Living with the Kia Sportage

After 17,000 miles, what have we learned?

Racking up 17,000 in seven months means something. What it often meant was that someone in the office suddenly had an urgent need for the Kia SUV. It would disappear once again. Trying to keep track of it was difficult as everyone seemed to have a definite need for the Kia, where no other car would do.

So what sort of things did people suddenly need the Sportage for? Just about anything. Commuting, carrying the family away for a camping break, helping people move house, or going on holiday to France, or just cruising the miles down the motorway network.

(Luc Lacey (Luc Lacey)

It wasn’t like we’d chosen the top model either. The trim levels go up to KX-5 and we chose KX-3, so we didn’t have the sort of things, like radar cruise control, that push the prices beyond the average buyer. As it was we had the 2.0 CRDi, a mainstream model.

Everyone liked it, from children to photographers – the latter always have loads of kit and they appreciated the load-swallowing ability of the Kia as much as families off on holiday abroad. It also proved easy to get in and out of thanks to large, wide-opening doors, adding further to the sheer practicality of the SUV.

The bright white SUV gave everyone a high and quite upright seating position which proved extremely comfy over long miles and allowed everyone on board to peer over hedges and walls, while saloon car drivers just stared at the walls. On long journeys or on holiday, that’s a great advantage and can have safety advantages too.

Nothing went wrong, nothing broke or failed. It just did its job mile after miles, for we reckon at least 15 different drivers. Every single one of them enjoyed driving the Kia Sportage, and that’s quite an accolade. We’ll all miss it, now it’s gone back home. It will be hard to be replaced by just one vehicle.

Graham Scott is a writer for AutoCar.