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:
3 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
38,044 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 vehicle Recall Having issues No remedy available as of today 4-30-24 I need my specific vehicle recall ready and available for fixing at the local Dealership Recall alert not fixed Recall needs remedy to fix or replace Due to fire safety concerns
UNKNOWN. Vehicle at fire risk when parked. THE HYDRAULIC ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT (HECU) MAY EXPERIENCE AN ELECTRICAL SHORT CIRCUIT, WHICH CAN RESULT IN AN ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE WHILE DRIVING OR PARKED.
I got a recall on my Kia in November about it potentially catching fire. My engine light came on and there is no remedy for the recall and it-??s been 5 months. This is unacceptable because I don-??t want to drive my car around while it could potentially catch fire. I need this to be remedied asap.
The white paint has recently started peeling off in large sections in one area. Another area has a smaller section now missing. This has not been looked at by the dealer but online research shows that this has been a problem with KIA vehicles with white paint. This could be a safety risk if these pieces come off when driving, which has fortunately not happened yet.
- Damascus, OR, USA
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About 4 years ago the rear view warning started to get foggy/blurred so it was hard to see what was towards the rear when backing. Contacted dealer about this and of course it was no longer in warranty and I would have to pay a high price to have this replaced. After the view became blank, all your saw were the lines that would show how close you were to another car while backing up I once again ask my dealer about it, if they were having trouble like this on other Kia cars and he would not tell me, just told me the price of replacment. So I started to wonder if this problem showed up on other Kia's
On November 15, I was driving my vehicle in traffic. As I approached an intersection, I looked in my rear-view mirror and noticed smoke trailing behind the vehicle. I attempted to brake, but there was no braking action. The vehicle rolled to a stop. Immediately, smoke and flames poured from the front end of the vehicle, under the hood. My passenger and I were able to exit the vehicle as the flames grew in size and engulfed the engine compartment of the vehicle. Video shot by a bystander showed flames under the vehicle as well, just prior to getting it stopped. Shortly after the incident, I was told that there were recalls on some Kia Sorentas, so I checked the NHTSA website and the VIN showed it was included in Kia's latest recall. I had not received anything from Kia prior to the fire. However, I did receive an interim recall notice on November 24.
Steering jerks to left at highway speeds. Feels like motor driven power steering is causing this and leads to over Correctional at highway speeds. Also rear end noise when turning at slow speeds.
Exterior paint is rapidly falling off the car, to the degree that the outer paint will completely delaminate. It appears to be a serious manufacturing defect, as the car has been properly cared for, and the peeling has nothing to do with scratches, dents or other abrasions. The peeling paint is accessible to children, including my own, who could easily get it on their hands and ingest, making it a major hazard. I've taken it to two auto body shops, who refuse to touch up the peeling areas, because they insist that the only fix is a complete paint strip and repainting of the entire car.
Approximately 4 years ago the paint began to chip on the roof and side near the windshield of my Pearl white sorento. It was bubbling up and slowly chipping away and has now began to rust.
One month after purchasing(11-29-15) used car from Kia dealer, the paint started peeling on front panel above the windshield. It was repaired(12-28-15) by the dealer. It was brought to their attention when other areas started peeling shortly after but they didn-??t care and didn-??t say anything was wrong. Now there are four areas that are peeling on my car. It has been parked in garage since purchased. The auto body place said that it looks like it was not painted correctly.
Yesterday, when I went to start my car, it barely turned over. Today it started fine but while I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection during rush hour, my car shook violently for about 3 seconds and then stalled. It didn-??t lose battery power but was completely off. I attempted to restart it 5 times. First, it wanted to turn over but didn-??t. Second, the engine just clicked a couple times. Third through fifth, it didn-??t even attempt to start. There was absolutely no warning that this was going to happen and no check engine lights. After waiting a couple more minutes, it finally turned over, still with no check engine light, and I was able to get myself home safely. We weren-??t able to replicate the issue. We Checked the fuel pump, battery power, the starter and checked for any codes even though there isn-??t a check engine light on. All of which were fine. I bought this car used and it was apart of the engine recall a few years back. I-??ve looked up other peoples description of what happened to them before they had there engines replaced and more than 10 of them were similar to what happened to me today. I have a one year old and am now terrified to even drive my car with her in it because I don-??t know if or when this is going to happen again or if it is going to happen while driving next time.
Yesterday I drove home from work and this morning when leaving I notice paint missing from my car near the passenger side of the windshield. There is no reason this should be happening. My car is kept in a garage. This is a paint defect and I would like this taken care of. I will be calling Kia in the morning and will be getting a lawyer.
Car shuts down in the middle of driving and cannot idle. Had transmission 1x lat year and battery replaced 2x. Even after repairs car randomly does this. I have taken it to shops several times but no one knows what the problem is.... When it randomly chooses to do it, I cannot accelerate, and the car power will go out in the middle of driving decreasing the speed dramatically. Right after it does it the car will stop and turn off like it has a dead battery, except it turns right back on. All of the check engine lights on the inside start to going on.... check engine, battery, oil, tire traction etc....
I typically work from home. Started driving on the highway more frequently and one night came out to complete sheets of paint completely delaminated from the roof of my car. It's very clear that there was a process mistake and the paint never bonded to the metal of my vehicle. I also am afraid to wash the roof of my car, in fear of more paint coming off. This spot will likely be an issue during winter as well. Car paint should never do this from the factory, it's setting the vehicle up to fail. This would be considered a latent defect and has affected many vehicles, specifically in the Pearl White paint color such as my own.
Drove approximately 6 miles from home to grocery store, parked car, did shopping and on way home 3 lights lite up on dash, ABS - ESC-TPMS. Just had serviced on 8/1/2022 with 111279 miles, currently has 111,378 miles on it. Vehicle is garage kept and I'm retired. I have had the car serviced at the dealership where vehicle was purchased.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Columbus , OH, USA