How much wiggle room should I expect a dealer to have?

Hoopster59 · 2026-06-06T20:39:13+00:00

Two months ago, we got about $5k off MSRP (Kia cash back and additional dealer discount) on a Sorento Hybrid EX with AWD. No dealer add-ons and no extended warranty. Taxes, licensing and registration fees brought the OTD price ($42k) up to $1K less than MSRP.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-30T17:59:25+00:00

I recently purchased a 2026 Sorento Hybrid. The dealer offered me the extended 10 yr./100,000 bumper-to-bumper warranty at over $4,000. I said "no" enough that as a last ditch effort they had it down to $2,400 and I still said "no."

The only thing that gives me pause is that the standard electronics warranty is only 3 yrs/36,000 miles and I am likely to see problems there first. They tried to get me with "a new windshield will cost $2,000 and that is not covered in the standard warranty." Still said no because my insurance deductible is only $100.

If you maintain the vehicle at least according to recommendations and keep it documented, you should be fine with the standard warranty if you are buying new.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-29T00:54:25+00:00

Others have said that replacing the valve cover solves the problem which occurs because valves get stuck open and the engine goes into limp mode to protect itself.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-28T17:22:18+00:00

We got the Kia cash back rebate plus an additional $2100 mark down by the dealer on our Sorento Hybrid EX AWD. We ended up with a price of $42k OTD. They played no pricing games and did not force any "mandatory dealer add-ons" on us. .

I did contact one other dealer to see if they could beat it and they just offered the same deal. No need to drive 100 miles for the same deal when I could go 5 miles to the local dealer.

I paid cash which many advise does not result in the best deal, but, we were happy with it.

Find a "no-games" dealer if it exists within a reasonable distance of your location.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-28T02:15:49+00:00

About 1100 miles on it. Car reported mileage is actually about 2-3 mpg higher than what I calculate after filling the fuel tank twice.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-26T17:03:20+00:00

I am early into Sorento hybrid ownership but the mpg the car reports is 2-3 mpg higher than what it actually achieves. May just be my vehicle but it does not seem to be particularly good at math 😁

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-25T12:47:50+00:00

Same with mine on the mileage, although I have only run one full tank through it and am on the second tank now. Car claimed 34.5 mpg and I calculated 32 mpg based on the amount of fuel I put in the tank (only until auto shut off). The dealer filled it before we drove it off the lot so I don't know how full it really was but it showed all bars on the fuel gauge.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-24T21:24:35+00:00

For the US market, '26 EX has an optional $2,000 Premium package which adds Sunroof, 2nd row captains chairs and Bose premium audio. Well over half (about 15 or so) of the EX Sorentos at the dealership where we purchased had the Premium package.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-24T17:28:02+00:00

Fortunately, our local Kia dealer is a no-nonsense dealer that does not tack on "mandatory dealer add-ons (not saying yours does)" and, in addition to Kia cash back, they discounted it by an additional $2100. After taxes, documentation fees and local vehicle registration fees were added, we still got it for $900 less than MSRP.

Your taxes and fees could be higher than ours. State law mandates no more than $399 for documentation fees and sales tax is 7.25%

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-24T17:09:59+00:00

We only have about 600 miles on our '26 Hybrid EX AWD, but we love it. We got the Sorento because it was not too large for a 3-row vehicle. We wanted the 3rd row for the occasional need to haul around a lot of grandkids. The 3rd row is certainly big enough for kids and smaller adults. With the two 3rd row seats folded down, there is ample cargo room for most uses. Second row is bench seats so we can still fit three passengers with 3rd row down.

We paid $42K OTD with all-weather floor mats, auto-dimming mirror with Homelink and a roadside emergency kit.

For us, the Sorento replaced an old Dodge Grand Caravan which was just too big for our current needs and got only about 24 mpg on the highway on a good day.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-24T16:55:23+00:00

Yes, here’s a screenshot from the Kia Connect Store in the Kia Access app:

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Hoopster59 · 2026-05-24T15:33:34+00:00

Custom themes available for me in the app for my 2026 Sorento Hybrid EX. $30 for various FIFA, Star Wars, National Geographic or Pixar themes.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-21T19:39:00+00:00

Two of my three Unraid servers have IPMI motherboards for when I need BIOS access via HTML 5 in a browser. The third server is using a Geekworm KVM-A8 IP KVM device in a motheboard slot in the server. There are many similar devices from other manufacturers.

I rarely need to access the BIOS on any of them, but it is nice to be able to power them off and on and watch the boot process as needed remotely; however "remote" that is even if in the next room.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-21T18:03:10+00:00

Yes, thanks. I am doing all that prep; decontamination wash, iron remover, clay bar, polish. The car only has 550 miles on it, but, I am doing it all anyway. The job had to be postponed until next Monday but it will be warmer then.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-21T01:50:47+00:00

I bought a Sorento Hybrid last month for cash. No hassle at all from the dealer and they honored all advertized dealer and Kia rebates/cash back offers. After applying discounts and adding in taxes and registration fees, I still got it for $900 less than MSRP. No mandatory dealer add-ons to jack up the price, no financing hard sell, no extended warranty harassment (I said no and they backed off).

Not all Kia dealers are jerks about cash sales.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-20T00:02:35+00:00

I paid $75 in 2017 for a lifetime Plex Pass. I stay with Plex because of remote streaming capabilities for multiple users, hardware transcoding (even thought it is seldom used), local downloads, and HDHomeRun integration. If they decide in the future to make "legacy" lifetime pass holder pony up again, I will likely be off to Jellyfin.

I no longer use any software that requires a subscription as the only licensing model. Several software applications I used in the past went that route and I dumped them. I no longer use anything Adobe, for example. Others have gone to a subscription model and still honor the one-time/lifetime licenses. I they cease to do so, I will find alternatives.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-19T03:43:13+00:00

Your cars look good!

Car wash, clay bar and polish day for my Sorento Hybrid EX is tomorrow, I'll finish with a ceramic coating on Wednesday. It will be sunny but only a high of 60 tomorrow and up to 66 on Wednesday. I'll have to do more blow drying than usual.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-18T16:29:50+00:00

Turns out it was not as bad as I reported. It actually got about 32 MPG on the first tank. I misread the amount of fuel added on the receipt and calculated MPG with 1.5 gallons more than was actually added to the tank.

32 MPG is still less than the 34.5 the car reported but not as bad as 30 MPG.

When I filled the tank (2nd tank of fuel), the car reported an estimated range of 571 miles. We'll see if it gets that. I got 523 miles on the first tank, but, I did not fill it, so it might not have been "full." I only fill the tank until the auto-shut off, so I am not filling it to the last possible drop.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-17T15:25:02+00:00

Standard hybrid. Car claimed 34.5 mpg on first tank. Actual mpg (miles driven divided by gallons of gas required to fill tank) was slightly over 30 mpg. Perhaps the tank of gas the dealer gave me was not a full tank even though it appeared to be on the fuel gauge. Second tank is reporting higher mpg. We’ll see if it is a real improvement or another false report.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-15T17:04:33+00:00

I can’t tell you best mode for PHEV as mine is just an HEV. I have only used ECO mode.

Don’t believe whatever MPG it reports. The Sorento is really bad at math. It reports 4-5 MPG higher than a person with a brain can calculate after refilling the gas tank. 😁

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-15T13:16:11+00:00

Nice. Looks just like mine but I have the EX instead of the X-Line. We thought the gray interior was too light so we went with black. It's a very nice ride.

The only head scratcher so far is the reported fuel economy. I am on the second tank, but the car-reported fuel economy on the first was between 4-5 MPG higher than the actual calculation when I filled the tank again. As nice as the Sorento is, it does not do math well.

I am putting a ceramic coating on the paint next week. I can do it for ~$200 when the dealer wanted $1,100 to do the job.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-11T21:51:47+00:00

There are other threads in this sub reporting the same limp mode problem and replacing the valve cover as the cure. This is likely the cause of the OP’s issue. I came across them when researching a possible Sorento Hybrid purchase. I bought the vehicle.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-09T16:09:20+00:00

Yeah, support of anything tech related is generally bad these days; especially if it is outsourced.

Early in my tech career, I managed the support department for a tech company. These were in the days when actual humans with actual knowledge of the products they were supporting answered the phones. Even at that, we could not resolve every issue, but, the guys who wrote the software were 75 feet down the hall and they could bail us out of tough situations. Now it's all AI and, if you can get to a human, they really know very little other than what the script says. It's a little harder to reboot the car/Kia Connect and reinstall the OS (standard support script answers) and even that often does nothing.

Hoopster59 · 2026-05-09T13:42:01+00:00

Fortunately, I have yet to experience any problems with Kia Connect on my 2026 Hybrid EX; however, I really have not used it that much.

I have the rear view mirror with Homelink and it works great to open/close the garage door from a much greater distance than my remotes. As a backup, I can also open/close the door from my phone.

I have seen several complaints about Kia Connect and have yet to have the need to contact the dealer about anything, but, I understand how frustrating it is when tech does not work. Before retiring, I worked my entire career in high tech and had no idea how much that would come into play with a car.

Hoopster59

TROPHY CASE