Kia Sorento Complaints (2016)
1,262 consumer complaints on file.
- #11461008April 16, 2022ENGINE
We purchased the vehicle used in June 2021. The dealership did an oil change. We took it to NTB for an oil change 6 months later, within the recommended mileage range and the mechanic said it was bone dry. He put 5 quarts of oil in and said to return in 1,000 miles. No sign that there was an issue. Once we returned to have the vehicle inspected, the mechanic did an oil change and sent us on our way. Here we are around 3,000 miles after the oil change and the vehicle is bone dry again. The vehicle shut off while driving (turning a corner, was able.to safely steer car into a field). The vehicle started right up and the check engine light came.on and the oil light flashed briefly. We filled the vehicle with the proper oil. Turned the car on to cycle through. Drove it around the block and it qas sluggish around 25mph and an awful noise was coming from the engine. Vehicle is parked in the driveway, unable to be driven.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11460959April 15, 2022ENGINE
Car oil engine concern. The engine oil continues to be low and without any warning car engine oil is low. This is a high risk of burning up the engine, risk of starting a fire, and stall the engine. The car was taken to the shop where the mechanic had brought to my attention engine oil is low and had asked me when was my last oil change. The mechanic then did another inspection where the mechanic didn’t see any leak but want me to constantly monitor my car engine oil. The mechanic also added 2qts in. As I monitored my car, oil seem to be leaking on parking, while no warning switch is on.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11460601April 12, 2022ENGINE
Vehicle began making a knocking sound every time we accelerated. Took it to a mechanic to diagnose the problem and was told it was the engine. There weren't any outstanding recalls when we searched. While searching we kept coming across a claim settlement for the same issue, so we decided to call the 1-800-333-4542. They told us Kia wouldn't replace the engine because it was already leading towards failure. We then decided to call a local Kia dealership and they set an appointment for April 25th. The problem has worsened and we can't drive it anymore. A new engine will cost over 6k and we still owe 8k. It only has 76,600k miles. What a waste and it is upsetting Kia will probably not replace the engine for free.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11460317April 10, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Problems with parking lock, no release. Possible body control module.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459803April 6, 2022VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, an abnormal booming sound was heard which startled the driver. After stopping to inspect the vehicle, it was discovered that the glass sunroof had shattered. The contact indicated that during the incident no object had struck the vehicle to cause the failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459806April 6, 2022ENGINE
I have a 2016 LX Kia Sorento with only 123k miles on it. When I first purchased the vehicle it had on 27k miles on it. It has done great until I reached over 100k miles. Ever since, it is consuming massive amounts of oil weekly. No oil light comes on and there's no external oil leaking from the SUV. I have had frequent oil changes every 2500 miles to be exact all maintenance is up to par on my vehicle. Needing the dealership to try to assist with the matter as having to go weekly for top offs and monthly for oil changes has become beyond costly.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459771April 5, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving on Route 78 (an interstate highway) when I heard a loud "POP" and suddenly my sunroof's glass was raining down on me. The front window of my sunroof totally shattered leaving a huge hole in the roof. Luckily, I did not lose control of the vehicle as I tried to figure out what happened to the sunroof. I recently had to have the car towed and I did not want to wait for another tow truck so I drove home with the huge hole in the roof. Upon my arrival home, my husband met me with the shop vac and he cleaned up the glass. His notes about the situation - there were no scratches or dents on any part of the car, there was no foreign object in the car that may have fallen through the roof, and he thought that the amount of glass he vacuumed out was not all of the glass missing from the roof. He believed that a lot of the glass must have burst out of the window and onto the highway. The next day when I drove home (in another car as mine was unable to be used for several days), I looked to see if I could see an unusual object on the side of the road that could have perfectly missed my windshield but hit my sunroof. There was nothing out of the ordinary on the road. FYI - The day's weather was fair, in the high 50-s to low 60-s. It was a cloudy but dry day. I posted my harrowing experience on Facebook, and a friend told me about the NHTSA.gov website. Upon searching, I found that several other 2016 Kia Sorentos had exploding sunroof issues. I reported the issue to my insurance company as I wanted to know how much my deductible was. Unfortunately, the cost is coming out of my pocket. I have since had the window fixed. I did not file a police report as I honestly believed that somehow something got kicked up off the road and onto my roof. I do not believe that to be the case anymore. I did call my local Kia dealer and he was shocked to hear what happened. He did not say he had any experiences like this.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459773April 5, 2022ENGINE
I was driving and suddenly the car started to hesitate. I pressed the gas down more but the car continued to lose power. The car did continue to drive, but only at about 35 mph. I was luckily very close to a rest station on the New Jersey Turnpike. And as I was coming up to a toll, the rest of the traffic was slowing down. If this had happened a few miles later, I certainly could have been in an accident as I slowed down and the rest of the cars would have continued to speed by. The car was towed to my Kia dealer as the check engine light was flashing and I did not want to drive it there due to the distance I was from the dealership. Their analysis found that cylinder #1 fuel injector was stuck in an open position. This caused the spark plug to become fowled. Both the cylindar and the plug had to be replaced. To date, it appears that the fix was successful. The dealer said there was a possibility that the catalytic converter may have to be replaced if I drove too long with the fuel injector not operating correctly. I drove approximately 2 miles. There were not warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms before the problem. No police or insurance company representatives involved.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459576April 4, 2022ENGINE
.The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an intersection, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated he was able to pull over in a parking lot and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,673.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459586April 4, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
my vehicle is exhibiting symptoms of a defective gas pedal as described in kia recall SC115 for the 2016 kia sorento. however my vehicle is not part of the recall group. i took my car to the dealer to request this recall (SC115) be done on my vehicle but they would not make an exception. my vehicle is unsafe to drive because the accelerator pedal will randomly stop working causing the vehicle to go into "forced idle" mode for several minutes while driving on the road. this is dangerous because the car just idles and will not accelerate. kia dealer has inspected the vehicle but will not assist me with this recall issue.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459414April 3, 2022ENGINE
Kia stated this “the heads are blown and not repairable after the threads were pulled through the block.A replacement engine is quite expensive, $13,433.85+tax.” The coolant leaked and kia repair was not sure whether the heated engine caused the fluid to leak or whether the fluid leaked causing engine to over heat. Still owed $5k on this car at time of loss. Kia refused to consider repair under Goodwill.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11459174March 31, 2022ENGINE
Oil burning fast, oil light never came on to notify me of low oil levels. Car stalled and is now making knocking sounds. I have to have my car towed to the dealership to see what is wrong with it.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458777March 29, 2022ENGINE
In January 2022, as I was driving approximately 45 mph, I happened to check my dashboard to see my temperature gauge was on “H” without any warning lights and light smoke coming from beneath the hood. I was approximately two miles from my home so I turned on the heat at full blast to draw some of the heat from the engine to the vehicle's cabin. After checking under the hood, I noticed the coolant level was below normal and based upon that observation, drove it to a nearby auto repair and service location for further review. Two days later, ! was informed that a gasket on the coolant side of the engine had failed and an engine replacement was necessary. They further suggested I contact my dealer to determine whether the engine replacement would be covered under warranty or was part of a recall. After contacting my local Kia dealer (the largest Kia dealer in Virginia), I arranged to have it towed to them to have a full diagnostic run to determine whether the engine needed to be replace. Although our vehicle was not one of the 2016 models under the engine recall, we were told that if certain conditions were met, Kia America would replace the engine at no cost as it would be covered. After having our vehicle for four (4) weeks, our dealer confirmed the engine gasket failure (on the coolant system side), that it was a manufacturer defect and requested Kia America replace at no cost to us. Our dealer confirmed that all service (including oil changes and schedule maintenance) was performed by them from the time of purchase (showroom floor new; bought car with 5 miles on it) while the car was under warranty (up to 100K miles) and the service was up to date. With that information, Kia America denied the request for the engine replacement.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458835March 29, 2022ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 111,101.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458527March 27, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Paint chipping in large areas occurring rapidly over the course of 6-7 months with no external damage or accidents to cause this.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458441March 26, 2022ENGINE
My 2016 Kia Sorento stopped as I pulled in my driveway. Engine was seized up and I had no oil light indication, or any light of any kind before this happened. Took it to dealer and they said I had to replace motor. They wanted $10,000 to replace it. It only had 70,220 miles on the motor. I’ve driven a couple dozen cars over my life time and have never had an engine fail. This was is January 2022.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458353March 25, 2022ENGINE
Took vehicle in 2 day after I received recall notice.Dealership availability was 2 weeks away they told me I needed a starter and few sensors and my bill would $1700. After borrowing the funds called to pick vehicle up and was told by manager he let his master technician take a look at it trying to figure out why I needed a starter. Master technician turned the engine and it locked. They say I’ll have to replace the engine at the cost of $8000. Reason waited to late to bring recall in. Which is insane, I still owe $10,000 on the vehicle that’s not running. Your facilitation in this matter is both wanted and appreciated. Respectfully
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458253March 24, 2022ENGINE
Bought this vehicle used, at 98k miles, regularly serviced for oil changes, wasn’t due for an oil change for about 1k more miles and while driving down an interstate- the vehicle would not go above 65 mph. Pulled over and the oil was low, got it home and had the oil changed, still had issues so had it taken to a full service shop at 106k miles where I was told it was just a misfire so they replaced spark plugs and coil packs, drove it for a total of 30 minutes after picking up and the check engine light began flashing so I took it back to the shop where they told me there was knocking in the engine and it would need to be replaced.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11458060March 23, 2022STRUCTURE:BODY
The car was purchased new in 2016. Paint began peeling above the passenger door August 27, 2021 at the dealer service center carwash after a routine oil change. Its been peeling more since then. We have read of other owners having very serious paint peeling on there Sorentos. Estimates to repaint the panel are up to $1000. The car has 71,000 miles on it.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11457787March 22, 2022ENGINE
While on the highway and driving 75 miles per hour, the car engine seized with no warning at all. There were no warnings on the dash and the engine completely died. The mechanic said he has already had 3 of the exact same instances happen this week alone. The mechanic himself had the same exact issue happen. He explained there was oil in it, and this is a nationwide problem with Kia Sorento's. My dealer said they can't even diagnose the car for two months! Once it's approved to fix, it will be another 2-3 months! The car only had 94,500 miles on it. I asked the dealer what folks are doing and she said they're buying "beater" cars in the meantime. Well we are all left with no trade in value for our car, we have no transportation for 6 months, and vehicles are at an all time high right now. What are consumers supposed to do?!? Kia needs to make right with this. Most folks can't afford to be without a vehicle for 6 months.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0