Kia Sorento Complaints

10,397 consumer complaints on file.

#11431100August 30, 2021
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number 21V331000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not 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. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430912August 29, 2021
ENGINE
The vehicle was driving smoothly than all of a sudden the engine steamed and died on the side of the high way. It make a knocking sound before it died out. Brought it to a dealership and they told me the engine, started and spark plugs are toast. Being 2nd owner it no longer covered under powertrain warranty.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430819August 28, 2021
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
almost all of my tire/brake lights are on my dash, dealership said its the speed sensors in my back tires. A week later (with those lights still on) my parking brake light came on while driving and started a dinging noise, parked turned it off and back on the noise had stopped but all lights were still on. dealership said speed sensors arent a serious issue to fix, however, my UVO diagnostics says its my ABS/EBS system. Ive already had a blown engine and now have a lifetime warranty but, they are picking and choosing whats covered and what isnt.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430881August 28, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My 2013 Ex Sorento when idling with the A/C on, “Pants” or “pulse” struggling to idle. BUT…. If I turn OFF the A/C the RPM “Smooths out” and is consistent in idling. This began about 2019 March. Current miles: 56,000 and current On maintenance, inspections and oil changes. (Two drivers only) Will there be a recall for this?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430592August 26, 2021
STRUCTURE:BODY, SEATS, STEERING
My Vehicle was stolen from my residential home. My window was buss out and they stole my vehicle. After over two weeks my vehicle was finally retrieved by the police and city of Milwaukee tow lot. I was told by financing company as well as police department to go get pictures of vehicle as reported from tow company that my vehicle was completely totaled out. I went and retrieved pictures seeing that my car was totaled. With this being said i don't have a vehicle for me or my children to be able to get to work and or school and daycare. I don't know what I'm going to do with trying to not jeopardize my job with getting to work. So I'm writing this so that KIA company can be held accountable for not recalling these vehicles and putting me and my children during this pandemic at risk of losing everything home, job and more.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430608August 26, 2021
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint is Chipping off cat Rapidly and it’s getting worse.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430618August 26, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In traffic at a stop either needing to make a turn or just accelerate forward, when passing over an uneven surface (pothole, sidewalk curb from exiting a business), the accelerator does not respond to the pressure being applied and the vehicle barely moves even with pedal nearly to the floor (like crawls 1-2MPH), the traction control light blinks, to get across the intersection or junction and then it suddenly performs as if nothing happened. This is very dangerous as the vehicle is almost practically stalled and all you can see is oncoming traffic approaching. It is very hard to replicate but occurs at the most unfortunate times. The vehicle was just at its' first service appointment where I escalated the issue to the service department. They claimed they could not replicate, but they knew what I was describing and said there was nothing they could do. I also asked if they could ride with me so I can try to replicate it, but they declined. However; this is a safety concern.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430428August 25, 2021
ENGINE
In May 2021, my husband was driving the car and was bout 50 miles away from home when the engine caught fire. The car was towed to a repair shop where they confirmed the engine fire and stated the engine had thrown a rod. The car is only 5 years old and has 107,000 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430441August 25, 2021
ENGINE
While driving car at normal speeds under normal conditions, ball bearing and connecting rod blew through engine creating a large hole in bottom of engine block, thus,causing entire engine to be blown. There is only 139k miles on vehicle. There is a safety recall for this very reaon on CERTAIN 2014 Kia Sorrentos. That recall is 17V224000. Upon calling Kia customer service, they claimed my vehicle was exempt frim this recall, however, this very issue happened to my well-maintained vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430275August 24, 2021
ENGINE
My 2015 V6 Kia Sorento's engine seized absent any warning on 08/14/21. I was in the car with my dog and 3 young daughters at a stop light. The light turned green and I pushed the gas and the car did not move. It was frozen. I pushed it again and the entire car shut down. I police officer had to push our car out of the way after another motorist called 911. We were stuck. My auto shop said my car had extremely low and dirty oil, despite the fact I had just gotten a $90 synthetic oil change 2 weeks earlier. I had the car towed to Tasca Kia in Rhode Island and they told me the engine was covered under a lifetime warranty. They later called me and told me the recall was only related to V4 engines & denied any problem with V6's. I am learning MANY people have had this same problem. I called KIA Consumer Affairs and they denied the issue and refuse to help. My car was impeccably maintained and had 77,000 miles on it. The dealership told me to "scrap" the car. At the time of the engine seizure there were NO warning lights on and the temperature gauge was in the middle. KIA is refusing to accept responsibility.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430312August 24, 2021
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The headlights are very dim on my 2015 Kia Sorento, when compared to other vehicles. They only illuminate about 10 feet in front of the car. They need to be replaced with a stronger bulb as it is dangerous driving at night.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430126August 23, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Excessive heat has caused the trunk latch to fail. It suddenly stopped latching, which creates an obvious safety issue as the car cannot be driven safely with a trunk that flops open every time you accelerate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11430231August 23, 2021
ENGINE
Excessive oil consumption. Kia stated this is a known issue but is not "quite to the status of a recall." They said there is no fix to the issue and they cannot diagnose what is causing the excessive oil consumption but can confirm it is not leaking. Both the Kia dealership and general Kia phone support informed me there is nothing they can do and the best suggestion they can provide is to wait until the engine seizes up. They said at that point, I can have it towed to a local Kia dealership or "limp" it to a dealership and it would then be qualified for an engine replacement under a different recall. I asked if I should top it off with oil to prevent the engine from failing while we are driving, and they informed me not to do this "as that will only prolong the issue." I then confirmed with them that the only solution being provided was to continue driving the car and wait until the engine fails while I am driving down the road, potentially with my family in the car which is an extremely dangerous situation. Multiple different Kia reps confirmed that is the only and "best" solution they can provide. The dealership said they see this issue with this engine "all the time and it sucks" but they cannot help me until I bring them a seized-up engine. They also said there is nothing they can do to fix the issue before the engine goes bad. They tried to provide a glimmer of hope by saying, "the good news is there is a 99% chance you will get a new engine because we see major engine issues so often Kia just replaces the engine instead of having us tear it apart to diagnosis the issue because that takes less time and is cheaper." However, they confirmed again they will not and "cannot" fix the car until I bring them a seized engine and continue driving it until it fails. Kia is directly telling consumers to put themselves and their families in harm's way by not fixing a known issue and telling drivers to wait until their engine fails while in the act of driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429950August 21, 2021
ENGINE
On 28 July 2021 at 16:44, While traveling 65 mph on I70 west in Maryland the Kia Sorento started to smoke from the undercarriage and then under the hood. The Kia abruptly shut down and I was able to cost off the highway. The vehicle was towed to Dar Cars Kia of Frederick. After 10 + days on the dealer's lot, a technician said the engine had failed. Kia has refused to acknowledge any responsibility for the engine failure, stating because the car was not brought in to have a recalled engine component repaired. according to a search, there are no open recall statements for this vehicle. In addition, we never received any notification of any problem with the Kia Sorento
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429968August 21, 2021
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
While driving down the road both headlights just turn off. I can turn the light switch off and on and they come back on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429976August 21, 2021
STRUCTURE:BODY
2015 KIA Sorento Paint peeling & chipping away from door pillars, roof where windshield meets, both let & right front fenders, hood. The color is "Snow While Pearl". Started to norice small chipping around 2017 & in April 2019 a large piece peeled off the passenger side front pillar which I had repaired. Many of the chips were touched up but it continues to occur to this day.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429922August 20, 2021
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Passenger side headlight went out while driving. Went to replace bulb and found connector melted. Quick internet search shows this is not uncommon and even a YouTube tutorial on how to replace the pigtail. Question remains what caused the overheating in the first place? While it's a major inconvenience at this point as we can't drive the vehicle without fear of getting a ticket or repair order until fixed, worst case scenario this happens to both at night?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429870August 20, 2021
ENGINE, AIR BAGS, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2009 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving out of the driveway, the warning message "ASC-OFF" appeared on the instrument panel and the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The contact stated as she turned off the vehicle, she was able to restart the vehicle and parked in the driveway. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring and several warning lights including the ASC warning light, check engine warning light, and air bag passenger warning light were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V088000 (Electrical System, Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact stated that the recall repair was completed, however, the ASC warning light, the check engine warning light, and the passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429724August 19, 2021
ENGINE
Bought the vehicle used, from dealership had little over 91,000 miles on vehicle when purchased and purchased extended warranty as well, only had 11months, at little over 109 thousand miles on vehicle noticed white exhaust coming from tail pipe, was having to put oil in the vehicle 1-2 quarts a week. At one time, during a week, vehicle seemed to be stalling/slow to accelerate, engine sounded different, when got home, checked oil, the dip stick showed barely any oil. Put oil in the vehicle. NO warning light ever has came on about low oil, no warning light about engine has come on. I called local Kia dealership about the issue. Took 2 weeks to get appointment to take my Sorento in to get looked at. Once in the Kia dealership, service department manager says they did an oil consumption test on the engine. Multiple points of the inspection show engine failure. Dealership has more in depth description of what all has failed with the engine and oil consumption. Also had to provide the copies of when and where the vehicle had its regular maintenance such as oil changes done so it could be sent to the Extended warranty to approve engine replacement. My vehicle has been sitting at the dealership since July 20,2021 with no working being done, not even the safety recalls, because I was told engine is on back order. At time writing this it is August 19, 2021, so my sorento has been just sitting at Kia dealership with nothing being done. I have called once a week to Kia dealership, as they have yet to call me for updates. I reached out to Kia customer hotline, they were able to pull up the info on vehicle, find out exactly what part/engine was needed from dealership and shows it back ordered because the engine is coming from Korea to US, No actual ETA on when it will actually be sent/shipped to US to then be sent to dealership to put in my vehicle. Was told it could be months..unacceptable! was never sent any information on possible oil consumption problems or engine problems.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11429776August 19, 2021
ENGINE
There is an oil consumption problem in Kia engines. AND Kia refuses to cover the problem. I was told the oil consumption issue will cause my engine to completely fail and yet they refuse to cover it under the warranty. My neighbor has the same make and model and her car nearly crashed because of the same failure. For a YEAR I was told Kia would cover the repairs when the engine eventually fails and TODAY August 19 2021, I was told they won’t cover the engine failure due to oil consumption issues. An issue they FINALLY have a test for but refuse to do because “it’s not covered by the warranty.” I have a 100,000 mile engine warranty. I have my oil changed every 3,000 miles and take very good car of a car they KNOW is going to break down. And still there is no recall. There are thousands of complaints about this exact problem. And people being forced to pay 5-7 grand out of pocket for an issue that MUST be covered. Kia KNOWS it’s a problem and they all say well if anything else goes wrong we will test your car then “maybe” it will be covered. Meanwhile, my car is literally a ticking time bomb. That apparently a Kia warranty won’t cover. Please, for the thousands of people like me, investigate and expose Kia for this serious issue. I don’t want my car to seize or explode because of a problem Kia knows of and refuses to repair or recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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