I am sorry to those that say that "Kia...that is supposed to be a great vehicle...aren't they the ones with the really long warranty??" Beware....There is a reason for the very long warranty -- you will NEED it!
We have owned a 2003 Kia Sorento from new off of the lot. We have been less than pleased with our relationship with it. My husband did a lot of research and found that the Kia Sorento did excellently in all crash tests and such, and with children, that was a concern. My husband loved the look of the vehicle because it looked like the "new" Lexus SUV (at the time) without the price tag.
She is a big strong vehicle and looks very tough - but it's all a facade.
The first issue that we had and continue to deal with is an electrical problem/short. One of course, that they can't pin point. The problem is, we blow headlights/tail lights/brakelights about as often as you need to stop at the gas station (quite often!).
One day it's the headlight (low or high beam, no rhyme or reason to which one it will be) and then the next it's a taillight and or brakelight. We were stopped innumerable times by our local police department for such offenses and would say, "Yep, I know, swing by tomorrow and it will be the other one." The dealership cannot find the offending short.
The major problem with Kia is their warranty. Yes, it goes to 100K miles...sorta. That is unless they decide to "rename" said part that is causing the problem and then all of a sudden it isn't covered anymore. You can play the warranty game with them and jump through hoops, but that will take months! (We are still in the midst of the game)
In the 2003 Kia Sorento, the air intake valves have flaps that are assembled with teensy tiny screws. When those screws vibrate loose and shoot themselves through the engine, causing damage, in turn making the entire engine sound HORRIBLE like it is going to blow...You have a problem. This tiny little screw issue is apparently widespread and Kia isn't sick of writing checks quite yet and haven't figured that welding these flaps would be a BETTER solution so the screws don't come loose. BUT what Kia decided to do was rename the air intake valve to an "emissions" part -- thus no longer covered to 100K miles. With that said, if it was an emissions part, you should be able to take it OFF the vehicle and the vehicle should still run. Well, you can't take off air-intake on a vehicle and have it still run. SO Kia is trying to get out of honoring their warranty by renaming parts. They know that this is a problem and refuse to take care of their customers. The dealership that we are/have been dealing with says that this is a continual problem that will keep them in business for years to come...Until Kia decides to change the way that they put together air intake valves.
We have had other issues that are much more minor - things like the hoses not lasting and having to be continually replaced. The over-flow tank cracking and needing replacement. The front end alignment has had multiple adjustment issues (bolts seizing) that we don't know why they did this...
There are minor oddities about this vehicle.
Amount Paid (US$): 22,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: LX, Automatic, ac, power steering, power windows/locks