Kia Sorento Suitability

[Roygriff]

We are hopefully going to buy a Swift Elegance 560 with a MTPLM of 1714kg and are considering a Kia Sorento as the towcar.
However I’ve noticed that the Kia is quite heavy and am wondering if it will struggle towing up normal A road gradients.
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks
Roy

 

[otherclive]

What’s the towing specifications of the Kia you are looking at? Have you looked at matching sites such as towcar.info. They can be helpful.
for a caravan of that weight you need a heavy car and the Sorento and Santa Fe have good track records. I had a generation 1 Sorento with 138 bhp able to tow up to 3500 kg and toured France extensively. I know the current generation don’t have such capabilty but by looking at the GVW and GTW you can deduce its maximum caravan weight.

 

[Dustydog]

I’ve had two over 14 years. A 138 BHP and then the Titan at 168 BHP auto. Tugged our heavy TA for 12 years without problems. Ask yourself why you still see so many Sorentos on site? Unburstable made to,tow vehicles. Not sophisticated but still super comfortable and reliable.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

I also had a 57 plate Sorento Titan,168BHP.
Excellent tow car

 

[Bluerocket]

Hi Roygriff
I have a 2018 KX2 Kia Sorento Auto towing an Eldiss Crusader TA with no problems
It has an MTPLM of 1800kgs but have to be careful loading the van so the hitch does not exceed 100kg. The manual version will give you 150kg hitch towing weight but to date I've had no issues towing this van

 

[JezzerB]

Great tow car .Funny you come from the opposite to many (not me)angle in that the higher the kerb weight the better the tow car.

 

[otherclive]

I don’t know if Kia are still upgrading the warranty back to a full 7 years on some approved used cars. When we bought our runabout Kia two years ago if a car was under two years old with full service history and under 20k miles (?) the warranty was reinstated to 7 years.

I bought my generation 1 Sorento to replace a three year old Discovery 2 that was troublesome. One thing that persuaded me to buy Kia wasn’t its UK three year 50k warranty ( never required) but in the USA Kia gave 10 years 100k. Now that’s confidence in your product. No wonder it was called “ Gods gift to caravaners “ 👍👍

 

[Roygriff]

Wow it looks like I should buy a Kia S thanks for all feedback 👍

 

[Buckman]

If you have your B+E driving licence it is an excellent tow car and used by many.

 

[Dustydog]

 

[Beachball]

I also had a 57 plate Sorento Titan,168BHP.
Excellent tow car
View attachment 1688

Stunning Car

 

[otherclive]

I often think "why did we not keep it?" The camp site was down at Cantobre before the new Millau viaduct was built. Hills to die for going down that area. And the Sorento could hold its own off road on the Salisbury Plain MTA.The only equivalent today is the Sasyaong Rexton. Old school 4x4 but again with excellent warranty and reputation.

 

[Tuningdrew]

We towed extensively with a Sorento KX-2 towing T A Swifts at around 1800Kg MTPLM. Best car/ tow car we've ever had including Volvo and Mercedes.

 

[otherclive]

We towed extensively with a Sorento KX-2 towing T A Swifts at around 1800Kg MTPLM. Best car/ tow car we've ever had including Volvo and Mercedes.

And plus1

 

[RogerL]

Wow it looks like I should buy a Kia S thanks for all feedback 👍

If you're considering a used car, it's worth remembering that the mkl1, up to 2009 is very different to the mk2 and subsequent - the mk1 is an old-school SUV with separate chassis and proper 4x4 system while the mk2 onwards are based on the Hyundai Santa Fe with much lighter integral body construction and FWD transmission with 4wd on-demand

 

[Hutch]

The Sorentos are fantastic, I have the Hyundai Sanste Fe slightly smaller, but at 5 year - 100k warranty fantastic, only on 70 k . Not going to change it, a goodall round car for us. 30 mpg around town, in Milton Keynes but less than 100 miles a week.

 

[Parksy]

After towing our Abbey Vogue 620 t/a with Pajeros for years, I bought a Mk1 2.5crtd Sorento for towing duties.
The MTPLM is 1625kg and the old Sorento tows it with ease.
I considered upgrading the tow car recently, but there's no real reason to change it for the foreseeable future.
The caravan has a roof mounted solar panel and a motor mover which takes up most of the payload, but everything we take with us fits easily into the Sorento.
I can't offer any advice about the Mk 2 Sorento but if they're anything like their predecessor they'll be great tow vehicles

 

[Beachball]

The Sorentos are fantastic, I have the Hyundai Sanste Fe slightly smaller, but at 5 year - 100k warranty fantastic, only on 70 k . Not going to change it, a goodall round car for us. 30 mpg around town, in Milton Keynes but less than 100 miles a week.

Well I am keeping my car it just had it first MOT 10,310 miles be more miles on it after this break in Wales

 

[Hutch]

Well I am keeping my car it just had it first MOT 10,310 miles be more miles on it after this break in Wales

BB, your posting is not relevant to the Original persons questions, sorry Oh.

 

[Beachball]

After towing our Abbey Vogue 620 t/a with Pajeros for years, I bought a Mk1 2.5crtd Sorento for towing duties.
The MTPLM is 1625kg and the old Sorento tows it with ease.
I considered upgrading the tow car recently, but there's no real reason to change it for the foreseeable future.
The caravan has a roof mounted solar panel and a motor mover which takes up most of the payload, but everything we take with us fits easily into the Sorento.
I can't offer any advice about the Mk 2 Sorento but if they're anything like their predecessor they'll be great tow vehicles

Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself into getting another car, however 'dont try to fix what isn't broken'. Keep what you have until you must change the car. It sounds like you have the perfect outfit that fits your present needs.

 

[Parksy]

Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself into getting another car, however 'dont try to fix what isn't broken'. Keep what you have until you must change the car. It sounds like you have the perfect outfit that fits your present needs.

You're right, the Sorento is a 2009 and apart from the aircon it runs perfectly.
I can't get the aircon regassed because there's a leak in it somewhere.
Cheaper to get it fixed than to change the car.

 

[Buckman]

You're right, the Sorento is a 2009 and apart from the aircon it runs perfectly.
I can't get the aircon regassed because there's a leak in it somewhere.
Cheaper to get it fixed than to change the car.

I have never owned a Sorento, but I seem to recall reading that there is an issue with an air con pipe corroding which causes the problem. I had a similar problem on our Shogun and it was a common fault. No fun going to France with no air con. LOL!

 

[Bluetonic]

We are hopefully going to buy a Swift Elegance 560 with a MTPLM of 1714kg and are considering a Kia Sorento as the towcar.
However I’ve noticed that the Kia is quite heavy and am wondering if it will struggle towing up normal A road gradients.
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks
Roy

I've just changed from a VW Tiguan to a Hyundai Santa Fe, close relation of the Kia sorento.
First outing this weekend and it's effortlessly towing our t/a bailey mptlm 1800kg

 

[Dustydog]

I've just changed from a VW Tiguan to a Hyundai Santa Fe, close relation of the Kia sorento.
First outing this weekend and it's effortlessly towing our t/a bailey mptlm 1800kg

13 years of Sorentos, 200 k and armchair driving. Son has a Mk 11 auto even better and unburstable. No wonder they all came with a 7 year warranty. Latterly the Santa Fe is basically the same. And yes. They are one of the few that can tug the heaviest of TAs, Built for abuse and rough terrain in Asia these are a brilliant tug for us UK boys👍👍👍And plenty of low down torque for effortless towing

 

[otherclive]

13 years of Sorentos, 200 k and armchair driving. Son has a Mk 11 auto even better and unburstable. No wonder they all came with a 7 year warranty. Latterly the Santa Fe is basically the same. And yes. They are one of the few that can tug the heaviest of TAs, Built for abuse and rough terrain in Asia these are a brilliant tug for us UK boys👍👍👍

My first one in 2004 only came with 3 years and 50k miles but I bought it because it had 100k and 10 years in the USA. And to my mind any company that can offer that warranty must have faith in their product. And my decision wasn't wrong.....best car and tug ever, plus very creditable real off road capability and times better than my D2 Disco. But there again anything would have been,