The Kia Sportage has come quite a long way since it was first introduced in 1993, but there were certainly better years for the compact crossover SUV.
As is the case with so many car manufacturers in modern times, the majority of Kia’s lineup is comprised of SUVs. From the Niro to the Soul to the Sorento, Kia has an SUV in its arsenal to fit any driver’s needs, and that includes a wide variety of hybrid or electric options as well. A good chunk of these vehicles have even been created in the last decade or so to fulfill the ever-growing demand for SUVs. All that being said, there is one SUV that has remained a stalwart of the Kia brand for over 30 years, and that would be the Kia Sportage.
Introduced for the 1993 model year, the Sportage has undergone a lot of changes over the years, spanning five different generations. In all this time, you might expect the Sportage to lose some of its luster, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The SUV has seen a major boost in sales in recent years, with 2023 being its highest year of sales yet, and 2024 could certainly surpass that number, too. There is clearly a hunger out there for the Kia Sportage, but not everyone is in the market for a brand-new vehicle.
Therefore, you need to go to the used market to find a Sportage. It is generally regarded as one of Kia’s most reliable vehicles, but not every model year is created equal, with some needing to be avoided at all costs. It’s also important to note that some 2011 to 2021 Kia models come without an immobilizer, making it easier for thieves to steal the car, which was recently trending on social media. Based on the ratings, reviews, and experiences of drivers, we have selected four model years that you should definitely look at for your next used vehicle and four that aren’t worth your time.Best: 2007 Kia Sportage
Although there are now five generations of the Kia Sportage, we are only going to go back to the second generation of the SUV for our first recommendation of a solid model year to get on the used market. That first year would be the 2007 Sportage, the third year of this generation. The ratings from drivers from a variety of different sources are uniformly excellent. For example, the drivers on Cars.com have given this model an overall average of 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is the highest star rating on the site for this vehicle up until this point. While not quite as high as that audience, the 2007 Sportage owners on Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book have both given it an average of 4.5 stars, which is still an extremely great number. Drivers surveyed by J.D. Power are similarly positive, giving this an overall rating of 84 out of 100 with a quality and reliability score of 83.
That reliability is also shown in the amount of actual submitted issues that the 2007 Kia Sportage has accumulated. Drivers have submitted a total of 75 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for this vehicle, and considering it has been around for nearly 20 years, that is a shockingly low number. For comparison, the previous year’s model has 111 complaints. That is a pretty significant drop. Those posting their issues on CarComplaints are also few in number, with only nine being listed on the site. You pair that with it having only issued two recalls in its life, the 2007 Kia Sportage is a great older option on the used market.Best: 2010 Kia Sportage
We are staying with the second generation for the next recommendation on this list. The 2010 Kia Sportage was the final year for this generation of the SUV, and at this point, the company had really hit its stride with this model. There is a remarkable consistency in the vehicle’s high praise. The drivers on Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and Cars.com are all uniform in their average scores, each one earning a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is not a common occurrence for all of the drivers on all three of these websites to agree with these averages on a particular model. For those surveyed by J.D. Power, the SUV was given an overall of 79 out of 100, though that does include a score of 81 for its driving experience.
If the number of submitted complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the 2007 model were low, the numbers for the 2010 Sportage are downright minuscule. Overall, there have been just 20 different issues from drivers in the last 15 years, and in that time, it has also only been subject to two different recalls. For the drivers over on CarComplaints, there are only a total of eight submitted problems, which would be the lowest for a good number of years for the vehicle. The second generation of the Kia Sportage went out on a high note, and based on how most of the third generation went, it would be the best for the SUV for a while.Best: 2020 Kia Sportage
For the next model year on our list, we have to jump ten years into the future from the 2010 model. The Kia Sportage hit something of a rough patch for several years, which we will get into later on in this piece, but the 2020 model was an enormous rebound. This is the first time we get responses from drivers surveyed by Consumer Reports on this list, and this is the very first Sportage model to receive the “CR Recommended” stamp of approval thanks to a reliability rating of 64 out of 100, the highest up to this point for the SUV.
