Compare the2023 Kia K5VS 2023 Toyota Crown

Both the K5 and Crown have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The K5 EX/GT offers optional power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Crown’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the K5 has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Crown Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the K5 and the Crown have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the K5 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 127 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crown has not been tested, yet.

The K5 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Crown’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the K5 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Toyota covers the Crown. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Crown ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the K5 second among midsize cars in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Crown isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 14th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in reliability, above the industry average. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked fifth.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia K5 uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Crown Platinum requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The K5 has 1.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Crown (15.8 vs. 14.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

An eight-speed automatic (SMG) is standard on the Kia K5, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Crown.

The K5 offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Crown doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the K5 GT’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Crown:

For better traction, the K5 GT’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Crown (245/40R19 vs. 225/55R19).

The K5 GT’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Crown’s optional 45 series tires.

For better maneuverability, the K5’s turning circle is 2.8 feet tighter than the Crown’s (36 feet vs. 38.8 feet).

The Kia K5 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 750 to 1100 pounds less than the Toyota Crown.

The K5 is 3 inches shorter than the Crown, making the K5 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the K5 a Large car, while the Crown is rated a Mid-size.

The K5 has 7.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Crown (105.3 vs. 98).

The K5 has 2 inches more front headroom, 4 inches more front legroom, 1.4 inches more front hip room, .9 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 3.5 inches more rear hip room and 1 inch more rear shoulder room than the Crown.

The K5 has a larger trunk than the Crown (16 vs. 15.2 cubic feet).

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the K5’s trunk can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Crown doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The K5 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Crown 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.

The K5 is available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations. The Crown doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Kia K5, based on reliability, safety and performance.