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.
My 2012 Sorento has been burning/losing oil since it was tested for the premature bearing wear recall at 100K miles. It burns approx. 1 qt of oil every 1000 miles. The current mileage is 114K miles. I have to add 5 qts of oil between every 5K mile oil change. Dropping a microphone into my oil pan did something to my engine. Kia dealership says this is to be expected for an engine with this many miles.
Engine siezed while driving. I have all the maintenance records. It wasn't leaking oil or burning any. I had it towed to a mechanic, he agreed their was no leak but the oil was live sludge and it caused the car to seize. It had been less than 4000 miles since I'll had been changed.
While my vehicle was in motion on the highway going over 70mph my engine shut off, my speedometer dropped from 70 to 40 causing the vehicle behind me to have to pull into on coming traffic (two lane road going down mountain) to avoid slamming into my vehicle. Prior to this oil, check engine, and four wheel drive lights all began to flash. Pulled over, shut off vehicle and vehicle started after some struggle. Drove with hazards all the way home. Before this my vehicle would lose power while driving. My rpms would drop and hitting the gas did nothing. Every time vehicle starts making knocking sound before rattling and stalling out. Vehicle has been in motion every single time it loses power, or the engine stalls out. Immediately purchased car fax to see all open recalls on my vehicle. This is one of the major ones. Entire replacement of engine. Kia refuses to replace my engine and only kept my vehicle in the shop for 56 minutes before telling me it was ready for pick up. When engine is acting up, removing my foot from the gas does not slow the vehicle. This vehicle is incredibly dangerous and unpredictable.
Motor just all of locked up with no warning I was driving and all of sudden I hear the fans start blowing loudly I pulled over and turned the car off and it hasn't started since, now I'm without vehicle
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. While driving the vehicle, the check engine indicator flashed on and off. The engine oil was checked and it was discovered that there was no oil inside the engine. Four quarts of oil were added to the engine. Approximately four months later, while at sons Kia (100 sons dr, mcdonough, ga) for service, the mechanic reported that there was no oil in the engine. In addition, after driving the vehicle, a burning odor was present outside the vehicle coming from the engine compartment. The cause of the failures was not determined. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 100,000.
- Mcdonough, GA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owned a 2012 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V907000 (fuel system, gasoline, engine). While driving 50 mph, smoke appeared from the center console. The contact drove to her job and extinguished the smoke with a fire extinguisher. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to Kia of duluth (located at 1701 w Michigan St, duluth, mn 55806, (866) 722-4542). The manufacturer was notified. The cause of the failure was not determined. The failure mileage was 135,000. * (recall related incident)
Took 2012 Sorento in for engine/bearings recall at 92K miles (which included an oil change by dealership). Next oil change at 98K there was apprx 1 quart of oil left. Never burned oil prior to this recall check. Thought dealership made mistake. I usually change the oil every 5K miles. Oil was changed and checked again at 2,500 miles, it was 4 quarts low. No warning lights were ever displayed. Took to dealership, performed oil consumption tests (4), consuming about 1 quart every 500 miles. Kia dealership told me unless it displays the P1326 fault code, there is nothing that Kia will do - I can file a claim with Kia affairs, if I want. It is burning so much oil, that if oil was change every 7,500 miles as recommended maintenance -- there would be no oil left in engine. It is burning oil -- there is no oil leaking. Engine will fail, it's a matter of when - huge safety issue. A ticking time bomb. Hope it doesn't fail while driving on the interstate....or catch fire.
Car was running fine, no warnings. Started engine and it would not start. Had car towed. Was told the engine was 'locked up'. it is 2012 Sorento however it is not part of the recall. The vehicle was parked.
Engine is consuming a large amount of oil this has occurred around the engine going over 90,000 miles. In speaking with the Kia dealership, they state it is common for an engine of this age to burn oil. The engine burns about a quart every 500-600 miles. This seems excessive.
Engine is consuming a large amount of oil. We had taken the car into the dealer to correct a recall affecting the engine oil. The dealer serviced the vehicle, then the vehicle started burning oil. We took it to a different dealer who referred us to the Consumer Affairs department. Consumer Affairs sent it to the escalation department. The escalation department recommended that we go to a junk yard and get a used engine. They took no responsibility. We have kept this car serviced but we were told by the dealer that the car needs a new engine to the tune of $9,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. While driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle shut down and all the instrument panel indicators, including the check engine indicator, illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine blew up and needed to be replaced. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.
Our 2012 Kia Sorento started having the exact same problems as all the other motors that were on recall for bad bearings. I never got a check engine light. It would die randomly on me. Once died on me on the freeway with me and my 5yr old. Luckily I was not around anyone or it could have been very tragic. I loved that car, and now it's just sitting at Kia dealership collecting dust and not being used with less than 100K miles on it. This is not a owner issue. This is a manufacturing defect. Even the dealership said it was bad bearing and it should be covered. Yet we can't get this issue fixed because they don't want to help us, and yet have all these bad reviews on not wanting to help out their customers. So it's just sitting at the dealership rotting away because we refuse to pay for a manufacturing defect.
The engine seized up. We have made regular oil changes on the car. There was found to be metal shavings in the oil, which is a manufacturer defect. It is 2012 with 88,861 miles on it. It would not start so we had to towed to libertyville Kia dealer. The service center said that there should not be any metal shavings in the oil pan with the regular scheduled maintenance
I was driving for about 45 minutes on the highway when all of a sudden the car started to decelerate. I had just enough force to get it to the left side of the road safely. No warning lights or issues prior to this occurrence. The radio was still on but I couldn't get the engine to turn over to drive. Is there a recall for this issue"?" my mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the car. It started right up and he drove it for awuite a bit to be sure.
As I came off an exit from the highway, after driving for about 90 minutes, for no apparent reason the car just stopped running. The tach dropped to O, and I had to pull over to the side of the road to avoid getting hit by the vehicles behind me. I tried to start the car and the car would not even turn over. I called my insurance company, arranged for a tow to my mechanics garage, only to have him tell me that the motor just ceased. Again no warning from the vehicles warning lights or anything. It just died right there.
Engine recall. Lately I been heard a knocking noise under the hood of my vehicle also I heard knocking noice from the exhaust pipe when I start the car as well. It comes N goes I hear it once in a while mainly in the morning when I first start the car. I hear it any other time once in a while. N I see lately there leakage coming threw the exhaust pipe as well. I took it to my machanic N he advised me to report to the dealer since it can B a possible recall
My Kia's engine seized up on the highway while driving I have not even owned it for a year. I still owe quite a bit on this and can not seem to get any help from my local Kia dealer where I purchased it. I lost my job because of this and cannot try to find another one with out my vehicle - it is causing great distress to my family. I cannot afford to by another vehicle or purchase an engine. I really need help and guidance with this issue. I was told Kia was the best with customer care and vehicle reliance. Soon I will not be able to make payments on my vehicle with out a job. Please help me with this problem I do not know where else to turn. Thank you
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sorento. While driving various speeds, a knocking noise occurred coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to napleton's mid rivers Kia (located at 4955 veterans memorial pkwy, St peters, mo 63376, (636) 206-4284) for diagnostic testing, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where an oil consumption test was performed. The dealer stated that if the engine consumed oil, it needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: [xxx]. the approximate failure mileage was 114,276. The consumer stated the manufacturer would not assist with the repairs until the engine seized. Parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Losing oil..no indicator lights come on. They tell me I have drop oil pan and and get new seal. Why doesntindicator come on?.have appointment March 4th at dealer to have this fixed. Sounld not have to ay for it. Indicator light do not work.now my engine knocks
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- N. Bend, WA, USA