Kia Sportage

Price Paid:  $0.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
2010 Kia Sportage LX V6 4WD

Strengths:
Comfortable, MPG, Smooth Ride, Roomy, Overall Look

Weaknesses:
Acceleration

Summary:
I've had this car for a month and so far so good. It wasn't my first choice but I got a great deal and I'm very happy with it. It's a smooth ride for an SUV. I've been averaging 25.5 mpg, which surprised me but most of my commute is on the freeway. I think it's a very cute and comfortable car. The real test will be to see how it handles on the snow and ice. The only complaint that I have is it takes a bit longer to accelerate and shift up then I'd like. If you're looking for a small comfortable SUV definitely consider the Sportage.

Price Paid:  $25000.00 from Kia Kamloops

Year / Model Reviewed:
2010 kia sportage 4wd 4cyl

Strengths:
roomy, solid, nice look, great on wintery roads and icy road conditions

Weaknesses:
acceleration, cannot adjust seats to make comfortable for long trips, not enough motor for the vehicle, when backing up motor wants to quit, vibrates in 3rd gear (manual transmission), no its not the driver! Service dept. can't find the problem. head rests could be a lot different, makes your head lean fwd, when you want to sit up straighter - I have adjsuted them, they won't go back far enough.

Summary:
I had a Kia Rio5 and loved it, just needed a bigger vehicle to travel with. Other than too small of a motor for the Sportage SUV - A wonderful vehicle - just don't go smaller that a 6cyl. motor.

Price Paid:  $22000.00 from Knox

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 Sportage LX v6

Strengths:
solid build without any frills, this car doesnt try too hard like some. Good power output compared to 4cyl comp. Slick duarble interior. Safety features all rounder. Looks hot in black with side rails and nudge bar plus built in roof rails. Heaps of space all around the interior. Great exterior sizing, not too big or small. Off roading options, tailgate doesnt have the extra weight of the spare wheel (phew!). Flares on the V6 model look sporty along with the twin exhaust - no other car had all this for under $50,000. We looked at the RAV4, the Forrester, the CR-V, the ML range from 2000-2005, Fords territory, Holdens Captiva and so on but the best buy was by far the Sportage, and my wife loves it. I hope it serves us well as much research went into its purchase, I wasn't even goint to look at a Kia until I kept getting forwarded to it by reviewers of cars. The owner reviews sealed the deal for me because people will let you know if a product is under par, and this one clearly wasn't. I guess if youre not looking for heaps of kudos on the road, aren't trying too try hard to impress people and just want a solid performer with excellent breed quality, buy the Sportage V6 option, its better than anything else for that price by far. How many SUV's can claim a race bred platform with a history of dominance throughout the 90's in off road racing....Maybe the Forrester?
Look we could have bought an AMG ML and topped out a bit, but we didn't see the increse in quality comparitive to the increase in price. The AMG should tecnically fly and go under water for the price they ask fot it compared to our Sportage. Why would you bother?

Weaknesses:
Id like a little better response from the throttle, its a little too slow for me, but its my wifes car and she just loves the darn thing. Needs to track in a straight line on the freeway, not a big deal, just annoying. We get 500kms per tank which costs $65.00 which I think is a little excessive, but its a trade off for owning a 4cylnder slow poke.

Summary:
All things considered the Sportage is No1 unless you want to drag sports cars or do heavy off road work, but you wouldn't look at this car if that was your priority. This was the best all rounded vehicle in its class and also one of the lesat expensive. I've always come from the school of thought that you get what you pay for, but I've also been dodged by paying a premium for a product that just hasn't delivered. Sometimes you need to buy with your head, and your head will probably lead you to the Sportage.

Price Paid:  $17000.00 from Brewbaker Kia

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 KIA/Sportage

Strengths:
Price and features. LX, basic model has all features needed. Power windows, locks, and remote outside mirror controls. 8-way adjustable seat is great! I like the manual controls that do not require electronics that often fail. The wife and sons like the rear window that raises without raising the tailgate. Very comfortable vehicle! 29mpg on the Interstate and 20mpg in the city.

Weaknesses:
None

Summary:
Great value. We used to take a Chevy Venture on vacations. The family prefers the new, smaller KIA. Comfortable, stylish, and affordable. Plenty of power for a 2.0L 4-cylinder. 29mpg on the highway and 20 mpg in town.

Similar Products Used:
2003 Chevy Venture Warner Brothers edition and a 1994 Jeep Cherokee.

Price Paid:  $17500.00 from Charles Hurst Moters

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 XS

Strengths:
Strengths would have to be compact, sturdy. Good use of the rear split doors & luggage net. Goog seating arrangments and a good use of a fold down front passenger seat if you have a little office work to do on a long journey. There are compartments for verious nick nacks. Also have the advantage to lock all the doors fron the passenger seat can be handy when the little mights try to escape.
On the plus side change the wheels for better roadholding to 17" and drop down one size in tyres you will feel a bit more bumps but believe me it is worth the handling takes a new edge to the car.

Weaknesses:
Does not do what it says it can do on the tin sort of speak. No folding mirrors. No computer. Not enough hidden compartments as the ones supplyed at crampy and unles you want to hold a bag of sweets in them as they are to small for anything else.
The drivers side electric window could have had a little more thought put into it as it has a auto down but as we all know an auto `up` with a safety sensor to detact objects would have made all the difference, while trying to juggle one last thing as you drive away.
If you want to throw you sportage into a corner be prepared for the roll & if not used to this type of car you might end up with being caught out half way round the bend.

Summary:
trying to make a discission on the Sorent or sportage had me stumped but I ended going for the sportage which I thought would be my answer to the hilly area where I live and beat the bad weather conditions we got in this country (Northern Ireland).
I dont know if I got a bad car or it was just my luck as they say, but from the second day of owning the sportage it smoked heavly from the exhusts to the point my passengers thought it was on fire. For the next few months it smoked on and off and as the dealer didnt belive me I decided to take videos on my phone to back up my story, I belive I am not the only person to have this problem and can supply videos to support this issue.
I was on a grassy slope with my children in the car and decided to try the 4X4 only to panic when the car locked up & we thought someone had run into the side of us as the car rolled on its tyres from side to side. The dealer said it was a flaw with the 4X4 as the drive train was twisting as the wheels could not move & when the drivetrain unlocked that is what was throwing the car from side to side. So my mind is made up by saying it is NOT a 4X4 it is in fact a 4X2. While parked I put it into 4X4 & the same thing happened again only it was on lose gravel so the wheels should move easiy, if I moved the steering wheel in any direstion the sportage felt like an elistic band tighten and then let go. It dosn't do much for my confindance with this car.
To rub sault in the wounds my heater stopped working and only blow cold air so even when I put it up to `high` it had heat but only slighty, not what you would expect from a popular car.
I have had this car 8months and I can say I have been in the dearlers 8 if not 15 times about these issues and they are stumped. I left it in for 2wks and when I got it back the hose from the terbo came off as someone had joined a clip together and over tightened it hence it did not hold the pipe in place.
The only other thing I can say about the Kia Sportage is although it is 138bhp it felt more like 120bhp as there is not the lift or pull I expected from it. I have a trailer (single axel)& I feel that although it pulls it it could do a lot better. But on the plus side it could be the probllems I am having with the smoke that is in some way part of the pulling problem. If I came to a juntion & I wanted to pull out on a rolling start at about 10mph to 15mph. I found it didnt have the legs to pull the car out onto the main road. It would either stall or worse still I had to come to a halt select 1st gear and then move out.
More importantly I feel the fact that it does not have an on board computer to select distance traveled, fuel used, etc etc is a massive let down in a car of todays standards. Another nick nack or gadget would be to have roll back mirrors when the car or wanabe jeep alarm is selected. In fact Im surprised they didnt put in a ashtray `full` sign as you seem to have more of what you don't need, rather then what you do need.

Similar Products Used:
Rav4, X-Trail