Kia Sorento Complaints

654 consumer complaints on file.

#11680518August 13, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Jenkins kia of Ocala Florida sold me this car as a certified used car on July 4 2025 without fixing or disclosing the fact this vehicle has 2 recalls! I want to file a formal complaint with you against this company. This car should never have been sold as a certified used vehicle with these 2 safety recalls not being addressed, fixed or mentioned!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680202August 12, 2025
AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS
The contact owned a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 15-20 MPH and making a quick left turn to avoid a truck that did not have the right-of-way, another vehicle crashed into the driver's side door of the vehicle. The driver's side curtain air bags deployed. The front driver's seat air bag deployed but failed to inflate. The front passenger's side seat belt retracted even though the front passenger's side seat was not occupied. There was no injury sustained. No police report was filed. Both drivers were able to drive away from the scene. The vehicle was taken to an autobody repair shop, where an estimate of the damage sustained was provided. The vehicle was totaled by the insurance company. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the front driver's seat air bag and the front passenger's side seat belt operated as designed. The failure mileage was approximately 49,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11679976August 11, 2025
POWER TRAIN, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, STEERING
Power train incident - • transmission holding gears, jerking between shifts, gear shifted into S mode on its own and stuck there, unresponsive acceleration, locked up steering/inability to turn the steering wheel and total loss of drive power. • happened while merging onto a highway in one of two split lanes for highway access. A merging semi truck in the other merging lane almost ran into me because I could not give it gas. Me and a local police officer who saw me broke down and stopped to provide additional cover, were nearly hit several (6) times from other vehicles and semi trucks due to malfunctions happening. • diagnosed by Kia dealership and was told there was a major electrical failure which caused the electrical oil pump to fail and need a new transmission. Although my VIN doesn’t list recalls, similar issue to the recall on my same year/make/model under NHTSA Campaign Number 21V519. • Warning lamps/messages shown in photos attached. __________________________________ Forward Collision warning incident - • front forward safety system light appeared on dash, then moments later a warning appeared and the vehicle braked on its own detecting a vehicle in front of me when there was not another vehicle in front of me within vision!! • happened while driving in a 55mph zone, a vehicle was driving behind me when this occurred and that vehicle almost slammed into the back end of mine causing a crash. • problem not yet inspected on vehicle due to blown transmission from above incident and inability to start/move the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11679752August 11, 2025
ENGINE
My 2022 Kia Sorento keeps loosing power while I’m driving. Now the check engine light is o w
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11679208August 7, 2025
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
The engine light came on and then two hours later the entire system started flashing and the engine started stalling. The car would not accelerate and had to be taken to Kia. This is the SECOND time this has occurred. The first time, the engine froze and I could not accelerate on the highway. I barely got to the side and had to get towed to Kia. Please, please investigate this vehicle and the power train.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11678919August 6, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Back in June 2025 my car started having an issue with the auto on/off light blinking on the dash and unable to be turned off. While driving and this happens, the car is unable to maintain its sped or accelerate. This has caused safety concerns many times. Dyer Kia first said it was an update, problem still remained. Then they said a deeper update was needed to no avail. The third attempt was a new transmission which caused more problems and still did not address the initial issue. Then they said it was the battery. They installed/ replaced an already new battery yet the problem still existed. Another transmission was put in and the problem still existed. Then they replaced the TCM and the issue still exists. The car is at a new dealership and already they are saying they have not found any codes to explain the problem yet and that they need to repair the battery terminal leads that the previous dealership broke before they are able to go further. Kia corporate is not helping me find a permanent solution to this issue and I still do not have my vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677985August 2, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
My car will sometimes completely stall at a light when stopped and not restart with the Automatic stop system it has happened about 5 times almost causing a wreck.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677173July 30, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving down the highway when the sunroof randomly exploded, there was no debris that hit the roof or damages to the roof prior.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676834July 28, 2025
POWER TRAIN
on [XXX], the check engine light came on solid. My car is just 2 years old, only has 22K miles, and is currently under warranty, as it is a leased vehicle. According to Auto Zone, it was a "speed sensor". On 7/25/25, I was able to get an appointment with Garvey Kia of Queensbury, NY and the fault code is the "input turbine shaft speed sensor B circuit range for performance". The service technician told me that it is not able to be accessed, as it is internal, and it is not serviceable. My safety and the safety of others were at risk because the car would go "limp" when accelerating, there was harsh and delayed shifting, erratic RPM readings, and no power when accelerating. This inability to accelerate causes problems in traffic and when trying to get through intersections or out of side streets when acceleration is imperative. Yes, the car has been inspected by the Kia dealership. This same exact thing happened on [XXX], in which Destination Kia of Albany had by car for over 4 weeks to replace the transmission. At that time, the car had under 10K miles and was not even a year old. At that time, they put a refurbished transmission into the car. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676557July 28, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, STEERING
Electrical issue all dash lights came on and couldn’t shift into gear, had to replace my main computer as it was fried at 72,000 miles, also had to get the steering column replaced total of $6,000 fixes
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676436July 27, 2025
ENGINE, STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
It feels like the engine is starting to cut out and as soon as that happens, the electronics in the car seem to start fighting each other. They adaptive steering and the lane assist it feels like they don’t work together anymore and I’m always fighting it or it won’t stay in the right lane and the car jerks from line to line. If I turned the lane assist off then it drives OK but the engine still is doing something funny.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676147July 25, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The vehicle is hesitant during acceleration and linger in one gear. when try to move from a stop have to remove foot of the gas and back again with a pause before it will accelerate, only to start jerking.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676094July 25, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The vehicle was driven home from work, parked outside in a secluded spot. When I went to leave like an hour later, there was a huge crack in the windshield on the driver side. The crack seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and there is no chip, indicating that it was hit by something that would’ve caused the crack.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11675809July 24, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY, VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
Front panel of panoramic sunroof shattered while driving on Interstate 90 at approx 65mpg. Sunroof was fully closed. Exploded on its own with no outside influence. Conditions were clear and dry. Sounded like a gun shot and glass was flying everywhere. Fortunately shade was closed with no glass entering passenger compartment. Could have resulted in injuries or accident if glass entered the driving inside area.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11673946July 16, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
6/22/24-Initial start of dashboard light "miscommunication"-Codes could not be duplicated at Evans Kia dealership 7/11/24-Miscommunication occurs again-Codes pulled for diagnostics 7/22/24-Car brought in for scheduled appointment to dealership to "fix" communication errors: I was told "There was an issue with the system not updating but I should be good to go now" 2/17/25-Communication errors reappear on dash-Car taken back to dealership; Tech line case opened; Dashboard Cluster Replaced; Car given back to customer 3/20/25-Lemon Law Case filed: Determined past mileage window-Given $3000 settlement for my trouble 6/23/25-Miscommunication reappears on dash: Car taken back to dealership; Tech line case opened; Replaced Steering Column Assembly-Car given back to customer Customer files complaint with Kia Customer Affairs 6/30/25-Miscommunication reappears on dash: Car taken back to dealership; Numerous codes read from diagnostic-Tech line case opened-Front windshield camera is ready "overheating"-Tech line advises for the the camera to be replaced; Car not given back to customer and tech authorized to test drive 7/07/25-Customer informed miscommunication reappeared on dash; Tech line contacted and additional repairs pending their advice 7/15/25-Field Tech scheduled to come to Evans Kia dealership 7/24/25 "The safety of both myself and my children has been repeatedly compromised. No representative within Kia's organization has been able to provide assurance that, when all dashboard warning lights illuminate, the vehicle will not experience a complete malfunction. As a result, I no longer feel safe operating the vehicle. In July 2025, I formally requested that Kia Corporate initiate a buyback of the vehicle, rather than returning it to me following another attempted repair."
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11673190July 13, 2025
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have had many issues where my car will completely shut off after the auto start-stop function causing me to almost get into accidents with my toddlers in the vehicle. There was one incident where I was at a stop light, when the light turned green I started my car again to go and another vehicle continued to bypass me. When i halted for the other vehicle, my engine shut off again almost the cause of a horrific accident. I have had many incidents after this with the related cause of engine shutting off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11673136July 13, 2025
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
Vehicle hesitation, transmission slippage at low speeds for up shifting and hard shifting. Pulled out of a parking lot onto a main road from stop and my vehicle would not upshift and sounded like I was in neutral and would not accelerate. I had a vehicle behind me that almost rear ended me, I pulled over and had to put the vehicle in park. Once restarted, it would shift again.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11673135July 13, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Horn has stopped working. Appears it happens often with the 24 sorento. Almost had a car collision due to the inability to warn the driver of the other car that I was in my lane. I do have an appointment to have it looked at, but not for almost 2 weeks.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11672904July 11, 2025
STEERING
My 2021 Kia Sorento (VIN: [XXX] , built July 2021) has a persistent scraping/metal-on-metal noise when turning the steering wheel. This noise comes from inside the steering column. It matches exactly what Kia documents in TSB CHA111, which identifies failure of the worm shaft small bearing inside the C-MDPS (Column-Mounted Motor Driven Power Steering) system. My vehicle uses the same steering column system covered in that bulletin, though my VIN is not included in the bulletin’s range. The video embedded in CHA111 features the exact noise my vehicle is producing. I recorded it and sent it to Kia Consumer Affairs, along with proof of the C-MDPS configuration and production date. Despite clear evidence that my steering system is affected by the same design flaw, Kia declined support unless I pay for a dealer inspection — despite the issue being a known, documented defect. This noise has been present as far back as I can remember. and is steadily worsening. The steering column bearing is a critical safety component. If it fails, it could lead to steering resistance or failure. Other Kia and Hyundai vehicles using this system have already had the part replaced under warranty or goodwill coverage. I can provide a video of my vehicle making the noise. I’m submitting this complaint because Kia refuses to address a defect they’ve already acknowledged when it appears in later VINs. I am asking NHTSA to investigate and consider requiring Kia to expand the scope of TSB CHA111 or issue a recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11672831July 11, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
A coin slid underneath parking brake lever while driving on the freeway. The car came to sudden stop and would not move until i removed coin from under the lever. It could have caused a major accident
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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