Kia Sorento vs Dodge Journey: which is more reliable?
The Kia Sorento and the Dodge Journey are level on the federal record — 75/100 against 74/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Kia Sorento
- 15 model years scored
- 8,384 owner complaints on record
- about 56 complaints per year on the road
- 63 recall campaigns, 28 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (90/100) · worst 2016 (44/100)
Dodge Journey
- 10 model years scored
- 2,843 owner complaints on record
- about 28 complaints per year on the road
- 41 recall campaigns, 20 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (92/100) · worst 2015 (49/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Sorento against Journey
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Kia Sorento
- Engine — 3,488 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,180 complaints
- Electrical System — 1,115 complaints
Dodge Journey
- Electrical System — 711 complaints
- Engine — 633 complaints
- Service Brakes — 511 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Sorento's complaints concentrate in Engine, the Journey's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Kia Sorento — avoid: 2011, 2016.
Dodge Journey — avoid: 2015.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Kia Sorento prices at about $40,800 and a Dodge Journey at about $26,600 — the Dodge Journey is roughly $14,200 less, and they return 23.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Kia Sorento or the Dodge Journey more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Kia Sorento scores 75/100 against the Dodge Journey's 74/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Kia Sorento and Dodge Journey years should I avoid?
Kia Sorento: 2011, 2016. Dodge Journey: 2015. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Kia Sorento and the Dodge Journey?
The largest complaint group on the Kia Sorento is Engine (3,488 complaints); on the Dodge Journey it is Electrical System (711).
Is the Kia Sorento or the Dodge Journey cheaper to own?
A recent used Kia Sorento prices at about $40,800 and a Dodge Journey at about $26,600, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.