Kia Sorento Complaints

10,397 consumer complaints on file.

#11573264February 22, 2024
ENGINE
Driving loud pop and crunch white smoke loss of power vehicle would not start after found prices of head underneath vehicle. Known issue with the 3.3 leaking coolant into engine and failing
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573321February 22, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573412February 22, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I received an important safety recall on November 14, 2023. It has been over 3 months since I have received this recall. I have contacted my nearest dealer, and they have yet to receive the part (HECU) to replace in my vehicle. I have had to park my car outside for the past 3 months in bad weather. Now, three of my windows are not working because the cold weather froze their motors. When should I expect to have this part replace, so I and park my car in the garage and out of the elements?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573419February 22, 2024
ENGINE
My car was at Kia for a key fob issue. A day later the engine started ticking. I’m told I need a new engine. My car had no issues. I want to know if it can be related to this recall or if my car should’ve been recalled for the 2017 engine recall sc147. I am not convinced that they didn’t cause this when they had it as it started the next day it was driven. They will not take responsibility for it of course.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573491February 22, 2024
ENGINE
It was determined by a local mechanic that the engine was damaged due to a internal rod busting through the block of the engine. This caused an immediate shutdown of the vehicle in the middle of traffic on a cold night with my 7-month old daughter in the vehicle. I suppose it could have been worse if the engine had caught fire or if we were on the highway, thankfully we were barely accelerating from a stop light. The engine has not been inspected by Kia as they claimed it would cost over $300 to just look at it, and it is well known from the original mechanic what the issue was. We did contact Kia about it but they were unwilling to fix the issue. We were quoted over $10000 for a replacement engine but that was all the help we got. Prior to this sudden destruction of our engine all normal oil changes and maintenance had been done and there were no warning lights on the dash.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573189February 21, 2024
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The engine of the vehicle and other parts had a problem which had caused the vehicle to not accelerate fast enough. It also made the car shake when it was stopped. The component that is malfunctioning is available for inspection. If the car does not accelerate on the road, then it can cause a crash which can lead to injuries or even death. Especially if the car has to turn left and other cars are incoming, it can lead to serious issues if the car does not go fast enough. It can lead to injuries to the driver and the passengers. The vehicle was initially put for inspection to the manufacturer in Lou Sobh Kia, "fixed", and then was given back in a condition where the effects stated above continued to occur. We then took the vehicle back to the manufacturer where they further reviewed the car. They reviewed it again and did not tell us enough information about the issues going on with the car. Since we did not think they were reviewing the car properly, we took it Rick Case Kia where they were able to spot out the engine problem. It was also reviewed by a Korean service center and Good Year where they both told us that it was an engine and timing belt/chain problem, whereas Lou Sobh Kia weren't able to properly capture the issue. Both the engine light and oil light were on which is why we took it to Kia Lou Sobh, and they first appeared around October-November 2023.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573222February 21, 2024
ENGINE
[XXX], traveling for the holidays, my 2017 Kia Sorento broke down. All dash lights came on, black smoke out exhaust. Only issue I had prior to this breakdown was excess oil use. $150 tow to Bengston Tire & Service in Salina, KS. They diagnosed cylinder misfires, spark-plug disintegration & recommended to take it to a Kia Dealership to be looked at, as they said it likely required an entire engine replacement. After a $440 tow, it was looked at by the Kia Dealership of Manhattan, KS, who ultimately did state that my vehicle would require a $7k engine replacement. The said I did not qualify for the 10 year/100k warranty since I was a 2nd owner. Since I still owed on my loan, I decided it was not worth putting the time/funds to fix. I had it towed home for $800. After searching online for hours with my VIN to search recalls, my Sorento did not show up in any recalls, class action suites, etc. During all of this I had to rent a car, which in total from [XXX], when I purchased a new vehicle, I spent $1,530 in total rental fees. It wasn't until I was researching that I found out about the KSDS sensor that many other Kia owners were having installed to assist in the prevention of a situation that my Kia had put me in 12/2023. Kia had never sent me any information on this and the Kia dealership never told me about this, nor offered to help in ANY way with another vehicle that likely should be added to the engine failure recall, as all my symptoms fit the bill. Oakes Kia of Kansas City, MO also told me previously that the excess engine oil consumption was normal, and just part of having a GDI Engine. I sold my Kia for $5k to a buyer who could fix it up. The KBB value of my Sorento was $14,000, as besides the engine failure the rest of the vehicle was in amazing condition with no other issues. I have lost a significant amount of money with this loss that I believe could've been easily prevented or at least better prevented by the manufacturer. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA),
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572849February 20, 2024
ENGINE, STRUCTURE:BODY
Exhaust system flex pipe was repaired and the next day the exhaust muffler/ resonator failed at the seam, causing hot gases to escape into the undercarriage and melt the lower bumper cover assembly on the right passenger side. See photos attached.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572888February 20, 2024
ENGINE
Vehicle has engine oil leak, started months ago but no warning lights - determined there was a problem due to the oil drippage on driveway. Took vehicle to dealership, known problem of oil filter housing and it has to be replaced. Part on back order. Not repairing the problem can force the engine to seize and stall while driving, hence, I haven't been driving the vehicle due to concerns about it seizing. This is a known problem subject to two class action settlement suits and the problem STILL occurs. Why isn't a recall being done to address this problem at no cost to the customers?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572974February 20, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
My lights keep going out as I`m driving at night time so i can not go any where at night time I was almost hit head on this the second time this happened when I called Kia 3 times now the dealer i purchased it at they keep giving me a run around I have the extended warranty also electrical warranty which i paid extra for they still want to tell me these things aren`t covered.My vehicale has not had any of the software updates. I have tried calling a Kia dealer closer to my home I get told i have to go were i purchased my Kia
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572884February 20, 2024
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Purchased brand new 2023 Sorento on 12/30/23. On Jan 14th, with less than 300 miles on it, had 1st incident. All lights on dash came on said Engine control system, lost all ability to accelerate. Had to get out of traffic, as safely as I could. Turned car off and waited 5 min. Turn car back on, check engine light stayed on but could give gas. Took to dealership and a code was stored in history, engine control module. 3 days later took it back to get fixed and they could reproduce problem or get any code. Put flight recorder on, drove it for 11 miles, nothing. Said they can't fix without a code. On Feb 17th, with 1500 miles, same situation. All lights on dash, cannot give any gas. Extremely dangerous in traffic. Got off road and on display it said it performed 7 checks. All showing good except Engine Management System. Shows condition with engine control system and take to dealership immediately. It was a Saturday, service was closed. Check engine light stayed on Saturday and all day Sunday. Monday, check engine off. Took to dealership, no code found. This is a brand new car and has has same problem twice now. They are saying they need a code to fix. So now I'm driving a ticking time bomb, a death trap. Scared to drive on interstate or anywhere with heavy traffic. When you loose ability to control cars speed, that's EXTREMELY dangerous. I dropped car off at KIA and will NOT pickup until they can tell me what's going on with my brand new car. Why KIA put a safety feature that "limp mode" stops the car from accelerating is beyond me. This is so scary and disappointing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572672February 19, 2024
STEERING
Steering column separated while on cruise control at 70mph
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
3
Deaths:
0
#11572779February 19, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
The rear frame on my 2011 kia sorento rusted and broke.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572838February 19, 2024
ENGINE
Son's vehicle began overheating, so he took to his mechanic. Determined that the thermostat in the cooling system was bad and replaced it. About a week later (2/2/24), sitting at a stoplight, car began to overheat again. Took back immediately to mechanic and determined that the head gasket needed to be replaced. Waited 17 days only to find out when mechanic went to replace head gasket, discovered the threads in the block were pulled out. Now looking at replacing engine block for a lot more time and money. Seems to be common issue with this model and should be a recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572655February 18, 2024
ENGINE
We purchased 2017 sorento 2.4 with 71k miles. It burned oil very bad from the day we bought it (3 quarts in 2k miles) We tried to contact the warranty company and the dealer, they pointed the finger at kia. Finally the engine blew up at 80k miles. I was told about the class action lawsuit on rod bearings for that vehicle. Unfortunately, rod bearings aren't the only issue with that engine. It burns tons of oil (possibly through pcv valve or faulty rings). All this burmt oil turns into carbon, and ends up destroying the head/ valve train, fouling spark plugs, and clogging the rings. I am a member of a group that has tons of people with the same issue. Kia refuses to cover it, because the lawsuit only said they had to cover rod bearing failure. My vehicle lost compression on a major highway. Before that, my wife was driving with the kids, and it started misfiring due to the carbon build up fouling another set of spark plugs. These vehicles are going to get people killed, and kia/hyundai are doing nothing about it. All of the vehicles with the theta 2 engine are having this problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572666February 18, 2024
ENGINE
I bought this vehicle 2/1/24. I have taken to Valvoline for the past 5 oil changes. On each receipt it showed an engine oil leak. on 2/16/24 I smelled something burning. So I checked the oil level and found that it was almost empty. There was Not an engine oil light warning that the oil is low. I took my vehicle back to Valvoline to have them check it. They told me that they noted on each of the invoices that there was an engine oil leak. I had only driven 2000 miles since my last oil change and the oil level should not be this low. This should not be happening.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572667February 18, 2024
ENGINE
Oil pan cracked to the right side of the drain plug about an inch long
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572669February 18, 2024
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
We purchased the vehicle with 45000 miles, within a year, the vehicle started to run very badly, car idle vibrates the whole vehicle. It stalls out on her sometimes, burns all the oil by the it is time to change oil, the mechanic says there is less than a quart left, but no leak as per mechanic! The vehicle will blow soon I’m sure, and my wife drives our children everyday. I was made aware of lawsuit settlement, which Kia was only required to send notice to first owner, so we had no idea! The suit was settled and Kia gave lifetime warranty/new engine replacements/new vehicles to owners. The law suit was going on/settled around the time we purchased the vehicle so dealership knew about it and still sold it to us! We can not afford another vehicle, and dealership says unless the engine gives off certain code, they can not do anything! They are avoiding liability, and putting my family in danger! I do not know what to do or who to speak to!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572604February 18, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
UNKNOWN. The “Replace Inverter Coolant” warning message repeatedly comes on for unknown reasons and may be quickly reset to the “Ready to Drive” status by turning the vehicle off, opening the driver side door, putting my foot on the break pedal, turning the vehicle back on and closing the door before the system readiness cycle is completed. While this is not perhaps an injury issue to anyone, it is a nuisance issue which KIA apparently refuses to issue a recall to fix. The reliability of the Inverter Coolant monitoring system is important to the driving public of KIA vehicles and a system that is unreliable should not be tolerated. This issue is also known to exist on numerous other KIA manufactured and marketed models.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572483February 17, 2024
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
We were driving on the [XXX] on [XXX] with a speed of around 70 miles per hour. We started to see a small amount of white smoke coming from under the hood and at the same time the truck started to slow down by itself unexpectedly and then started to jerk back and forth. No indicators showed up on the dashboard. The speed reduced quickly and hitting the gas pedal did nothing to accelerate our speed. The white smoke started to increase and it became difficult to see. We then saw the temperature gauge go all the way up to hot out of nowhere. There were vehicles all around us and the passengers in the car started to yell to try to get to the shoulder. We had to maneuver very quickly through traffic with the car continuing to jerk at a very slow speed, which was very scary and dangerous. We were finally able to slowly get over to the shoulder. We turned off the truck. When we opened the hood, white smoke was everywhere coming from the engine and the coolant in the plastic receptacle was bubbling. The coolant looked like it was about to explode and the driver got burned trying to remove the cap. There was significant heat coming from the engine. The coolant then drained out of the receptacle. When we tried to start the truck again it would not start. We spend hours trying to get a tow to a shop in NJ miles from where we live in NY. Several days later, the mechanic in NJ took a look at the car and he reported this week that the head gasket is blown and that we need a new engine. We plan to tow the truck back to NY to KIA where we have the car serviced normally to have it looked at. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0

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