Pros
    • Great ride comfort
    • Feature packed car
    • Price and fuel economy
    Cons
    • The glossy black interior is a fingerprint magnet
    • The lane departure warning can be intrusive and loud
    • The diesel engine is a little too loud and tractor like
    Specs
    6.4L
    136kW
    168g
    5 Star

    About the Kia Sportage

    Shiva Bharadwaj purchased this Kia Sportage new for $43,780 (including all on-road costs). Shiva Bharadwaj would buy this car again because: “The 2019 Kia Sportage GT-Line is great car that runs well, gives no troubles and that comes feature packed. It is best suited for a couple or a small family that does not need the luxury of even more room.”

    How reliable has your car been? Tell us about any issues.

    Over the last five years and three months I’ve owned it, I’ve driven over 140,000km and it hasn’t given me any troubles whatsoever.

    The annual servicing of the car is all I have had to do and the car has been serving me really well thus far.

    What do you think of the ownership experience with your car?

    I’ve had very little to do with the service team at Kia except but for the regular servicing ever year or every 15,000km – I suppose that is a good thing and meant that the car did its thing without causing any troubles.

    How has the purchase and aftercare experience been with your car?

    It has been great. Due to my work over the years, I have had the experience of dealing with a number of different Kia dealerships (service centres) around Melbourne; and I have faced no problems with any of them so far.

    Are you happy with the price and features of your car?

    I remember doing my research when I was going to by a car in 2019, and the competition was significantly higher priced.

    For the features that is packed into this car and coupled with the overall reliability and the build quality of the car I think Kia did a phenomenal job with this one.

    What do you think of the performance and economy of your car?

    Straight up, this is not a performance car. But having said that it is perfectly suited for both city and country driving.

    The 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine managed great economy – while it has begun to dip in the recent months it is still far better than the petrol engine and most of its rivals.

    What do you think of the technology in your car?

    I felt like I was driving a car from the future when I first began driving the car.

    I have family that drive the newer models of top German car brands, and this half a decade old car still lives up to them in terms of the technology – obviously it misses out on the “Kia Connect” type features the more modern (and luxury) rivals offer albeit at a far higher price than the Kia Sportage.

    What do you think of the ride comfort and handling of your car?

    I think Kia’s Australia suspension tuning is a great hit. Period!

    I absolutely love the way the car rides on roads. I have done several long drives (see the high odometer reading) over the five years and I have loved every bit of it it. I don’t think I have had too many drives where I have been dead tired at the end of it because of a bad back or any discomfort.

    Overall Rating
    8.6

    Technology8.5
    Reliability9
    Ride & Handling8.5
    Price & Features9
    Purchase & Aftercare8.5
    Performance & Economy8
    Ownership Experience9