KX3 Automatic

The Best Car I've Driven

My wife has owned a KIA Sorento KX3 for around 9 months. We have two young boys and live in the country – there’s a school run, shopping and holidays to cater for. In my driving career I’ve been lucky enough to either own or have as a company car Jaguars, SAABs, Porsches, BMW, Mercedes, Alfas, Audis and Range Rovers amongst others. Many good cars - but this KIA really impresses me.

The car is solidly built – and there is an underlying simplicity and strength to the engineering. It’s not crude – but ‘elegant’. A full-size spare tyre, solid switch-gear, easy-to-clean alloys, an engine bay that’s not dominated by a huge plastic cover and an owner’s manual that really explains how the car works and is built. It has huge rear LED brake-lights that seem sure to wake-up even the most dozy tail-gater. It has comfortable and supportive leather seats. The Xenon headlamps are simply superb. The full-length sunroof is a delight and the sound system is the best I’ve ever heard in a car. The rear boot is cavernous and the interior is solid and rattle free. There are cubby-holes everywhere. The hands-free system works well – and the sound quality on that is also the best I’ve come across. The standard tyres are good. The local dealer is helpful and courteous.

And it’s quiet at speed. It’s got a limousine-like quality to it. We’re off to France later this year – and I’m looking forward to the long drive south.

Okay, the fuel consumption around town is not what the manufacturer claims. We can get 45 mpg on a long motorway run – but it can fall to 29 mpg with a lot of short runs and stop-start driving. It won’t be a match for a Range Rover or Discovery off-road – but it saw us safely through a snowy winter and across muddy fields and tracks. The ride may be a little choppy – but I think it’s been set-up to drive fast. If you do – and my goodness it is a quick car – the ride is smooth and taught. The interior plastics aren’t that ‘soft-touch’ – but they don’t seem to mark and are strong and resilient so far.

Perhaps it’s ironic that most of my career was spent in advertising. Helping brands to create a prestige image that could command a price premium. We bought this KIA with 10 miles on the clock for a little over £24k. A seven year warranty, an NCAP 5 car. All it lacks is that badge. It feels as well thought out as any German car – and as well put together and potentially reliable, as anything from Japan. For those people who think that KIA is making catch-up cars – you’re wrong. Would I swap it for the XC90, the CRV, the S-Max, or any of the others we test-drove? No. If it was written-off or stolen – would replace it with another? Yes I would. In a flash.

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