First a little personal background 3 years after a not-so -successful RIGHT knee replacement, (so not as much mobility and bend as I'd hoped for) post covid and the impacts of lock-down, etc (I had Covid quite badly only 2 weeks after my knee op!!!- NOT a good combination knee recovery + covid!!) Not much caravanning at all in the last 3 years.
However, wife Cary and I are hoping to return to caravanning, ie, several trips a year in the UK and 6+ weeks on the Continent every Summer as we used to do and maybe MORE so as we are now both retired. We are in the happy position of being able to afford to replace our 2007 SORENTO TITAN AUTOMATIC and 2006 Bailey Senator Arizona. We love both car and 'van BUT.... the caravan is beginning to show its age and we'd like a fixed bed and other frills to make us oldies' life more comfortable. Our bought-new Sorento has been a BRILLIANT tow car, especially in terms of reliability, but it is now wearing out in too many ways and it has come to the point of throwing away too much good money for repairs.
Choice of new caravan is not so difficult as there is plenty of choice and after a visit to last year's NEC show we have a short list. The car is NOT so easy. I am tempted by a NEARLY NEW model of the newest model Sorento (2021+) The Kia and few other electric car companies' versions are I feel not yet up to the sort of towing vehicle we need in terms of mileage range and towing ability, ie, we are thinking of a 1.5-2-ton caravan. I have recently test driven a 2021 Kia Sorento 3 diesel MANUAL and I was VERY impressed with t its new specifications. However, I NEED an AUTOMATIC DIESEL.
To get to the point I am concerned about the suitability of the ONLY diesel Kia Sorento, the Sorento DCT 2.2L diesel. My BIG concern is whether that car's SEMI automatic DUAL CLUTCH TRANSMISSION is up to towing. I have done a lot of reading and watched numerous You Tube videos on dual clutch transmission semi- automatic and I am now aware of its weaknesses, ie, don't drive slowly in 1st or reverse gears where the clutch will be repeatedly "slipping", especially under load, eg, towing in stop/start heavy traffic or reversing the van slowly up steep inclines and I don't usually do tow in either of those scenarios,
However, now I would like to ask for comments from CT members who have any pertinent comments PARTICULARLY, but not only, anyone who tows A LARGE caravan (1500-2000 Kg) with a recent. DCT SEMI-AUTOMATIC SORENTO.
Not a Sorento, but we have a 2.2 Hyundai Santa Fe, 70 plate, which I think is virtually identical. Very pleased with it, it tows our Coachman Elite 575 well and fuel consumption is not bad.
If you study forums on KIas and Hyundais which share the same power unit there have been several people posted with problems. I have been doing my homework as regards changing having previously had Sorento auto and presently Santa Fe auto both with torque converters, but have decided to hang on to my Santa Fe auto as it is immaculate and tows faultlessly. In my eighties should last me out.
We had a 2012 Sorento prior to our current 2016 Santa Fe, both 2.2 diesel manual.They are very good towcars pulling a Unicorn Vigo and now a Cadiz very well.
Reliability is excellent with pretty good fuel economy. Our outfits do at least one EU trip a year and plenty in UK.
Our Santa Fe has done under 40,000 miles so we are happy with it. If we change it would be another or maybe a self charging hybrid.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Have looked at this self charging.Petrol 1600 engine, lower torque, smaller fuel tank capacity. As we often travel 250 to 300 miles at a time more fill ups with caravan on back. Near towing limit for our caravan.
Another endorsement for Kia Sorentos in general. We have a 2016 2.2l diesel manual and it tows a treat. However, I have no experience of the specific automatic gearbox you are interested in.
We tow a 1500kg van with an automatic 2018 diesel Sorento and are extremely happy with it.
If there should be an issue, at least you have the security of knowing it would be sorted under the 7 year warranty.
Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. I have done a lot of "homework" on this myself. Of course I don't want to risk spending that out of money without being sure that it will pull our large caravan. I did look at electric models but unfortunately the current ones are unable to cope with the weights. Additionally we tended have to go on VERY LONG trips on the Continent and hope to resume these. Incidentally although the 7 yr warranty is a BIG bonus clutches are, unfortunately, NOT covered! Thanks again for taking the trouble to reply.
Yes on the forum Sorento from 2020 on which are the DCT. That is when they replaced the torque convertor. There have also been some hydraulic pump failures as these are electrically driven and not by the cam chain. Although I have not seen anything on the Santa fe forum expect it will happen as they share the same unit.
More cases of the Sorento 20 to22 automatics having the oil pressure pump suddenly failing causes motor to come to a stop.Now several people have posted they have received recalls for the problem,but not read of any on the Hyundai forum yet but they share the same DCT gearbox.
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Topic: Kia Sorento (2021+) Good towcar?
via mobile 10/2/2023 at 7:57am
