What Did We Learn After Testing a Kia Sorento Over 40,000 Miles? It Wasn't Very Reliable

Welcome to Car and Driver. We have a fleet of vehicles that we test for around a year or so. We call it a long-term test, but where our differs from others is that we aim to put on 40,000 miles. This aggressive driving cycle includes things like cross-country road trips and experiences in real Michigan winter. We believe it should reveal what your new car is like to live with every day and highlight any potential issues you might experience during the first few years of ownership. We did just that with this 2022 Kia Sorento. And in this video, we're going to go over what we liked, what we didn't like, and what you should expect if you were to buy one. The last Sorento we subjected to this test was in 2016. And boy, have things changed. This generation of the Sorento is significantly more attractive. And it also offers a breadth of powertrain options, including a entry-level, plain-Jane, non-turbocharged four-cylinder, a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and so on. We, of course, being car and driver, went with the most powerful option available, a 281-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder because more power equals more better, right? This SX trim level, though, wasn't the top of the line but still had nice creature comforts and features like 20-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, wireless charging, and a 10.3-inch center touchscreen. Altogether, its price was just under $42,000. Competent three-row SUVs at this size and price and with these kind of features can be really uncommon. And that's what makes the Sorento so appealing. Not only does it look nice inside and out, it's actually really usable and functional on long drives. Speaking of, we drove this from Michigan to Pikes Peak in Colorado to Los Angeles and back and countless other 100-mile journeys. And we found lots to like during that process, especially with the powertrain. This kind of horsepower paired with a quick-shifting dual-clutch transmission makes for really enjoyable acceleration. When we first tested this, we got 60 miles an hour in six seconds. And that can be really fun, like on freeway on-ramps or during the regular commute. As for fuel economy, we averaged 23 mpg over the course of 40,000 miles. That's one mpg shy of the EPA's combined rating for this vehicle. That's also better than what we got out of the 2016 Sorento. And that one had a V6. Smooth. Unfortunately, though, the good news largely stops there. Within the first 10,000 miles of our test, the logbook started getting filled up with complaints about the engine and transmission. One editor noted that while on the freeway, the engine had trouble maintaining power and it was bucking and coughing, but there weren't any warning lights. He pulled over, turned off, and the problems went away. And we weren't able to reproduce that exact situation. As for the transmission, other editors noted occasional shutters at low speed, like in stop-and-go traffic or like in a parking lot. They happened infrequently at first, but they got worse over time. So at the 16,000-mile scheduled service, we complained to the dealer who performed a software update. The engine problems returned, though, after 20,000 miles, this time with a check engine light. We went to the dealer who found a faulty ignition coil and replaced it under warranty. The transmission issues were still happening, though, so we complained to the dealer again, and they replaced the trans fluid and performed another software update. These fixes, though, only exacerbated the issue to the point where it felt like the Kia was being driven by somebody whose first time it was using a manual transmission. It even stalled on us. So we went right back to the dealer, and after some back and forth, they replaced the transmission with a refurbished unit under warranty. Ultimately, Kia issued a recall for some 70,000 Kia Sorentos and K5s equipped with this transmission for transmission-related issues. Our Sorento would have been in this recall, but our repair was complete before this recall notice went out. That repair took 24 days, by the way, and our service department's poor communication didn't really make things easier. But the good news is that this new refurbished transmission largely fixed the shuttering issues. Well, as much as you can expect with the style of dual-clutch transmission, so you can still get the occasional shutter in low-speed stop-and-go traffic. The powertrain problems, though, didn't stop there. At 34,000 miles, we discovered a leaking oil pan gasket. That was repaired under warranty. But right as we were about to wrap up our long-term test, the Sorento started showing signs of overheating, with a warning even appearing and disappearing occasionally from the dash. You could also feel it pull power while you were, like, accelerating on a freeway on-ramp. So back to the dealer it went. The culprit was a coolant valve remaining closed due to an internal failure. The thermal management system was replaced under warranty, and the problems went away. Beyond the powertrain issues, we had four scheduled service visits, which cost us roughly $850. We had a couple out-of-pocket expenses, though, when they add up. So we ended up scoring the front rotors. We think that happened when one of our editors took the steep drive down Pike's Peak. We resurfaced the front rotors for around $350. This reduces the thermal capacity of the front rotors and increases the likelihood of scoring in the future. As for winter, this thing did great. We put on a set of Vredstein Wintertrek Pro tires. The set cost us around $1,200. And we had no issues right up until we hit a pothole and had to replace a wheel and tire. That was roughly $930. And then a little bit later, we had a crack in the windshield, and replacing that cost around $770. Lastly, late into the test, the infotainment display started showing delays when using Apple CarPlay. This also happened on my family's personal Kia Telluride, and the fix was straightforward. It required going to Kia's consumer site, downloading a pretty big update file. In the case of the Sorento, it was about 37 gigs, and letting it update. In the Sorento, it took about 27 minutes, 25 minutes. In our Telluride, it took hours. Our experience with the Sorento's powertrain was abysmal, plainly. But this is also a sample size of one and not the only vehicle in our fleet with these kind of issues. Hell, our CT5V Blackwing's engine grenaded itself during testing. You can read more about that on the site. Our experience, too, is also an outlier compared to other Kias that we've ran through this test, including that 2016 Sorento. Also, a Kia Carnival and a Telluride. On the other hand, we have had drivability issues with Hyundai and Kia models equipped with dual-clutch transmissions, including the 2017 Kia Soul we tested for 40,000 miles. Overall, though, and in a way, it kind of highlights how generous Kia's warranty coverage is. From a five-year, 60,000-mile basic warranty to a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, we got good mileage out of those. Overall, we like the Sorento's design, its value, usability, and ride comfort. But if we were to do it again, our experience leaves us thinking twice about this powertrain.