to the fuel system and compression ratio, and has swapped a timing chain for a timing belt.

This updated engine, which has improved efficiency over the old block, is also matched to a more efficient dual-clutch eight-speed automatic gearbox. Compared to the previous-generation model, claimed efficiency has improved from 7.2 litres per 100 kilometres to 6.0L/100km.

The old model was already fairly frugal, but adding in a further 17 per cent drop is impressive. Against that claim, we saw an average of 7.2L/100km, which included lots of highway driving fully laden with family and a chock-a-block boot. We also did a chunk of suburban driving, but the majority was along highways with a full complement on board.

What is the Kia Sorento like to drive?

The first thing to talk about with this base-specification Sorento is the ride quality. It’s great, and having plush-feeling 17-inch alloy wheels instead of up to 20 inches of diameter in other specs adds an extra element of comfort and compliance.

These lower-diameter wheels might not cut the same kind of figure as when you’re rollin’ on dubs, but the advantage of ride quality needs to be considered, along with being more resistant to gutter rash and being cheaper to replace.

And while the combination of a frugal diesel engine and dual-clutch transmission is impressive for efficiency, it also makes for a nice, easy and enjoyable driving experience. There’s a big dose of torque available relatively low in the rev range, which allows for easy, unstressed progress from a standing start.

Peak power comes in at low RPM, and the engine feels much happier and stronger in the mid-range.

It’s also an impressively quiet and composed diesel engine, not exhibiting as much noise, clatter and vibration as you might expect. A petrol engine is still silkier, but the diesel is far from being offensive.

It all combines to be a well-sorted, comfortable and controlled driving experience that is right amongst the best in this segment. Driver assistance features don’t get in the way of driving as much as others, and they can be turned off relatively easily through the steering wheel buttons.

The dual-clutch automatic gearbox is good as well. These kinds of transmissions can sometimes spoil an otherwise friendly party with jerky and surging characteristics at low speeds, but Kia has managed to tune a fairly natural and linear feel into this set-up.

If you go looking for it, and you’re taking on a particularly tight and hilly reverse-parallel park, then you will feel the difference between this and a good torque converter transmission. But on the whole, this feels particularly good.

Throw in the sure-footed feeling of a good on-demand all-wheel-drive system, the assured feeling you get from a full-sized spare wheel in the boot, and solid roadholding characteristics, and the Sorento doesn’t really put a foot wrong on the road.

Can a Kia Sorento tow?

A 2000kg braked towing capacity is quite solid, and the combination of a torquey engine and all-wheel drive makes it even better for real-world useage.

Towing up to that amount will require a trailer with some kind of braking system, otherwise you’re limited (like almost everything else) to 750kg. But two tonnes puts some things like motorbike trailers, campers trailers and small caravans into possibility.

Should I buy a Kia Sorento?

Your heart wants the Sorento GT-Line, I know. So does mine. But after a week of driving this humble base-specification Sorento, I came away finding it hard to put chinks in the armour. Having no airbags or air vents in the third row means this is more of an occasional-use seven-seater, but also a five-seater with a gigantic boot.

Second-row air vents and proper climate control would be nice, and the argument for stepping up a little higher to the Sorento Sport specification is there. But the stellar ride quality and general excellence of the car mean for most tastes and needs, this Sorento S will be a perfect fit.

How do I buy a Kia Sorento? The next steps.

If you want some extra niceties on the inside, as well as a few techy bells and whistles, start looking further up the ladder. It goes all the way up to a nearly $70,000 GT-Line model, while the more expensive hybrid variant will be making a return. But like I have intimated a few times, there is so much to like about this lower-cost variant.

The next step on the purchase journey is to check the Kia website for stock of your preferred Sorento variant. You can also find Kias for sale at Drive Cars For Sale.

We strongly recommend taking a test drive at a dealership before committing because personal needs and tastes can differ. Find your nearest Kia dealer via this link. We’d also recommend test-driving the Toyota Kluger GX, especially with the petrol hybrid powertrain.

If you want to stay updated with everything that’s happened to this car since our review, you’ll find all the latest news here.

The post 2024 Kia Sorento S diesel review appeared first on Drive.

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