Kia Sportage running costs should be fairly good. There’s a choice between two- and all-wheel drive making this car a more viable alternative to more expensive rivals so Kia Sportage running costs should be affordable. The 1.7-litre diesel averages an impressive 54.3mpg, while servicing costs will be cheaper than Japanese or German rivals. The Sportage comes with a seven-year warranty which means that any unexpected costs are taken care of for a large part of the car’s life.

Kia Sportage CO2 emissions are competitive. This is a crossover with a green conscience so Kia Sportage emissions won’t be too high. The 2.0-litre lower-powered diesel emits 156g/km of CO2 emissions while the 1.7-litre diesel emits 135g/km – on 16-inch or 17-inch alloys – and the 1.6-litre petrol also performs fairly well with just 149g/km of CO2.

CO2 emissions are more disappointing for the higher powered 2.0-litre diesel at 158g/km for the manual option and a whopping 189g/km for the auto making this option almost an impossible choice for company car drivers.

Kia Sportage reliability has proved to be strong: the manufacturer has a good record and has performed well in customer satisfaction surveys over the life cycle of this generation Kia Sportage.

We expect this to continue and owners should be more than pleased with the seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, which should underscore the Kia Sportage reliability record.

There has only been one product recall which may affect versions of this Kia Sportage.

On 8 May 2014 a recall was announced to check cars manufactured between October 2010 and November 2011 for a possible fault with the driver’s seatbelt which may not operate correctly after a collision.