Learn me first gen Kia Sorento

Just found out of an ‘03 Sorento going up for sale soon. I know nothing of them but with my daughter getting her driver’s license this fall, I am looking for a good first vehicle for her. What I know about this vehicle: Has a newer v6 short block (unknown miles) in past few years, newer coils, newer brakes and tires, and 134k miles on body.  Some Mn rust but it runs well and everything works. Price will be around $1,000.  

For the price point obviously I expect a certain amount of things needing attention. Reliability and safety are most important. The past few years I’ve gone with older Honda CR-V’s as daily drivers for the family and so far they have been rock solid reliable and no huge repairs needed.  Do I skip the Sorento and stick with another Honda? Or is it worth trying it out?

Not a great vehicle. The 3.5 is thirsty. The AC compressor likes to implode. Interior fit and finish is meh at best. The plus side is it's a body on frame truck. It's going to need a timing belt (60k intervals) at that mileage if it hasn't happened yet. I mean the price is cheap, but it's cheap for a reason. If you're expecting CRV reliability for a $1000 you're not going to be happy. 

There you have it from the resident Kia fanboi. Sounds like a hard pass to me. 

bobzilla said:

Not a great vehicle. The 3.5 is thirsty. The AC compressor likes to implode. Interior fit and finish is meh at best. The plus side is it's a body on frame truck. It's going to need a timing belt (60k intervals) at that mileage if it hasn't happened yet. I mean the price is cheap, but it's cheap for a reason. If you're expecting CRV reliability for a $1000 you're not going to be happy. 

Thanks Bob I appreciate it! I’ll stay w older CR-V’s.

They’re not a bad vehicle. But you’re not going to get Honda reliability for a grand 

The only thing that stands out to me about the 1g Sorento is that you could get them with a manual trans which would probably make the 200hp v6 vaguely entertaining.