Kia Sportage Review, For Sale, Colours, Interior, Models & News

Kia Sportage Q&As

Check out real-world situations relating to the Kia Sportage here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• What's the price of a Kia Sportage?

  The Kia Sportage SX starts at $35,000 in manual form and $37,000 for the automatic variant. The better equipped, more powerful GT-Line petrol version is available only as an automatic and costs $49,370. Those prices do not include on-road costs which will vary from state to state and even region to region.

  The current Sportage was launched in 2021, so we can possibly expect a mild facelift sometime in the 2023 calendar year. But being such a new design, the upgrades are not likely to be major ones, so there’s no reason to hold off buying now or when supply allows.

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• What are some good options to replace a 2004 Ford Fairmont?

  Sadly, Aussie cars like the Ford Fairmont just aren't being made any longer. As you've correctly identified over many years and almost 300,000km, this big, rugged, relaxed type of vehicle was perfect for travelling in Australia, but the onslaught of SUVs and the death of the local car-making industry put an end to these big sedans.

  There's nothing wrong with a Kia Sportage (in fact, it's a good choice) and you might find the effortless turbo-diesel version suits your needs and preferences quite well. You may also appreciate the higher ride height and easier entry and egress. But what you won't find in any mid-sized SUV is the same dynamic feel of a conventional sedan like your current Ford. This is not to say modern SUVs don't drive well; they do, and improved fuel efficiency and different packaging is all part of where the Australia car-park is going.

  If you're not venturing off the bitumen, however, there are a few alternatives to an SUV in the form of some very accomplished medium-sized sedans. The Hyundai i30 Sedan would be one and, if you want to retain the rear-wheel-drive feel and big performance, then the Kia Stinger is another alternative to an SUV.

  The other alternative would be to take the time and effort to seek out a later-model Ford Fairmont with fewer kilometres on its odometer and start over again with the packaging you clearly already enjoy.

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• What are the differences between the 2022 and 2023 Kia Sportage GT-Line?

  Kia introduced the fifth-generation Sportage in 2021, so there won't be any wholesale changes to the car for a while yet. Kia – like most car-makers – is constantly fine-tuning specifications of its vehicles, so there may be a mild facelift of the car due in 2023 or soon thereafter, but it's unlikely to involve much in the way of engineering.

  The biggest news for the Sportage range in 2023 is likely to be the introduction of a hybrid model. Kia isn't saying when that will be, however, and it could even be 2024 before we see it. The other new Sportage variant is likely to be a plug-in hybrid version which has been slated for the North American market, but not confirmed for Australia. Yet.

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• Do you know why my Kia Sportage is not suitable to carry a towball bike-rack?

  While the weight of a towball bike rack and a couple of bicycles won’t be the issue, the problem will probably be down to the potential for those bikes and rack to obscure the parking sensors or reversing camera, or even making the rear hatch impossible to open with the rack in place. In cars with reverse autonomous braking, the sensors and cameras that allow that function to exist could also be compromised. And suddenly, the car you think has reverse AEB, suddenly doesn’t.

  Car-makers spend a lot of time and money making that sort of technology work, only to have an aftermarket bike-rack company come along and render it useless. Bull-bars on four-wheel-drives are another great example: Aftermarket protection bars don’t always take into account the operation of the vehicle’s air-bag systems, potentially making the car less safe in a crash.

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