CarComplaints.com Notes: As long as catastrophic engine failure at under 60,000 miles is the top owner complaint, it'll be pretty hard to recommend the 2012 Sorento.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 40
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
76,616 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.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while his wife was driving, the check engine warning light illuminated with an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was being driven to an independent mechanic however, halfway through the journey, the engine mount fractured and detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic where it was inspected and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had experienced a failure as the vehicle was in a idle motion. The contact stated that an abnormal noise appeared without warning. No leaks were present. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred. The technician deemed the vehicle unsafe to drive. The contact did mention that the check engine warning light illuminated after the diagnosed test was ran. No dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 157,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
I was driving on a busy street and my Kia started making a rattling noise when I pressed on the gasand then my check engine light came on check battery life and the oil light and then it diedwhile I was driving
Vehicle engine died while actively driving on main road. Luckily, traffic wasn't too bad on this road, but we could have very easily been seriously injured in a car accident because of the situation. Vehicle was operating fine until this moment, never had any engine issues until this moment, and vehicle maintenance was kept up with.
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
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While driving my 2012 Kia Sorento on the fwy. The engine stalled with no warning. The check engine light came on...I was able to put car in neutral and restart. It ran fine, but check engine light remained on. There was no apparent sounds of engine trouble...so I continued my route. The next day it started fine, no bad noises, but check engine light was on...I was able to drive for approximately 20 miles until it stalled again while on fwy. Was able to restart, but compression was low on engine, so I pulled off and had it towed to shop. They told me the oil was down 4 qts. And had catastrophic engine failure. My complaint is the oil light never cam on. I've seen other complaints similar to this...I'm wondering if you are doing anything to rectify this problem?
While driving the vehicle under normal operating conditions the tachometer will drop to zero and the car will start to sputter and stall. This occurs intermittently sometimes while on the highway sometimes at stop lights or stop signs. This vehicle only has 142K miles and has had the cam sensors replaced by the dealership but is still having issues that they don't want to track down.
Car never has had engine issues and gets regular, routine maintenance. I had my oil changed three weeks ago as I do every few thousand miles. I was driving the other day and the engine started to sieze. The oil pressure light came on while driving. There was no oil in the car. Car was towed to mechanic and no cracks/leaks were found. There is a safety recall currently for the engine bearings being prematurely worn causing engine to malfunction and sieze. My VIN was not listed under this recall, however, the mechanic suggested it is an internal/engine problem, thus quite likely due to these worn bearings in the engine.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia sorrento. The contact stated that his wife was driving through a snow storm and the vehicle stalled several times. The wife pulled the vehicle over and called for a tow and a new battery was bought and the old one was replaced. The failure recurred on the same day. The vehicle was taken to an independnent mechanic who observed the vehicle shutting on and off and referred the contact to danbury Kia (100A federal road, danbury, ct 06810, (203) 730-5737). The dealer recommended the starter be replaced. The repairs were completed but the vehicle loss acceleration the same day after it was picked up and shut off when it was pulled over. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer and diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been contacted. The failure mileage was 158,000.
Hi I am writing you on behalf of my Kia sorrento 2012 I've been having problems the last past nine months after my car wouldn't start I supposedly assumed it was the battery so I had the battery changed in the lock at the battery is about 78 years old so I changed it after change that still drain after every month my car would just turn off in the middle of me driving or stopping at a stop sign when I put my ac or my heater on it drops idle and it makes the car really heavy to the point where it feels like it's holding back my car has been doing this occasionally often on where I'll be driving a long distance or a short distance with the ac on and as I'm parking turn off the ac in the car while I go up and down and will drop idol and just turn off the vehicle without any spiders I do not know what's going on with the vehicle I've had it checked out every month for the last past nine months and paid for the diagnosis which they always keep on telling me there's nothing wrong with the vehicle I have looked up my vehicle VIN number and have put in the nhtse number and I have a form you recalls and they look like engine cesar an engine fire
I was driving and suddenly heard a knocking noise under the hood and then all of the lights came on and it broke down and I had to pull over on the side of the road then it started smoking and then it caught fire. This all happened within 20 minutes on 12/10/2020. It was in cobb county ga off of ew connector and in between fontaine rd and floyd rd.
The contact own a 2012 Kia Sorento sx. While driving at 65 mph, the vehicle began to decrease in speed. The contact pulled over to the side the road. As the vehicle stalled she notice black smoke coming from underneath the hood. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the contacts residence. The vehicle was not towed to independent mechanic or dealer for diagnostic or repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage 150,000.
At approximately 120K miles, we randomly checked the oil prior to taking a road trip and noted the dip stick was dry. The car was down several quarts of oil. No oil light ever came on. Since then the car has been evaluated by more than one mechanic with no leaks found. The car has had routine maintenance as recommended since it was purchased. It requires a quart of oil about every 500-700 miles.
I was driving on the highway going from Arizona to Utah, suddenly I hear a loud knocking noise coming from the engine. The car starts losing power and then completely seized up, luckily we were able to pull over. We turned off the car and tried to turn it on again but it wasn't turning on.
I was driving and heard a knocking sound. I came to a stop sign and the car stalled. It restarted but had no power. I turned and tried to go a little further had no power. I managed to get the car off road and into the bypass lane. Car would not start again. I had to call for tow truck.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled with the check engine and oil level warning lights illuminated. The contact shifted the vehicle into neutral and the vehicle was pushed to the nearest parking lot. The contact had the vehicle towed to her residence. The contact stated an independent mechanic came to her residence and diagnosed the vehicle with an engine rod bearing failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.
The motor seized causing the vehicle to stall. I was driving winding mountain roads at a consistent 40-45 mph and when I took one of the curves, the motor seized causing the power steering to also fail. Which made it very difficult to steer away from the cliff adjacent to the road. My mechanics replaced my motor but said the original motor was completely seized to the point that he couldn't work on it.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lombard, IL, USA