• All three engines are reasonably frugal
• Plug-in hybrid is best choice for urbanites
• Diesel remains best for long-distance drivers

How much does it cost to run?

The plug-in hybrid Kia Sorento’s on-paper fuel economy figures are the most impressive. Kia says it can return more than 170mpg on the WLTP combined cycle – but that figure assumes you have a full battery and that you’re making the most of the car’s 35-mile electric range. In our testing, which included a mixture of stop-start town and county driving, we averaged 80.2mpg before the battery pack was depleted.

80

The diesel is still the one to have if you regularly need to cover huge distances. We averaged 42.1mpg on the motorway and would expect to see this figure increase on longer trips. Your fuel economy figures will tumble if you’re only using the car for short runs, though. Still, the Sorento’s 67-litre tank should give you a range of more than 500 miles.

Servicing and warranty

Kia’s warranty is one of the best in the business. Buyers get seven years or 100,000 miles over cover. The only manufacturers that can beat that are Toyota and Lexus with their 10-year warranty deal.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000 miles for the hybrid models and 20,000 miles for the diesel. Servicing can be pre-paid at purchase, either as a three-year or five-year plan for a reasonable sum. Kia dealers won’t charge the earth for routine maintenance, either.

Reliability

• No major maladies so far
• Enormous warranty adds confidence
• Huge service intervals for the diesel

Nothing screams ‘this is a reliable car’ like a seven-year warranty. It doesn’t seem like Kia’s faith is misplaced, either – the Sorento has proved itself reliable since it was launched in 2020. So far, there’s only been one safety recall relating to the car’s inability to recognise pedestrians.

There have also been a couple of mechanical recalls for the oil pump fitted to the diesel engine’s eight-speed automatic gearbox, but it only affected a small number of cars. There were a couple of issues with the car’s fuel delivery system, too – one relating to a leak on the diesel car’s low pressure fuel line and one relating to some shonky fuel tank plastic from a temporary supplier.

Again, the number of cars affected were small. The first fault plagued around 300 cars, while the second only troubled 14 vehicles before Kia nipped it in the bud.