2002 Kia Sportage 4X4 review from North America

None.

Vehicle listed for $20,500.00 and bought for $15,500.00 with dealer discounts and rebate. Bought new fully loaded except for ABS, two tone package and leather interior. Absolutely no problems as of 4,000 miles. I use the 4X4 drive intermittently for pulling my bass boat in and out of unimproved boat ramps or lakes throughout Florida that are sand. Vehicle has MORE than sufficient power for off road use and has a REAL truck chassis under it too. The Sportage is rated for a 2,000 lb. trailer load and my boat and trailer weigh about 1,200 lbs. Except for slight degradation of acceleration, I can hardly tell my boat is behind the Sportage. Off road approach and departure angles are good and ground clearance is VERY good with the stock suspension and tires. The live rear axle without all the independent rear suspension junk hanging down like all the other mini SUV’s is big plus. Front suspension is a MASSIVE lower A arm and upper McPherson strut. Driving is a pleasure and very quiet for this class of vehicle and price range. Slight telegraphing of bumps is very mild considering that this is a REAL off road vehicle with a REAL truck chassis. Acceleration is sufficient and quite peppy when once 50 feet or so out of the starting hole. The engine produces the best power above 3,000 RPM and the vehicle can cruise comfortably all day at 80 MPH. Top speed was tested at 110 MPH. I have detected no discernable bad handling habits as far as roll and wind effects and the vehicle handles corners like a car almost. Gas mileage has been improving with time at about 1 mile per gallon every two or three tanks or so of gas. Originally I got 15 miles per gallon and its now up to 20 miles per gallon as the engine and drive line seat in. The break in oil and filter was changed at 700 miles and 10W-40W Castrol GTX was added for the first 5,000 miles till full break in is completed. At 5,000 miles, Castrol full synthetic 5W-50W will be added with a new filter at which time the gas mileage should go up at least 2 miles per gallon as a result of the synthetic oil alone. I am 5’11” and my brother is 6’1” and we both fit comfortably in the front seats and rear seats with plenty of headroom. All controls on the dash are ergonomically placed and easy to operate without having to take your eyes off of the road. The ten speaker sound system is fantastic for a factory setup. Problems with the electrical system that centered around the B+ wire and the ignition key switch have been resolved with a newer larger heavy duty key switch as also the problems with lose heat shields or cracked exhaust manifolds in the newer model. Dusting of the front alloy wheels is well within he normal limits considering that the brakes are semi-metalic. This “appearance“ problem can be resolved with organic pads, but that will severely inhibit braking quality. Overall fit and finish is very good and the interior is also very good for this class of vehicle. Decision on the choice of this vehicle was made based on my sister in-law owning a 1999 Sportage EX 2 wheel drive that has been totally abused since the day she picked it up at the dealer in Homestead Florida. It has over 100,000 miles on it and has been used on a rural farm, pot holed, mud pie roads daily to ferry field workers and run errands and never parked in a garage. The clear coat still shines and other than the ignition key problem and muffler shroud she has had NO problems. In addition the vehicle was slightly damaged in an accident in which my father in-law ran into a concrete traffic wall and spun out in 180, tore the front bumper off and was never replaced. The front end was never aligned and tires show no wear patterns…THAT’S TUFF!!! Interior shows signs of use, but little or no wear. I’ve owned many different trucks and this Sportage is my favorite…I wish I could buy another new one to put away for later…..