2020 SsangYong Korando Ultimate review - Long-term owner

Multimedia and safety technology: 9/10

The car has all the latest safety technology, which is almost to the level of a self-driving vehicle, although it will warn you to put your hands back on the wheel if it notices you are leaving the driving to it. The audible lane-keeping alarms are very sensitive and can be annoying in suburban areas (with painted lane markings). There is also an audible alarm whenever the car cannot identify the road markings for its lane departure and steer-assist functions, which can become very frustrating if driving on an old country road.

The multimedia is generally on par with most, with a nice, solid, clear sound which accepts Apple and Android via USB. The standard (8.0-inch) display is woeful to the degree that you expect to find additional display options but unfortunately you are limited to just showing the radio station. These days we almost all use our phones to manage our music preferences, anyway. Also noticeably lacking is a GPS although, again, it is easier to rely on the latest maps with Google or Waze rather than relying on the dealership to charge you for latest maps. The nicely leather-wrapped steering wheel has easy to manage controls for the multimedia, adaptive cruise control and the 10.25-inch digital dash display options. The only regular annoyance is having to turn cruise control 'on' before being able to set or resume, whereas my other two cars default to on unless turned off. Other niceties like rain sensing wipers, proximity sensing auto opening boot, heated and cooling seats, powered sunroof, etc etc, make it a very enjoyable and comfortable ride for long and short trips.

Practicality: 8/10

The interior of the top-spec Ultimate is a very pleasant place to be, front or back, if not for the slight diesel rattle that can be heard at initial standing acceleration. Being a tallish 185cm (6'1") male with two adult children, I was worried a compact SUV might not cater to my needs, but I am blown away with the front and rear legroom this car provides. There is plenty of leg and headroom for me at the tiller, leaving heaps of extra leg room for an equally tall person to sit behind me. The electric seats can be slow to adjust between my height challenged wife and I, though. The rear passengers can also utilize an additional rear tilt position on the backrest if they wish to relax, although the dual-zone climate control is largely focused on the front seats, with no rear outlets. This hasn't been a problem on several long-distance trips with the family, in hot and cold weather. The Ultimate provides leather trim with a centre pull down console for the rear seat passengers. There is good storage available within each of the doors, for two bottles plus a pocket in each. The front centre console and glove box are both cavernous and meet all my needs.

The biggest disadvantage of this compact SUV (possibly due to the ample rear passenger legroom) is the lack of boot space. Whilst you are provided a full-size (matching) 19-inch 'Diamond Cut' alloy spare, this chews up valuable storage space. The base model has more boot space thanks to its emergency puncture sealer with no spare wheel. Fortunately, the 60/40 split rear seats open up ample space for swallowing very large items as required. There are also rails for racks on the roof.

Driving: 9/10

The Korando Ultimate isn't left behind in regular traffic, using the 1.6-lltre turbo-diesel engine, even with four adults onboard. This is possibly in part due to the six-speed transmission (with traditional torque converter). In real-world driving with a mix of local shopping and highways it has managed a long-term average of 7.2L/100km although this is continuing to improve since I made a tree change earlier this year (yes, I log every tank in a spreadsheet!). The ride is very comfortable on the 19-inch alloy wheels, with a good ride height.

The myriad of safety technology also means plenty of audible alarms including lane departure, safety distance alert, start alert and so on. Whilst adaptive cruise control is all the rage I find it annoying as it can subtly slow the car behind another slow vehicle with you realising, until you look at the speedometer and see you are doing 20km/h under the posted speed limit! At least the digital dash shows a green line between your current speed and your set cruise speed, which helps.

The Ultimate is AWD, which can be a huge benefit if camping or towing, although I have not yet found a need for it and it possibly just impacts fuel economy. I have seen plenty of YouTube clips showing it as very capable when the terrain gets rough or loose and I hope to find an opportunity soon to give it a try.
I think the Korando is a decent looking SUV from all angles. The black metallic I chose may be frustrating to keep clean, but rewards with an attractive green fleck that shows up in the sunlight. The 19-inch alloys also add to the overall good looks.

Running costs: 7/10

SsangYong provides pre-set service costs on its website. At my recent two-year service I needed to add a fuel filter and cabin filter to the "$316 fixed cost", making it a total of $496. It requires a quality 0W-30 oil which adds to the cost. Insurance is very reasonable compared to my other cars, being a low-risk vehicle from all perspectives. The diesel option is sometimes better than petrol although all fossil fuels are way overpriced these days. Whilst living in Sydney I often saw over 10L/100km, although the average has dropped to almost 7.0L\100km with more rural and highway driving.

Reliability: 9/10

The seven-year warranty seems decent in today's market and adds assurance to the reliability. The car has had one recall to fit the DRLs which initially had not been fitted to Australian-delivered cars. There is also a niggling transmission fault that sometimes makes it 'slip' between first and second gear under light load, for the first gear change of the journey. It never occurs again until completely cold and only ever once in a trip. This is one of those faults that can never seem be repeated or diagnosed by the dealer, but it has never been significant enough to follow up outside of mentioning it during a scheduled service.