Minneapolis Street Sighting: Kia Borrego

In the 1980s and 1990s, and even into the early 2000s, the big,body-on-frame-truck movement was going strong; in the 1980s, the Japanese saw a space in the marketplace in took it, with the Mitsubishi Montero, and Toyota 4Runner. By the 1990s, the movement would grow ever stronger, and the market swayed towards the luxurious end of the segment, with the popularity of vehicles such as the Range Rover, and Lexus' LX (Toyota Landcruiser), and even the posher versions of the Toyota 4Runner and Mitsubishi Montero. By the middle of the 2000s, the market waned considerably, and due to slow sales (and a relatively high asking price), the Montero was pulled from the US market; the Lexus LX also grew much bigger (and suffered a $24,000 price hike to boot) and would go on to compete with the Infiniti QX56 (Nissan Armada), and the 4Runner became less and less luxury oriented and went back its off-road roots.

With the Koreans upping their game considerably, the gap between car-based crossovers and luxo-utes like the Land-Rover LR3 was left wide-open; and Kia saw a chance to jump into what once was a thriving market.  Unfortunately, several factors ultimately culminated in a very slow-selling, often-discount five-door rig that probably had more chops than credit it was given. New, they listed for about $35,000 or so, but you can pick one up for about half that, even with the 4.6 V8. Reliability is typical Kia-strong, so if you can live without the prestigious badge on the grille, this ute makes sense.

Since the vehicle itself wasn't exactly a sales-success, drivers of the Borrego aren't likely to see themselves coming and going, as drivers of, say, a Ford Explorer would.  While this is a good trait, if drivers want to stand out, it could be a downfall, come repair time.  With not many examples to go around, parts supply is fairly limited, thus making crash repairs a hassle, both in time consumption, as well as cost.

Overall, a very nice actual truck-based-SUV in a sea of mini-me-too crossovers, and definitely a unique sighting, even if it doesn't qualify as a "classic" yet.  Only time will tell if this Korean ute is the next "must-have" collectible truck.

 

Outside, the finish is typical of that of a five year old vehicle, let alone a sport utility; no actual damage but orange peel aplenty, and several minor nicks and bruises, but nothing inherently serious.  It seems ass if 90% of the Borrego's production was finished in this orange hue (very similar to one used by Nissan as well), because all of the ones I've see have been this color, and for once, the cladding on the rockers and lower fascias is not a hindrance.

Since this is a fairly new vehicle, no further comments can be made about the interior quality, nor its condition, except that this is a fairly bottom-rung model without leather, and without the Kia UVO navigation system. Would it be a better spot if it were a fully-loaded model? Possibly. But the fact that a base-model of a not-well-known vehicle was bought is a novelty in itself.

As with all my sightings, I had fun shooting this particular truck; I'm not so sure I will get the chance to shoot another one in depth, so I might as well make use of this example.  Will I shoot another one? If I find one, yeah, I will.