There's no end of kudos to be earned by turning up at your son's Sunday football match with a vehicle that can take more than half the team home, even if they are all university students.
OK, it was quite fun to pick up the Kia Sorento, fold two rows of seats down, put my bike in the back but really I don't warm to seven-seater SUV's. On the whole, they are just too big, and induce loathing rather than respect from other road-users.
But out at the sports ground the Sorento earned a brand-new fan base. It does the business and transports people safely, stylishly and at a price in the lower reaches of executive saloons.
Kia doesn't shun the SUV tag for the Sorento - launched in South Africa late in 2009- but it does described - in Europe at least - the vehicle as a Highline Cruiser with five or seven seats. It also claims the new Sorento's design has a more "distinctive character that communicates athleticism, precision and modernity".
This design language will pave the way for the smaller Kia Sportage that will be a first cousin of the Hyundai iX 35.
Over the past seven years the previous-generation Sorento had global sales of almost 900 000. It was the vehicle with which Kia started to change the perception of the brand as "a maker of small cars".
The longer one-piece body created for the new Sorento has much more space than of the previous ladder-frame chassis and its weight has been reduced by 215kg even though technical, safety and comfort features have been added.
I was impressed by the economical but gutsy new 2.2 147kW diesel engine.
Despite its size - and one can't pretend that the Sorento isn't a big beast - it drives smaller and tighter than you might think. I was amazed by the spaces into which it fitted. It sits well and the engineering bias towards on-road rather than off-road has paid off. There still might be a bit of roll through corners but the grip is generally excellent.
The Sorento is probably the most luxurious and best-built Kia yet. A British colleague says the "real and perceived quality is as good as a Toyota". That might be mixed blessing at the moment!
PERCEPTIONS CHANGED
The Kia Sorento is certainly a very worthy contender if you need a seven-seater - even if the rearmost pair of seats are more suitable for children. If you only need five seats, there is some brilliant competition out there with much more character.
However, for what it is and does, the Sorento changed my perceptions of an SUV. This is a refined machine that does exactly what it is meant to do.
It wouldn't normally be my vehicle of choice but just occasionally it is nice to pick up brownie points - and half the football team. - Irish Independent