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:
2 / 8
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
65,951 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.
Kia Sorento 2011. Parked. First it was one door, just stopped opening from the outside, opens from inside, unless you put child safety lock on, then it won't open at all. Then today the other side not opening from the outside. All open from inside, only problem is what to do when all four stop opening from outside. If my kid is in there, falls asleep, and it's hot outside, how do I get the kid out if I can't open from outside, somebody is going to be seriously hurt or killed from this problem. From the looks of things there has been a lot of problems with these doors.
Front passenger side door cannot be opened from the outside. This has just occurred in August 2016. Prior to this date it was working fine. Door can only be opened using inside handle
Back driver side rear door will not open from side. If I cannot get to my children and something happens to them I will sue the snot out of Kia. Now, my driver side door broke and will not open from outside. Safety hazard because I cannot get into my car very quickly. I have to go to passenger side and crawl across set to open driver door. This is not safe at all.
- Cleveland, TX, USA
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Door handle inside plastic clip brakes disabling entry into vehicle from outside. Driver has to enter from another door and climb into cockpit to operate vehicle. Found hundreds of these complaints on Kia forums and other sites. According to other complainants, other doors eventually failed after first repair.
Vehicle was stationary. Tried to open driver's side door and it won't open from outside. All doors were unlocked, but handle won't open door. Driver's door can be opened from inside. This is a huge safety issue since I have a 3 year old and I can no longer use child safety locks in the event I can't open doors from the outside.
Door handle on driver's side became unusable from the outside, requiring driver to open the door from the inside by entering from the passenger side or leaving the window down. If a person were in an accident and could not open the door, it would be difficult to get them out of the driver's door. The mechanism had to be replaced - Kia estimated almost $500 to evaluate, order and replace the part. A car with less than 80,000 miles should not have door handles failing.
Neither front door will open from the outside by key, or key fob. I am almost 6 foot and nearly 200 lbs and it is very hard to climb from the backseat to the front. If there was a fire or wreck this could be disastrous. There seems to be many complaints but no recalls yet. I have heard it is approximately $600 to fix the problem. My vehicle is past the warranty. Many have said it is a problem in many Kia's yet nothing is being done on it. Unknown how to fix the problem or what it is.
After unlocking the vehicle, the drivers side door will not open from the outside. Only way to enter the car is from the passenger side. The driver door handle will not open from the outside. This apparently is a very common issue with this model. In case of an accident, external entry is impossible from the driver door. Cost to repair this issue was $411.
After unlocking the vehicle, the drivers side door will not open from the outside. Only way to enter the car is from the passenger side. The interior drivers side door handle does operate properly. The driver door handle will not open from the outside. This apparently is a very common issue with this model. In case of an accident, external entry is impossible from the driver door.
I now have two rear passenger doors that do not open from the exterior of the car. Opening the door requires using the inside handles only to open the doors. The first handle stopped functioning two years ago and now the second door has stopped functioning as of Sunday. This is an absolute design flaw and a safety issue!! should there be any type of accident and someone need to enter the vehicle in an emergency situation from the outside to extricate a passenger, the doors do not open!! if there is an accident and the front doors are damaged and the only way in is through a rear door, now the rear doors are useless and do not function. Something needs to be done with this asap! I know from research that this is a known issue with this car and model year. There are plenty of people all over the internet reporting the same problem. This is certainly not specific to my vehicle. This is not a broken sun visor, or a broken glove compartment, or a broken radio or cd player. This is a failure of vital equipment to the safety of the passengers in this vehicle. The [xxx] doors have known issues and break after time. This should not be considered a warranty issue. It is a design failure that needs to be addressed for the safety of my family and all consumers who purchased this vehicle. Just because no one has died yet does not make it any less of a safety issue. Use common sense and logic here. Lets prevent the deaths and problems. Not wait until they happen. The writing is on the walls and the number of complaints are out there. Please do something!!! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Just went to open the driver's side passenger door of my Kia sorrento one day in Jan. 2016, and it would not open. When I took it to the dealer, they were able to get it open from the inside and disengaged the child safety lock, but it still would not open from the outside. I was told it would be $350 to fix it. I went to work a couple weeks later and came out to get in my car and the driver's side would not open. Fortunately I was able to get in the passenger side and reach over to open it. I have been doing that for 7 mo. Now because of a lack of $700 to fix both doors, and lack of time! I am taking it in tomorrow to get them fixed because our daughter and 3 grandchildren are coming this weekend to visit for 2 weeks. I began to panic when I realized if we were in a wreck, no one would be able to get us out on the driver's side, which could be the only available side! my husband called Kia a few months ago about the situation and someone was supposed to call him back, but they never did. I called, but did not have the VIN with me at the time. I find it interesting that so many others have complained about this and nothing is being done to help us with this obvious manufacturing problem, yet I read or saw somewhere something about their customers safety being a priority"?? I just hope it doesn't take a death to get them to act on this! I'm doing my best to be sure it isn't one of my loved ones, but do expect Kia to "man up" and reimburse us! to answer your other questions...the car was stationary, parked, was told it was some mechanism inside the door. I will be able to upload a repair invoice tomorrow after the job is complete. In this case, they say they will use genuine factory parts, but I'm not so sure I want them to!!! are we facing the same "trip" again "down the road?" are these parts going to be any better??" that remains to be seen!
Approximately two months ago, while parked in my driveway, I attempted to open my driver rear passenger door. It would not open from the outside; the mechanism that holds the door shut had somehow managed to stay in the "holding" position which prevented it from being opened from the outside. Just recently my driver door itself has started to do the exact same thing. This causes an issue if there is an accident as it prevents someone from accessing a person seated behind the driver. I have seen several complaints regarding this same issue with the same make/model/year as my vehicle. We would like Kia to issue a recall.
"takata recall" I have had my Kia for almost 3 years now and since a year ago there is only one door left that will open from the inside and outside in terms of a locking mechanism. Two doors will only open from the inside and the other won't open from the inside or outside. I know the problem will only get worse, but due to any emergencies and having kids it makes it really inconvenient to climb through the back into my front seat.
Three weeks ago my left side rear door would not open from the outside. I had the child lock on so it will not open from the inside either. Today, I go to leave the house and my driver side door will not open from the outside. Same side, same issue. This seriously needs attention. If I had my children in the car and got into an accident it could mean life or death trying to get them out of the car. Another example: If I were being attacked and needed to get into my car quickly to drive safely away, I would have to enter my vehicle from the passenger side and crawl over to the driver side to start my car. After reading all of the other complaints about the same issue, I feel as if Kia should man up and make this a recall. It is dangerous. It is a safety issue. How many people have to die before the lightbulb goes off"?????" come on Kia. Seriously. Everyone who has this issue please report it!!!!
While entering the driver side of the vehicle, the door failed to open as well as the driver side back door due to child lock being activated. I am unable to open the door from the inside on to the back door. Not covered under warranty as my warranty expired in Aug 2015 although I purchased my vehicle June 2011. The 60 months were from the time the dealership purchased the car not me and it only had 400 miles on it.
Rear drivers side door can not be opened from the outside which presents the danger of being burned if vehicle were to catch fire. This condition is now present in a large number of vehicles and I believe should be recalled for repair and categorized a safety hazard. A simple internet search will establish the scope of this defect. Dealer indicates the cost of repair $430 per door.
A couple weeks ago, while my car was parked, I went to open the driver's side door and it would not open. I tried unlocking with the fob and with the key in the door, nothing worked. I had to get into my car through the passenger side, now the only way I can get driver's side door to open, is from the inside. Then a few days ago, during a camping trip, I stepped out of my car to retrieve some things from my trunk. At that time, all doors automatically locked. When I tried to open the car doors to retrieve more things (and my two children), the doors wouldn't open, again, it took several attempts before I could finally unlock the car with the key (it took approximately 15 minutes). It's summer time and my young child was sleeping inside the car. This is definitely a safety hazard given the circumstances. About a day later, the airbag light came on, I'm guessing related to this electrical defect. I contacted the dealer, they say these issues wouldn't fall under warranty and that I had to pay $99 diagnosis fee plus repairs (about $200 per door). Please look into this, I found several similar complains online. Kia is not taking any responsibility. Thank you!
2011 Kia Sorento rear driver side passenger door cannot be open from the outside. This is safety matter. We can open the door from the outside to get our children or others out of car in case of accident or other emergency? my car only has 58000 miles on it and this issue just started. Due to the safety aspect and the large number of complaints regarding this issue there should be a Kia recall due to this defect.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Worth, IL, USA