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 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
69,436 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.
2011 Kia Sorento. Consumer writes regarding problems with vehicle within the first 2 months of purchase the consumer stated the stalled while driving on the highway. It would down shift unexpectedly and then jerk and jolt. There were times when the consumer applied the accelerator and the vehicle would not respond for a short period before the vehicle revved up and accelerated. The vehicle also pulled to the right and there was a bad grinding/rubbing sound coming from the front drivers side of the vehicle, along with spongy brakes which was a problem from the start. The consumer stated when she started the vehicle, there was a knocking noise coming from the engine. The interior lights went out, the drivers side window switch was faulty and the back-up camera stopped working.
Front strut failure at 3K miles. Car randomly has a loud metallic clunk sound when starting, sometimes the car will surge/jump forward when starting (while the car is in park, parking brake on and foot on brake). The transmission shifter gets stuck in park and does not release, with great effort releasing from park(car made loud metallic clank sound and surged/jumped in reverse). I'm afraid to park too close to another car because starting car can cause collision. When the transmission is stuck the brakes depress to floor of car. Since day one the car has pulled to the right, after strut replacement the problem is worse (the faster the speed the harder it is to steer straight).
I recently purchased a 2011 Kia Sorento 4 cyl. And just after one day of ownership noticed that the car was pulling to the right. I immediately took it back to the dealership with only 150 miles on it. They said it was the alignment and did a test on it and after the test the car pulled to the left. The steering wheel is also off center, like many others have reported. I have taken it back once more and this time they performed a tire rotation, this did not fix the problem. After three weeks of ownership the brakes have started to make substantial noise and the suspension feels and sounds like it is coming apart. The dealer is waiting for Kia technician representative to come by and take a look and report on this vehicle.
2011 Kia Sorento V6 has spring coil issues. Our brand new Sorento kept pulling to the right. Making it difficult to drive. No injuries as of yet. The coils are on back order due to so many complaints. Not a word from Kia motors.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia sorrento. The contact stated when driving on uneven road surfaces, the vehicle would exhibit an abnormal wobbling sound similar to driving on a flat tire. The dealer was able to duplicate the failure but was unable to determine the cause or provide a remedy. The manufacturer advised that the failure was under investigation but did not provide any further assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 300 and the current mileage was approximately 3,500.
- Kilgore, TX, USA
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2011 Kia Sorento 4-cyl ex alignment issue: Purchased auto 3/27/10 and noticed the next day that the car drifts to the right. Was told to wait 30 days (or 1000 miles) for break-in period. The dealership did an alignment on 5/5/10; they then straightened the steering wheel on 5/6/10; and tightened the specs on 5/7/10. They could not fix the problem. I took it to another Kia dealership in akron on 5/19/10, and they rotated the front tires and did another alignment--they couldn't fix the problem either. The car still drifts to the right. I am working with Kia corporation to try to find a fix, but felt the information was important to NHTSA should other complaints be received on the same problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Washington, DC, USA