wow, i think the sorrento is HEAD AND SHOULDERS better looking inside and out!

I agree.
The RAV4 has one of the worst interiors.
Ugly hard cheap looking plastics abound.
The Sorrento EX has a nicer look both in and out.
The RAV has a new design for '11 and may have a much better interior.

have seen a few new sorrentos on the road already - they look GREAT!!!

will strongly consider one to replace the explorer with.

mine was 3.3 v6 with much more options. much more horses. msrp was i believe 27500. i got it for 23k OTD. I would've paid 22.5k OTD for CRV with not much option and would've had higher interest rate. buying a Santa Fe was no brainer. if i remember correctly Rav4 i was looking wat was similarly priced with santa fe, but there were no huge rebates at the time. it would've been probably 25k-26k OTD for rav4.

i drove this thing, i was VERY impressed! comparably equipped with almost every options, even with tv's, this suv came out MUCH cheaper...

last week suv shopping prices (without TTL) in long island...

kia - $34k (fully loaded, tvs, 3rd row seats)
highlander - $39k (limited, loaded, even with tvs)
rx - $47k (nav/comfort/luxury/tv's)
mdx - $52k (nav/tech/advance/tv's)
fx50 - $62k (nav/tech)

34k for a Kia is very very hard to swallow.

why? do you expect kia to undercut 10grand? it is still alot cheaper than the competition. and it does start below 20k.

Actually for a lot of people the answer is yes. Due to the fact Kia still does not have a very strong reputation, they cannot confidently be selling vehicles with a price over 30K.

Also many previous Hyundai/Kia owners bought the vehicles due to the great value.

The value aspect has decreased, as new Hyundai and Kia models are closer in price to the competition than compared to previous years.

basically any loaded midsize SUVs will run near 40k. when you add Nav, 3rd row, and TV, it's all near 40k.

34k for a 276hp, plenty of room, and everything in it is not expensive in 2010.

True, yet it still doesn't change the fact Kia cannot yet command such prices as they don't have a strong-enough reputation.

I am willing to bet most Sorentos being sold right now are the lower-end models.

and that's why over 8000 people bought Kia sorento last month?

10k? are you kidding me?

Sorento outsold Pilot, Equinox, Santa Fe, and Rav4, last month.

and it outsold highlander and 4 runner combined. and you think people expect kia to be 10k less then competition. yeah right.

Feb 2010, Feb 2009, YTD 2010, YTD 2009

2010 RAV4 6,799 8,398 14,693 16,432
2010 Sorento 159 3,598 632 7,219
2011 Sorento 8,207 n/a 15,605 n/a

I think to be fair. If it wasn't for the recent recalls and having a 5 year old chassis, the RAV4 would easily outpace the Sorrento. Don't get me wrong, the '11 Sorrento has some great attributes, but it is a new model...AND a model that is very popular in rental car fleets. Hertz and Enterprise have a ton of these...and could explain the surge in sales while the rental agencies had to put their RAV4's and such out of commission.

EDIT: A good portion of Hertz and Enterprise fleet is comprised of Kia models.

of course it's always the low to mid trims. like every non luxury SUV's.

sorento is bigger than RAV4. Sportage competes with Rav4.

Sorento's competes with highlander & pilot size wise. and it destroyed highlander in sales.