Posted 12.07.2008

2009 Kia Borrego EX V6 AWD

By Jeff Rundles

You won’t believe how nice this vehicle is. I’ve always been a fan of foreign automobiles, almost since I was old enough to drive, mostly because I have always appreciated innovation and it seemed like true innovation in American cars ceased in the model year just before my 16th birthday

If you look back, 1968 was a watershed year for the American car companies because it was with that year that they began to cross-pollinate, and thus pollute, the models. Pretty much through 1967, a Buick was a Buick, and not some Chevy model with fancier trim. They weren’t trying to pawn off Fords as Mercurys, or Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles as Chevys with nicer bumpers. While there had been some “platform” sharing even before 1968, after that time they started concentrating on trimming costs and increasing profits, and innovation ended. This is why a 1965 Mustang or a 1964 GTO were wonderful cars still desired today, and why most everything after 1968 that is American-made is now fully oxidized. It was about that time that I began looking at the foreign cars, and to be honest the models now popular today were back then, well, awful, for the most part. There was, of course, the VW Beetle and that god-awful VW Thing, and most people derided them at the time. The Beetle was, of course, popular with the young set on college campuses, but mostly because they were cheap to buy and run, and we all know that college students are into cheap. The best foreign jobs way back then were the British MGs and Triumphs, and they were cool – my friend and I drove all through high school in a 1966 MGB GT which could never hold a tune and had electrical problems, but for getting conversations going with girls it was top-notch.

Foreign cars never really took hold until the early to mid-1970s when the first gas crisis started and people were looking for economy. My father, a resident of Flint, Mich., and a die-hard buy-American-car fan, bought a little Buick Opel (from Germany) for my sister, arguing that it was, after all, a Buick. Then he did something weird: he bought a Honda Civic for himself, arguing that, as a doctor, he needed an economical car that would go many miles just in case he couldn’t fuel up his Buick LeSabre convertible. There was no doubt that the Buick was Car #1, and he felt as though he was forced to make that clear all the time to his many friends , neighbors and patients who raised an eyebrow at the Honda.

Anyway, at the same time as the 1973 gas crisis, I moved to Colorado and I lusted after a BMW 2002 – that wasn’t the year, but the model number. Cool car, nothing like anything the Americans were making. But I was a college student and I needed something cheaper, so I bought a 1974 Fiat 128, brand new, for something like $1,700. It was a piece of work. I had electrical problem with it until, in a fit of pique, I removed the fuse box. After that it ran like a top.

Anyway, the foreign invasion really didn’t take real hold until the 1980s, when the foreigners finally decided that small wasn’t beautiful in all forms, and began to make some handsome, and high-quality, sedans and SUVs that really took a bite out of the American market share. Led by Honda and Toyota, the foreign invasion over the last 20-25 years has not only met the American competition, it has surpassed it.

An anomaly in this steady march forward was the arrival of Hyundai, and later Kia, both Korean makes (and now owned by the same company), and at first they didn’t even try to talk people out of American models; they went right after Honda. Indeed, Hyundai’s first advertising campaign was all about its models being as good as a Honda for a lot less money. Trouble was, they weren’t as good as Hondas, not by a long shot, and probably not as good as the American-made cars either. This hurt them, and continues to do so – but it has been a boon to car buyers. Why? Because Hyundai first, and then later Kia, are in fact now making automobiles – and SUVs and vans – that are every bit as good as Hondas and Toyotas, and the bad reputation they spawned at first has kept them from raising their prices to Honda/Toyota territory.

Still, though, even armed with the knowledge that Hyundais and Kias are excellent vehicles for the money, this all-new-for-2009 Kia Borrego SUV went way beyond expectations. To say I was blown away doesn’t tell the half of it.

When they told me I was getting the Borrego, I didn’t even know what it was and had to look it up on various car sites on the web. Bigger SUV. Okay, I thought, it’ll be a nice, relatively inexpensive, well made, but more on the econo side of the ledger. Boy, was I wrong.

The Borrego is a beautiful larger mid-sized SUV that has all the luxuries and done in a package that is as impressive as anything I have driven. Anything. Any America model, of course, but also BMW and even Lexus/Toyota and Acura/Honda. Really. I don’t just like it; I love it. And when you get to the price component, well, the loves grows. Hey, I talked with a friend of mine who has a BMW X5 (he hates it; the electronics are a mess), and I showed him the Borrego, and I can attest that about the only thing he didn’t like about was that it was a Kia – not that Kia is bad, mind you, but some people just have to have the brand-name label. The rest of us can pay thousands less and drive a vehicle that is, in every respect I could want, as nice as a Lexus SUV.

First of all, it’s a good sized vehicle—192.1 inches long, 75.4 inches wide and with a 114 inch wheelbase. It feels substantial. No tinny doors, no ill-fitting components. When you hop in for the first time, it’s an immediate Wow. Then you start it up and the first impression of Wow continues, and when you start to look around and fidget with the controls, it just keeps getting better. There is everything here – leather seating (for seven), dual-zone temperature control, a beautiful Infinity AM/FM/CDC/MP3 stereo with Sirius Satellite radio (the Infinity is part of an upgrade; Sirius is standard), power everything, steering-wheel controls, three 12-volt power outlets. It’s very comfortable, unbelievably easy to command (very intuitive controls), and it just seems as though the Kia engineers and designers did a lot of extra time figuring out what real drivers, in real conditions, want from a vehicle. It was like I designed it myself.

Then, of course, the driving. My test-drive model was the EX 4X4, one of six trims (an LX in both V6 and V8, an EX in both V6 and V8, all two-wheel drive, and one each in 4X4), featuring a 3.8-liter V6, all-aluminum engine with 276 hp and carrying a 16 city/21 highway EPA gas mileage rating. I was impressed with the engine right off – and this is the smaller of the two offered – in that it was very smooth, and more than adequate power. It’ll handle just about anything – up the mountain, down the highway. All great. If I had one minor complaint it was that the six-speed automatic transmission, which is standard on all trims, was geared a bit on the odd side. I kept expecting it to shift, but it seemed to want to hold on to third, then fourth, just a bit longer than I would expect. It seemed like I was doing something wrong; I would like it if the shifting was a bit smoother.

And I loved driving it. It’s a relatively big vehicle, so it’s not a Porsche in the handling department, but it was as nice a handling vehicle as any SUV in this size class I have ever driven – and that includes all the expensive luxury models. This vehicle holds it own among the best in class. The drive is very quiet, just like a luxury SUV should be, it corners beautifully, and is great in tight traffic. Wonderful mirrors and its high profile lead to an impressive visibility for such a vehicle, and coupled with the power and handling capability, I always felt in full control. Loved it.

Inside I loved it too. Very impressive-looking vehicle, which a great deal of shoulder room up front, very intelligent storage spaces, and overall just handsome. The second row of seats is roomy, comfortable, and very easy to swing open for access to the third row. And I was very impressed with the third row – usually these seem to be made only for the young set, with little leg room and tight quarters. Here that’s not the case; a normal-sized adult wouldn’t mind a long trip back there. The second row of seats split 60/40, and they slide and recline, while the third row features a 50/50 split that is easy to access from the rear hatch for that extra-large grocery run, or any kind of gear.

Okay, for most of this stuff – there’s a ton of standard equipment – the EX 4X4 carries a base price of $29,995, and believe me, that is an impressive price for this vehicle. On my test-drive model they added $750 for 18” chrome wheels, $1,800 for a package including a great sunroof, the Infinity stereo, rear AC with rear controls, and running boards, $1,500 for the navigation system (very intuitive and easy to use), and another $1,500 for the luxury package including the leather seats, heated front seats, power tilt and telescope steering column, 2-position memory settings for the driver’s seat, outside mirrors and steering column. Add in $750 for inland freight and handling, and the bottom line was $36,295. Really unbelievable. If I could cover up all the badges and just have you guess at the price in a test drive without any preconceived notions, you’d swear this was a $50k-plus vehicle, probably a Lexus.

So you can get the same vehicle in a 337-hp V8, all-aluminum engine which must be a screamer (it is rated 15/20 mpg), for a base price of $32,995, and, of course, you can get both the V6 and the V8 in the two-wheel-drive models for marginally less money, although I can’t imagine they will sell many Borregos here that aren’t 4X4.

Included in the price is a 10-year, 100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, and a 5-year, 60,000 mile limited basic warranty with the usual roadside assistance. This is way better than most of the competition, I don’t have to remind you, but it’s worth noting because it is the bonus I mentioned earlier that you get in a Kia because of mistakes now far off in the past.

Earlier in this piece I went on and on about how impressed I have been over the years with foreign makes of cars, and I, like everyone else in these difficult times for the American auto industry, would love to see the Americans rebound and build competitive vehicles. Here’s a tip to Chrysler, GM and Ford as they retool in the hopes of getting a Congressional bailout: get the blueprints for the Kia Borrego for all future SUVs. The vehicle is nearly perfect, and the price is a world-beater. Oh, but the Big Three already know that or they wouldn’t have flown to Washington hat in hand. They need help to keep up with the likes of Kia.

RATING: FOUR WHEELS PLUS THE SPARE (OUT OF FOUR)

Last updated on Jan 21, 2009 at 09:08 AM