I am here to rant and be careful if you have a 2015 Kia Sorento EX where I had 2 occasions where I lost control of my car while driving. I got rid of it the following week.
1st problem. 45K miles on the car. Sep 2019, lost control 2x in 3 days. When you lose the electrical system while driving, you have no power steering, no brakes, engine turns off, and not able to turn the steering wheel was my experience. I was fortunate to pull over to the side of the road with not too much of a scare. I was driving up to VT to get my son out of his dorm. The nearby auto shop replaced the battery and I was off again.
2nd problem. Then 50 miles into my trip to VT, the same story above, but on the highway going 70 mph in the middle lane. Luckily, there were no big semi trunks behind or around me. I used the speed of the car to coast over to the right lane with no steerling and the nearby cars made room for me as I turned on my emergency lights. Waited again for AAA to arrive 2 hours later, the car was towed back to the place that said I needed a battery. Now I needed an alternator. So the root cause was an alternator. I filed a claim with Kia, and they would not honor any warranty after filing the claim 5 times. They claimed not to receive the claims earlier.
3rd problem. 61K miles on the car. Jan 2021 lost control again. This time the brakes locked up in the snow going down a hill out of the blue. No knee-jerk reaction to apply the brakes hard would cause the breaks to lock up. During the moment, I saw my life flash before me going down a hill. Luckily, I saw a road on the right, so I made an abrupt right turn in the snow from the while having no breaks and was headed to solid rock at 16 mph. I was able to avert the solid rock and come to a stop on the flat road after dodging the solid rock. I had an onboard camera that captured the event. I watch the video several times to the point, that I was afraid to drive the Kia again the following day. So, I had it towed to the auto shop for them to tell me that I had no back breaks. The only breaking mechanism I had was the front brakes stopping my car for months I am told by the auto shop. I was told the calipers gave out and worn the pads/rods in the rear and the new front breaks/pads that were replaced at 59K miles were worn out as they had excessive use since I had no back breaks. I asked why the back breaks/calipers were not replaced back at 59K miles. The auto shop said that I did not need back breaks at that time. I paid the 1K to get back breaks and the following week I got rid of the Kia. I had no indication of the back breaks going bad. No lights, no odd sounds, or anything to alert me that the calipers are bad. No indications of a car pulling left or right when driving or stopping. The tires are not worn uneven either.
So, I decided to share my story, and hopefully, no one else has this experience. I WILL NEVER BUY KIA AGAIN. I went back to Toyota!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I am here to rant and be careful if you have a 2015 Kia Sorento EX where I had 2 occasions where I lost control of my car while driving. I got rid of it the following week.
1st problem. 45K miles on the car. Sep 2019, lost control 2x in 3 days. When you lose the electrical system while driving, you have no power steering, no brakes, engine turns off, and not able to turn the steering wheel was my experience. I was fortunate to pull over to the side of the road with not too much of a scare. I was driving up to VT to get my son out of his dorm. The nearby auto shop replaced the battery and I was off again.
2nd problem. Then 50 miles into my trip to VT, the same story above, but on the highway going 70 mph in the middle lane. Luckily, there were no big semi trunks behind or around me. I used the speed of the car to coast over to the right lane with no steerling and the nearby cars made room for me as I turned on my emergency lights. Waited again for AAA to arrive 2 hours later, the car was towed back to the place that said I needed a battery. Now I needed an alternator. So the root cause was an alternator. I filed a claim with Kia, and they would not honor any warranty after filing the claim 5 times. They claimed not to receive the claims earlier.
3rd problem. 61K miles on the car. Jan 2021 lost control again. This time the brakes locked up in the snow going down a hill out of the blue. No knee-jerk reaction to apply the brakes hard would cause the breaks to lock up. During the moment, I saw my life flash before me going down a hill. Luckily, I saw a road on the right, so I made an abrupt right turn in the snow from the while having no breaks and was headed to solid rock at 16 mph. I was able to avert the solid rock and come to a stop on the flat road after dodging the solid rock. I had an onboard camera that captured the event. I watch the video several times to the point, that I was afraid to drive the Kia again the following day. So, I had it towed to the auto shop for them to tell me that I had no back breaks. The only breaking mechanism I had was the front brakes stopping my car for months I am told by the auto shop. I was told the calipers gave out and worn the pads/rods in the rear and the new front breaks/pads that were replaced at 59K miles were worn out as they had excessive use since I had no back breaks. I asked why the back breaks/calipers were not replaced back at 59K miles. The auto shop said that I did not need back breaks at that time. I paid the 1K to get back breaks and the following week I got rid of the Kia. I had no indication of the back breaks going bad. No lights, no odd sounds, or anything to alert me that the calipers are bad. No indications of a car pulling left or right when driving or stopping. The tires are not worn uneven either.
So, I decided to share my story, and hopefully, no one else has this experience. I WILL NEVER BUY KIA AGAIN. I went back to Toyota!
- Jenny C., San Jose, US