This past week I had the opportunity to test drive one a 2012 Kia Sorento. I will have to admit that prior to this past week I didn’t have much thoughts about Kia. I see the Kia vehicles all the time while I am driving, they seem to be everywhere, but I never gave much thought about ever buying one for myself.

That was until Monday when a pretty and shiny 2012 Kia Sorento pulled up in front of my house, ready for me to give it a test drive. I didn’t give no hesitation to get in and put my hands on the steering wheel of this vehicle.

Now I would say that I hurried and put the key in the ignition to start the Kia, but this baby has a Push Button Start with Smart Key feature that is so awesome. Simply put your foot on the brake and push the button to give it a start.

Don’t laugh, but it took me at least a minute to figure out that my foot had to be on the brake. I did attempt to just push the button first and nothing happened and I almost panicked thinking that I was going to have to call someone to tell me how to start it. My husband being “car smart” suggested maybe I should put my foot on the brake first and it worked! Wohoo, I was almost ready to to roll!

There are more features than just the push button start feature that got me excited. This 2012 Kia Sorento also had a backup camera and backup sensors that I find very handy. I am one of those moms that become a little paranoid when backing up and wish that all vehicles come stock with this feature.

When you put the Kia in reverse, the backup camera is automatically started and you can see on the screen what is behind you and what is in your safe zones. I found the backup feature very handy when trying to back out of the parking spots at the grocery store.

When it comes to driving any vehicle, I got to have my tunes. What I love about this Kia is the Sirius Satellite Radio option. I normally listen to the radio, but on some road trips my favorite stations are not always available. With the Sirius Satellite Radio, I had access to not only music in a variety of categories, but also comedy channels, weather channels as well as other categories I didn’t get to listen to.

My next favorite feature of this 2012 Kia Sorento is the Navigation System. Ever since I first used a GPS device, I was hooked. I love being able to put in my address from any location I happen to be at and be given direction on how to get back home. I currently use a GPS device in my car I drive, but really love using the on screen navigation system that I used in this Kia.

With the Kia’s navigation system, you can choose the Map option and show your current location which can come in handy if you are not familiar with your surroundings.

Or you can choose to use the navigation’s Destination feature to find a point of interest and get directions on how to get there.

I found the navigation system very useful. You can use this feature to find a route to your destination and even find alternative routes to avoid traffic, tolls, highways, etc. What I like is knowing just how many miles I have left to my destination and about how long it is going to take to get there if there happens to be no traffic.

After being like a kid and playing with all the features of the Kia Sorento, it was time to take this vehicle for a test drive. Since this Kia comes equipped with a very nice air conditioning system and it was a hot day, we decided to take a drive to San Francisco to get out of the house for a few hours.

Once I started driving I knew this was a vehicle I would love to own. Not only does this Kia Sorento seat my entire family of 6, I had room for a friend too if I wanted to bring one along. There are often times that one of my children will have a friend over, so I love having a vehicle with 7 seats. With the Kia Sorento, there is the 3rd optional row that can be used as seating or can be lowered to provide a large cargo area in the back.

I am a mom that is used to driving a larger SUV, that being a Chevy Tahoe that also seats my family and a friend. With the Tahoe, I feel as though I am sitting high and driving a big SUV when I am on the road. When I drove the 2012 Kia Sorento, it had a total different feel behind the wheel. I felt as though I was driving a regular sized car but with the features and space of an larger SUV.

One day I took the kids to the park and when I was getting my picnic supplies out the back, I realized that there was a Lexus parked next to me that looked really similar. I happen to be a fan of the pretty Lexus vehicles and thought that the Kia I was driving must look pretty cool too if it looks like this Lexus.

What I noticed is the Kia Sorento also gives me better gas mileage than I am used to receiving. While driving this vehicle to San Francisco a couple times in the week that I had it, I received about 25 MPG if not better with using the air conditioner. Just seeing the difference in gas mileage makes me a mid-size SUV over the current SUV that I own.

Here are some additional features of the 2012 Kia Sorento that I haven’t mentioned yet:

• 6-speed automatic transmission with Sportmatic
• 4-Wheel Drive
• Anti-lock brakes (ABS)
• Dual front airbags, front side airbags and side curtain airbags for 1st & 2nd row
• USB/Aux jacks – Plug in your iPod/MP3 player to listen to your music or podcasts
• Bluetooth technology – pair your phone & talk without your phone
• Eco Minder Indicator- lets you know when you are using fuel efficiently
• Power folding outside mirrors

When the Kia was picked up yesterday I was a little bummed. I really did enjoy driving the Kia and didn’t want to have to return it back so soon.  I was asked how I liked it and my answer is I LOVE it. I enjoyed being able to drive a car that I was able to pack around my whole family, feel like I was driving a car while getting good gas mileage and also the fact that I was driving in STYLE!

To see more pictures that I took of this vehicle for this review, visit my 2012 Kia Sorento Review Photo Album on Google +.

Disclosure – I received this Kia Sorento to drive for 1 week to provide you with this review. This post is not a paid post and the opinions stated herein are 100% my own