Most Reliable 7-Seater SUV: Highlander, Sorento, Kodiaq

You keep your cars eight years, you have three children, and the question stopping you from signing is not the boot: it is which one will still be standing in 2034. The Toyota Highlander, the Kia Sorento and the Skoda Kodiaq turn up endlessly in lists of "reliable 7-seaters", almost always without a single figure behind the word.

Bottom line: the Toyota Highlander is the most reliable of the three on the available data, the Kia Sorento offers the best financial protection with its 7-year warranty, and the Skoda Kodiaq is the most fault-prone — but also the only one whose price leaves room to pay for the repairs.

Which 7-seat SUV is the most reliable in Belgium?

The Toyota Highlander. It rests on the best-ranked brand of the trio in the Test Achats reliability survey (Toyota, 4th, behind Lexus, Suzuki and Subaru) and on the best model-level indices available: 8.1/10 at iSeeCars, against 7.3/10 for the Kia Sorento.

Two things need separating, and comparison articles mix them constantly. Brand reliability measures incident frequency across a whole catalogue — that is what Test Achats publishes from its members' responses, and it is a decent proxy for engineering culture. Model reliability measures the faults of one specific car with one specific powertrain. A diesel Kodiaq and a petrol Kodiaq do not score the same, despite wearing the same badge. On both counts the Highlander leads, the Sorento follows closely, the Kodiaq trails.

The catch, and it is a big one: the Highlander is at the end of its run in Belgium. The current hybrid generation is built until the end of 2026 before the switch to electric, and you mostly find stock or run-out cars around €63,950. The most reliable 7-seat SUV of the trio is also the hardest to order.

What do the reliability figures actually say?

Three serious sources agree: Toyota ahead, Kia in the middle, Skoda behind. None gives the same score, which is normal — they do not measure the same thing.

The Test Achats reliability survey, run among its Belgian members and published in February 2024, puts Lexus first, then Suzuki and Subaru, with Toyota 4th and Kia among the reliable brands. Skoda appears in the group of brands showing the most incidents, alongside Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Dacia, Fiat, Opel and Renault. The What Car? Reliability Survey drops down to model and engine level: in the 7-seater class the petrol Kodiaq scores 91.8% and finishes 8th of 12; the diesel Kodiaq climbs to 94.7% and takes 4th. On the American side, iSeeCars gives the Highlander 8.1/10 against 7.3/10 for the Sorento, and RepairPal rates both 4.0/5 — a useful reminder that none of the three is a lemon.

The figure that matters for a family keeping a car eight years: the petrol-versus-diesel Kodiaq gap (91.8% against 94.7%) is wider than the gap between some brands. Engine choice weighs as much as badge choice. A well-serviced diesel Kodiaq ages better than a neglected petrol one, and no "most reliable SUVs" list will tell you that.

Toyota Highlander: why does it hold up?

Because its hybrid system is old, proven and deliberately simple: a 2.5 Atkinson-cycle petrol engine paired with two electric motors, with no dual-clutch gearbox, no turbo, no wet timing belt.

This is the point spec sheets never highlight and it explains most of the gap. The Highlander's transmission has no clutch to wear and no gears to slam: a planetary gearset splits the torque, which wipes out a whole family of expensive failures in one stroke. Toyota has used this principle since the first Prius in 1997, with taxi fleets clearing 400,000 km. Add all-wheel drive delivered by a simple rear electric motor — no propshaft, no centre differential to service — and you get a car with fewer parts able to break than its rivals.

The flip side deserves saying too: the Highlander drinks around 7 L/100 km WLTP, more in real use, and costs ~€63,950 in Belgium. Its reliability is paid for at the pump and at the till. And in run-out, configuration choice narrows — you take what is in stock, not what you would have picked.

Kia Sorento: does the 7-year warranty make up for it?

It makes up financially, not mechanically. Kia covers 7 years or 150,000 km, whichever comes first, with no requirement to service through the network — the simplest warranty of the three by a distance.

The difference between a warranty and reliability is who pays. The Sorento is not less reliable than an average SUV: 4.0/5 at RepairPal, 7.3/10 at iSeeCars, a well-sorted 1.6 T-GDi hybrid powertrain. It just sits one notch behind the Highlander on the indices. Where Kia gains is those seven unconditional years: no service book to have stamped at the dealer, no clause voided because you had the oil changed at your local garage. For a family keeping a car eight years, the warranty covers six or seven of them — precisely the period when a heavy repair would wreck the budget.

In practice, with children: in year eight you are exposed either way. The question then becomes parts cost and network density. Kia is well established in Belgium and hybrid Sorento parts are not exotic. The Sorento does have the smallest boot of the trio once the seven seats are up — ~187 L against the Kodiaq's ~340 L. I covered that duel in the Kia Sorento vs Skoda Kodiaq comparison.

Skoda Kodiaq: which faults, at what mileage?

Two waves, and they are dated. Around 20,000 to 30,000 km come the software defects: infotainment restarting, driver-assistance sensors complaining for no reason. Between 80,000 and 120,000 km comes mechanical wear, with the DSG gearbox first in line.

That timeline is the real story, because it lines up badly with Skoda's warranty. The first-wave software bugs land inside the 2-year factory cover: they annoy you but cost you nothing. The second-wave mechanical problems arrive four to six years after delivery at a normal family 20,000 km a year — well out of warranty unless you paid for an extension. A DSG repair runs into thousands of euros. On that specific point the 2.0 TDI diesel, better rated (94.7% against 91.8%), is the sensible choice for the long haul.

Should you rule it out? No, and I say that without hesitation: the Kodiaq starts around €40,000, roughly €20,000 less than a Sorento. That gap pays for a lot of servicing. The maths is simple: sell at 4-5 years and under 100,000 km and you pass between both waves, making the Kodiaq the best buy of the trio. Aim for 8 years and 200,000 km and it becomes the riskiest.

Is the third row the weak point people think?

Mechanically, no: faults rarely originate there. But it is the area that wears fastest in a family that genuinely folds the back out, and it is the first place to inspect on a used car.

The rear of a 7-seater takes abuse nobody logs: second-row sliding rails worked twice a day on the school run, fold-down straps yanked by children with no sense of force, third-row belts wound up and jammed. None of this strands the car, but play appears, a rail starts to catch, a strap snaps. On the Highlander the seat hardware is the heaviest of the three, consistent with a 4.95 m body. The Kodiaq, whose third row is a ~€2,500-3,500 option fitted to a platform designed first for five seats, has the lightest solution.

The test I run systematically on a used car: fold and unfold the third row ten times in a row, listening. A rail that catches or a strap that resists on the tenth pass tells you everything about the life that car has had. And check the rearmost belts retract fully — a slack third-row belt is grounds for failure at Belgian roadworthiness testing.

What does each warranty actually cover in Belgium?

Three different philosophies, and only one is automatic. Kia gives 7 years or 150,000 km unconditionally. Toyota goes up to 10 years or 200,000 km, but only service by service through its network. Skoda sticks to 2 years, extendable for a fee.

The Toyota Relax mechanism is worth understanding before counting on it: for vehicles delivered since 1 January 2019, every service carried out by an official Toyota repairer in Belgium or Luxembourg extends the warranty by 12 months or 15,000 km, up to the 10-year ceiling. Powerful, but not free: a network service costs more than an independent, and one service done elsewhere stops the counter for good. Over ten years, the sum of network servicing is a real budget line to weigh against the risk covered.

At Kia, none of those constraints: seven years, full stop. At Skoda, the standard 2 years leave the owner alone against the second fault wave, the 80,000-120,000 km one — which is exactly the hole in the net. If you are buying a Kodiaq for the long term, the extended warranty is not a dealer gimmick but part of the calculation.

Reliability comparison table: Highlander, Sorento, Kodiaq

Verdict

You keep the car 8 years or more: Toyota Highlander. Clutchless hybrid drivetrain, best-ranked brand of the trio at Test Achats, best model index. Serious caveat: run-out status limits your choice, and you must accept ~7 L/100 km and a ~€63,950 ticket.

You want peace of mind with no strings: Kia Sorento. Seven years or 150,000 km with no network servicing obligation is the easiest cover to claim on. Its intrinsic reliability stays one notch behind the Toyota, and its seven-seat boot (~187 L) is the tightest of the trio.

You sell at 4-5 years: Skoda Kodiaq, in 2.0 TDI diesel rather than petrol. You exit before the mechanical fault wave, save ~€20,000 and keep the best boot with seven aboard. Past 120,000 km it is the riskiest bet of the three.

The trap to avoid: confusing a long warranty with reliability. A warranty pays for the failure, it does not prevent it — and the most generous of the trio, Toyota's, is also the only one that can be voided because you had an oil change at the wrong garage. To place these three SUVs against the wider market, start from the best 7-seater cars in Belgium comparison, and if child seats drive your decision, read three child seats across a 7-seater.

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Sources: Test Achats car reliability survey (test-achats.be, published 08/02/2024, relayed by lalibre.be and dhnet.be) — brand ranking; What Car? Reliability Survey, 7-seater class, Skoda Kodiaq 91.8% petrol and 94.7% diesel (whatcar.com); Kodiaq fault timeline (autodoc.co.uk, carchecker.pro); model reliability indices from iSeeCars (Highlander 8.1/10, Sorento 7.3/10) and RepairPal (4.0/5); Consumer Reports for the 2026 Highlander predicted reliability; Toyota Relax warranty terms up to 10 years / 200,000 km for vehicles delivered since 01/01/2019, servicing at approved BE/LU repairers (fr.toyota.be); Kia 7-year / 150,000 km warranty (kia.com/be); Belgian 2026 list prices (kia.com/be, skoda.be, Belgian market for the Highlander), boot volumes from manufacturer data sheets. Collected on 02/08/2026. A reliability survey reflects an average fleet and average use, not the specific car you will buy: one vehicle's service history matters more than its brand's ranking. Prices exclude options and promotions and may change — check with your dealer.