SUV with a fan club
The trusty 2005-2010 Sportage II helped put Kia in the ranks of dependable motoring favourites.
WHENwe first drove the series II Sportage in 2005, the three big pluses were the SUVs’ value for money, their vast improvement in build quality over Sportage I, which by that time has been on some markets almost a dozen years, and the very useful rear seat which offered more space than the then current Japanese competitors.
Since then, the Sportage II has been superseded by the stunning Sportage III, but its reputation has lasted and there’s a good selection of its various powertrain choices out there.
Most common is the 2.0-litre petrol car, which can be had with both two and all-wheel drive, the former as a sort of city car, while the diesel is desirable, especially the later more advanced CRDi unit, which works very well with the all-wheel-drive system and acquits itself very well in the dirt, if not quite as well as the Sportage I which featured a separate ladder chassis and selectable all-wheeldrive.
The flagship engine is a 2.7-litre Quad Cam petrol V6 inherited from the Hyundai/Kia Sonata/Optima sedans. It only has a four-speed automatic transmission choice, and while it’s a smooth, quiet unit, it’s pretty thirsty, so you will pay for its refinement.
Both diesel offerings are clattery even when warmed-up and while the four-cylinder petrol units are quieter, they do have to work fairly hard, so they’re not as flexible, nor as easy on gas as the CRDi unit.
While the Sportage II shares its hardpoints, most body parts and powertrains with its mentor Hyundai’s Tucson, the styling department fashioned some useful body appliques that not only help to disguise its Tucson connections, but actually make it a better looking car, truth be known, with a pleasingly sporty profile.
Every Sportage II that came to New Zealand had good equipment levels, with air conditioning, Two or four-wheel drive: The Sportage was available as a useful city car with two-wheel drive as well as a traditional crossover that could enjoy a fun foray or two in the dirt power windows and mirrors and useful stereos as well as ABS, twin airbags.
The car’s instrument panel and fascia is well laid out, but feels cheap, as do many of the plastics inside, but the later the car you get, the more convincing the cabin textures and build quality appears to be – this car obviously straddles the period during which Kia was starting to make its huge quality leaps.
They didn’t improve the chassis too much during this period, however, and the car’s ride feels brittle and unresolved, especially on sporty tyre and wheel combinations. The steering is accurate enough, but it’s not the most communicative and while you won’t get any kick-back over rough surfaces, you won’t get much feedback, either.
On the equipment and trim subjects, the Sportage offers cloth to leather and even a power sunroof if you can get one, and the good thing is that the difference between high and lowspecification models is much closer at resale, so you can get a lot of car for the cash.
STRENGTHS
The Sportage II helped move the Kia brand away from the bottom of the reliability tables during its time, and while the cabin might look cheap, even with leather, it can take a lot of knocks and rough treatment. It’s a cheap car and spec for spec and
UK warranty calls show Sportage II owners claim as rarely as Toyota and Mazda owners.
engine for engine, the Sportage is cheaper than similarly aged Japanese offerings and with only the X-trail at the time offering diesels at all, the Kia is wellplaced to please compressionignition fans.
Equipment levels are good and routine servicing costs pretty reasonable.
WEAK POINTS
That creamy smooth V6 is the weakest engine, as it uses so much gas with its automatic-only powertrain. The two-litre petrol four is just a touch under-powered, so avoid that unless it’s very low mileage, a two-wheel-drive and suits your town and around needs. The chassis, too, does not provide as much fun for the driving process when compared with Japanese competitors, either, and its interior plastics are really very low rent in earlier models.
BEST TO BUYGet
the later diesel if you can. Not only is it the most flexible and easiest to drive, it uses least gas and is the engine with the best warranty reputation, so a well-serviced one should give back to its new owner many more miles for the future.
Don’t worry about equipment and luxuries, the base models all have the home comforts you need and I’ve never missed a sunroof or leather trim when I’ve owned an SUV.
WHAT TO PAY
There’s a lot of diesels out there with the better CRDi 2.0-litre holding its price well enough and we saw three 2006 cars in the $15,000 area. A sub 100k four-speed automatic can ask up to $16,000 if it’s in really good nick, while a manual will ask a thousand or so less than that. Kia dealers hold a good number of used series II Sportages and we found a 105,000km automatic 2007 diesel among the listings for $16,000 with a two-litre petrol four on less mileage and a year newer for $13,000.
The smooth 2.7-litre V6 is a real smoothie, but it does use a lot of gas and this is reflected in its pricing and a 2007 was seen out there with 103,500km up for $16,500, if you can afford the fuel, it makes a nice buy.
A low mileage 70k 2.0-litre 2WD petrol automatic was spotted for $20,000 and while that might sound like a lot, the 2WD version is very much a desirable option.
YOU’LL HAVE TO LIVE WITH
Its pretty average interior finish, the noisy diesels, especially when they’re cold, and lack of driving communication.
RUNNING COSTSThe
diesels are the most frugal by definition and we remember beating 7.5L/100km in one, but we’d advise you avoid the 2.7L V6 as it has a struggle getting under 12L/100km, while the two-litre four, especially with automatic and all-wheel-drive, can use close to 10L/100km.
The UK’s warranty calls show Sportage II owners claim as rarely as Toyota and Mazda owners, which is an encouraging note.
BUT WAIT
If you only want the height and view for family use and not the traction, Honda’s Stream, the Mazda5 and Toyota Picnic/Avensis Verso could do the trick a little better. However, if you have light boat to tow, really do go off road a tad, then a diesel Sportage II could well be ideal.