CarComplaints.com Notes: There are just too many engine stalls or shuts down while driving reports to feel good about the Sorento. Especially when those things happen, on average, at just over 32,000 miles. Hopefully things will change.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 31
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
71,630 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 2013 Kia Sorento with only 108,000 miles and excellent maintenance records suddenly blew a rod from the engine block. This is extremely dangerous and scary and never have I had to replace an engine in a car with such low miles. I would please like you to investigate my specific engine failure to see if it aligns with the multitude of other recalls that the 2013 Kia Sorento has issued. My car just stalled at a red light... 3 ignition lights came on... oil pressure, battery and check engine. I turned the car over and it started. It was making a horrible sound so I pulled immediately over. The engine had already failed. I cannot understand this at all as I am religious with oil changes and maintenance. Please investigate further.
I have a Sorento that does not even have 60K miles on it. The car is a 2013, I bought the car less than 1 yr ago and after having it for 7 months, I being told by the mechanics at the facility that the car needs a new engine. The car broke down in the middle of the highway while I was on my way to work.
A knocking noise was heard from the engine and vehicle was taken in to repair because of recall. Dealership refused to correct the needed repair. Eventually, the noise increased in frequency and engine failed. My husband was driving the vehicle on the highway when engine failed and vehicle came to a complete stop.
I have always kept up on my regular maintenance and just had a fresh oil change 500miles ago. Then all of a sudden during regular driving at 50mph the engine starts knocking and losing power. Told it is going to need a new engine and Kia isn't including these Sorentos in the engine recall because they were made at a different T location, but obviously there is manufacturing errors since so many people are experiencing the same things. Don't buy Kia
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. While driving on the highway, the engine overheated. The contact pulled over and called an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine seized. The contact stated that the vehicle was well maintained with regular oil changes. The vehicle was towed to herb chambers Kia of burlington (93 cambridge St rte. 3A, burlington, MA 01803, (781) 202-3456) and they stated that there were no recalls. The contact stated that the dealer rudely referred her to the manufacturer. The dealer stated that they would charge the contact for the initial diagnostic testing. The manufacturer advised the contact to go back to the dealer and was informed that they would not charge for the diagnostic test or repairs. The contact stated that they would call back. The failure mileage was 97,000.
- Woburn, MA, USA
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I've had my oil changes on time. Theyre free at my dealership so im there like clockwork. I drove to work just fine but when it was time to go home I noticed my engine was making a ticking noise. I turned the car off and back on to make sure and it was ticking. Now my check engine light comes on. As im driving out the parking garage I noticed a load knocking sound. I checked my car and it read a P0014 code which is an advanced camshaft. After dropping it off at the dealer they told me I may need a new engine. I spoke to someone at Kia who said that there was a recall on 2013 Kia sorrentos but mine wasnt under the recall because it was made at a different location. Although my car had similar issues Kia would not help! since I just bought the car and im not the primary owner im stuck with either a high repair bill or carrying over a bunch of negative equity into a new car deal. Kia is known for their faulty engines and I just wish I knew this before buying one!
I was driving home from work on a county highway when all of sudden the engine started making a loud knocking noise and was losing power. I was thankfully able to pull over to a gas station where the car stalled out. My husband met me and we had the car towed to a mechanic who has told us that the engine needs to be replaced. I have called Kia and got the "run around" saying that it's out of warranty and nothing can be done. Research online has shown that this has been a known issue with this particular engine for years. Luckily I was able to pull over safely but if this had happened on the interstate traveling 70mph who knows what could have happened.
Excessive oil consumption. The engine uses 1 quart of oil every 500 miles. Unable to maintain full oil, engine makes knocking noises when not at full level. Vehicle contains the theta engine included in previous recalls but has not failed yet. Dealer resistant to replace engine due to mileage over 100,000, out of warranty.
Driving down the road and all of a sudden our Kia started making a knocking sound in the engine. We slowed down and started to pull over when we hear pieces of our car breaking off and saw a huge cloud of white smoke. When we pulled over and got out of the car, the whole underneath of the engine was on fire. The engine was seizing and caused the bearing to punch a hole into the engine. The parts we hear flying off were actually pieces of the engine exterior, which caused sparks and ignited the fire when the engine oil started pouring out. This happened without warning and we have kept up on maintenance. Less than 100K miles. VIN is not part of engine recall, however it is clear upon little research that Kia knows about this problem, they don't care, and they are doing little to fix it. It's obviously a huge safety issue, these are people's lives we're putting at stake and these cars need off the road. They are not safe. Please help the public do something about this.
My Sorento was making a noise in Aug 2018. I took my Sorento to Kia. Kia stated the noise was a low engine bearing noise on start and recommended engine replacement at my cost. The car at this time had 117,090 miles, which just put it out of warranty. Fast forward to June 2019. We were driving my Sorento on a highway going a speed of 55-60 mph, when my engine stopped running and 3 children and myself barely made it off the road (this could have been much worse if I was pulling out into fast moving traffic). The car sat for 30 mins and restarted, but made a funny noise. It took us 2 hours to get tow truck to come on the side of the busy highway to get our car and us moved to safety. They finally arrived and the car was towed on a wed night to the same Kia that worked on it in 2017 and a note was left with my keys about what happened including the noise. The next morning (thurs) I called and spoke to the service manager at Kia and repeated the noise and issues that brought my car into them. He called me back stated he let the car run for 1.5 hours, checked the electrical system, and all the fluids. The car didn't sputter or stall out. On fri they ran diagnostics on the car. Then they test drove the vehicle to see if they could replicate the noise. The car did not make it far from Kia before the connecting rod blew 2 holes through the engine and landed on the radiator. All fluids were lost per service manager at Kia. He stated that they did not hear the knocking of the rod prior to hit happening when the technician took it on a test drive. No paperwork has been shared regarding the current state of my car.
While driving on the interstate we accelerated to approximately 65 mph after entering the interstate on an on-ramp. Within about 1 mile, the vehicle stalled with no warning/ticking/knocking, and gauge/warning lights came on. We coasted to an exit ramp and after coming to a stop realized the engine was stopped at 0 RPM. I tried to start the vehicle multiple times in order to move out of the way of traffic coming from behind, for safety reasons, but the engine was seized and would not turn over. The attempts to start the vehicle additionally cause the starter to fail. During the attempts to start the vehicle, smoke came fromt he engine area as well as the smell of burning metal. I am unsure if the smoke came from the engine or starter. After this two other drivers stopped, I was able to shift the vehicle into neutral, and we pushed the vehicle to a safer location. We are working with Kia to replace the engine. Kia is stating the repair is not covered by their recall SC147 and that recall inspection was already completed on our vehicle, even though the failure is symptomatic of the recall defect/issue. Kia has stated that the engine will be replaced under warranty as part of a product improvement campaign but I am waiting for more clarification from Kia. As part of the SC147 recall and related Kia notices to Kia dealers, Kia dealers are to provide a loaner or alternate means of transportation (rental car to customers). It has been 2.5 weeks since the incident and Kia has failed to provide a loaner or rental vehicle.
Vehicle stops / cuts off while driving. Very dangerous. Have nearly been ran over by other vehicles on highway. Also sometimes while at a red light or idling while in park the car while just cut off.
Daughter was driving car on city street, and engine stalled coasted to S stop. Recall for faulty machining on 2.4 L 4cyl Kia motors. Recall # SC147. Kia states that this VIN does not fall under the recall, but same issue as other 2013 Kia's. internet stated that all 2.4 L 4cyl engines were covered by the recall for engine seizing up from bad machining.
Initial issue-vehicle was driving perfectly and we had just gotten back from the store. No indication of issues. We were going to go somewhere and noticed key fob not working. We unlock the door manually and when we went to start it horn started going off and car would not start. We read into issues and we decided to take battery in to get checked and it was full charged. We cleaned battery cables and got car started but this time radio not working and key fob not working. Car driving good for about 2 days and coming home last night, while on highway, all lights turned on -on dashboard, vehicle lost power, it sputtered all the way home. Windshield wipers weak and it was raining. Power windows barely works and could not push on gas! we barely made it back home and parked vehicle but gear shift would only go up to neutral gear. Won't let us put into park and car is dead. Vehicle is just sitting there now
Engine is knocking while in use. Dealer says the engine is failing and needs replaced. Issue with the engine is similar to other recalls. Engine manufactured same time at same plant as other engine recalls. Engine at risk for fire.
Our family was driving on the interstate and the vehicle started making a low clicking noise. We got off on the next exit and the car just turned off. No signals or lights turned on. After inspection from the dealership it was discovered that the engine rod bearing had blown out and made a hole on the engine. The vehicle only had approximately 72K miles on it. How does this happen. Recalls for other Kia Sorento have been issued but not my 2013 Kia. For this reason the engine and parts was not covered by warranty. Engine was backordered from November and came in at the end of March.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, there was evidence of smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. The contact visually inspected the engine compartment of the vehicle but was unsure as to where the smoke originated from. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed, which was still pending. The vehicle was not repaired. Kia of cerritos located at 18201 studebaker rd, cerritos, ca 90703, (562) 860-2424, was contacted and notified of the failure. The vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was also contacted and notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
Our vehicle is consuming an entire tank of oil under 1,000 miles of driving. The engine must have something wrong with it, but the dealership insists the engine is normal. They agree the problem is bad but take no responsibility for the engine. The SUV runs weaker than normal with less power than when we bought it 2 years ago now. It is driven less than 40 miles a day for work commute and consumes oil at an astounding rate. While I know there is some type of engine recall for this model and year I am confused as to why our vehicle is not being taken care of as it should be.
This car has at least 8 recalls on it now, not including past recalls. This vehicle has stopped on me without any warnings in the middle of the street while traveling with my family. The reason ot stopped was due to a malfuctioned engine that was on recall. My turning signals lights go out without warning, this has happened while on the highway. This is also due to light wiring thats on recall. Kia had me take my car to a dealership to get the malfunctioning engine fixed. The car is still doing the same thing and has list it speed while I was on the highway. I feel like it will cut off on me at any giving time. I just got another recall leter that states that there is an issue with the replacement part they put on my engine. I am a working mom with kids and depend onmy transportation to live. I am scared thattbis vehicle will stop on me and my kids on the highway or street.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Acton, CA, USA