2011 Kia Sorento or GMC Terrain

[Paul Greathouse]

I know these are fairly new, but does anyone have one of the new 2011 Sorento's or GMC Terrains that can give me a review. The Sorento gets pretty good reviews from Edmunds and Car & Driver but I would like to hear it from some real people like me. Also if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for it?

It would be replacing my wife's 2008 Altima. I love the Altima except for one thing, I'm 6'5" tall and I hate getting into and out of the car. Once I'm in it, its a great car and really fun to drive with its 3.5 liter V6. We have had the Altima for 2 1/2 years now and the new is kind of wearing off so the fun is not quite as fun as it used to be and we are thinking of getting something that would be easier to climb in and out of.

[Marty Paulus]

Being someone who makes their living working for the big three the choice is easy for me. GMC!

[Paul Greathouse]

Being someone who makes their living working for the big three the choice is easy for me. GMC!

I can understand your choice Marty, I am a GM fan also. At one time not long ago we owned 3 GMC's at one time, two trucks and a Yukon. The new Sorento is American made and comes with a really tempting price tag.

[Ben Hatcher]

I'd pick the GMC on looks alone. My biggest gripe about Kia is their engine technology. The GMC gets 20+% better fuel economy out of the same size 2.4L engine. Check out kbb.com to get an idea of what people are actually paying for these vehicles.

[Orion Henderson]

Most honest car reviews on the net at The Truth About Cars:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/category/reviews/kia/

(scroll down for Sorrento)

They'll have the Terrain too. Also, check http://www.truedelta.com/ for real world repair and mileage information. Neither site gets funding from manufacturers so it is as clean as it gets, data wise.

[Mac McQuinn]

The Sorrento is built in USA, not sure of domestic content. GMC is built in Canada, I believe domestic content is 60%.
If it was my $ I'd look hard at the Kia. Get a dealer to let you have it for a weekend or at least overnight to put it through it's paces.

Mac

[Sean Troy]

My wife has a 2011 Sorento and we both love it. I traded in a 2007 Chevy piece of garbage. I wouldn't take a GM for free. We have a V6 275 hp that gets 20 mpg in the city. MUCH better warranty by far than GM and much better prices. It's a no brainer.

[Myk Rian]

It's a no brainer. Buy American.

[Paul Greathouse]

Orion, thanks for the review sites, I'll check them out tomorrow. We just got back from car shopping all day and brought home a 2011 Sorento for the weekend. The kicker is it was on a GM used lot. I found the orginal owners paperwork in the glove box. I pity the poor guy that owned it first, he only had it for 4 months. He paid $29,000 for it and I can get it for a little over $20,000 and my note will be roughly what I was paying on the Altima.

It's every bit as fast as my V6 Altima which really surprised me. I didn't expect a crossover type vehicle to be this responsive, albeit it does have the same size V6 (3.5 liter) that the Altima has. It's very comfortable and has nice leather seats, the Altima was cloth.

I couldn't find a used Terrain with a V6 and the best deal we could do on a new one was $100 month more than what I can get on the above Sorento. If I were buying a "new off the lot" Sorento the final deal would be much more comparative to the Terrain but the fact that I'm getting it 4 months old is making all the difference in the world in price.

I'm going to go down to the Kia dealership in the morning to make sure there won't be any hassle in transferring the warranty. I'll definately make sure that is all good before buying it.

Thanks for all the info and reviews.

[Scott Shepherd]

It's a no brainer. Buy American.

And which one would that be Myk, the one built in the USA or the one built in Canada? Last time I checked, Georgia was still in the USA. That's a BILLION dollar plant in Georgia, built my by USA construction companies, and full of 7,500 people from Georgia working there. Contrast that to how many Americans are putting together the GMC in Canada (zero). So I guess it is clear if you look at the facts, if you want to buy American, you need to buy the Kia!

http://www.kmmgusa.com/news_02_26_10.aspx

[Paul Greathouse]

Most honest car reviews on the net at The Truth About Cars:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/category/reviews/kia/

(scroll down for Sorrento)

They'll have the Terrain too. Also, check http://www.truedelta.com/ for real world repair and mileage information. Neither site gets funding from manufacturers so it is as clean as it gets, data wise.

Anyone contemplating buying a new or used vehicle needs to check out these two sites that Orion posted. They are very informative and helpful, Thanks again Orion.

[sunny nic]

Anyone contemplating buying a new or used vehicle needs to check out these two sites that Orion posted. They are very informative and helpful, Thanks again Orion.

yup, that's helpful to me, at least.

[Rick Fisher]

My wife has a new Chevy Equinox.. which is basically a GMC Terrain.. It has the fuel efficient 2.4L motor .. blah ..blah..

She went from a VW Touraeg to this because she has hippie tendancies and believes she is saving the planet by purchasing less fuel.. Whatever..

Anyway.. it gets an honest 23 Mpg.. It seems a well made vehicle.. nice to drive.. Gutless compared to the Touraeg.. but it got 14 mpg and gave impressive performance.

She loves it .. The Fuel economy GM talks about could probably be reached, but ours has a little nut loose behind the wheel.. lol.

I have driven it a few times, its a nice vehicle.. I drive a 5.6L Titan and find the acceleration painful in the Equinox.. but otherwise, I must admit, its comfortable and quiet.. We got some snowfall recently and it performed great in wet coastal snow.. ( not as good as the 12mpg Titan..) ..

[Paul Greathouse]

We signed the papers on the Sorento today. The fact that the other guy had traded it in after only having it for 4 months made all the difference in the world, in the deal that we were able to get. The resale value on the Sorento obviously isn't going to compare to some of the more established brands but for the price that we got it for, I feel that we are in a pretty good position.

We also financed it for five years instead of six so that we could build up a little more equity for when we decide to sell. Even with the 5 year note we are still about $50 a month less than if we had bought a 2011 Terrain fresh off the lot with a 6 year note.

All the reviews I have seen are favorable enough on the Sorento to warrant the risk of buying a lesser known name brand. The main thing is, my wife is happy with it. She had wanted a Buick Enclave but the gas mileage and price were too much of a turnoff for me. We may go with something nicer in a few years but the Sorento seems to be the right choice for now, especially with gas prices continuing to rise.

Thanks for all the help.