Compare the2025 Kia Sorento HybridVS 2024 Buick Enclave

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Kia Sorento Hybrid are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Buick Enclave doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.

Both the Sorento Hybrid and Enclave have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento Hybrid 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 Enclave’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.

The Kia Sorento Hybrid has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Enclave doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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

The Sorento Hybrid’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Enclave doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Sorento Hybrid and the Enclave 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, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Hybrid is safer than the Buick Enclave:

	Sorento Hybrid	Enclave
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.9 inches
Leg Forces (l/r)	81/191 lbs.	258/133 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Hybrid is safer than the Buick Enclave:

	Sorento Hybrid	Enclave
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	34 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

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 Hybrid is safer than the Enclave:

	Sorento Hybrid	Enclave
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	64	141
Neck Tension	178 lbs.	446 lbs.
Neck Compression	-89 lbs.	45 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.71 in	1.3 in
Shoulder Force	223 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.14 in	1.5 in
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	959 lbs.	1116 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	68	189
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	134 lbs.
Neck Compression	-67 lbs.	201 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.55 in	1.02 in
Shoulder Force	134 lbs.	290 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.18 in	1.22 in
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	10 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	580 lbs.	848 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

The Kia Sorento Hybrid 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 Enclave is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

Warranty

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

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

Reliability

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 Buick vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 1 more problems per 100 vehicles, Buick is ranked fifth.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Buick vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 2 places higher in reliability than Buick.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento Hybrid gets better mileage than the Enclave:

			MPG
Sorento Hybrid
	FWD	1.6 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	36 city/36 hwy
	AWD	1.6 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	34 city/34 hwy
Enclave
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/26 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	17 city/25 hwy

Regenerative brakes improve the Sorento Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Enclave doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Sorento Hybrid has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Enclave. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Sorento Hybrid’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Enclave:

	Sorento Hybrid	Enclave
Front Rotors	12.8 inches	12.6 inches
Rear Rotors	12.8 inches	12.4 inches

The Sorento Hybrid stops much shorter than the Enclave:

	Sorento Hybrid	Enclave
60 to 0 MPH	121 feet	134 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

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

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Sorento Hybrid has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Enclave.

Suspension and Handling

The Sorento Hybrid EX handles at .80 G’s, while the Enclave Avenir pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento Hybrid EX executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Enclave Avenir (27.7 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Sorento Hybrid’s turning circle is 1.1 feet tighter than the Enclave’s (37.9 feet vs. 39 feet).

Chassis

The Sorento Hybrid is 1 foot, 3.2 inches shorter than the Enclave, making the Sorento Hybrid easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Sorento Hybrid has .2 inches more front legroom and 2.4 inches more rear legroom than the Enclave.

Cargo Capacity

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

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Sorento Hybrid. The Enclave doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

The Sorento Hybrid’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Enclave’s (2000 vs. 1500 pounds).

Standard Trailer Stability Assist on the Sorento Hybrid uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Enclave doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Ergonomics

The Sorento Hybrid SX Prestige’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Enclave’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Sorento Hybrid to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Enclave doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia Sorento Hybrid and the Buick Enclave, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Kia Sorento outsold the Buick Enclave by over two to one during 2023.