2014 Kia Sorento Family Review

 As you know we have three young boys. My husband and I are always on the move and spend a lot of time in our vehicle. We have put over 55K miles in just 4 years on our current SUV and I am a work-at-home mom so I do not commute to work every day.  Not only is it important for us to find a safe vehicle for our children, but we also look for useability.Picture this - 5 people, 2 dogs, 3 car seats, 1 diaper bag, 2 strollers, toys, cups, snacks and a million other things we pack in the car with us every time we leave the house. Not only do we need a vehicle that has storage room for all of our stuff, but we need something that can comfortably fit the 5 of us especially with 3 car seats. The Kia Sorento has passed our family test.  We had the opportunity to drive the 2014 Kia Sorento SX LTD for the past week and I can honestly say that I miss this vehicle. Unlike most families, we have not yet made the switch to a minivan. We have 2 dogs that we take with us a lot, and a minivan just does not have the cargo room. The Kia Sorento has the optional third row seating which allows us to comfortably accommodate our family and 2 dogs for a road trip. You can easily have the 2 seats up or down. Cargo room is a huge factor for us. We constantly need to have our stroller (s). Depending on where we are going, we sometimes need to have 2 strollers for our boys. You can see that not only can you fit both strollers in the back of the Kia Sorento, but you are left with a considerable amount of room. I also like that you can leave one of the back seats up and still fit our bigger stroller.  Having the optional third row option is nice. Although it is nice that the third row seating has vents for rear air conditioning the amount of leg room is miniscule. I am a slight bit claustrophobic and I instantly did not like sitting back there. Also, it is difficult to get additional passengers to that row when you have car seats in the first row bench. A few times I opened the back latch to have my brother get in that way because it was a lot easier than trying use the seat latch.Speaking of car seats, we were able to fit three car seats across the front bench as you can see in the picture below. We have narrow car seats so they fit very nice and we did not have any trouble with the latches or tethers. I know that other SUV's may not be able to accommodate three car seats so this was a huge bonus for us. I would hate to have to try to get one of my boys into the third row every time we went someplace.Here are our 3 car seats in action! My boys kept asking me to video them in "Our New Car." My oldest son begged me to allow him to empty his piggy bank so that we could buy the Sorento {haha}

Some of our Favorite Features of the 2014 Kia Sorento:

• Heated Steering Wheel - You do not know what you are missing out on until you have this option. It definitely is not something that is necessary, but with the extremely cold temperatures we have had lately this was a really nice feature.
• Blind Spot Detector - This is the first time I have ever seen this option on a vehicle. At first, I did not really understand what the point was in having this option until I started driving the Sorento. I do feel that this car has a pretty big blind spot between the driver window and the windshield. This feature alerts you when there is another car in your blind spot.
• Retractable Sunshades - You will not have to worry about purchasing sunshades anymore with the Sorento because they are built-in to the window. If you have kids then I am sure you understand the importance of having sunshades on your window. My boys are constantly taking our off of our windows and then we somehow lose the suction part.
• Rear Camera - I am lucky enough to have this in my current SUV and was excited to see that the Kia Sorento also came equipped with the rear camera. I feel like I have become dependent on mine. We live in a neighborhood with more than 100 kids, so I am always worried that a child may run out behind our car. It give  you peace of mind being able to see what is behind you along with the warnings when you are close to anything.
• Mute - This may not seem like a big deal, but when you are driving and all of a sudden one of your kids starting balling their eyes out it is nice to be able to mute everything quickly to find out the problem.
• 8" Display Navigation System - Not only does the Kia's navigation system help you with directions but it also alerted you when you were low on fuel and helped to find the closest gas station. This is nice to have especially when you are in a location that you are not very familiar with.

Sadly, I will admit that I did have a hard time starting the Sorento the first time I go into it. To give myself a little credit, it was dark out and I did not know where anything was in the vehicle, plus I have never owned a vehicle that you did not actually use the key. So, to make sure no one else feels dumb and does not know how to start the Sorento... Ya, it is that easy to start it! Normally, I hate driving a vehicle that I am not familiar with, but I was very comfortable in the Sorento. Overall, I have to say I did enjoy our experience with the Kia Sorento and it is definitely a great family vehicle packed with tons of options and upgrades to fit your style. Be sure to connect with Kia on Facebook, Twitter, or at DriveSTI.com.  Disclosure: Kia provided me with this vehicle for 1 week to test drive to review for this post. No compensation was provided and all opinions are 100% mine.