CarComplaints.com Notes: Kia really changed the design of the Sorento in the 2011 model year. Instead of a truck-like body-on-frame more capable of offroad adventures, the newest Sorento is a unibody construction and is much more crossover than sport utility. The changes brought a whole slew of problems, including a frustrating problem where the door that won’t open. Is it too late to go back?
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,619 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
Both rear doors do not open from the outside and only the passenger rear door will open from the inside, leaving the driver side rear, not accessible from the inside or the outside. The middle row of seats do not adjust backwards or forwards. The controls on the steering wheel do not work at all.
The car will not always go in park and will click into gear a few seconds afterwards. The car rolled out of my driveway in reverse and caused over $5000 dollars in damages. Also the seat settings will get stuck moving and not moving. The air bag light is also on and the fuel cap sticks and won't open unless forced opened
My door handle or door latch will not open from the outside on my drivers side door and also my left back door will not open from the outside or inside. It is dangerous for and my kids. Also, my headrest has fallen off. I have issues with my lights, they will not work for the interior.
Doors fail to open from the outside of vehicle. Headlight wiring harness will melt wiring for the light bulb and kill the lightbulb. Driver seat feels loose, however the bolts are as tight as they will go.
- Jacksonville, FL, USA
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Airbag did not deploy during accident. Before accident airbag light was on and steering wheel functions were working (cruise, horn, volume ect.) driver side window would not roll up.
My car driver side air bag light came on suddenly and dealer wants to charge to diagnose and repair. The driver seat lower back adjusting cushion does not function anymore. The rear driver side door does not umlock dealer wants to charge to diagnose or inspect and order the door handle base mechanism part, then charge for that and installation.
Middle row seat latches are stuck and the seats cannot be moved. No access to the third row because the latches are stuck. Also, one of the seats is stuck in a reclined position, which I believe is unsafe in case of an accident. Both of my young children's car seats are in that row. Apparently, it is a common issue with this make and model of vehicle. The latches are located next to the headrests on both seats.
All accessories on steering wheel have gone out: Radio controls no longer work, cruise control does not work, bluetooth capability(answering/ending phone calls) no longer works, and now the horn does not work. Having a working horn is part of the safety equipment on a vehicle. One day while parked, I honked the horn to get my sons attention and it did not work.the horn just stopped working. Another time I was making a left turn and some idiot not paying attention almost did not stop, as I was turning I honked the horn(forgetting it had not been working previously) and it worked just that one time. It has not worked since! how does that happen? also, the head rest on front seats are poorly designed, both have come off completely.
Rear seat latches break. 1st occurrence approx 60K miles. Broken again approx 70K miles. Latches very difficult to use. May break and leave seat useless in down position. Currently broken with seat stuck in upright position. Appears to break while vehicle stationary. Kia seems to have issues w latches in general. Am aware warranty extension for door latches (2 of mine have broken). Thank you!!!
Kia sent a notice that they are extending the warranty for the front airbag clock spring assembly. My airbag light is staying illuminated so I took it into the dealer for a diagnostic. The dealer informed me that the issue is not the clock spring assembly its the occupant classification mat. This means that if I am in a crash my front airbag will not deploy and I am risking the life of my passenger. Why is this issue not included with the notice that they sent since it also involves the airbag and the airbag sensor?
The back seat on the drivers side will not go back to the proper upright position. I put down the seat in order to take some materials needed for my job, when I tried to return back to the upright position it only went so far, now when my son is in his car seat he is leaning forward and a slight angle. If an accident were to happen and I was hit on the drivers side and the airbag were to deploy it would literally hit my son at such an angle as to possibly seriously injure or kill him. I went to get it replaced and because I had gone over my mileage by 1300 miles they stated that it would cost me $550 to correct this issue. I feel this is a serious safety violation and I should not have to pay to get it repaired.
When out to my Kia and I hit the unlock button. Attempted to open the front passenger door. Didn't open, so I hit the unlock again, still wouldn't open. So I walked around and opened the drivers side and reached over, the door opened. This is the first time for this door. But I've had this happen to me to the rear drive side door and had to have the door handle replaced. The Kia was sitting in the driveway not running and that door doesn't have near as much use as some of the others. Also the back seat on the passenger side won't go down. I am assuming the cable is broke. Again this was not used much since I got the Kia almost 4 years ago. I think I used this feature 2 times and it wouldn't work after that.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the rear driver side seat adjuster was stuck past the upright position and failed to adjust. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 53,000.
The passenger side retractable rear seat became more difficult to operate since purchasing the vehicle new. Finally it became stuck to the extent that it could not be moved in either direction. This occurred one month after the warranty expired.
Dash light with the airbag logo came on as I was starting up today, and stayed on. Went straight to Kia dealership, the one we always use. Service advisor said he's seen a lot of them, same problem. He agreed that $2,000 was very expensive for this repair. This malfunction disables all the airbags. In the event of an accident, we are toast. Kelly blue book rates this vehicle at a value of $9500, in mint condition, which this is. 21% of the value for a repair" are you kidding me" very disappointed that this is an issue for so many ( I did check the internet, it's a common problem) and no one chooses to take it seriously. We just went around with the tire pressure monitoring system, and finally they replaced that on a recall, but we had a blowout on I-81 at 70 mph that could've ended our life.....someone needs to look into this. I appreciate anything you can do.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the driver's seat control cover was fractured. The seat cover plastic became hooked onto the contact's pants and caused her to fall to the ground, injuring her knee. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they advised that they were unable to determine why the seat cover continued to fail. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and they stated that they were aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the fuse box panel under the driver seat detached completely, exposing the wires. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer three different times for the same failure and the fuse box panel was replaced each time. The technician advised that the front driver seat would need to be replaced because the defect was a manufacturing flaw. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sesser, IL, USA