Compare the2025 Kia SorentoVS 2025 Honda Pilot

Both the Sorento and Pilot have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento S/EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line has 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 Pilot’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.

Both the Sorento and Pilot have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Sorento has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Pilot’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Sorento and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, 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.

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

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

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Sorento has a standard 760-amp battery. The Pilot’s 650-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 18 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 10th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

The Sorento EX/SX’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 49 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 262) than the Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Sorento EX/SX 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Honda Pilot:

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento gets better mileage than the Pilot:

The Sorento 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 Pilot doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Sorento stops much shorter than the Pilot:

The Sorento EX/SX’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Pilot Sport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition’s 50 series tires.

The Sorento has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Pilot doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige handles at .85 G’s, while the Pilot Elite pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Pilot TrailSport (26.5 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .66 average G’s).

The Kia Sorento may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 500 pounds less than the Honda Pilot.

The Sorento LX/S/EX/SX is 10.3 inches shorter than the Pilot, making the Sorento easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Sorento has .4 inches more front legroom and .9 inches more rear legroom than the Pilot.

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Sorento easier. The Sorento’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 31.7 inches, while the Pilot’s liftover is 33.2 inches.

The Sorento has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly, without having to lift, carry or store heavy seats, like in the Pilot.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Sorento’s optional second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Pilot doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Sorento’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia Sorento and the Honda Pilot, based on reliability, safety and performance.