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:
3 / 7
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
53,178 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.
Front driver side door handle inoperable from the exterior handle with no prior complications or damage ensued. Known problem in 2011 Kia Sorento models and not resolved in newer models. This can cause major issues in safety especially in emergency situations. This should be resolved immediately.
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.
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.
Have had the to replace the right cv axle twice in the past 40K miles (once at about 118K and again at 150K) mechanic told me this has been an issue in Kia
- Durham, NC, USA
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When driving on a highway, the tachometer drops to zero and the power decreases, but the engine doesn't stop running. Then it smells like something is burning, and I pull off the road, turn it off, and start it again, then it goes back to normal. It has been doing this for a few months already. Also, I have had this car for almost 4 years and have replaced the headlights, tail lights, and blinkers numerous times. I'm at the point that I'm afraid it's going to burn up. Btw, the engine temp light remains normal. Also, sometimes, the engine will stop when I stop at a light or sign, but then is normal when I start it again.
I have faulty airbags in my vehicle why is there no recall vehicle hasn't been wrecked. Airbag were never deployed. My vehicle is not safe without airbag repair, as long as the airbag light is on on the dash the airbag system fails inspection. It needs to be a recall this is a safety hazard and cause death if I was to be involved in an accident.
Airbag issues with this vehicle vehicle is not safe to drive Kia needs to recall airbags may just save a life and mines is at state here... passenger seat airbags disabled and will not allow other airbags to work if I become in an accident. Please help me with this issue I'm fear of my safety
I purchased a Kia Sorento on July 21 2020 after test driving the vehicle the air bag light popped on the sales man took it to one of their on site employees and they hooked up the code device no codes appeared so he suggested its just a sensor problem and told me it shouldn't be much take it to a Kia dealership. I did in which couldn't get in to see the service department until today in which I had to pay out of pocket for a diagnostic test and they found that the ods mat was faulty. I told the service guy that the car lot took the seats out to clean the SUV for sale and he told me they damaged or broke the ods mat. I contacted the seller and stronger expressed my feeling about my vehicle is no longer safe to drive and the only thing he said to me is my payment due August 31 today is the 10th and this replacement will be over 2300 that I can't afford and the vehicle is no longer safe for me and my daughter. I really feel they knew it was a problem with the air bag and just tried to make a sale saying it was a sensor issue that Kia will have to reset.
While driving on a four lane highway, the car's engine just cuts off on its own while I was in traffic. All of the lights on the dashboard come on. I put my flashers on and it allowed me to restart and drive and it did it again. The third time I started it, I turned off on a less crowed road to get to another stretch of road and drove very slowing for about 10 miles to get it home. I could smell something coming from under the hood and I didn't park it in the garage. The smell was strong and the hood very hot to the touch. I didn't want to chance it catching on fire. What should I do? I keep the oil changed and had it done on 6/22/2020.
My moo roof shattered for the second time in 5 years. Nothing hit it, it was parked the first time and we just happened to be standing next to it and heard it start to shatter, yesterday I got in it after it was parked in my garage started to drive and heard this pop/ crackling sound and it happened again! this can't be bad luck twice in a row like this. I did nothing to it, was not hit by anything and now again, shattered!
On the afternoon of 2-27-20 I was driving on I-25 headed South, near mead (between loveland and denver) I was traveling around 80mph in the middle (3) lane when my sunroof shattered for what seemed to be no reason at all. Glass rained down everywhere and I feel very lucky that it wasn't the cause of a major accident. This is a busy section of I-25 and there were a number of cars nearby, all going 70+mph. I heard no impact to the sunroof whatsoever. It just sort of exploded. It seems to me as though the leading metal edge was flexing and air got under it in such a way, that it just peeled back. I have the metal piece shown in the pic attached. The end of that piece of metal landed on my right forearm; glad I had both hands on the wheel.
My car has been having strange intermittent engine troubles & symptoms. (the first symptoms appeared in September 2019) it started with the accelerater going out on the highway over about 50 mph once or twice randomly. About a month later it did it again. And then this time it also stalled at a stop sign. Other times it feels like the car engine hiccups. It will lose power and come back on within a half second. And then continue as if nothing happened for another month. Recently the symptoms are happening more often. It is terrifying. I can't drive on the highway because I am so scared. At this point, these symptoms have now taken place numerous times and it doesn't matter what speed - when in motion up to 60-70 mph, around 30 mph, at a stop sign, when I was trying to turn left, etc. I have taken it to a mechanic several times since the first symptom. And I have taken it to a Kia service location. All have said the car seems to be running great and there are no codes showing up or engine lights coming on. They cannot see anything wrong with the car unless the symptoms appear. I have seen some articles online about a recall for Kia's of my year with the same symptoms, but this recall is not on my VIN" I am honestly so upset because I loved this car. I have been looking for a new car, but I really just wanted to get this fixed. I do believe my car is affected by the other recall, but why isnt it showing up? what do I do? this car is putting my life and other peoples lives in danger. I have a lot of travel coming up and I don't know what to do. I need a safe car and I am terrified to drive right now. Can you please help me"
Had two motors replaced. The catalytic converter crumbled when mechanics replaced motor now want to charge me 3000 why would this crumble and should be replaced as engine probabaly damaged it may have even caught fire and didn't know
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
My wife and I have been driving this vehicle for over 2 years now. About two years ago, this banging noise started which felt like we hit something or an object the road (just one big bang noise). The second time it happened we took it the aaa and they serviced it and made some repairs to it and replaced some parts. The noise went away and now (Feb 2019), I am driving on the highway at 60 miles per hour and it came back and happened three times already. Upon researching the cause of this issue, I am here on this site trying to find answers for these issues. Now, I do not want our car to catch fire since I've read a few people were experiencing this horrifying predicament. What are we to do" will Kia take care of this issue before something worse happened" it seems to be case with these recalls, something terrible has to happen.
I purchased this vehicle used with 98K+ miles on it from stevens creek Subaru. They did not disclose any recalls nor any issues with the vehicle. This week, I began hearing a clicking noise in the gear shift console every time I braked. Its sounds like something hitting piece of plastic. It hasn't changed the performance of the car that I can easily tell. However, this evening, my maintenance light came on and is not turning off. The dealership says the car was serviced before I drove off the lot, but given it didn't even have washer fluid, I'm not convinced it was serviced properly. I'm also noticing that the vehicle doesn't shift easily when I am needing to pick-up speed when entering the highway. The shift transition isn't smooth. Another issue is the heat feature on the driver seat does not work - it worked a week prior when I test drove the vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lockport, NY, USA