Off Topic New 2021 Kia Sorento
- Thread starter JC707
- Start date
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- Canada
The buttons in the cargo area for folding down the seats is a nice touch. I don't care for the pano roof but it is one thing the CX-9 lacks. Wireless charging pad is nice, and I like that the cubby has a lid. I personally don't know how I feel about the interior lol. The pressed crosshatch design on the silver trim pieces is weird. The seating areas of the seats are really nice, but the backs of the seats look very out of place. I get that the hard plastic is more practical if you have kids in carseats, but it just doesn't look good (especially with the brown leather). Cargo netting for the rear seat pockets is a bit of an eyesore for me too.
One thing I might like about it is how the AWD system changes according to drive mode selected. Normally it has a 95/5 front/rear split. Switch it to Comfort and it goes to 80/20. Switch it to Sport and it goes to 65/35. I'd want to drive it to see how it feels for sure. This is an area that I wish Mazda would improve on - not drive modes in particular, but making more use of the Sport button aside from holding gears longer. Change the throttle mapping so it's noticeably more sensitive, tweak the electric steering a bit. I would love for the Sport button to change the front to rear bias or enable torque vectoring or something.
I found this article that goes into more detail on the Sorento, including a 0-60 time of 7.6s.
First Drive: 2021 Kia Sorento
Bigger, bolder and price to sell, the redesigned Kia Sorento pushes the segment bar upwards
Overall, I think I'd still keep my CX-9 over the Sorento, mainly because I don't know how the Sorento drives yet, but also because I really don't care for the exterior styling. The CX-9 is still way out in front when it comes to the exterior, IMO.
As much as Hyundai/Kia have made huge strides in the last decade I still am afraid to touch them esp if I’m keeping the vehicle for long term. I had a Kia in the 90s and that car was atrocious and I said never again! Of course they’re better now and while they’re close, still not on par with the Japanese engineering & reliability (Toyota/Honda/Mazda - not Nissan though). Better materials have been used as of late in their SUVs but I still find a lot of cheap materials in their cabin and that’s also why they can sell their vehicles cheaper (maybe saying they’re cheaply mass produced is harsh but that‘s my take on their vehicles. Of course owners rave about both brands...
I have a friend who had an Elantra and after 3-4yrs had the engine replaced and even though under warranty, still you deal with the hassles and headaches. I have yet to experience this with a Toyota or Mazda (never owned a Honda yet). You also hear certain recalls with Hyundai/Kia after several years mostly pertaining to their engines. Not to say that you’re likely going to experience a lot of reliability issues with their vehicles as they back them up with longer than normal industry warranties. Just my personal preference that I wouldn‘t buy one for long term...
Very valid points. A note on Honda, I've been a Honda guy for over 20+ years and quality seems to have gone downhill lately. We own a 2018 Honda Odyssey and I've just receieved my 8th recall notice. This last one was the dagger. Maybe I screwed up buying a 1st year model.
We had a new Highlander back in 2016 and with 2 kids it was doable but the 3rd baby made it very hard with the captain's seats in the 2nd row as we had to have the 3rd row seats up to accommodate 1 child. The cargo area was tiny, like basically not there if the 3rd row was being used. It also had quite a few recalls.
We sold the highlander and got the 2018 Odyssey. Room wise it was awesome and also very comfortable. But we are so over the van look. With the cx-9 we will get 2nd row bench seating and 2 of our kids are now in small booster seats so all 3 should fit fine on the 2nd row bench leaving the 3rd row down with a ton of cargo space.
The final dagger for the new 2021 Kia Sonata was the boss (my wife). She said "I'm a registered nurse and all my co workers drive BMWs and Mercedes SUVs to work, sorry I can't do the Kia". I said well we aren't made of money so the European SUVs can't be had for us, but she said Mazda CX9 is one she can definitely take to work and loves the look. CX9 here we come.
We had a new Highlander back in 2016 and with 2 kids it was doable but the 3rd baby made it very hard with the captain's seats in the 2nd row as we had to have the 3rd row seats up to accommodate 1 child. The cargo area was tiny, like basically not there if the 3rd row was being used. It also had quite a few recalls.
We sold the highlander and got the 2018 Odyssey. Room wise it was awesome and also very comfortable. But we are so over the van look. With the cx-9 we will get 2nd row bench seating and 2 of our kids are now in small booster seats so all 3 should fit fine on the 2nd row bench leaving the 3rd row down with a ton of cargo space.
The final dagger for the new 2021 Kia Sonata was the boss (my wife). She said "I'm a registered nurse and all my co workers drive BMWs and Mercedes SUVs to work, sorry I can't do the Kia". I said well we aren't made of money so the European SUVs can't be had for us, but she said Mazda CX9 is one she can definitely take to work and loves the look. CX9 here we come.
That’s also true...Hyundai/Kia’s reputation even as much as they try to move upmarket with better quality interior materials and design will always carry that image of “budget” vs the other brands and I think that’s why Hyundai has the Genesis brand to differentiate (same with Honda’s Acura, Toyota’s Lexus, VW’s Audi, Nissan’s Infiniti, etc.).Very valid points. A note on Honda, I've been a Honda guy for over 20+ years and quality seems to have gone downhill lately. We own a 2018 Honda Odyssey and I've just receieved my 8th recall notice. This last one was the dagger. Maybe I screwed up buying a 1st year model.
We had a new Highlander back in 2016 and with 2 kids it was doable but the 3rd baby made it very hard with the captain's seats in the 2nd row as we had to have the 3rd row seats up to accommodate 1 child. The cargo area was tiny, like basically not there if the 3rd row was being used. It also had quite a few recalls.
We sold the highlander and got the 2018 Odyssey. Room wise it was awesome and also very comfortable. But we are so over the van look. With the cx-9 we will get 2nd row bench seating and 2 of our kids are now in small booster seats so all 3 should fit fine on the 2nd row bench leaving the 3rd row down with a ton of cargo space.
The final dagger for the new 2021 Kia Sonata was the boss (my wife). She said "I'm a registered nurse and all my co workers drive BMWs and Mercedes SUVs to work, sorry I can't do the Kia". I said well we aren't made of money so the European SUVs can't be had for us, but she said Mazda CX9 is one she can definitely take to work and loves the look. CX9 here we come.
While Mazda doesn’t have a luxury division, they’ve tried to differentiate themselves with premium interiors and amazing designs at a mainstream price and that they don’t have that “budget” persona but rather the zoom zoom or enthusiast’s image. Luxury brands have that “exclusivity” feel that’s why they’re expensive and that you rarely see them on the road unlike the mainstream brands but since Mazda isn’t a volume seller, in a way you get that exclusivity feel as well. I used to own a Volvo SUV for 7yrs and before I moved to the CX9 Signature, I cross shopped that with Lexus, another Volvo, Infiniti, Acura and mainstream brands Toyota & Honda. Almost pulled trigger on an RX350 but the CX9 proved very close enough in terms of luxuries at $10-15K lower!
I’m sure you’ll love and enjoy the CX-9!
Hopefully my post didn't offend anyone, not my intention at all and apologies if so. Nothing against Kia at all, but the wife says she can't drive it to work, well happy wife happy life as it goes. Lol
IMO, they have done a hell of a job revamping these newer Kia's. For fun I contacted some Kia dealers via truecar and a ton reached out. Best discount I could land for the Sorento was $500 below MSRP, for the Telluride it was $1,000-$3,000 ABOVE MSRP. I could never and have never paid MSRP on a vehicle, and wouldn't start now for a Kia. Maybe due to low dealer stock for the Telluride but geez that is a big markup for the Telluride. Just my personal opinion anyway.
IMO, they have done a hell of a job revamping these newer Kia's. For fun I contacted some Kia dealers via truecar and a ton reached out. Best discount I could land for the Sorento was $500 below MSRP, for the Telluride it was $1,000-$3,000 ABOVE MSRP. I could never and have never paid MSRP on a vehicle, and wouldn't start now for a Kia. Maybe due to low dealer stock for the Telluride but geez that is a big markup for the Telluride. Just my personal opinion anyway.
Same here...not willing to pay at or above MSRP any longer regardless of the brand for new vehicles. Learned my lesson in past purchases! My previous Mazda 6 purchase was $6K below MSRP while my current Mazda 3 was over $4K below MSRP. Both were clearance models of course but still...
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- 2021 CX-9 Sig
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- 2021 CX-5 GT
I looked at the SX trim of the Telluride and got a quote of 55K. Even the S version was well above MSRP.
Bird-Dog
2017 CX-5 Touring 2020 CX-5 GTR
Kia and Hyundai have a lot going for them lately. But, OW, that interior. What were they thinking!
