Kia Sorento Complaints (2021)
276 consumer complaints on file.
- #11511807March 14, 2023ENGINE
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The RPM was fluctuating, with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11511518March 13, 2023TRAILER HITCHES
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V703000 (Trailer Hitches); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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. Parts distribution disconnect.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11510807March 8, 2023ENGINE
My 2021 Kia Sorento is waiting on a new transmission with no ETA. Thank goodness after it started driving rough and rocking back and forth while in park we took it to a Kia dealership. Dealership said we. needed a new transmission. I’m just glad we caught it before we had total engine failure going down the road like the recall states.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11508767February 23, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
Vehicle shut off on interstate while slowing for a wreck and almost caused our own ACDA crash. Entire gauge cluster flashed and started back up after stopping in the roadway for approximately 5 minutes without restarting. The vehicle was able to be driven home and was taken to a local Kia dealership where after 3 days has not been able to replicate the issue.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11508348February 21, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving and coming to a complete stop, the auto Start/Stop feature failed to engage upon releasing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact restarted the vehicle manually. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while at a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where an unknown software update was completed under an unknown recall; however, the failure reoccurred increasingly. The contact stated upon releasing the brake pedal while at a complete stop, the vehicle would turn on temporarily. The contact stated she would manually restart the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact to bring the vehicle to their location for test driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure referred the contact to the dealer. A case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11506742February 11, 2023POWER TRAIN
The transmission has failed there has been a recall involving the transmission on this car. My car has been in the shop for a month because it needs a transmission replacement.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11501053January 10, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARE
My Kia 2021 Hybrid EX has a message warning to "refill inverter coolant". Took it to dealer and they said it's a software issue, but no remedy is available.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11499883January 3, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I received the recall notice essentially telling me not to drive this vehicle and park it away from my home or other vehicles. When i contacted KIA I was told all they are currently doing is a reimbursement of up to 40 dollars a day for a rental while they figure out how to fix this. Rentals here are over 100 dollars a day and when I told them that I was told the additional money would be on me. My car is still under warranty but they expect me to pay for their issue. Due to this I am still driving a car they recommend parking and will continue to do this. If they were actually concerned about this they would fund rentals and not make me pay for them up front and for over half the cost. When I contacted my dealer they directed me to the manufacturer, no help at all. I am only still driving this car because it would be too expensive for me to fund a rental for an unknown length of time.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11495325November 29, 2022POWER TRAIN
Vehicle suddenly displayed the message "Stop Safely Immediately" and then lost all traction to the wheels. This happened as I was entering a busy street and could have resulted in an accident. I had to coast to the side of the road where the car would not drive. I took the vehicle to my Kia Dealer and they performed a software update as part of a recall. The update or "fix" only prevents the immediate loss of traction and does not address the underlying cause. My car is now back at the dealer with a failing transmission.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11495202November 28, 2022TRAILER HITCHES
The contact owned a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V703000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that after being parked for about 3 hours when someone informed them flames were coming from near the fuel tank. The fire department was called to put out the fire. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled. A fire report was made. The contact's spouse burned their hand attempting to remove items from the vehicle before it completely burned. Medical attention was not needed. The contact stated that a nearby tree became charred by the fire as well as the ground surrounding the vehicle. The dealer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated their insurance was going to contact the manufacturer however they were unsure if their insurance had done so as of yet. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. The contact stated that they were not aware of the recall until after the vehicle caught on fire. Both the manufacturer and the insurance company were notified of the chain of events. The insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss. The contact is still waiting to hear back from both of them about the cause of the fire.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 1
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11495047November 27, 2022POWER TRAIN
Vehicle transmission completely failed immediately after long (~4 hr, 224 mile) highway drive. During drive vehicle hesitated slightly when downshifting to accelerate. After arriving at destination, vehicle showed a check engine light and would not consistently accelerate. After sitting for ~36 hrs, vehicle would not shift into any gear (drive or reverse). Had to have vehicle towed. After unsuccessfully attempting to update and flush transmission, and consulting with Kia engineers, Future Kia in Fresno, CA informed me that the dual clutches in the transmission had “melted and fused.” Failure occurred the day after a transmission software update by the Kia dealer in Carson, CA.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493372November 13, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, POWER TRAIN
10/25/2022 started the suv at a Wal-Mart parking lot and as I drove out of the parking lot onto a street my suv made a motorcycle sound then it started to loss power with my foot still on the gas pedal. Suv came to a complete stop and was towed home. 11/03/2022 Picked up suv from Kia dealership. Drove 43 minutes home and parked inside garage. An hour later started the suv to go pick up kids from school. The suv wouldn't reverse out of the garage. I restarted the engine 4 times then it finally reverse out of the garage then when I put it on drive. There was no power to drive. I restarted the engine again 2 more times then it finally drive and I parked it back inside the garage. 11-04-2022 I attempted to drive suv to Kia dealership for help. I made it onto the freeway with a speed of 74 mph for about 8 minutes then my suv started to loose power with my foot still on the gas pedal. I almost got rear ended by a big rig before I can even put my hazard light on and pulled safely to the side of the freeway. My suv was towed into Kia dealership that same day. 11-12-2022 Picked up the suv from Kia, drove it 43 minutes then stopped at Chevron to top off gas. When restarted the suv my engine light came on the dash board. I drove it back to my house. I notified Kia asap with a picture of my dash board and it's been in my garage since yesterday. Today is 11/13/2022. All incidents are not able to be duplicated by the dealership's mechanic everytime they had the suv. No actions were taken. I showed them videos and picture of the proof that I do have but because it's not happening for them while they have my suv. They can't fix my suv problem. It's an accident waiting to happen and I already had a near miss on the freeway. An extremely concerned 2021 Kia Seronto owner.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11492487November 6, 2022POWER TRAIN, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
On Aug. 24, 2022 I was out shopping at a few different places. My car at this point had never given me any issues, still practically brand new with barely a little over 10000 miles on it. I got in it and started it up. I go to put it into gear and it would not go. I tried again and again then noticed a check engine light on. I turned it off then started vehicle again. I tried putting in reverse, it would not move, drive, it would not move. I called dealership and they sent over service tech along with wrecker driver. The service tech duplicated the same issue I had. He drove me back to dealership to put me in a loaner. Next day he said the wrecker driver said it started and drove just fine however the check engine light was still on so service tech said they were going to look into it. Finally by Sept. 1, 2022 I was told it was ready to be picked up. Was told that the engine computer needed a software update for transmission and it cleared out the light. I picked up vehicle on Sept. 2 and along the way home all of a sudden my car went from 70 mph to a sudden halt! I managed to move off the freeway after almost being rear ended and stopped the car. Frantically I called dealership but they were already closed for the day. Once my fiancé showed up he was able to get it to go into drive but the max speed was around 15 mph which he drove to our house which was about another 7-8 miles as I followed in his vehicle. Had car towed to dealership next day on Sept. 3. Finally on 16th of Sept. I was told a new transmission was needed, which was going to be on back order. Now, as of Nov. 6, 2022 I am still waiting for my car to be fixed and returned to me. So in summary, my 2021 Kia Sorento which is barely a yr old and a little over 10,000 miles is waiting to have the transmission replaced. I was told it would have to be a re-built one, not even a brand new one, go figure!
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11491910November 2, 2022POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 5 MPH and attempting to merge onto the highway, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact stated that she pulled off the highway ramp, turned off and restarted the vehicle several times before the vehicle started operating normally. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the Start/Stop function had started to fail to operate as designed. The vehicle would shut down at a stop sign or traffic light; however, as the brake pedal was released and the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle would cycle between shutting the engine off and on. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V760000 (Power Train). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11490737October 25, 2022POWER TRAIN
Transmission quit engaging and had service light that said to stop vehicle immediately on September 24, 2022. The vehicle was then towed off to nearest dealer for inspection/diagnosis. Software update was applied on September 30. We picked car up on Oct 01 and drove home with no issues. On Oct 02, I started noticing car was not shifting properly from 2nd to 3rd gear. I had to delicately drive in a certain manner to get it to shift to next gear. Oct 03 engine light came back on, had vehicle towed back to dealer. Oct 04 received call from dealer and after diagnostic was completed, they said they had ordered a new transmission for us with an unknown ETA. Safety of us and others was put at risk due to the transmission behaving erratically. No warning lamps, or messages had been received prior to transmission disengaging initially on Sep. 24. However, there were some symptoms prior to that incident, so I had a strong notion that it was only a matter of time until we were going to experience a transmission issue.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11490422October 22, 2022POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
On Oct 5th, 2022, I was driving home from work on Interstate 75, when I heard a chime from my dashboard. When I looked at the dashboard there was a message to “stop safely immediately,” and the check engine light came on. I happened to be at my exit and took the next exit off the highway. Whiling getting to the off ramp the vehicle randomly shut off. I stopped the suv with the brake with no incident. Thankfully no one was behind me. However, the car wouldn't turn on. After several tries the car turned on again. I immediately drove it to kia which was about 2 miles away for immediate service. They did a multi-point inspection, checked fluids. The tech came back saying the vehicle need a software update. They did a software update and returned the suv. I was told everything should be fine. Within a day of the update the check engine light came back on. This time when I accelerate the RPMs are going up but the speed is not increasing. The Sorento hesitates to accelerate from a stop. The vehicle has issues shifting in the lower gears until it JOLTS forward. I returned the Suv to Kia where now I am told it needs a new transmission. I was given no indication as to when this fix would happen. I ask for a rental car they have none. Tech at Kia says its okay to keep driving this suv. Did I miss something? As of Oct 22, they want to recheck transmission fluid which they have already checked. I have been given the run around with no fix for the problem insight.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11489893October 18, 2022AIR BAGS, VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM
Drivers Side Airbag Illuminates intermittently, A/C smells like dried urine, has stuttered while driving on 2-3 occasions phone charging pad does not actually charge phone instead just maintains whatever battery life is already in phone before placed on pad.,these are all issues within the first 30 days of purchasing certified pre owned Kia Sorento on 8/15/22
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11489882October 18, 2022ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
As I was taking off from stop sign car dropped into lower gear jerking car and lowered speed. Did this twice almost causing an accident. Knowing something was very wrong we proceed to Dealership. SUV stalled out 3 times on the way. Third time it stalled out was in front of service writer in front of dealership.This car has been very dangerous to drive from the delivery to now. It hesitates when you give it gas at stop and vibrates as you pic k up speed. This car is very dangerous to drive. Has been in shop for a week tring to figure out the problem. I have complained to service department about this ever since I have owned the car. Thanks for any help. I know I,m not the only one with this problem. Pat McGrath.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11489181October 13, 2022POWER TRAIN
Kia has been chasing transmission problems on this vehicle for several Months and now the transmission has completely failed.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11488441October 7, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Refill inverter coolant notice comes up after routine oil change and downhill control turns on without me turning it on I have to shit my vehicle off in order for the brake control to turn off, available for inspection upon request. This notice interferes with me seeing the digital speedometer. Coolant was checked by dealer no leaks found, was told to wait patiently until a fix is available. No prior issues until I took it in for an oil change with the dealership.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0