Rent Kia Sorento 2020 in Dubai

White is the color worth asking for if you're renting the Kia Sorento 2020 for a week in Dubai, and it isn't only about looks. A pale body panel reflects more of the sun than a dark one, so the cabin starts a little cooler every time you walk back to a parked SUV at two in the afternoon, and swirl marks and dust show up less between washes too. The Sorento itself is a mid-size, seven-seat SUV, automatic gearbox, all-wheel drive, built for the school run one day and an airport pickup with the whole family the next. We get it to your door within one to two hours of booking. This page is about whether the size and the seating suit your week, not the paint.

What's under the hood, and how it drives

This generation of Sorento, sold in the UAE through 2020, is the older, squarer-shouldered shape Kia ran before the full redesign landed for 2021. It's not the newer, more rounded Sorento you'll see on 24baba's 2022 and 2023 listings, and worth knowing if you're comparing photos. Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol making 185 hp and 241 Nm, paired with a six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive. There's a 3.3-litre V6 higher up the range in this generation too, but the 2.4 AWD is the sensible, lower-running-cost choice for a rental and the one this car carries.

On the road it drives like a settled family SUV rather than a quick one. The gearbox shifts cleanly around town, the AWD system adds a real margin of grip on a wet Sheikh Zayed Road or a dusty desert-adjacent road after a sandstorm, and the cabin stays quiet at highway speed. Push it into a fast overtake with four adults aboard and you'll feel the weight; this car rewards planning your gap rather than a last-second stab of the throttle.

Three rows, and what fits behind them

Seven seats is the headline, but the boot is the honest number. With all three rows in place there's around 320 litres behind the last seat, enough for a couple of soft bags and the weekly shop, not a family's set of hard cases for a DXB run. Fold the third row flat and the load bay opens up properly, plenty for a real airport haul or a big supermarket trip.

The second row is where this car earns its size, with real leg room for two adults and enough width for three on a shorter hop. The third row suits kids or a quick trip across town rather than two grown adults on a long drive to Al Ain, and getting back there takes tipping the middle row forward first. At 4.8 metres long and 1.89 metres wide, it's a proper mid-size SUV, so give it the extra glance in a tight Marina ramp or a multi-storey bay that a smaller crossover wouldn't need.

What it costs to run, and how the cabin copes with heat

The 2.4-litre AWD returns around 10 to 11 litres per 100km in normal city driving, and a week of stop-start traffic with the AC working hard will sit at the upper end of that. With a 71-litre tank that's still a solid stretch, somewhere past 600km in real use, so most weeks mean one fill-up rather than a daily habit. This car's policy allows 250 km a day, comfortable for city errands with room for the odd longer trip, and anything beyond that is billed at AED 0.5 per extra kilometre. You'll need to be at least 25 to take the keys. Salik tolls and any RTA fines during your rental are your responsibility, and seat belts are mandatory in every seat, with a child seat required for anyone under four.

Cooling a cabin this size after it's sat in the sun takes a minute or two longer than a compact hatchback, but the front vents pull hard once the engine's running and the front row settles to comfortable quickly. The white paint helps here in a small but real way, since the cabin doesn't bake up quite as hard as it would under a dark roof. Climb back in after a beach afternoon and give it a short head start with the windows cracked before you expect the rear seats to catch up, same as with any SUV this size in August.

Who should rent it, and who should look elsewhere

Rent this Sorento if you're a family of four or five who wants the option of two extra seats for visiting grandparents or a shared airport run, and you're comfortable that the third row is for occasional use rather than a daily full house. The AWD is a genuine plus in the rare Dubai downpour or on a sandy access road, even if this isn't a low-range 4x4 for real dune driving.

Look at a smaller SUV like a Sportage if it's never more than four of you, since you'll get a bigger everyday boot without paying for two seats you rarely fold out. And if the plan is genuinely seven people with a full load of luggage at the same time, this Sorento's 320-litre boot won't stretch that far. Look for something with a larger cargo hold behind the third row, because that combination is the one spot where this car runs out of room.