2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid Consumer Reviews
Like The Car, But Be Warned
I had driven a Hyundai Sonata hybrid for many years and loved the car. My wife was the pleased owner of a Kia, so when I saw a 2022 Sorento hybrid become available at a relatively good price, I decided to make the switch from my Sonata. The Sorento hybrid is an impressive vehicle. Despite the reports from some owners of disappointing fuel economy, I have been getting 40 MPG. Amazingly enough, that is even better than the mileage my Sorento hybrid had afforded, despite the Sorento being a larger vehicle. The gas station trips will be few and far between. The Sorento is also equipped with numerous interesting technological features. There are even two levels of lane-assist driving. Not something that I have elected to use, but it might come in handy for those wishing to take a cat nap while driving. I am pleased with the ride quality, and the six passenger seating comes in handy with the grandkids (though I would have preferred seven passenger bench seating). Now for the caveat. On my fifth day of ownership, I repeatedly tried to start the car without success. The interior lights worked, but the car was otherwise as dead as a doornail. I wound up contacting the Kia road service that was part of the warranty, fearing wisely that the car might ultimately have to be towed all the way to a Kia dealership. After the usual two hour wait, a tow truck did arrive. The driver tried, also without success, to jump start the car, then tried to shift the car to neutral so that it could be towed in the normal fashion. That brings us to the first major issue. The car was designed with an unusual rotary shift dial on the center console. Without power, there is no way to shift the car to neutral. Normally, such a vehicle will also be equipped with a "shift lock release" somewhere on the console or dash to compensate for this and to allow an emergency shift to neutral. But as far as anyone can tell (and that includes the local Kia dealers and the national Kia road service personnel), this car lacks that feature. That is a very fundamental design problem. To return to the narrative, the first tow driver departed and informed me that he had called for a second truck to come out. Well, after waiting another two hours, that second driver appeared and simply went through the same futile motions. I was then promised a third truck that would be properly equipped to deal with the issue. That truck did not arrive until late the following morning. The driver had to employ a wheel lift and dollies to transport the car to the dealership. Needless to say, most tow trucks do not come equipped with these mechanisms. The bottom line is that it was almost 24 hours before the car was to get to the Kia service center. But that was just the start of the odyssey. The dealership was initially unable to figure out the source of the problem. They admitted that the hybrid was so new that they were not really familiar with the technology of the vehicle. They had to coordinate for several days with engineers at Kia central headquarters before diagnosing the issue as a defective starter button. So that should be quickly rectifiable, right? Wrong. I was told that it would take around 5 business days to get a new switch! That is a clear indication that certain essential parts for this car are not being stocked regionally. But even so, one would think that the equipment would be sent for overnight delivery as a simple courtesy for Kia customers. Well, apparently not. As it turned out, it took nine days for the item to arrive. In total, I was without the Sorento for a couple of days short of three weeks. The one saving grace is that after about a week without the vehicle, the dealership provided a rental car through Enterprise. Without that, I would have been beside myself. Was this untoward experience an extraordinary occurrence? Probably. As I mentioned, I am otherwise impressed with the vehicle. But potential buyers should at least be aware of the issues I encountered.
Almost perfect
We purchased this vehicle just over a year ago, with the intent to enable long road trips with decent gas mileage. In the year we have owned our Sorento, it has delivered beyond expectations with regard to the driving experience. The seats are comfortable, the ergonomics conducive to long trips, and the technology is very useful. The adaptive cruise control is great at cutting fatigue, and the lane keep assist, lane follow assist and forward and reverse alerts work very well. We average 38 - 40 mpg, driving in hilly terrain in Southern California. Our ONLY complaint is (for us) a big one and may lead us to trade in the vehicle for another brand. Specifically, we repeatedly get a warning light reading "Refill Inverter Coolant" which is an alarming thing to see, and the placement of the light precludes use of most of the dash computer functionality. We have been to two separate dealers and they have both been unable to determine the cause of the light, nor have they been able to stop it from recurring. Both dealers indicated this "false warning light" is pretty common across Kia's hybrid lineup, but they had no idea how to rectify it. Several posts in owner forums indicate an over the air "fix" is scheduled, but is yet to happen (and the dealers are unaware of this "fix"). The latest incident was while traveling several hundred miles from home, through the Arizona desert. Pulling into the dealer with fingers crossed (hoping to NOT overheat something) we were again told the vehicle was fine and we could drive it the rest of the way home. If not for this alarming, recurring error message, I'd give this car a 5 star review. As it is, with today's hot used car market, we may well trade it in for a comparable Toyota product, a brand we have had great experience with over the years.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
2022 KIA Sorrento Hybrid EX
We are fascinated with the interiors and how the car exterior looks. Technology is paired with 2022. Ours have the sunroof and my wife loves it. The engine feels so much more powerful than the Mitsubishi Outlander 2018 PHEV we owned before. The major disappointment for us has been the mpg. It states 39 mpg city and 35 mpg highway and 37 mpg combined. Our combine has been about 28 mpg with 80% highway and 20% city. When we do 50/50 we may get around the 32 mpg combine. I was hoping to get at minimum 33 mpg given that the majority of my wife driving is highway and the vehicle advertisement states 35 mpg on highways. We are trying the smart setting to see if is better than Eco on the highways. If you drive mainly cities you may get up to 39 mpg. We paid about $48k out the door all included and traded of our 2018 car. MPG 3/5, exterior 5/5, interior 5/5, power 4/5.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Value
So far so good
Bought the Sorento after researching mid size SUV'S. Can't beat the price for the Kia warranty and the amenities that come with it. We got the hybrid and are more than happy with the mileage. My kids love the panoramic sunroof! With the 3rd row seats down (which they will be 99% of the time) there is plenty of cargo room and the rear seats have enough leg and head room for somebody over 6' tall. My only complaints at this time would be that the infotainment system has not been easy to connect my android phone to. Seems like I'm jumping thru a lot of hoops to get connected and navigate all of the screens. My other complaint would be the backup beeping. You cannot turn it down or off!! I understand the reasoning behind it, but think that it's unnecessary. My Dodge Durango is very quiet when it's running and doesn't need a backing beep so I don't buy the idea that an EV needs to make noise to warn people it's moving. And if it is necessary, why is the speaker in the grill, facing forward, and not in the rear bumper? We have only had it for two months now but so far, so good.
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value
Seeking hybrids with unfixable fault claiming it i
A 10 years warranty is worthless if the company fails to respond to complaints and issues. There is a known fault in the Kia Sorento hybrid concerning the warning light to refill the inverter coolant. There is no logical explanation as to why this warning light is lit and no means of fixing it according to the Kia Dealer who sold us the car. Trying to get an answer from customer care is akin to getting blood from a stone. after 22 attempts and requests at management level they failed to contact me. When I eventually spoke to the escalation team he told me to take it to another dealer and I did only to be told there was Noth8ng they can do either. Is it a software program or a safety issue. I have reported it to the National Road safety Agency. I await there actions. In the interim I await answers to written correspondence with both the Dealer and Kia. It seems when there is a problem one blames the other. Both are at fault in my book. I do say but for this issue we are delighted with the car. My tip before expecting a 10 year warranty read the reviews. I wish I did
- Safety
- Technology
- Performance
- Interior
- Comfort
- Reliability
- Value