The Kia Sorento facelift has been revealed in its home market of South Korea. This is the mid-life refresh of the third-generation Sorento UM that has been around since 2014. The UM is a handsome big SUV, and the facelift doesn’t veer too far from the original design, while latest features have been added.
The main change up front is the headlamps, which are now full LED headlamps in a triple-barrel design in the top spec. The DRL’s original “eyebrow” position has been moved to under the main beams.
The “diamond studs” in the pre-facelift grille have been replaced by scale-like inserts that are more shiny, while the foglamps are now in Kia’s “ice cube” design. As they’re now LEDs, the foglamp cutout is smaller. Regular fog lamps and twin-barrel projector main beams are fitted further down the range.
At the back, the tail lamps’ pincer LED signature has been inverted and made more curvy, and the actual brake lights are now LED vertical stripes instead of the old triple-Us. There’s also a design with three horizontal stripes for non-top spec variants.
The bumper has been reprofiled and the tail pipes – previously downturned – now stick out from the bumper with square chrome tips. The 19-inch chrome-finished big wheels are still around. Sounds like a lot of bling, but the Sorento manages to pull it off nicely.
Inside, Kia’s mission was to amp up the luxury feel in its flagship SUV. The heated steering wheel’s design is new, and it has an unusual round “pouch” on top of the square centre cover. The head unit is Hyundai-Kia’s latest unit with Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and there appears to be more areas with piano black trim. The gear lever is new too; that and the new wheel look more premium than the original items.
New interior features include heated/ventilated tan leather seats with quilted sides, front seats with electric extendable base and Qi wireless charging. There’s also a powered tailgate with variable positions.
Active safety features such as lane keeping assist, smart cruise control with forward collision assist, blind spot warning, dynamic bending lights and driver alert warning are now available in the Sorento. There’s also a tyre pressure monitoring system.
The big SUV can be had as a five- or seven-seater, and three engines are available in Korea – a 2.0 litre diesel (186 PS/402 Nm), 2.2 litre diesel (202 PS/441 Nm) and a 2.0 T-GDI petrol unit with 240 PS/353 Nm. The two oil burners are R series engines with E-VGT. Buyers can choose from 2WD or 4WD. Prices start from 27,850,000 won (RM106,084) in Korea.
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Best alternative for quirky CR-V. Been eyeing this quite some times. Those who bother about RV, buy lands, not cars
Smart choice! Now comes with 5yr free service.
Buy CRV RM170k. 2 years later can sell RM140k
Buy Sorento RM180k, 2 years later sell RM60k
Kia Guaranteed Value.
periasamy… buy sorento 2.2 turbo diesel 200ps 440nm 365days x 2 year everyday smiling satisfying driving a big comfy powerful and the safest in class suv… its better than buying crv and have a boring drive cvt with weird japanese design language ….ur choice bro… u buy to drive or buy to sell back
We all wait Boyue SUV.
(Like) CR-V.
(Dislike) Sorento
Sorento > Bigger, 7 seaters, More powerful & less fuel consuming turbo-diesel engine, Quieter and more comfort ride, Looks nicer
CRV > The only reason to buy is because it is a Honda
After says good bye to crv..
this suv will be my next target..
Agreed, so we are all aligned that a new kimchi is the way to go
Nie baru suv rakyat..RM106k.
Kalau Nie betul RM106k, CRV/CX5/X-trail tak payah jual.
Boyue can sell mah.
Kena tunggu 2 tahun bro.
Lol is that Santa Fe facelift rear light??
True. Been waiting for ages for santa fe facelift to arrive here. Hear a lot of good things from net review.
Good car but bunch of lazy people who run the distributorship. Malas. SC also all tidur.
Very advanced & progressive Koreans…salute!
If Naza Kia brings in the facelifted Sorento 2.0 T-GDI 4WD, 7 seater, with Apple Carplay/Android Auto and those active safety features with a good price (hello, pergi apply EEV lah), then I would buy one. No need to look at new CR-V, dinasour X-Trail and Geely Malaysia Boyue. But the 19inch wheels scare me thinking about replacement tyre costs.
What’s your expected budget?
proper powered suv with good looks. harrier xtrail alphard n hrv pls give way when this beast approaching from behind on the highway
Mazda CX-9 > All
I upgraded my previous gen CRV to the current gen Sorento. I would say Sorento is a lot more powerful, spacious, better NVH (hardly had outside noise even when travelling at 140km/h) and feels more stable at high speed.
Naza service ok?
Low spec diesel or high spec diesel?
Damn…its sooo nice when comes in price tag in korea…but in this boleh land…haishhh…still waiting for 30% price reduction by gomen….almost 5 years….will they keep their word….
Q5 rear light?
a facelift with new engine. nice..
yet some other brand just using the same engine for all their facelift.
2.0 T-GDI petrol unit with 240 PS/353 Nm..
might steal away some potential crv customers
but then, dont know how long it take for kia malaysia to bring this
here naza offers the 2.2 turbo diesel with 200ps 440nm with fuel consumption almost half less than the petrol… dont have to wait for the petrol espcially with this 2 tonne behemoth.. infact in south korea the 2.2 turbo diesel is the most popular.. spare the 2.0turbo for optima..
If naza kia want to bring this. Pls, replace the petrol variant from 2.4mpi to 2.0tgdi. For the diesel variant pls bring the high spec too after launch date for this sorento facelift. Bring back the panoramic roof like previous generation sorento, heat/cold seats like cerato, safety sensing system, upgraded head unit system with android auto apple carplay support (it’s okay if no uvo yet) and ice cube fog light with led headlights.
bro faiz naza already offer the high spec turbo diesel at rm192k… if u ask me this engine is more poweful than the 2.0 turbo diesel in the bmw fleet.. at less than 200k this is a bargain.. go ahead give them bmw diesel car a highbeam on the highway
Very nice big suv but still no paddle shifter??? No fun to drive…
No complaint on looks…Please Naza Kia bring this fl Sorento ASAP…If you want to steal CRV sale please bring in 2.0 TGDI and 2.2 CRDI for our local spec …Also hoping on panoramic sunroof heated and cool seat HU with apple Car play and Android Auto and LED headlamp fog lamp and tailamp..Them take my money
Good luck guys. I still driving the 2005 cbu Kia Sorento. This year masuk kilang 8 times. 5 different problems.
Kia Service suck big times. Recently they lost my service booklet and cab for light bulb went missing. Promise will call back but forever wont.
Parts are super duper expensive.
Anyway, i have changed 4 injectors. Go and check how much each inject cost. Mind you you have to change 2 injector even 1 is spoilt.
luck is very good christopher.. since the new one comes with 5 yr warranty and 5 yrs free service… to top it up… a guaranteed value buy back after 5 yrs so u dont have to maintain the car anymore.. just get a new model then
Your car already 12 years bro. Time tu change new.
That white sorento with black rims is so damn sexy !
Seriously, even if Naza decides to bring in all the requested specs, with good pricing and everything sweet… the sales would be dismal. Naza brought in the HS diesel but sales are still poor even though the pricing is fantastic! Malaysians are just too brand conscious.. And service centers network and reliability tops our actual requirements..
Saw some Korean review, the facelift comes with new 8AT gearbox meh.
I like this new seranto. When can we buy one?
Crv and cx5 is my choice currently. But would consider seranto if all is good
A very good alternative to the unreasonably high priced CX-9. None of these cars have good residuals so look for a 5 year warranty ONLY!
Comment bro….2018 spec
.Tiguan medium spec vs
. CRV medium spec vs
.Seranto Medium spec petrol
Comment bro….2018 spec
.Tiguan medium spec
. CRV medium spec
.Seranto Medium spec petrol
I will buy one if they bring in top spec and selling under Rm200K,don’t care about Resale value,cause all car also loosing money as long as the customer service and right spec.