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.
I bought my 04 Sorento from my aunt who was the only owner. It had a power steering issue at that time which took several attenpts to fix. About a month later we we visiting family and had to turn around. Upon stopping we noticed smoke from the engine compartment so I grabbed my 4 Y/O daughter out of the car and by boyfriend opened the hood to find a small fire on opposite side fro where battery is. Once fire was put out we drove.5 miles on a city rd to family. The power steering was gone at that time as well. 10/13/19 - the directional worked all day and come night time when I came out from the store and started vehicle they did not work. The next day they worked finehowever, on 10/14/19 - I started the car in am and there was a squeaky belt. I hit the gas pedal quickly and noise went away. Then while driving, the battery and brake indicator lights came on the dash and stayed on so I pulled over and shut car off. Iwas driving my daughter to the park a mile away from home when the battery and brake indicator lights came on again. I turned car off for a few minutes and when I restarted it the lights were off. I went to turn around to go home and the steering completely failed so it was extremely difficult and dangerous. I have not driven it or started it since. My mechanic camt to my home 2 days in a row and was convinced it was crankshaft bolt that snapped. He got it into his shop the following week on Friday 10/26/19 and called a short while later informing me that it was in fact the crankshaft bolt that snapped deep in the shaft and the crankshaft would need to be replaced for a cost of around $3000. I called a few other places and they said the engine would need replacing which would coat around the same. My daughter and I now have no vehicle and are walking her to school which will be difficult come winter months.
Oct, 2016 - I am the orignal owner of the vehicle and had maintained regular maintainence on the vehicle. I had just put $700 of new tires on vehicle and had a routine oil change and fluid check before we left for our vacation. I never had any issues with the vehicle and I still own. The vehicle does not run but I wanted to know what started the fire. My daughter and I were headed out of town for a week, about 200 miles into the commute the front of the vehicle began to smoke from under the hood, we were traveling at 55-60 mph. As I was exiting the 421 highway flames began coming out from around hood and the paint on the hood began to bubble up due to heat. I immediately called the fire dept, as I was driving, pulled onto the shoulder and immediately removed my daughter and our belongings from the vehicle and distanced ourselves from the vehicle. When the fire dept arrived they put the flames out and the vehicle was transported to a local shop, I had the vehicle towed back to our home city upon departure from our vacation. Upon further observation I was able to see the fire started in the area closest to where the engine meets the dash on the drivers side and continued to spread from that point to the front of the vehicle and under on the drivers side.
The electrical system goes haywire. We will be driving along and the interior lights come on, the front doors open lights come on and starts buzzing and so does the the locking mechanism on the doors. We check to make sure the doors are closed properly but they always are. This is when the car is in motion usually but sometimes while stationary as well. Sometimes the doors unlock too. We have no idea what caused this but feel it is a safety hazard as well as a nuisance while driving. It never seems to matter if you are driving straight or turning.. we haven't taken it anywhere for repairs yet, because it seems to be electrical and know that it can be expensive.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Sorento. Within less than 30 days of owning the vehicle, the contact stated that the fuel gauge on the instrument cluster continued to indicate full whether the contact refueled the vehicle or not. Also, when the air conditioner was turned off, smoke emitted into the interior of the vehicle and under the hood. The contact exited the vehicle and lifted the hood to fan away the smoke. The contact drove the vehicle to her job. Another consumer called the fire department because the vehicle erupted into flames. The fire department extinguished the flames. Neither a fire nor a police report was filed. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000. The manufacturer was notified of the failure.
I was driving approximately 35-40 mph and my car suddenly lost power with all the dash lights briefly coming on (battery, oil, etc.). fortunately I was close to a side street and was able to make a hard turn and coast to the curb. I waited a minute and was able to restart the vehicle. I drove home and there was one more incident when the car started to lose power (lights dimmed) however I pushed on the gas and it powered up again. I have had the lights dim and the car seemingly lose power several times. Just prior to this the car typically hesitates when you are going full speed and then the dimming occurs. I've had my car idle at stop signs and at train crossings and have not experienced any power loss. It always seems to happen while driving 35-40 mph or more. I've had it happen while driving 60-70 mph on the highway. I had a diagnostic run on the car at the dealership with no concerning results. I've had a mechanic I trust check the alternator, the spark plugs, flush the coolant, put in fuel cleaner, etc. And he cannot locate the problem.
- Wyandotte, MI, USA
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Was driving down the road at 55 power steering went car lost power lights went crazy car shut down. I almost wrecked harmonic balancer fell into pieces all pulley belts and pin have to be replaced. I just got this car I have a payment on it. Going to cost 1200 to fix. This is on top of it sputtering and spottying. Replace head lights the radio glitches the air bag light is on all the time and if U turn the interior dash lights up it turns the interior lights on.over drive button does not work and transmission lags... I have read al these complaints over and over again why isn't anyone forcing a recall" these are serious issues I almost got rear ended and the electrical problem could cause fire.... someone is going to end up very hurt if Kia is not forced to fix these. Could U imagine this happening on a thru way"
I was on my way to work on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. It was about 7:30/7:40 a.M. I was driving my 2004 Kia Sorento ex. I had just driven through St. Peter, mn on hwy 169 South on my way to mankato and was starting to pick up my speed as the speed limit increases as you leave town. All of a sudden, without warning, my vehicle just shut down. The "dummy lights" all lit up. I had no power steering, no brakes, no accelerator - nothing was working. Thank goodness the vehicle, because there was no power, slowed to a stop within a short period of time. I was able to pull over without a collision and no one was hurt. I put it in park and turned the key to the off position. I tried to see if it would start again and absolutely nothing happened when I turned the key. I called aaa and the Sorento was towed to the nearest mechanic shop. Without investing too much time in it because I didn't want a huge bill, the mechanic told me that it has electrical power - has good power to the starter, but the engine does not rotate. They could not even physically rotate the engine. He told me that regardless of what it was, it would be very expensive to repair it because, at this point, they have no idea what is wrong with it. That's when I got on facebook and started asking if anyone had any ideas of what could be wrong and a friend told me about the Kia Sorento engine defect class action lawsuit. I believe my 2004 Kia Sorento ex is affected by this engine defect. It was dangerous to be driving and I am thankful I was not on a busy freeway. As this just happened 3 days ago, I do not know what I am going to do with this Sorento. I would like to have it fixed, but cannot afford to do it. It is still sitting in the parking lot at the mechanics in St. Peter where aaa towed it to.
Fan relay sensor is faulty. All the electrical system is is questionable, from headlights always needing replacement to dash lights that turn on or off at any given time. My newest issue is with the heater, it will only blow warmed air if the motor is being rev'd..temp is warm on engine but if I am driving down hill, it will feel like air conditioner instead. For a few months my driver side door would open from inside only. Magically it has resolved that one and only issue...
My 2004 Kia Sorento has an intermittent check engine light that displays error code P0446. The light comes on and off as it pleases. There is a tsb for this particular problem, but there are no details. This intermittent light is causing my vehicle to fail it's smog inspection. I have replaced the gas cap as indicated but this did not fix the problem.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Sorento. The contact noticed smoke and flames underneath the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 161,000.
Battery was low and then the air bag warning light was on. The battery was replaced and the light still on. Looking online and find out this issue is typical on all Kia Sorentos. Wondering why this issue is not being recall. Called dealer and they mentioned that a $130 diagnose test needs to be paid in order to know what is the problem.
February 21, 2013 los angeles, ca electrical I bought my Kia brand new. I have had several problems: Complaint 1: I am writing this complaint against Kia motors who willingly knows of issues with its fuel systems in all 2004 Kia Sorentos. Even looking online you see thousands of Kia owners who have had the sensor go out on this model car after the cars 100000 warranty, and then Kia claims it is past the warranty they have and there is nothing they can do. This causes the gas to always read incorrectly even with a full tank the car reads "E" I have to keep putting gas in the car in fear of running out of gas.
Picked up vehicle after having rear support bearings repaired driving back home at 65mph on I-35/Texas 410 East started to experience strong smell of exhaust fumes in passenger compartment. During drive home started to rain, activated wipers, drivers side wiper blade fell off during rainstorm had to open driver side window to navigate! upon arrival at home noticed, smoke coming from engine compartment (passengers side) and smoke underneath vehicle from catalytic converter. Looked underneath vehicle and catalytic converter, was smoking, inside engine compartment a hose at the rear of the engine compartment (sorry not a mechanic) had a hole in it and was smoking also? vehicle has not been driven since 12/7/12, vehicle was purchased 10/4/12, has limited warranty.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the fan relay fuse had to be removed in order to get the fan to stop running. The contact had taken the vehicle to several mechanics for service of electrical problems however, the mechanics were never able to diagnose the exact cause of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown, but the current mileage was 138,000.
When shutting off the engine the cooling fan stays running. If this is not noticed it will run until the battery dies and then the vehicle will need jumped. As I was researching on the internet it looks like there are issues with relays in Kia's from 2003 to 2006. This problem happens at least once a month sometimes more. This time the battery had to be disconnected to get the fan to shut off.. this is a safety issue that needs to be researched farther in regards to how often this happens. I have not taken my Kia to a mechanic yet due to the fact it is very costly to track an electrical problem. This problem does not happen all the time but if you are unaware of this problem you may go to start your car and it does not run. There are a high and low fan on this Kia. Both of the fans are running but the high fan is almost silent. If this problem has been going on for at least four years there should be some way to hold the manufacturer responsible. Thank you for your time..
Summary: Update to below problem I bought my Sorento in 2004, new. I replaced the coolant reservoir at 61000 miles due to overheating, replaced the low beam headlight bulbs on 4 occasions, tail lights on 2 occasions. My vehicle, 5 speed manual transmission, started to have a roaring noise approx. 6 months ago and the U-joints were replaced. It still roars. It quit running on 2-16-12 while I was driving, but restarted. It finally quit again and would not restart on 2-17-12. Check engine light indicate a fuel pressure sensor problem, but mechanic says this should not cause the problem I presently have. It has been in the shop since 2-18-12. The mechanic said it started for him. I insisted he let it run for a while and see what happens. Sure enough, it quit. Kia mechanic told me it may be a crank or cam sensor issue. Other problems--front dome light off and on at will, rear one works, clock on and off at will, vehicle hums loudly when driving for a while. It has been a reliable vehicle for the most part, but when there is an issue, it is hard to detect. Above work was completed at a cost of 1126,00. But now crankshaft bolt broke while driving costing damage to engine heads. Vehicle went back into shop and is still waiting repairs. Kia owes it customers better service and must pay repair cost and take responsibility for the faulty crankshaft bolts they provide to the mechanics.
I bought a 2004 Kia Sorento in 2006 finished paying for it in 2010, over the years I have had to change the lights so many times I cant count, I have had topaint it twice, then the driving shaft broke, the compressor was changed twice, the cd player works on and off the air bags light came on and stayed for months on end the engine light does the same and most recently there is smoke coming from the engine, I am having to stop park and let it cool off before continuing on my journey, at the moment I got scared and I now I have my vehicle parked at home because I am scared to drive it, it is a shame and I am very upset. Is there anyone out there who is trying to do something about these problems us consumers are having" I own my vehicle and has a clean title and would like to trade in or sell but with all these problems how can I pass it on to someone else" I am asking someone from Kia to do the responsible thing and give us some answers before someone loses their life, that is if it hasn't happened already. Don't let this be Toyota.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that they had to replace the headlights on the vehicle 74 times. The contact also stated that they had to purchase a new battery every year. The contact stated that every time the vehicle hit a bump she could hear the electrical system surging and the lights began to flicker. The dealer stated that they could not find anything wrong with the headlights or the electrical system. The failure and current mileages were 12000.
I have a 2004 Kia sorrento with 57,000 miles. I have owned it for 2 years. The headlights and brake lights continuously go out. I have replaced each headlight 4 times in the past year and the brake lights have been replaced 5 times in the past year. This is a safety hazard as I never know when my brake lights are out unless someone stops and tells me.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Athol, MA, USA