This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2003 Kia Sorento. The vehicle stalled and lost motive power while driving the contact was concerned for his safety when the vehicle stall the contact was concerned that it was related to the fuel system while driving at approximately 60 mph, the sputtered and stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to several independent mechanics where the fuel pump was replaced, a tune up was performed, the camshaft sensor, and timing belt was also replaced however, the failure recurred. The contact stated was concerned that the fuel system was the cause of the failure. Lakeshore Kia, 330 E howze beach rd #2, slidell, la 70461, (888) 220-8645, was contacted and informed of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted nor informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.
The contact owned a 2003 Kia Sorento. While driving at 60 mph, the contact stated that smoke came from out of the vents. The contact pulled over on the shoulder and exited the vehicle. There were sparks coming from the engine and the vehicle caught on fire. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was totaled and towed away. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000. Th VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2003 Kia sorrento. The contact stated that while driving at 45 mph, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also mentioned that a 'snow' warning light illuminated as well. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for a diagnostic test or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 202,699.
The contact owns a 2003 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the rpms would not go over 4,000 and smoke appeared from the engine. The contact stated that the speed would not exceed 40 mph and the engine was draining the oil. The vehicle was taken to peak Kia (5077 S wadsworth blvd, littleton, co 80123, (303) 904-7800) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle needed an oil change. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to call the dealer. The failure mileage was 56,300.
The contact owns a 2003 Kia Sorento. While driving 65 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the catalytic converter and crankshaft bolt failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred several times. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Snellville, GA, USA
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The contact owns a 2003 Kia Sorento. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle decelerated and stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart. In addition, when the contact inserted fuel in the vehicle, fuel spewed out the fuel tank. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
While under motion on highway at 65+ mph, lost power steering due to crank shaft bolt and pulley failure, resulting in complete loss of accessory functions.
The crankshaft bolt supporting the timing sprocket and balance pulley snapped again for the third time. Right now the vehicle is in the the Kia dealer service center to replace it. Once again they are asking for a ridiculous amount of money to fix. Last bolt lasted 4,000 miles before it snapped while driving 25 mph.
While driving on route 495 North in Massachusetts between exits 7 and 8, my Kia Sorento lost power to the engine to the point I had to stop in the breakdown lane. No warning of prior smell or power loss had occurred prior to the incident. Towed to two different service stations and both informed me that the engine failed and lost compression on more than one cylinders. Very dangerous situation to be on the highway and losing power.
Crankshaft bolt backed out lost power steering brakes, Kia is aware of this problem from 2002 to 2009 many reports have been filed, its the manufacturing of the bolt which is to small, they are not standing by this defect, there is no permenant fix for this and Kia isn't warning anyone of this problem which could lead into a fatile accident with injuries and death.going at a high rate of speed there would be no control even at slow there is no easy turning the wheel.now im stuck with this problem and a temp fix wont fix it, so now I have no vehicle or anyway to get one, no way to work, no money to temp fix it, this is unjust and this vehicle should have never passed specs to be on the road.Kia should step up and honor there products, they are deceiving buyers and putting there life in danger and U don't know it till it happens, I didn't...I was taking my daughter to school I am thankful I wasn't on the highway possible resulting in my familys life or someone else on the road, with no control all because of there negligence not caring for peoples lifes but for money, its sad.if U pull up crankshaft bolt for Kia it will show you all the complaints and problems and this is a manufacturing problem and a dangerous defect, because you lose control of handiling of your vehicle.
The contact owns a 2003 Kia Sorento. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle lost power. The brake light and battery light illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart after numerous attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the crankshaft bolt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 89,000.
I was driving back from orlando, Florida after picking up my daughter who travelled down from uf in gainesville - 1st weekend in September, 2015. We were travelling South I95 in the middle lane, when the car completely shut off all the red lights on the dash board came on. Luckily I was able to steer the car over to the hard shoulder, this was extremely hard, & press hard on the brakes to stop. After 5mins or so I tried starting the car again, which to my surprised it started and we continued on our journey, this time I stayed in the right hand lane, next to the hard shoulder, after a few miles, the same thing happened exactly again. The engine shut off, and came to a halt. Now we were both upset as it was after 10pm at night, we called home to let someone know to be alert, and in the mean time started the car again, this off and on again issue occurred in total four times before we managed to get home safely. Due to driving very slowly along the highway!!! the next day the car started first time, drove to auto zone as it was a public holiday, after putting their machine on it. The test came back saying maybe it needed water, and a few other codes. They advise to take it to a car mechanic asap, started the car made it 1/2 way home, and the car stopped dead in the middle of a two lane road, nearly causing an accident. After pushing the car to a side road, left it for 4hrs came back & manage to get home. The next day along with my son driving the Kia, and myself behind him we attempted to get to the car mechanic we never made it, the van shut down, again. Push it to another side road, and had to have it towed to the mechanic. Been there ever since, car mechanic is having trouble locating the problem, called the dealer they have offered no help. Noticed there have been reported problems occurring with the new 2016 models of the same issue!!
While driving on highway approx 55mph the car just power. Dead gas pedal. Had to get over to shoulder but could not due to the steering locking up and the car shutting down. I got assistance from passerby who go me over to shoulder. I started up the car and it started up and ran with no issue. Sudden shut dowm of engine is very dangerous. Once I got home and had the car checked the mechanic could not duplicate the incident in order to make repairs. This happened 2 more times and only happens to me on highway driving. Never in city driving.
The car started making a scrubbing sound and the brakes would not work. The next day the brakes worked scrubbing sound continued and we were told by the mechanic that the engine needs replacing.
The bolt holding the harmonic balancer pulley to the crankshaft fell out and all the engine belts and pulleys stopped turning resulting in a loss of power steering, and making the vehicle very difficult to steer. This happened at a low speed and the driver was barely able to turn off the road without an accident. At a higher speed, in heavy traffic, or on mountain roads, the result would likely have been much worse. The car was towed to a Kia dealer and repaired for approximately $1,500, replacing the failed parts with new parts and with a warranty of 12 months/10 thousand miles. Previously, at 70 thousand miles as preventive maintenance, the timing belt was replaced by a Kia dealer. Kia motors, having known of many failures of the bolt, sprocket, and pulley, should have upgraded these parts years ago and issued a recall or at least a service bulletin to avoid such dangerous failures. After our experience, we did not trust this car and traded it in for a new car from hopefully a more responsible manufacturer.
Engine light is on, airbag light is on, clock can't keep right time, now won't start at all, I wished I never bought this 2003 Kia Sorento, they are nothing but junk. Please anybody who reads this do not buy a Kia vehicle. I hate Kia vehicles, I will never own one again, I would not take a Kia vehicle, even if they give me one. To many problems, since I bought it, haven't been anywhere in two weeks, because Kia vehicle is junk.
All lights come on, horn blows, but will not start at all, this Kia Sorento is junk, its falling apart, I got a disable mother, now can't take her to her doctor appointments, every since I had it, its been nothing but junk, we live on fixed income, can't afford to get another vehicle, and this 2003 Kia Sorento should not be on the road, all Kia Sorento vehicles are junk, clock is messed up, comes off and on, airbag light is on, now won't even start at all, something needs to be done about Kia dealerships selling junk vehicles, will complain again and again, they are junk!
I purchased this car brand new from stevens Kia in patchogue, NY and had them replace the timing belt @ 58K miles as per their guide lines. While driving the car I lost my power steering and electrical charging system, I was going around 45mph, I lost control of the car and was able to get it on the side of the road without any damage to the car or anything else. I called corporate Kia and explained the problem and was told the car is out of warranty.(it has 123K miles on it). They told me if I wanted I could have it towed to a Kia dealer and they would look at it for a diagnosis fee, but it was still out of warranty and they also told me my VIN# didn't fall into the recall they had concerning that issue. I had my mechanic look at it and he told me the crankshaft dowel pin snapped on the timing gear causing the harmonic balancer to fall off thus taking all the belts with it. It costed me over $2,000 to have the car repaired. After doing a goggle search it seems this is a common problem with these cars and is being ignored by corporate Kia.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Slidell, LA, USA