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:
71,737 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 is having electrical problems and I only had my car for a year my engine is starting to go car shaking and staling N cutting off on
I was driving on the highway I95 South in South Carolina almost to the Georgia border doing 70 mph in the middle lane when my engine shut down without a warning while passing another vehicle on the right. I had no warning from my instrument panel and there was no indication of lack of power on accelerating prior to the engine shutting down. I was barely was able to get my car to the side of the highway without getting into an accident. The engine would not turn over at all and I had towed my car to the nearest repair shop and I found out that the engine seized up. The engine oil was replaced three weeks ago and the car was driving great without a problem until now.
My engine is burning a large amount of oil. I take it in to do regular changes. I have a 2013 Kia Sorento. It has 136000 miles just recently the oil light started coming on, checked the dip stick and it registers none. Its been taken for regular oil changes but burns up the oil before its time for a chsnge. I don't understand. Also ive seen numerous white Sorentos on the road and most of them have the same paint problem on the roof right above windshield. Its peeling off and getting worse. Also cracking around Kia symbol on rear hatch. It started with rust spots then, cracking then paint peeling. The engine problem seems to be a wide spread problems with Kia owners and the paint obviously is a defect from the factory. Love my Sorento but need these issues fixed.
While driving my 2013 Kia Sorento sx, the oil switch failed and leaked out all the oil in one day (less than 15 miles) causing engine issues. The issue happened while in motion and the oil light flickered on and off. This seems to be a known issue with these engines.
Check engine light came on without warning and two minutes later my engine seized in the middle of a 4 lane highway around a blind turn. I feared for my life as I couldn't move my vehicle and cars trucks were zooming by at 80 mph. I had to get my car pushed off the road to safety, later towed to a local shop. Was told the engine was completely shot. This is common with Kia engines as my research has shown. My make and model have had recalls but not my VIN#. seems however I have the same problem. Why was my engine not recalled? I'm lucky I wasn't seriously harmed but now I'm left without a car and fear loosing my job bc I don't have a way to commute 35 minutes to work now.
2013 Kia Sorento, 2.4L. I have replaced the alternator, accelerator position sensor, and the crank shaft position sensor. Symptoms of the problem are this, after driving to achieve full operating temp, let the car idle for 15 minutes, pull out and get on highway, slow acceleration, and at 2000 rpms, the car violently jerks about 3 times, tach goes to 1000 RPM, accelerator is non responsive but engine does not die, after about 4-5 seconds, the engine begins to respond normally, no codes are captured, no indication to what the issue is. I did bring my car in not long ago and they re-flashed the computer that controls the transmission, and this new software may be at fault. It is non reproducible to demo to the Kia mechanic. But can happen as said above but not reliably. I plan to get a full electrical diagnostic of the main computer, the body controller, and transmission controllers to see where the fault is. I question the health of the main computer as no codes are recorded.....sampling rate seems to be in question. This can happen at 60 mph or 30 mph, at lower speeds seems like the engine will totally quite about 30 percent of the time, other times the engine continues to run but in "limp mode" and non responsive. I see this as a severe safety issue, you never know if it will die. It also seems like the transmission is commanded to a lower gear at high speed and after the jerks, the engine will shut down so damage will not occur to transmission or engine. If engine does not shut down fully, it seems like it takes about 5 seconds for the computer(s) to reset and resume "normal" operations. Always happens when in motion, never stationary on city street or highway at 60 +mph.
This as happened 3 times..while driving car it will mysteriously staul..last time on interstate then after hours of sitting it will start with no codes and be fine til next time
Connecting rod shoot out the engine and went throught the 4th cylynder opening a big hole. This vehicle has only 47000 miles. This break down happened in the middle of a highway.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 30 mph, the engine seized. There was an abnormal knocking noise detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the engine bearings failed and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact called all star Kia of san bernardino (735 show case drive North, san bernardino, ca 92408, (888) 480-0418) however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact stated that the failure was like that of NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was contacted however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 121,000.
In December of 2018, my father in-law was driving the vehicle on the highway, and the entire vehicle shut down(engine, lights, steering, everything). We towed it to the dealership, and they stated that it was a faulty battery, and had us pay to replace it. When we took the old battery back to advance auto parts, they stated that the old battery was fine after testing it. In March of 2019, we started to hear a knock in the engine at or over 2000 RPM. We took the vehicle in to the dealership, and they stated that the vehicle had advanced bearing wear, and the engine would need to be replaced. They stated that as there was no recall, that we would be responsible for the replacement.
While driving the vehicle at about 50mph, the RPM gauge rose significantly and the check engine light came on. I stopped the vehicle and restarted it and the same thing happened again. I then had the vehicle towed to my local mechanic and he indicated that the engine was failing and should be replaced.
All the oil leaked out and the engine froze. I was stuck on a major highway. There was a recall for this. I went to the dealer and they offered free oil change this was when recall notice came out but they never fixed the problem
Driving on interstate the car suddenly lost power and slowed down then stopped. I was able to move over and get off on the exit and roll down hill off the road. This was very dangerous. The vehicle would not start, had to be towed 80 miles home. Motor seems to be seized. Have had no problems with it until now, no warning at all.
Engine light came on code was show cam shaft sensor needed to be changed after changing the sensor engine light was reset. Same day code popped back on showing same code. After talking to multiple repair shops I am being told to replace the computer and or timing.
While driving on I 81 in shenandoah county va my Kia started losing power, lowing the speed I could do and the rpms right in front of a semi truck. It has happened since then and actually before then but was never as scary. The dealership has not been able to duplicate the issue or find any codes in the computer.
On 05-02-20 while getting on the freeway. My Kia, Sorento(2013) stalled and had to pull into the emergency lane. Shut vehicle off waited for a minute, restarted and no warning lights on. Drove 1/4 mile, engine started knocking/pinging. Had to be towed repair shop. Metal found in oil, rod knocking. 116072 miles on unit. Have all regular maintenance records. Engine repaired @$ $5,636 I just couldn't put a tarp over it. Dealer stated no recall on 2.4L mfi past limited warranty.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cherry Hill, NJ, USA