If you don't have the bread for the Volvo XC90 I've reviewed elsewhere on this page, don't despair. There are some excellent and much cheaper alternatives out there, including this week's Wallet Watcher, the 2005 Kia Sorento LX SUV.

We had the two-wheel-drive version, which had a base price of $21,200. Adding a sport package that included an audio system with 10 speakers, leather shifter, metallic interior trim and some other niceties brought the price to $23,080.

	2005 Kia Sorento (top) and interior (bottom). Click photo for larger image.

There are four-wheel-drive versions available, starting at $21,570 and topping out at $26,320.

All have as standard equipment a 192-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 engines, rated 16 miles per gallon in the city and 22 on the highway.

Other standard equipment includes five-speed automatic, heavy-duty suspension, power accessories, dual front and rear side curtain air bags, cruise control, tilt wheel, dual power heated mirrors and 60/40 flat-folding rear seats.

I used the word "cheaper" in describing the Sorento, but I was referring to price, not quality.

We were pleased with the attractive, durable fabric, for instance, inside the car, and the attractive trim on the dashboard, center stack and the gauges. It looks as though it belongs to a more expensive SUV.

But the real trump card for the Sorento was the performance. Ours accelerated quickly, and was both agile and reassuring on the road.

The only negatives were a tendency to harshness on potholes or uneven surfaces, when the roughness was transmitted to passengers inside the Sorento.

A true measure of how my family felt about the Sorento was when a Honda CR-V arrived at my home.

After a few days of using both, we all felt more comfortable and secure in the Sorento. It felt heavier, and it had controls that were intuitive and more easy to use than the awkward hand brake and gearshift in the CR-V.

It also felt much faster than the Honda on the highway.

A quick glance at consumer responses on the automotive Web site Edmunds.com confirmed our conclusions.

"It's very capable off-road and on the road, it's quiet and very refined. I work for a Jeep dealer, and I think the Sorento is a lot better vehicle for a lot less money than the Liberty," one owner said.

An owner who had promised to post when her Sorento hit the one year of ownership mark had this to say: "I'm happy to report that the vehicle has performed flawlessly for the past year. ... Gas mileage is holding at 19 overall. I'll be back at the 30,000 mark to let you all know how things are going then!"

Favorite features included the standard air bags, the brake performance, the limited 10 year/100,000-mile warranty, and the "top notch" build quality and the styling. Features that could stand improvement, according to owners, were operation of the automatic door locks, seats that were a bit hard and a need for better rear speakers and better mileage.