Compare the2025 Kia SorentoVS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

Both the Sorento and Grand Highlander 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 Highlander’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.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Sorento are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Sorento 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 Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Sorento and the Grand Highlander 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, 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Grand Highlander:

The Kia Sorento achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Grand Highlander is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

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 Highlander’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 Toyota covers the Grand Highlander. 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 Highlander ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

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 Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 29 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

As tested in Motor Trend the Sorento EX/SX 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Grand Highlander turbo 4 cyl.:

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

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Sorento’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Kia Sorento uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Highlander Hybrid Max requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 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 Highlander doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The Sorento stops much shorter than the Grand Highlander:

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 Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige handles at .85 G’s, while the Grand Highlander XLE AWD pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.1 seconds quicker than the Grand Highlander XLE AWD (26.5 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Sorento X-Line/X-Pro has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Grand Highlander (8.2 vs. 8 inches), allowing the Sorento to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Kia Sorento may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 500 to 700 pounds less than the Toyota Grand Highlander.

The Sorento LX/S/EX/SX is 11.8 inches shorter than the Grand Highlander, making the Sorento easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Highlander doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

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

The Sorento Prestige’s standard easy entry system 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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia Sorento and the Toyota Grand Highlander, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Kia Sorento outsold the Toyota Grand Highlander by 84% during 2023.