2016 Kia Sorento SXL V6 AWD

I had the opportunity this first week of April to check out the 2016 Kia Sorento SXL in Platinum Graphite thanks for DriveShop. I always love doing car reviews because seeing all of the different options available as they come out makes it really easy for me to choose a car that is right for my family. Sometimes you see a vehicle that looks really beautiful, but then you test drive it, and end up disappointed. Luckily, for anyone looking to get a Kia Sorento for their family, this is not one of the disappointments in my opinion.

Check out my initial reaction when I got the keys for the first time.

If you’ve seen any of my other vehicle reviews, you probably already know that my favorite part is the panoramic moon roof. It just adds so much life to the interior. I usually leave it open everyday to keep the inside feeling bright and big. There is nothing saying you need to keep your moon roof closed and have the car looking dark inside! I do the same with my personal car although there isn’t an awesome panoramic style moon roof in it.

Do you see how bright it is in the car? Look at all of that natural lighting! You can do your own photo shoot in the car.

The interior in this model is black nappa leather trim and ivory. Immediately after getting into this car, I was in love with how luxurious it looks and feels inside. The seats were so soft and cozy and the front AND middle seats all offer the controlled heated seat option with the front also offering air conditioned seats which is lux-urious! The steering wheel has a heated option as well which is great.

You can tell the difference in lighting when the moon roof is closed. Do yourself a favor, keep it open!

The way this car drove was amazing. The 6 cylinders gave great pick up and the car drove smoothly and very comfortably. The new age systems inside were a little difficult to navigate as far as all of the options available, but I am sure if I had longer then 1 week with the vehicle an actually read the manual I’d have it all down to a science.

The back up camera in this model is very efficient. It took a little getting used to, but it has an ACTUAL camera view on the top of the car that allows you to not only see the back of your vehicle like most, but also the front and sides. It gives you multiple camera options too depending on where you want to look. The car monitors and beeps at you to let you know if anything is in your path.

My one complaint with this car, and again, I did not read the manual, but I couldn’t figure it out if it is an actual option, is that I cannot control the rear heat/AC. The 3rd row has the option for the passenger to control the heat/AC back there which is great… but who usually sits in the 3rd row? Kids rights? I don’t want them controlling their own heating and cooling without me having the option to “fix” it while I am driving on the highway. I can foresee numerous fights ensuing over it which a parent is stuck listening to it without the option to fix it without stopping or pulling over. That is something that would bug me if I was the owner of this 3rd row SUV.

The trunk space is really, really tiny and it is expected with the compactness of this vehicle. But when I say small.. I mean really small. It barely fit an umbrella stroller in it when I took some friends for a play date to the local mall an utilized the 3rd row. But hey, take the good with the bad right? The inside was cozy and spacious even with the 3rd row up. Also, the trunk has a good amount of space when the 3rd row is down.

For the price of this specific model with all of the options, I think it’s a little high for a KIA in particular with a price tag of $46k, but this is fully loaded. I say for a KIA because before these models recently, KIA was seen as a cheaply made vehicle at an affordable price. It isn’t the case anymore as they’ve stepped it up a lot, but the resale value is currently not great on a KIA at the moment. As far as the interior that I was so excited about, the nappa leather seats leave a little to be desired because although they look beautiful and I’d probably pay extra to have them, they seem like they’d rip or tear easily for like “pleather” instead of real leather which is thicker. Here is the window sticker of this exact model with all of the options I spoke about;

19MPG avg is a little lower then I’d expect for a smaller SUV such as the Kia Sorento.

Here’s some more look into the details. Look at the gas and break, they look like straight out of a race car!

Overall, we had a great time with this car for the week. It proved to be able to take on a ny task we had for it, including BOYS! My son was trying to participate in the vlogging review of the car and he was able to stand straight up in the back which was cool for him.