Kia Sorento VS Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

Not all SUVs are created with equal practicality and even though the Santa Fe and Sorento are much the same in many ways one of these vehicles is more spacious, has better storage and a bigger boot. Oh, and it has two wireless phone chargers, not one.

Yes, it’s the Santa Fe. Not just the more practical one because it’s shaped like a box, although that does have something to do with it. What makes the Santa Fe so much more practical is the interior design with storage more of a priority.

Look at the area under the centre console - there’s a tray big enough for a backpack or handbag. And above it are the two wireless phone chargers, USB ports and cupholders.

There’s the glove box, of course, but above that is a shelf with a grippy surface for keys or wallets and purses. And above that is one of the weirdest contraptions I’ve seen not just in a car, but anywhere - a sterilisation compartment.

It looks like another glove box but it’s actually a space to put anything you want decontaminated - freed from bacteria and germs using UV-C radiation. Stop looking at me like that, I’m serious.

You put your phone in, shut the door, press the UV-C button on the dashboard and 10 minutes later - bing! - your phone is sanitised. Have a look at the video we've made if you still don’t believe me.

The second row of the Santa Fe has excellent legroom, even for me at 189cm tall, and good headroom, too.

For storage, I love the way the centre console box between the driver and front passenger can also be opened from the back by the second row passengers. And below that is a long, deep drawer.

The second row also has door pockets, cupholders and directional air vents, plus USB ports in the sides of the front seats.

Third row seats in SUVs are never the most accommodating for someone my height, but the Santa Fe’s offer good leg and headroom for children. There’s also a USB port on either side along with air vents with fan control and cupholders.

Worth noting the Santa Fe’s large and tall rear doors made putting our toddler into her car seat easier than in the Sorento with its more angular aperture.

The Santa Fe and Sorento have dark-tinted privacy glass for the rear windows and pull-up sunshades.

The six-seat option for the Santa Fe reduces this SUV’s practicality in a couple of ways. Obviously, you lose the capability of carrying seven people, but not being able to have a middle section to slide across to the other side or even just place items on is a problem.

A hire car company might prefer the six-seat option, but if you have a family the seven-seater is the way to go. Not only does it cost less, it's more practical. 

The Sorento is by no means impractical, but compared to the Santa Fe there are fewer storage areas in what feels a more compact cabin.

Up front in the Sorento there’s a wireless phone charger forward of the shifter but it’s in a small hidey hole which makes retrieving the phone tricky.

There are USB ports there, too, as well as cupholders and big door pockets. You won’t find a floating centre console with storage underneath as in the Santa Fe, or shelves and there's no sign of a sterilisation compartment.  

In the second row the Sorento has little buckets in the doors, bottle holders and more cupholders in the centre folding armrest. USB ports are in the sides of the front seats along with power adjustment controls.

There’s good legroom and headroom in the second row,  and directional air vents in the rear of the centre console.

The third row is on the cramped side for me, but most third rows are and they’re really for kids. My eight-year old son wanted me to let you know the windows for back seats in the Sorento are tiny, while the Santa Fe has much larger windows. There are still storage wells, USB ports and fan controls with air vents, though.

The Santa Fe and Sorento both have small cargo capacities when the third row is in place but there's enough space for one carry-on luggage-sized suitcase. With the third-row seats folded flat the Sorento has a volume of 608 litres while the Santa Fe is slightly larger at 628 litres. 

Only two grades of Prado are available in five-seat guise, the GX and off-road focused Altitude. And although, on paper, the seven-seat option makes more sense, it brings one of the Prado’s biggest flaws. 

Toyota quotes a vast 906L space with the third-row folded in seven-seat versions (and much smaller 182L space will all seats up) but the reality is less appealing. Because Toyota had to package the 'V-Active' system’s battery under the boot floor, the sixth and seventh seats sit proud about 100mm when folded. 

A flimsy plastic riser box with storage space brings the floor level up when the third row is stowed. It may be a good spot for wet swimmers or valuables, but it dramatically increases load height. It is also only rated to carry a maximum 60kg load. The third row can’t be easily removed, either. This isn’t the most elegant solution. 

The Prado’s five-seat layout is more practical for touring than the small increase in boot space (954L) suggests, with a lower load threshold and more useable space. Fold the second row flat and the load area is close to, if not quite, flat, and space increases to 1895L (1829L in the seven-seat). 

Payloads take a circa-100kg nosedive coinciding with a weight increase of about 270kg over the old car to between 2495-2595kg.

It means the Prado 250 Series can only carry between 580kg (Altitude) and 615g (GXL) before breaking over the gross vehicle mass (GVM) rating.

Still, improved chassis stiffness and a new transmission mean the braked towing capacity jumps 500kg to 3500kg.

And then we come back to the overwhelming positives in the Prado which continues in the cabin which is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor. 

That said, it doesn’t go overly-digital like GWM’s Tank 500, maintaining physical controls for low-range, locking diffs, drive modes, crawl control and, most important of all, the HVAC and seat temperature controls. 

Every Prado has 12 cupholders, including two in the front centre console. The door bins are a little small but a refrigerated centre cubby (GXL and above) means you can keep bottles of water nice and cool. 

Material quality is stand-out, even the GX has lashings of squidgy rubber and synthetic leather trimmings on the dashboard and door cards. GXL and above get squishy knee-pads on the transmission tunnel, too. Only the too-low armrests and a driving position geared towards shorter drivers are worth the smallest of complaints. The seats, though, are very comfortable no matter the grade.

The Prado’s second row has plenty of knee room for me (188cm) but the floor is set quite high, compromising comfort for taller occupants. There’s also hard plastic cladding on the transmission tunnel that impacts middle seat comfort. A fold-down armrest, 60/40 split backrest with several levels of recline, third climate zone (in GXL and above), face-height vents, two USB-C charge points and a 12-volt socket mean it’s pretty comfy in the back.

With tumble-forward second-row seats and a big, square door mean getting into the Prado’s third row is easier than before and simpler than a Ford Everest. Once back there you’ll find four more cupholders, two USB-C charge points and adjustable backrest decline. Again, the high floor means it isn’t suitable for carrying seven adults great distances.

For child seats, the Prado has ISOFIX tabs on the outboard second row seats and a total of three top tether anchors for the second row.