2026 Kia Sorento | Still a GREAT Value-Packed Pick for 2026! (+New Steering Wheel)

What's going on YouTube? So the Kia Sorento is one of the brand's longest running name plates and it has changed a lot over the years and today we're with the latest 2026 version of this popular model. So is this still a great pick for 2026 for those wanting a value-packed and stylish crossover? Well let's go ahead and find out. Now like always let's get this review started with a quick spec dump. So under the hood the Sorento will continue to be offered with four different powertrain options. We have the 2.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 281 horsepower. Now this powertrain and its platform mate the Hyundai Santa Fe has moved to an eight-speed traditional automatic for 2026 but for 2026 the Sorento will keep the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic. Now with all-wheel drive the fuel economy is rated at 23 mpg combined. The base price for 2026 is $32,000 and if you're looking to buy one or any new vehicle we'd encourage you to go to carconfections.com slash new car quotes to get the best price. Now of course later on we're going to show you the performance of this powertrain. We're going to get things like our sound level reading on that drive as well as discuss resale and reliability at the end. But a big part of why people like the Sorento has long been the stylish design. So let's get into the before we move on to the inside which has have an update. So jumping into the exterior design like I was saying this Sorento has always been very stylish especially in the latest generation and especially since its most recent refresh. So you'll notice up in the front you've got the latest Kia design elements including their tiger nose grille. There's going to be a lot of variations of this model. There's a ton of trim levels plus on most of those trims you can add the x-line package and then the top model can also add the X Pro. So you've got a lot of variations. We have the SX with x-line. So that means we're going to have some gloss black finishes sportier elements and then a little bit of a more rugged look down here at the bottom. By the way you've got 8.2 inches of ground clearance with all-wheel drive. Now let's move over here to our headlights. So we've got a beautiful stacked crystal LED design. This is standard equipment actually on all Sorentos and of course you've got those signature really large daytime running light and turn signal indicators that Kia's are known for in the amber color. Down here at the bottom if you get an EX trim or above that will give you the LED fog lights. As we move around to the back the design definitely walks the line between sophisticated and also a little bit rugged. Yeah and as far as individual design touches we have a spoiler a wiper is integrated underneath all of our branding is going to be blacked out which I think looks really nice. And then as far as our taillights we have the up-level taillight unit that comes on this SX model and above and that will include your LED brake light and LED turn signal indicator. Your reverse lighting is still going to be incandescent as we drop down to the lower fascia all this is a gloss black. As far as your tow rating that's 3,500 pounds for this model it's 2,000 pounds for the hybrids. Now moving on to the wheels they vary in size from 17 inch alloys to 20 inch alloys. We have the 20 inch alloys and there's again a ton of different designs as well as finishes depending on which combination of trim and packages you put together. These have a very boxy looking design with the squared off center section and Kia logo. Now another thing that changes depending on which trim selections is the fact that we have a matte black wheel arch surround and lower moldings you can get these in gloss black if you prefer and then up here you have a little bit of an accent as well. We've got the gloss black finish for our mirrors and in terms of the technology you have heating and blind spot monitoring. We also have power folding on the SX trim and above. Now as far as overall vehicle length it comes in at 189 inches and for design there's a lot going on we have blacked out window surrounds and since we have the x-line that means we have the bridge style roof rails up top. I think it looks really good especially when you pick this road rider brown paint color this is a phenomenal looking paint color in person. Now for your safety systems Kia knows this is a family vehicle they are including all of the active safety features as standard equipment that will include things like adaptive cruise control. Additionally if you choose the EX trim or above that will throw in highway drive assist 1.0 and SX prestige gets you highway drive assist 2.0. But guys there is a big interior change that we need to talk about for 2026 but first if you're new here we're brothers and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12 and 16. We started young and since then we have reviewed over 2,000 vehicles at every price point no matter what you're looking for from humble to high end we'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family. Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars. Now it's time to move to the interior. First we'll look at the key fob. This is the latest version of the Kia key fob. You have standard smart entry and standard remote start which is a nice touch. As we approach the vehicle the mirror will go ahead and fold outward on the approach there and you can just press that button to unlock the door. Now let's check out the interior. There is an update that's fairly prominent. Can you spot it? I won't tell you it is just yet because we need to talk about the seats. So on this model you're going to start with cloth seats on just your base model. All the center trims come with a leatherette seat and then if you move to the top end model that's where you get the real leather seating and that's going to give you diamond quilting as well to kind of elevate that above. Now as far as these seats like I said nice finish to these overall some perforations some stitching you have a couple different choices but really if you want the most kind of fancy looking color schemes you will have to choose the SX Prestige. Also in terms of your adjustment the SX Prestige will move you up to a 14-way power adjusting seat instead of this 10-way power adjusting seat and it will also give you memory seats. Let's go ahead and climb inside and shutting up the door we'll look at the overall materials. So it is a nicely finished space especially on an upper end example like we have today the SX gets the leatherette finish all through here including the arm grab and a stitched leatherette detail behind there. It's a soft touch plastic along the top and this version also gets a faux wood trim which you'll see reflected both on the door trim as well as all across the dashboard this does vary depending on which trim level you select. Soft touch plastic at the top there with a stitching detail and then as we move down excuse me to the lower section here no padding along the console and it does have a piano black finish over most of the surfaces. So we'll fire it up now with our standard push button start. So jumping into some individual details we'll start with the gauge cluster of course you've got that new dual 12.3 inch arrangement that really goes for all the models except that you have a lot more customizability on your upper end example so if you choose the SX trim or above the full 12.3 inches is reconfigurable instead of just that center section that's also where you will get the blind spot camera system added on. Just be aware that on the gas powered Sorentos for 2026 you still don't have a head-up display even on the loaded model which is something that the smaller Sportage has added for 2026. Now let's move back here to our 2026 update. So if you guys guessed it earlier here it is it's a new steering wheel design we've seen this on some of the most recent Kias they have brought it now for the 2026 Sorento and overall it's a pretty nice look so it's a little bit flat on the bottom and the top it also has a thick rim a little bit more sturdy feeling I think versus the 2025 model. Of course though you know if the off-center logo bothers you you might want to go ahead and head to your Kia dealership and get the 2025 model because it does have the off-center logo and it does have some additional piano black there that might get a little dirty. Now the wheel itself is manual tilt and telescoping across the range it's heated on the SX trim the SX also gives you rain sensing wipers. Opening up our center console here you're going to notice we've got a lot of donuts inside that's because at Car Confections we have the donut as our logo and we load them inside of the center console so we can compare to the competition. I'm very impressed today to tell you that this has 17 donuts inside which is a very good number for this segment of SUV it's deceptively deep. Now up in front of that you have a little bit of storage there two cup holders large bin in the front this also has a wireless phone charging pad on the vast majority of models. Taking a look at our shifter we've got the classic T shifter this is on your gas powered models your hybrid examples will have a rotary shifter instead pull back for drive bump over here to the left if you want to shift manually no paddles on the steering wheel though. When we go into reverse here's our backup camera we have the upgraded 360 camera because we have the SX trim and above also you have your 360 view that you can spin all around the vehicle if you like. And then right behind the shifter you have your electronic parking brake you also have an auto brake hold function and then there's the button there to turn on your heated steering wheel as well as adjust your drive modes. Now one pretty minor observation we're making right now is the fact that some of these buttons here have actually shifted around so noticing that the heated steering wheel it's used to be on the steering wheel itself now it's down here which meant that the auto start stop button is shifted over here to this side instead and they've also rearranged this button here to make room for what we now have is a terrain mode so that's a new feature that you can kind of press down on that and they've been integrating that kind of across many Hyundai and Kia products this year. Now let's take a look next up at our climate control panel so we've got a dual zone automatic setup on almost every single model except for the base example you can just twist that knob there to make your adjustment up and down you have some touch sensitive buttons over here and then in terms of your seat controls those are in a separate location with a physical button heated seats are on all but the base trim ventilated seats begin on the SX trim now the thing about this console area is of course you've probably seen this on other products you press that button there and then suddenly your climate controls turn into your audio controls so in this case we have a 12 speaker Bose sound system that's included on your upper examples and we'll give it a sample right now. Overall sound quality is pretty good it's certainly a notable upgrade over the standard six speaker sound system. Okay so we'll jump in next to our infotainment system as I already mentioned it's a dual screen arrangement this side is also 12.3 inches and it runs the latest Kia and Hyundai software it's called CCNC so what that means basically is that you have kind of snappier performance than what you previously had also you have wireless android auto and apple carplay across all of the trim levels we also have the built-in navigation system since this is a higher end example. Up top many of your models will get the auto dimming mirror with homelink universal remotes and then we've got a panoramic sunroof so Kia is including this now on your EX-X line and above so you don't have to go all the way up to a fully loaded model to get it and as you can see you have a sunshade as well as the front panel opening up. And now it's time to talk about the rear seat area of the Sorento now this has always been a great area that will continue for 2026 let's start with space figures first and foremost 41.7 inches of legroom 39 inches of headroom that really makes it larger than almost any other option in the segment the Hyundai Santa Fe is right around this size however it's bigger than Murano and other options that you may be looking at. Of course we looked at the official car confections ruler as well because that gives us our knee room figure so the seat is adjusted to Drew who is five foot eight I'm five foot nine for reference this seat is slid all the way back and I'm sitting at eight and a half inches of knee room that is really good my feet can also slide up underneath of the seat and speaking of sliding I can slide this seat all the way to be touching the front which is really nice for a child seat or whatever and then you can also slide it all the way back and recline a great distance as well so this is a really comfortable second row seat you may notice that we have captain's chairs on this model that's included on ex x line and above and you know you have the nice armrest as well as these little pockets to store things on the side as far as other features we have rear vents right here in the center area two usb ports in each seat back a 12 volt outlet down here at the bottom and then if you look over at the door trim it's going to be a nicely appointed one we have rear window sunshades additionally the door trim itself is made of nice materials with the faux wood leatherette all through the center section and on the armrest portion and one of the things I really like about is that you have a ton of storage for bottles so as you can see we have a bottle right up here in the top we also have room for a really good size bottle as well in this lower section so there's going to be tons of cup holders in this car I do also want to point out if you want heated back seats you can get that on the SX prestige and in order to get back into the third row all you have to do is press this button right here that's going to electronically kind of tilt and slide the seat up and out of the way and it makes for a relatively easy entry into the third row itself speaking of the third row I mean it's honestly pretty uncommon still for this segment of vehicle to have a third row so I'm very happy to tell you that the Sorrento does have that feature and as far as these space figures are concerned you're sitting at a little less than 30 inches of leg room the headroom is not going to be fantastic as you can see my head is scraping the ceiling it's about 35 inches of headroom but overall it's not terrible for a third row I brought the ruler back here as well and I have about an inch of knee space to spare even with this seat slid all the way back and my feet can slide up underneath of the seat really the main thing I have an issue with is the thigh support it's not great here in the Sorrento there are two seats back here they're pretty comfortable you have a cup holder a little storage cubby a usb port and you do additionally have a pretty decent sized window back here no vents or anything so that's something to keep in mind and then as far as how this rates on the third row braiding scale I'm going to say this is fit for kids walking up to the tailgate you have a hands-free power one on ex trims and above and I do want to mention overall seating capacity as well this is six passenger on this model today you can get up to seven passenger seating on this model now as far as the cargo figures are concerned you'll be pretty happy with these as well so we're sitting at about 13 cubic feet behind the third row of seats 38 cubic feet with those seats folded down and has a maximum around 76 cubic feet those are good numbers in order to fold the third row we're not going to have a power folding setup or anything but you can easily do it with those straps right there and then I'm really happy to tell you that there are buttons on the side to electronically fold the second row of seats as well so you can easily just fold those down with a press of a button to give you that maximum cargo capacity now if you're curious as to how this might compare in areas like cargo capacity as well as other areas such as interior technology powertrain experience luxury features safety resale reliability we'd encourage you to go to carconfections.com slash vehicle rankings we've looked at all the options in this very crowded space and ranked them in those individual categories so you can rank based on the things that are most important to you so definitely use that if you want to make an informed buying decision now back to the sorento we have a little bit of extra space underneath of here we additionally include a spare tire for the gas model and let's get our cargo length width and height figures and now that we've got them folded completely flat the cargo length behind drew's 5.8 driving position is sitting at 79 inches from behind the second row of seats with them folded or slid all the way back 41 inches of length and then from behind the third row expect about 15 inches of length as far as the opening that's 43 inches wide and then overall height comes in pretty good at 30 inches see the load in height as well that's going to be coming in at about 33 inches for your load in height well guys here we are behind the wheel of the 2026 kia sorento in this test drive we're going to be discussing quite a lot as you can see on the screen right now we'll also be getting things like our sound level reading but first we need to start with a hard acceleration all right there's our acceleration to 60 miles an hour like we were mentioning with the spec dump at the beginning this vehicle has four different powertrains kia has long had a very diverse arrangement when it comes to the sorento giving you kind of whatever choices that match your lifestyle the best most people are probably going to walk away from the dealership with what we have right now because it's available in the widest assortment of trim levels it's a 2.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine it has 283 horsepower and 311 pound feet of torque so as you can probably tell from that acceleration power figures are quite good you know even though this does have three rows traditionally in the segment sorento competes in you usually just have two rows and for this size category that's plenty of power yeah absolutely it really pushes you back in your seat the torque figure especially and what about the other powertrains well you can see all of those on the screen right now you're going to start with a just naturally aspirated 2.5 liter four-cylinder on your lower end examples and then you have a hybrid as well as a plug-in hybrid so one of the things i really love about this car is that you just have the choice you have so many different powertrains to choose from so really whatever meets your need best kia is offering and i think this is a great middle ground between all those powertrains now we talked a little bit about this at the beginning as well but this is kind of a sibling to hyundai's santa fe and one thing to note is that you you get two additional powertrain choices with this model versus the santa fe including a plug-in hybrid so if if the plug-in hybrid specifically is something you're looking for then this is going to be your choice over the santa fe now as far as the transmission situation is concerned almost each one of those powertrains has a different one so as far as the 2.5t that has the eight speed dual clutch automatic transmission now going back to the santa fe like we said they did switch that out for 2026 for traditional automatic but this for 2026 keeps the dual clutch in terms of the performance of this transmission it's pretty good the shifts really quick especially when you're accelerating hard that's one of the big benefits of a dual clutch is that you have fast shifts and it also because of that usually improves the fuel economy versus a traditional automatic transmission now will you be able to tell that it has a dual clutch maybe at times you know there's a little bit of lurchiness in traffic and stuff that's to be expected from a dual clutch so just be aware of that and if you get any of the other versions with the other transmissions those will have traditional automatics now power is going to be routed to the ground via the front wheels or optional all-wheel drive and then let's discuss fuel economy so there are a lot of different fuel economies as you might expect what we're sitting at with the you know 2.5 turbo all-wheel drive is 23 mpg combined that's pretty good the standard four-cylinder engine will get you about 24 mpg with all-wheel drive and the hybrid is going to be pretty good at 34 or 36 mpg so once again depending on your needs if you want the extra fuel economy boost maybe look at the hybrid or the plug-in hybrid and we're on our designated highway portion to get things like our sound level reading so let's go ahead and see how quiet the sorento is very good 52.9 decibels is what we are sitting at as our sound level reading in the kia sorento now we don't have to sit here and guess how it compares to the rivals we can find that at carconfections.com sound level readings and indeed that is extremely quiet for the segment that is going to be right up there with the very quietest options in the entire segment that's not surprising because the kia sorento is always really tested good every single year and this is a very quiet cabin also nicely to go along with that quiet cabin is really great ride quality the sorento is a very comfort oriented vehicle that continues for 2026 even with the larger wheels on the outside it lets in you know very minimal intrusions in the cabin the seats are nice and comfortable as well i could see you easily just taking this on a road trip and being very comfortable is it quite as comfortable as the ride not quite but still very good now what's our air ball and slam dunk our least favorite and favorite element about the sorento drew why don't you kick us off with the slam dunk the slam dunk is going to be the value that's always been something that sorento has absolutely nailed it just seems like you get so much for the money even on your lower examples your top examples all of them really in the trim lineup give you so much plus i feel like they've really kept this up to date over the years yeah now on the airball side uh you know speaking of 2026 changes uh one of the areas that we wish they had updated kind of like the santa fe would be the transmission not necessarily because this eight-speed dual clutch is a terrible transmission for this specific you know example i just think it could have been uh better to have the eight speed automatic not only for just smoothness driving around the city but also for you know potential reliability concerns now let's talk pricing so for 2026 prices do rise a little bit but it's only about 500 so a pretty negligible price increase this year 32,000 is your base price for the lx trim there are a ton of different trim levels you can see them all on the screen right now there's also the hybrid versions and the plug-in hybrids as well what we have today is the 2026 sorento x-line sx 2.5t all-wheel drive 43,890 is our base price we have optional floor mats as well as 1445 destination all told we're sitting at 45,570 as tested today as far as where this vehicle is assembled it is final assembly in west point georgia so in the us if you're looking to buy a kia sorento or any new vehicle we'd encourage you to go to the reason you do that is because we have a tool on our website that'll connect you with local car dealers in your area to get you the best price it's also going to give you access to invoice pricing information which is a great tool to use while negotiating if you like to take advantage of that as well as things like our monthly payment tool you can find a link to that in our video description as well as a pinned comment down below but buying a car is about more than just the original price so let's talk about resale and reliability first up let's talk about resale value as an economics graduate myself we took the time to develop what we think is a good estimate for this sorento's potential resale value we estimate that after five years and 60,000 miles it'll be worth 49.02 percent of original msrp and after 10 years and 120,000 miles 21.1 now it's worth noting those are right at industry average for all vehicle brands however it would be less than some of your japanese rivals such as honda toyota subaru and mazda we also did the same thing by making the combined reliability index this takes into account several reliability studies from trustworthy sources and combines them in a way that gives you a holistic picture when you take all that into account with the latest information kia is rated above the overall industry average for all vehicle brands now if you'd like to learn more about our resale values our reliability data or our methodology be sure to go to carconfections.com resell and carconfections.com reliability buying a new vehicle is a big decision so you want to make sure you're making a smart purchase especially if you're cross-shopping between different vehicle brands when it comes to your warranty you do have a very good one it's a five-year 60,000 mile basic warranty a 10-year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty kia does not do complementary maintenance you guys that wraps up our in-depth review of the 2026 kia sorento if you enjoyed learning about all the 2026 changes and about this model in general we'd really appreciate it if you hit that subscribe button down below by subscribing you're going to be a part of our car confections family we have a lot of fun on this channel and i promise you won't want to miss out if you're already a part of our family thank you so much for your continued support you make this all possible and we'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies