Kia Sorento Complaints

10,397 consumer complaints on file.

#11570195February 6, 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 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 stated that there was an abnormal burning plastic odor inside the cabin of the vehicle while starting the vehicle. The contact called a local dealer and was advised that there was no fix available. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570234February 6, 2024
POWER TRAIN
After a loud bang in rear of my 2014 KIA Sorento car while driving on freeway, I pulled over. It was towed to KIA. They found catastrophic failure of rear diff. Rear axle snapped. We were told front axle was a recall but not rear. We had to pay over $7,000 to get the vehicle out of shop and incurred over $700 in car rental because KIA did not have loaner car for me. There have been complaints of the rear axles online. I sent all this same paperwork to KIA in Irvine, Ca certified on Jan. 18, 2024. Have not heard from them yet. Sincerely, [XXX] 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
#11570272February 6, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2013 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 contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. 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
#11570349February 6, 2024
POWER TRAIN
My car was driving fine and then on Saturday we went to our daughters birthday party and the car started making noises and you could see white smoke coming out the back of the car. We were getting off the highway and thankfully we pulled over. We saw engine oil just spilling out. There were no warning lights beforehand. We took it to a shop and they said the oil burned a hole through the engine. I am very upset as I am still paying on the car and my only option would be to pay 5000 to have it repaired or they repossess my vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570398February 6, 2024
POWER TRAIN, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
While attempting to merge into 70mph traffic on the interstate, the vehicle suddenly lost all acceleration capabilities. I could have been in an accident due to the sudden loss of acceleration and eventual power to the engine. When I pressed on the gas pedal, there was no resistance and the pedal went all the way to the floor. The vehicle slowly accelerated on it's own from 20MPH to 55MPH without my pressing the accelerator. There were no warnings on the dash at this time. Once it reached 55MPH, it slowly began to decrease it's speed without my pressing the brake or accelerator. As it started decreasing in speed, a warning popped up "Check Hybrid system, Stop safely". At this time, the battery level showed 0 bars though it showed half full (8 bars before this happened). I got over to the side of the highway and continued coasting until the vehicle slowed itself to a complete stop at which point the car put itself in Park and engaged the Emergency Brake and the dash displayed "Parking brake automatically engaged" and the Engine Oil Pressure Warning light came on. I attempted to put the car back in Drive and the dash displayed "Shifting conditions not met". I turned the car off, let it sit a few minutes and restarted it. When I restarted it, the battery showed 0 bars and the display said "Park with engine On to charge battery". I put it in Drive and I was able to drive without any issues. The battery level went back up 6 bars in less than a minute and I drove it to the dealership. This was the 2nd time this happened. The same exact thing happened the first time and when I took it to the dealership they couldn't replicate the issue and there were no codes recorded. First incident was on 1/12/24. I immediately pulled over, put it in park and turned the vehicle off. It worked fine after restarting it. Second incident was on 1/25/24. There were no codes recorded this time either but I do have pictures of the dash displays. They are "live" photos.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570434February 6, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint flaking in large pieces off the car around the windscreen and roof.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569897February 5, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC, ENGINE, FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS:CANISTER
The contact owns a 2012 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 contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the vehicle would suddenly stall while idling. The contact was able to restart the vehicle to continue driving. The check engine warning light and several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure persisted after the first repair and the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The dealer was contacted, and the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the purge valve had failed and needed to be replaced. The purge valve was replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired, and the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 114,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569926February 5, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2014 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 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
#11569952February 5, 2024
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2018 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while reversing into the garage, the contact’s husband noticed a large amount of oil on the ground. The check oil warning light illuminated when the vehicle was stopped. The contact’s husband changed the oil and added 8 quarts of oil to the engine and within a week, the check engine warning light illuminated again. The contacts husband rechecked the oil level and there was no oil in the oil pan. The contact’s husband took off the front passenger tire and saw that the oil filter housing was leaking. The dealer was contacted to purchase the oil filter housing part; however, the contact was informed the part was on backorder with no estimated time for arrival of the parts. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that without the part, the vehicle was undrivable. The approximate failure mileage was 119,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570069February 5, 2024
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
Was driving on highway when suddenly the vehicle lost power and couldn't maintain speed. Once stopped smoke came out from under hood which turned out to be from coolant. Had car towed to independent shop where it was determined that the engine head gasket/s are bad and engine head bolts and block. Fix is it needs a new engine. Always had maintenance done at dealer and this happened just out of warranty 106k miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570117February 5, 2024
ENGINE
Blown head gasket.. needle went to H .. no warning lights came on dash.. white smoke from tail pipe.. coolant smell inside car.. about 8 months ago.. talked to Kia then.. 108000 miles.. warranty expired.. has been parked secondary Kia wanted a lot of money ..told to hang on to it cause lots of complaints about head gaskets..thank you..warranty extended.. at Kia dealership in ft smith ar.. probably be there a year cause they don’t seem to known much and have that reputation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570123February 5, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We parked our vehicle and turned it off to go get dessert. Upon returning after 15 minutes, I pushed the "start/stop" button with my foot on the brake, and the car powered on but for some reason it thought it was in D. The car refused to start and kept showing a message to put the car into P. However, the P button wasn't responding when pushed, and no matter which direction I turned the shift dial, the car would not change from D. Pushing the P button did not change the status. We tried turning the car off by pushing the "start/stop" button, but it would not turn off and instead entered the accessory ON mode and kept showing a message to put the car in P in order for it to turn off. Our car would not turn off nor would it start. It was stuck in accessory ON mode. We did a Google search of our issue and discovered that this situation has happened to other HEV Kia Sorentos. It is through this search that we were able to try a quick solution of essentially doing a "hard reset" on the car by unplugging the main battery and plugging it back in. Thankfully, this worked so we could travel back home. However, access to rear battery was challenging because the rear hatch would not open while the car was in D. It required crawling to the back and adjusting the 3rd row to gain access to the battery. This strikes me as a computer system failure. It is not something consumers can fix on their own. Failure of this system strands drivers at their location of failure. We were lucky it happened in a parking lot but it could happen anywhere a person chooses to put their car into P. In addition, having the car stuck in accessory mode would eventually drain the energy out of the battery. At this point, the car would not operate. Prior to this incident, the car was operating fine. No symptoms or warnings. In fact, we had just finished lunch about 20 minutes before and had no problems turning the car on/off when parked. We have not had the car inspected as it just happened Saturday.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570135February 5, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Low beams have completely gone out and will not work. High beams and all other lights work fine. Car Burns oil regularly. 2 quarts every 2 weeks is required now ro operate the car. I have only had the car since 2020.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11570005February 5, 2024
ENGINE
See attached document for complaint
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569924February 5, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving, all lights on the dash will light up and the gas pedal loses power. The only way to move the car to the side of the road out of danger is by coasting to the shoulder which can be very unsafe on the interstate. The car remains running with no power until it is cut off and turned back on. This has happened four times with the dealership being unable to specifically identify and fix the problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569792February 4, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY, ENGINE
My cars white paint is coming off the body. My car is loosing oil really fast.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569657February 3, 2024
SUSPENSION
My 2012 Sorento had the Voluntary Safety Campaign SC141 for additional anti corrosive material performed in 2016. The vehicle had already been driven for 5 years in one of the “snow belt” states they listed. Dealer said no other action needed except the additional undercoating. Now, my rear crossmember is completely rusted and away bar has broken loose. Am going to contact Kia as I feel this should be replaced by them for not catching the issue before.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569681February 3, 2024
ENGINE
Oil consumption with no low oil light.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11569693February 3, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
I received a recall notice from Kia dated 11/14/2023. The notice said that the HECU hydraulic electronic control unit could short circuit and catch the car on fire whether driving or parked. They suggest parking away from anything that could catch fire. There is currently no remedy for this serious safety issue. It has been 3 months already and there is no time line for a remedy. They offer no options such as a loaner car to help mitigate the risk to personal safety while driving this car. I would like to have some interim solution until there can be a remedy of this serious safety risk. This is an unacceptable safety risk. Thank you for your time and attention. [XXX] 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
#11569587February 2, 2024
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
On February 1, 2024, I was driving home from work. I had been driving for about 20 minutes and out of nowhere almost every dashboard light indicator that exists came on. Initially, it was the ABS, Tire Pressure, and Stability Control. I stopped at a light and all of these lights went off but as soon as I started driving again they came back on along with the AWD, Brake, and Airbag indicators. I drove approximately 10 more minutes and the check engine light came on and I had a loss of power. I was able to get to a road that had less traffic where the car started sputtering, the oil lamp came on, and then the car shut completely off. Prior to shutting off it would not allow me to place the vehicle into any gear other than neutral. I was able to use a battery pack to restart the vehicle temporarily but it started doing the exact same thing before shutting off. I ended up having to push the vehicle out of the middle of the street. Prior to this I had experienced a loss of power and the battery indicator came on so I had the alternator replaced in November 2023 along with the battery. I ended up having to return to the mechanic after I experienced another loss of power. The mechanic checked the alternator and other electrical components and stated that the rear hatch wasn't closed all the way even though there was no indicator on the dashboard. The vehicle seemed to be fine until this. After a little research it appears that I am not the only person with this same make & model that this has happened too - Kia is going to get someone killed!!!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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