Compare the2022 Buick EnclaveVS 2021 Kia Sorento HEV

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Kia Sorento HEV doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

The Enclave has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Enclave offers an optional Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Sorento HEV only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the Enclave and the Sorento HEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras and rear cross-path warning.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Enclave the rating of “Top Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 213 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sorento HEV has not been tested, yet.

Warranty

The Enclave’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Sorento HEV’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

There are almost 3 times as many Buick dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Enclave’s warranty.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Buick fourth in reliability. Kia is ranked 15th.

Engine

The Enclave’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 83 more horsepower (310 vs. 227) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (266 vs. 258) than the Sorento HEV’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Enclave FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento HEV (19.4 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Enclave AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento HEV (21.7 vs. 17.7 gallons).

The Enclave has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Buick Enclave, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Sorento HEV.

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Enclave has larger tires than the Sorento HEV (255/65R18 vs. 235/65R17).

The Enclave’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sorento HEV’s 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Enclave has standard 18-inch wheels. Only 17-inch wheels are available on the Sorento HEV. The Enclave offers optional 20-inch wheels.

The Buick Enclave’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Kia Sorento HEV only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Enclave has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Enclave offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Sorento HEV’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Enclave’s wheelbase is 10.1 inches longer than on the Sorento HEV (120.9 inches vs. 110.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Enclave is 2.3 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than on the Sorento HEV.

Chassis

The front grille of the Enclave uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Enclave uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Enclave has standard seating for 7 passengers; the Sorento HEV can only carry 6.

The Enclave has 52 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Sorento HEV (157.3 vs. 105.3).

The Enclave has 2.3 inches more front headroom, 3.4 inches more front hip room, 3.1 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, 2.6 inches more rear hip room, 3.5 inches more rear shoulder room, .8 inches more third row headroom, 3.9 inches more third row legroom, 6 inches more third row hip room and 4.3 inches more third row shoulder room than the Sorento HEV.

Cargo Capacity

The Enclave’s cargo area provides more volume than the Sorento HEV.

	Enclave	Sorento HEV
Behind Third Seat	23.6 cubic feet	12.6 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	57.7 cubic feet	38.5 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	97.4 cubic feet	75.5 cubic feet

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Enclave easier. The Enclave’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 30.5 inches, while the Sorento HEV’s liftover is 31.7 inches.

The Enclave’s cargo area is larger than the Sorento HEV’s in almost every dimension:

	Enclave	Sorento HEV
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	26.2”/54”/90”	15.5”/42.5”/76.5”
Max Width	52.7”	54”
Min Width	48.5”	42.4”
Height	30.8”	33”

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Sorento HEV is limited to 3500 pounds. The Enclave offers up to a 5000 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Enclave uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sorento HEV uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

When two different drivers share the Enclave Premium/Avenir, the memory system makes it convenient for both. Each setting activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position, steering wheel position (with optional power wheel adjuster), outside mirror angle and radio stations. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer a memory system.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir’s standard easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and tachometer readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Enclave’s front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Sorento HEV’s passenger windows don’t open automatically.

If the windows are left open on the Enclave the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Sorento HEV can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Enclave’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Enclave Avenir’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Sorento HEV’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

When the Enclave Premium/Avenir is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Sorento HEV’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Enclave’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Sorento HEV offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Enclave and the Sorento HEV have standard heated front seats. The Enclave Premium/Avenir also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Sorento HEV.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Enclave Premium/Avenir keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

On extremely cold winter days, the Enclave’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Sorento HEV.

The Enclave’s available GPS navigation system has a real-time traffic update feature that plots alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Sorento HEV’s available navigation system doesn’t offer real-time traffic updates.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Buick Enclave has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Sorento HEV EX offers wireless charging.

The Enclave offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Sorento HEV doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.