SsangYong Korando (2019 – 2024) Review

The SsangYong Korando is a very useful, practical family SUV that gives the Nissan Qashqai and Korean rival the Kia Sportage plenty to think about, thanks to its strong value for money. It’s been around for a while and is still available new as the KGM Korando, following SsangYong’s rebrand. Read on for our full SsangYong Korando review.

The SsangYong Korando offers good looks, an impressively roomy interior, automatic transmissions and a choice of two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

It features a similar design to the smaller SsangYong Tivoli and was offered initially with a 136PS 1.6-litre diesel with 324Nm.

A new 163PS 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 280Nm arrived in 2020. An electric version followed that, which has a range of up to 211 miles and is now sold as the KGM Korando E-Motion.

This SsangYong Korando is longer, wider and lower than its predecessor and is a sound used car bet. With the rear seats left up, it has a generous boot capacity of 551 litres – bigger than most of its mainstream rivals.

However, in SsangYong Korando Pioneer models, which are designed for towing caravans and come with a spare wheel, this reduces to 408 litres. Either makes a good family car.

There’s a decent amount of headroom and legroom for front and rear passengers, while some of the technology on offer mimics that of much more expensive competitors.

This includes a 10.25-inch digital display behind the steering wheel in place of conventional dials, along with a nine-inch infotainment screen with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Safety kit includes an advanced emergency braking system along with adaptive cruise control and high beam assistance. It all makes the SsangYong Korando very good value.

Fancy a second opinion? Read heycar’s SsangYong Korando review here.

The SsangYong Korando comes with just one petrol engine: a 1.5-litre four-cylinder, available only with two-wheel drive and a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox.

It takes a whole 12 seconds to reach 62mph; in comparison, even a 115PS 1.0-litre Skoda Karoq can accelerate to 62mph in 10.6 seconds.

The 1.6-litre diesel is no faster, matching the petrol’s 0-62mph acceleration time. However, it feels gruntier thanks to 324Nm of torque, which is available from low revs.

We think the diesel suits the SsangYong Korando’s character more than the petrol, although – as with all diesels – we wouldn’t recommend it if you cover mainly short journeys or frequently drive around town.

The six-speed automatic gearbox available with both engines seems to suit the diesel, too, as it feels smoother and more relaxed.

It’s rarely quiet, but it settles down into a refined-enough cruise at speed, happily plodding along at 70mph without too much in terms of engine noise.

The SsangYong Korando was the first model from the brand to earn a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

Standard safety equipment across the range includes an autonomous emergency braking system, driver attention alert and a front vehicle start alert. This will let you know if the car ahead in traffic moves off and you don’t.

Lane-keeping assist is included, along with hill-start assist, while hill descent control will control your speed when tackling a steep downwards descent.

Every SsangYong Korando is rated to tow an unbraked trailer of up to 750kg.

With a braked trailer attached, some models can haul up to 1500kg, while others are rated at a more generous 2000kg. So check before buying if this is an important consideration for you.

There are no issues with space in the front of the SsangYong Korando, with loads of headroom and a decent amount of room between the seats, as well a substantial centre console to prevent awkward elbow bashing.

There’s a fairly generous cubby below the armrest, plus a useful place to store your phone in front of the gearlever, and cupholders in the centre console.

There’s also an impressive amount of space for rear passengers. Two adults will feel very comfortable, with a huge amount of headroom and decent levels of knee room.

Visibility is good, thanks to relatively large rear windows, meaning travel sickness should be kept at bay.

The middle seat is fairly narrow, and a lump in the floor means adults will find themselves perched in an unusual position. If you regularly need to carry three in the back, this might be problematic.

The boot is a good size at 551 litres. It’s a usefully square shape, although the rear wheelarches do intrude slightly. There are various hooks for strapping items in, while a false boot floor means there isn’t much of a lip for lifting bulky items over.

The SsangYong Korando Pioneer comes with a full-size spare wheel, which is useful in case of a puncture. But it does mean you’ll do without the extra storage under the boot floor, reducing boot space to 407 litres.

The rear bench splits 60:40 on all models, dropping easily to provide a usefully flat floor for carrying large items. Only top-spec automatic models get an electric tailgate.

The interior of the SsangYong Korando looks smart, but there are plenty of harsh plastics, especially on the lower half of the dashboard and door panels.

Some of the switches feel a little cheap, too, although they’re generally pretty well-damped.

A Skoda Karoq is a more classily put together SUV, but the SsangYong Korando should last well, even if it doesn’t wow with its fit and finish.

The SsangYong Korando ELX doesn’t get a fancy infotainment system, just an old-fashioned four-inch display that does the job with Bluetooth, DAB radio and USB inputs.

If you’re not fussed about cutting-edge media systems, it’s fine.

SsangYong Korando Ventura and SsangYong Korando Pioneer models have an eight-inch infotainment system, while the top-spec SsangYong Korando Ultimate gets a nine-inch display with navigation.

Most customers will be happy with the smaller device, which has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, meaning you can use apps from your phone for directions.

The media system is a bit slow to respond at times and its menus aren’t the simplest to navigate, but few users will find any great cause for complaint.

We also like the fact that there’s a physical knob for the volume control and shortcut buttons to various features.

A spend of £14,000 will see you driving away in a three-year-old SsangYong Korando fitted with the 1.5-litre petrol engine.

This car will have around 30,000 miles on the clock, which means there will still be plenty of the original warranty left to run.

The 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine in the SsangYong Korando comes with claimed fuel economy of up to 46.3mpg on the WLTP cycle.

That seems decent enough, but it does lag behind key players in this sector such as the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage (when fitted with diesel motors).

The petrol-powered SsangYong Korando comes in with official claims of 37.2mpg for the manual and 35.8mpg for the auto, but reckon on 5mpg less in normal driving conditions.

All models pay road tax at the standard rate of £190 per year at the time of writing.

With its long warranty offer – which at one stage stretched to seven years and 150,000 miles – SsangYong is confident of this car’s reliability and it’s justified in our experience, which means routine servicing should be all you need to worry about.

A franchised dealer, now branded KGM, won’t be too pricey, either. And with insurance sitting in groups between 21 and 26, the SsangYong Korando is one of the most affordable cars in its sector to get cover for.

The SsangYong Korando ELX was only available with the 1.5 petrol engine with two-wheel drive and the manual gearbox.

Highlights include cloth trim, 17-inch alloy wheels with all-weather tyres, cruise control, DAB radio with Bluetooth connectivity and automatic headlights/wipers.

SsangYong Korando Ventura models are also only available with two-wheel drive and the petrol engine, albeit with the choice of a manual or automatic gearbox.

This trim gains faux leather and fabric seats (heated in the front), 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels (without all-weather tyres), front and rear parking sensors, an electronic parking brake, 10.25-inch full LCD instrument cluster and an eight-inch touchscreen media system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The SsangYong Korando Pioneer model uses the 1.6 diesel engine and automatic transmission, with the choice of two- or four-wheel drive. It has a two-tonne towing capacity, along with 17-inch alloy wheels, heated steering wheel, full-sized spare wheel and a 3.5-inch LCD instrument cluster, rather than the fancy 10.25-inch display.

The top-spec SsangYong Korando Ultimate has a petrol engine with automatic or manual transmissions, or is an automatic diesel with four-wheel drive.

Standard kit includes leather seats with adjustable driver’s lumbar support, dual-zone air-conditioning, a nine-inch touchscreen media system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, smart keyless start, rear privacy glass, LED multi-focus headlights, 10.25-inch full digital cluster, mood lighting and a power tailgate.