Compare the2025 Kia SorentoVS 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Jeep Grand Cherokee L doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Sorento and Grand Cherokee L 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 Grand Cherokee L’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.

With its standard Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, the Kia Sorento is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Jeep Grand Cherokee L, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

Both the Sorento and Grand Cherokee L 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 Grand Cherokee L’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Sorento and the Grand Cherokee L have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Grand Cherokee L:

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 Grand Cherokee L’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 Jeep covers the Grand Cherokee L. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Grand Cherokee L ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Sorento have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Grand Cherokee L.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Sorento’s reliability 24 points higher than the Grand Cherokee L.

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 Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 37 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 19th, below the industry average.

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 Jeep 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, Jeep is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 16 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

The Sorento EX/SX’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 54 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 257) than the Grand Cherokee L’s standard 3.6 DOHC V6.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Sorento EX/SX 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Jeep Grand Cherokee L V6:

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento gets better mileage than the Grand Cherokee L:

Regardless of its engine, the Sorento’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Jeep only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Grand Cherokee L V6.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia Sorento uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Cherokee L with the 5.7 V8 engine requires mid-grade for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 49.8 cents more per gallon.

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 Grand Cherokee L doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Sorento stops much shorter than the Grand Cherokee L:

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige handles at .85 G’s, while the Grand Cherokee L Overland pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.7 seconds quicker than the Grand Cherokee L Overland (26.5 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.2 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

The Kia Sorento may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 1050 pounds less than the Jeep Grand Cherokee L.

The Sorento LX/S/EX/SX is 1 foot, 3.3 inches shorter than the Grand Cherokee L, making the Sorento easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Sorento has .5 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom, 2.3 inches more rear legroom, .1 inches more rear shoulder room and 1.1 inches more third row shoulder room than the Grand Cherokee L.

The front step up height for the Sorento is 1.2 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee L (19” vs. 20.2”). The Sorento’s rear step up height is 1.2 inches lower than the Grand Cherokee L’s (19” vs. 20.2”).

The Sorento has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Grand Cherokee L doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Insurance will cost less for the Sorento owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Sorento will cost $295 less than the Grand Cherokee L over a five-year period.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Kia Sorento, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Jeep Grand Cherokee L isn't recommended.