Kia Problems

The crash testing has been done by ANCAP and, even though Kia recently had a safety glitch with its Carnival, I’m expecting a five-star result for the Sportage.

The iMax is reliable and would win in terms of storage space. The early Carnival with the V6 motor was troublesome, but the later one is quite reliable and could be bought with confidence.

Typically you're looking at a car around 2010 vintage for that money, so it's got a few years on it and will have done a few kays. With that in mind it's best to go for a car that's going to give you a good run for your money over a few years. Steer clear of European brands, that includes Ford as its small cars come out of Europe, and go for a solid brand with a good reputation for reliability. In my view that means a Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, Kia Rio, Hyundai i30.

Kia’s warranty on commercial vehicles and rental cars is the same as that on their regular passenger cars in time terms, but the kilometres are limited. Being a rental car yours would have been sold with a warranty of 5 years and/or 150,000 km, and it would have been transferable to you when you bought it. If you were told it would be shortened to 3 years you were misled.

You've read my mind. After a back-to-back last week with the CX-5 I'm now recommending the Sportage as top in its class. Both get The Tick from me. I think the Sportage is as impressive as the Kia Sorento people-mover that's our reigning Car of the Year.

It's an interesting put-down of the Mercedes-Benz. The Territory is an all-round good car that has been developed for Australian roads, it might be more comfortable than the 'Benz, but I wouldn't say it was of a better quality. You could also look at a Toyota Kluger or a Kia Sorento, both of which would handle the roads well, be comfortable and are of a decent quality.

Stop me if you've heard this before. Definitely reconsider as the South Korean brands have made massive improvements in recent years and the Sportage tops the CR-V and X-Trail.

Timely query — at the risk of repeating myself, the Sportage.

Your mechanic is wrong. The new Sorento has been out less than a year, has zero engine troubles and is the one I would pick.

Right now, for me, it’s the Kia Sportage. It gets The Tick and should be right on the money for you.