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This is what I've done since taking over the Sorento as my daily driver.
Page One - Exterior
Page Two - Interior
Page Three - Performance
The Sorento has been outside for three of its five years. First order of business was to clean it up a bit. I took a clay bar and some wax to the paint. It made a world of difference in the richness of the Sorento Blue.
I removed the roof rack rails to cut down on wind noise and give it "sleeker" look. If that is possible with an SUV. It did help all but eliminate the wind whistle.
The weather warmed up enough for me to de-badge the emblems. It was more of a PIA than I wanted it to since there was five years of gunk and grime solidified on the tailgate. Here is a before and after. Nice and clean now.
One of the cheap DIY mods is removing the orange reflector from the headlight assembly. After reading some information from another users here and following some instructions from Sorentosite.com I finally got up the nerve to bust open the headlight assembly. I left the backing for the reflector in rather than removing it. After some careful consideration I think it serves a purpose for directing the headlight. It still cleans up to assembly and makes it more like the euro styling assemblies that are out there.
I have a little guy who was having problems getting up into the Sorento. He'd put his knee on the door sill and work his way up. Not good for the pants... I found a set of Stainless Steel Side Steps (nerf bars) on eBay for $165 shipped. They came with Sorento specific mounting hardware and bolted on without any drilling or cutting. It took about 45 minute from unpacking to clean up. I think they are really nice quality and make the Sorento look a lot beefier.
I got the windows tinted today. Both front windows are tinted to 35% (the legal limit in Missouri). That is about half of the rear window tint that is OEM on the Sorento. It is dark enough to make a difference, but not too dark that I can't see out at night. Hopefully it will help keep the sunlight off the LCD screen on the Head Unit DVD player.
Updated shot with everything finished. Exterior shows window tint, step bars, drilled and slotted rotors, cleared out headlights, backup camera de-badged emblems and roof rails removed.
My front grill was in need of a refresh. Rather than shell out for a new one I decided to take the DYI approach and paint it myself. The chrome coating in the middle was flaking of so I sanded it smooth, taped it all off, primed and painted it matte black. I only left the outer edge chrome.
BEFORE
Taped Off
AFTER
While I was at it I removed the black decal (sticker) between the front and rear doors. I'm still working on the nice clean look, but this is another step in the right direction.
BEFORE
AFTER
I had time to remove the pinstripes while the kids were playing in the yard. They're just stickers. It helped make the body panels look like one fluid piece and not break them up. Here's a shot of the half 'n half and a full shot without.
While I was in the Nashville area I picked up some clear tail lights and LED Bulbs from a Sorentosit.com forum member. These are factory housings with the interior painted black and the lenses replaced with a clear plastic. I also took the Red LED and Amber LED bulbs he had laying around. I did have to put together a resistor because the LED bulbs draw such lower wattage that the Sorento thought a bulb was out and the blinker flashed like crazy. A few bucks later at Radio Shack and some solder the problem was solved.
Now that my tails were clear and smoked I decided to re-do my headlight assemblies to match. I pulled apart the housings and painted the interior matte black. I used a primer and then put plastic paint over that. They turned out great. With my silverstar headlight and turn signal bulbs it all looks nice.
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