Kia Sportage (2005 - 2010) 2.0 XE (09/08) 5d Owner Review

Since purchasing this car in April 2021 I have done around 3000 miles. Its a really nice and roomy vehicle with a good driving position and good visibility all around. The seats are not the most comfortable or terribly supportive and being leather you do tend to slip around a bit when negotiating roundabouts or tight bends or when braking hard. There is plenty of legroom for passengers in the rear of the vehicle and the boot is large. The rear seats are easy to put down to increase the boot size for moving very large items. I have managed to load 12 bales of shavings and still be able to close the boot door. My vehicle has rear parking sensors fitted although I am not sure if these were factory fitted or after-market. Without the sensors it would be difficult to judge the exact location of the bumper. The sound system is great when it works. My major gripe is the poor fuel economy. I am a very sensible driver, staying within speed limits at all times, and rarely accelerate hard. I have a matching set of good quality tyres and brakes were replaced before purchase. I generally do between 30 and 40 miles on an average day (commuting to and from work) but I'm only getting 300 miles out of a tank of fuel and the online calculator I use at every tank fill suggests I have been getting between 26.9 and 30 mpg but 'normally' get 27.6 mpg. I rarely do motorway driving so have no idea what difference that would make to the economy and haven't yet towed anything. I am experiencing some niggly electrical faults which I have detailed under 'Reliability' but none affect the actual performance of the car, just the comfort/enjoyment level and I'm wondering if these might be behind the relatively high number of owners the car has had in relation to the miles it has done. Having previously owned a number of Honda CRV's over the last 20 years, I expected the same level of comfort from the Kia, but in comparison have found it rather disappointing.