KGM Rexton (SsangYong Rexton) Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you need a big seven-seat SUV that’s well equipped, and you want as much metal as you can get for your cash, then the KGM Rexton is difficult to beat. Yes, you'll make some sacrifices in dynamic polish to get it.

Whether you’re pulling speedboats, horseboxes or kebab vans, the Rexton will do it more effectively than most other cars. That’s thanks to a maximum towing weight of 3,500kg, which is a figure not many cars of any price can match.

What's more, if you need your speedboat or kebab van (or more likely, your horsebox) to be pulled across a muddy field, the Rexton’s on-demand four-wheel drive and low-ratio gearbox should have that covered, too.

Since the KGM rebrand, only a 202PS 2.2 diesel exists. Likewise, there are three revised trim levels: K30, K40 and K50. The K30 has everything needed for daily commuting, including dual-zone climate control, a heated leather steering wheel and a rear camera. 

Aside from huge cars like the BMW X7, Mercedes GLS and the Range Rover, there aren’t too many cars as enormous as the KGM Rexton. However, while all those motors sit worryingly close to the six-figure mark on price, and sometimes even overstep it, the Rexton doesn’t cost you too much more than a mid-spec Volkswagen Golf.

It’s not the only affordable seven-seat SUV, so it’s not like it’s without rivals. Two hail from Ssangyong’s homeland of South Korea, the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento. Meanwhile, the Skoda Kodiaq will also be in the running for your cash. There's also the MG HS, Ford Kuga, Skoda Karoq and Nissan Qashqai. 

Most of the materials on show are attractive and tactile, there are enough varying textures and thoughtful finishes to keep things interesting. 

Some surfaces feel slightly lower-grade than others, but they certainly don’t let the side down, and the solidity with which everything is assembled is also impressive.

All trims get the 12.3-inch touchscreen and digital gauge cluster, and the driver can switch between various graphics for the latter using steering wheel controls.

Likewise, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and TomTom sat-nav are standard. It’s all easy to use: the graphics are sharp, but the touchscreen is slow to respond. There's also a DAB radio and a 360-degree camera. Cars have driver seat memory functionality, rear USB-C ports, and park assist. 

The Rexton is 4850mm long, 1960mm wide and 1825mm tall. All versions are seven-seaters. 

What’s more, you have an enormous 820-litre boot that’ll swallow fertiliser bags and flatpacks with ease, and there are also movable luggage boards that let you either secure your cargo or flatten out the load bay when the rear seats are folded to maximise boot space to 1806 litres. The way those seats fold doesn’t give you a flat, extended load area, but it’s not far off. 

Those seats also shift out of the way far enough to give good access to the third row of seats once you’ve popped them out of the boot floor, but like with most seven-seaters, they're best left to children for anything other than very short journeys. The boot’s pretty tiny at 240-litres with all seven chairs in place, too, with room for only a few carrier bags worth of groceries.

All Rextons feature a 202PS 2.2-litre diesel engine, an improvement over the old 181PS unit. You might worry that this sounds a bit weedy in a car weighing more than two tonnes, but it copes surprisingly well. 

The engine’s muscle is available from low down in the rev range, making it flexible and eager, so it rarely has to work the Rexton’s behemothic body. Granted, you’ll never get anywhere particularly quickly, but a relaxed life is much more important than a speedy one, and the Rexton delivers there.

Before, buyers could choose from a six-speed manual and a seven-speed auto. But KGM now offers the Rexton with an eight-speed auto only. 

You might worry that the SsangYong Rexton’s old-school construction would give it all the rolling refinement of a muck spreader, but it does surprisingly well. Treat the engine gently by only using its generous low-down pull (which you will, because revving it hard doesn’t result in much more speed anyway), and it stays smooth and reasonably quiet. 

Both wind- and road-noise are reasonably well contained at all speeds, too, so it’s also pretty civilised at a steady motorway cruise. Granted, you can hear the suspension knocking and clonking away beneath you most of the time, especially over a scruffy road surface, but it’s not loud.

The Rexton might be a budget offering in the large SUV class, but there’s been no scrimping regarding the amount of safety gear you get as standard. 

All versions have hill start assist, curtain airbags for front and rear passengers, ISOFIX child anchorage, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, lane keep assist, blind spot detection and smart high beam. 

EuroNCAP hasn't tested the Ssangyong or KGM Rexton.  

Neither Ssangyong nor KGM is listed in the latest Honest John Satisfaction Index. Owners have reported various issues with the Ssangyong guise, like infotainment slowness, something plaguing KGM cars, 2.0-litre diesel issues, and light wheel arch rust. 

Still, KGM offers a five-year/100,000-mile warranty on its cars.

The K30 KGM is insurance group 32, putting it in the same category as a BMW X3, while the K40 and K50 are group 33. 

Sadly, all versions cost an arm to tax. This is because each Rexton exceeds £40,000, making it liable for expensive car tax. 

You'll be £3,300 lighter in the first tax year (showroom tax) regarding K30 and K40 models. The K30 defaults to the standard £195 rate, and the K40 will cost £620 per year to tax because of the additional £410 rate. 

Opt for the K50, you'll be £4,680 lighter in showroom tax, followed by £620 per year. We'd suggest the entry-level car to keep costs low. 

The entry-level car has everything that's needed for everyday use. Moving to the K40 introduces power-adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, mood lighting, 9 airbags, and 18-inch alloy wheels. K50 cars have a powered sunroof, 20-inch alloys and third-row air conditioning.