Anonymous

Reviewed a 2007 Kia EX on Apr 19, 2007

I took delivery of my '07 Sportage just yesterday. We opted for the 2WD V6 with auto trans. We had avoided buying a new car for the past 10 years mostly due to the fact that our '97 Kia Sportage refused to go off in the sunset quietly. We drove the old "roller skate" 129,000 miles with narry a problem. We replaced the radiator once and the battery twice during the life of the old Sportage. Besides routine maintenance, that was it. But it's too small for us now and a change was needed. During a trip to San Diego this spring we rented a new Sportage to tool around town in and to give it a test drive of more then a dealer's typical 2 to 5 miles. After checking out similar offerings from Honda, Nissan and GM we were convinced that for the money the Sportage beats them hands down. There were many standard features on the Sportage that were add ons by the other makers. The only additional installed items on our Kia were carpeted floor mats and a rear cargo tray. Dealer installed extras were Auto Armor prtectant, dent & ding protection, windshield protection (all three appropriate for the brutal roads in Central Texas), "digi- film" window tinting and "digi-film" shield protection. These extras raised the price nearly $2,000.00 but to me was well worth it. Standard features in our trim line included the 2.7L 24 valve DOHC V6 with automoatic, Four wheel power disc brakes with ABS, stability control, traction control, and 16 inch tires with alloy wheels. Safety is outstanding with standard dual front advanced air bags, front seat mounted side air bags and full length side curtain air bags. Steel reinforced side door impact beams protect you from the side swipers and intersection accidents. The interior standards are too many to list here but it is loaded for a mid line trim package. What closed the deal though was the outstanding warranty...10 years or 100,000 miles on the powertrain. Now that is a warranty. If you don't mind the intermittant whining of the engine (especially at auto shifting) then look at the Sportage and relish in the ton of extras you get for the money!