Consumer Reports Kicks Kia to the Curb Over Safety

In a YouTube video, Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, says the 2014 Kia Sorento was pulled from the recommended list because of its poor performance on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's overlap protection test. The Honda Pilot and the Mazda CX-9 have also lost their recommended status for the same reason.

According to IIHS.org, "The Chevrolet Equinox and its twin, the GMC Terrain, are the only midsize SUVs out of nine evaluated to earn a good rating in the IIHS small overlap front crash test, which continues to challenge manufacturers more than a year and a half after its introduction."

The small overlap test replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object such as a tree or utility pole. In the test, 25 percent of a vehicle's front end on the driver's side strikes a rigid barrier at 40 mph.

The IIHS says, "The test is more difficult than either the head-on crashes conducted by the government or the longstanding IIHS moderate overlap test. In a small overlap test, the main structures of the vehicle's front-end crush zone are bypassed, making it hard for the vehicle to manage crash energy. The occupant compartment can collapse as a result."

That's what caused the Kia Sorento to be eliminated. As Fisher pointed out, "A poor rating means a higher risk of injury in a crash." The Consumer Reports video shows the violence of a collision and how the passenger compartment collapses.

Used Kia Sorentos aren't rated in this test because it is new. However, since the Sorento is a few years old, its fallibility does apply to older models.