Kia Sorento GT Line review: Uplifting the Seoul

THE problem with buying a Korean car is that your friends will think you only did it because you couldn't afford a Japanese one. We may be enamoured of the country's phones and flatscreen TVs, but we somehow believe that driving a Hyundai or Kia is going to end in more tears than a K-drama's heroine can shed.

But if there's one thing they know how to do in Korea, it's cosmetic surgery. So can a facelift for the Kia Sorento get us to reassess our views on the country's engineering? Perhaps not, because you can hardly tell that the Sorento has gone under the knife.

The large, luxurious seven-seat Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) was never a gargoyle to begin with, so the surgeons didn't have much to do, anyway. New lamps and bumpers, some new wheels and a lightly revamped front grille just about do it for the exterior. Inside, there's a redesigned steering wheel, a new instrument cluster with some crisp graphics, and a rejigged climate control panel. So far, so cost effective.