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.
I had power lose while I am driving on high way or on street where you go a little uphill. Even after they replaced engine on my 2016 Kia Sorento. It does not happens on the straight road, only if there is uphill.
I had about 62,500 miles on the vehicle. We were driving down the highway and it was just blowing cold air from the heater. The vehicle started to stall and rapid decellerate. Thankfully the highway wasn't too busy and we just made it across the lanes to the shoulder; it could've been very tragic if we got stuck in a lane, especially since there was no warning with a check engine light before this. The vehicle was smoking. We got it towed to a repair shop and they confirmed it was overheating but couldn't diagnosis full engine issue. We had to get to a Kia dealer to do an engine tear down. They found 6 threads stripped and decided then it needs a new engine. We've consistently done our oil changes and maintenance so is very concerning how quickly and severely this engine issue came up. Unfortunately we are just past the 60K mile warranty and Kia is willing to only offer minor assistance despite evidence of other vehicles having similar engine issues.
While passing, sudden loss of all power. The check engine light came on. From that point on, very low power. When I got home, there was a fairly loud engine knock and oil coming from tail pipe. Took car to independent shop who diagnosed the issue as rod knock. Had the car towed to Kia dealer who then said it needed a new engine. Only 82,000 miles on vehicle. Kia covered the parts and labor to replace. When the shop dropped the engine, they noticed the drive splines on both the AWD transfer case and transmission were both rusted and all teeth sheared off on the fwd side of the spines. Rwd still intact. Kia would not cover neither would the extended warranty company because of the rust. That is a sealed unit with multiple rubber gaskets. How could it possibly have rusted? this is a major design flaw as there should been adequate heavy lubricant as well as sealing to prevent these parts from rusting. New transmission required $1800, and new transfer case would have been another $2500. Chose slightly used unit for $1000. It took almost 8 weeks to resolve. Now car is leaking oil on to exhaust. Back to dealer it goes...
Two oil change stations told me I need a new power train. I know power train is covered under 100,000 miles for Kia. Want to see if I need your help in the process for defect or anything else to assist me at nearest Kia dealership?
I started experiencing overheating issues in July. Knowing Kia are notorious for engine trouble, my mechanic checked the head gasket. It was fine but my radiator fan needed replaced. The very next day after having my fan replaced, my head gasket blew, driving down a state route. No warning, no check engine light, nothing. I have now had my entire engine replaced (long block, cylinder head, and gaskets). They have now discovered that my radiator is leaking, which like the radiator fan, is not covered under warranty. It seems that Kia knows there is an issue with these cars and is doing nothing to recall them.
2016 Kia Sorento with 67,000 miles had flashing check engine light. Car was towed to the Kia dealership in which the service advisor said the fuel injector was broken which spilled fuel into the motor causing $7,800 of damage. The diagnosis sis not and will not determine if it is a faulty injector and Kia will not participate in covering the other parts effected in the warranty. They offered a good grace assistance for $2,500 but offered a higher price on the parts saying they are parts covered in a factory manufacturing warranty. Regardless I never had symptoms of a worn fuel injector and believe the fuel injector is and was faulty and should be investigated further. The Kia managers believe this is normal for cars and that they will not comply with the warranty because of the injector causing the damage. The injector is not covered in the limited 100,000 mile warranty. This happened on Monday September 16, 2019 and was on a access road 5 miles away from my home. Currently the car is at the dealership while I wait for the next supervisor from Kia corporate call me in regards to the final offer on this repair.
Takata recall while driving my car, it completely shut off in the middle of the road. It was almost like it was out of gas but had a full tank gas. We tested the battery also. It still failed to start back. It would not start back after multiple attempts and I had to get it towed yesterday. The mechanics I had it towed to says they think it may have something to do with the engine but are unsure.
My transmission failed while driving, stopping and picking up became unsafe. I took it into a Kia dealership since it became dangerous to drive. I was then told that there was a tsb SA292 patch that was intended to prevent this exact issue. Kia is only willing to cover part of the cost. I feel this issue should be a recall since it makes the vehicle dangerous to drive.
Multiple times I will be driving along, and at either a slow speed or stopped at a light, the car will just shut off. This is not safe! also 2 times the exterior lights have not come on in the dark even if you turn them on yourself nothing comes on and its been dark driving when that's happened! I'm worried for the safety of myself and children in this car, and the dealership and service dept do not find anything wrong with the car. But in looking online a lot of people have this complaint as well! if this happened to me at a high speed or driving on the interstate that could cause an accident and injur people! please help!
I was driving around 30 mph on a local side street and the car shut off with no warning lights illuminated on the dashboard. The dashboard went black and the car stopped running. I had to pull the car over, put it in park, turn the key to the off position. I waited a few seconds and started the car again and drove it home (~1 mile from home). I had it towed to the dealership as I did not feel it was safe to drive it there.
No immediate response from accelerator pedal when pressed at idle with car stationary in gear. Pressing more on accelerator to get car moving causes car to then accelerate rapidly. This has happened at least six times in the past year.
We are second owners of a 2016 Kia sorrento. Dec 6, 2017, I was driving home and traveling about 60mph on a 2lane hwy when I felt a very severe clunk in the front area of the car and I lost the ability to accelerate. I checked the car and found nothing unordinary. I drove at decreased speed (40mph) for another 3 miles when again the car did 2 quick, heavy thumps and the engine quit along with all power and electrical. I got it over to the side of the road and the engine restarted, so I drove home. I called the Kia dealer in St. Augustine and the service lady said that she had heard the exact problem twice before. I talked to the service manager and relayed what his tec had told me, then drove to their dealership (40 miles) with no problem, but fear of being on highway with the vehicle. They drove the vehicle and checked it out but found no problems I came home and read on the internet reviews of Kia apparently being unwilling to deal with problems.. it became more apparent why the young lady I talked to on the phone seemed unwilling to repeat or discuss what she had told me. After consulting with several knowledgeable people, that it was probably an inadvertent down-shift and gears that caused the problem. This could cause a very dangerous and or deadly situation on the roadway, and especially on the interstate when the car just quits and you loose all power. The dealer stated "bring it directly in if it happens again." If you're traveling on the interstate with trucks, cars and busses behind you, at a high speed and it happens, you'll be lucky to survive it.... duh!
This 2016 Kia Sorento (mfg 10/27/14) will lose power/traction in a parking lot when trying to pull out into cross traffic, creating a serious safety problem. The dealer says he is unable to replicate the problem and therefore cannot fix it. I cannot sell/give this unsafe vehicle to a family member until it is corrected. Very dangerous.
I purchased this vehicle from mark jackobson Toyota on or about 8/20/2017. According to the recall notice in the government data base, the recall for the "rear assist arm bracket weld may break" was issued on or about 7/21/2016. I believe that the dealership that sold me this vehicle should have never let my wife drive the above vehicle off the car lot due to the potential of catastrophic failure. I would like this letter to represent my first step in filling a formal complaint with the dealership. We noticed that here was a noise on the same day that the paper work for the vehicle was signed.my wife had the dealership mechanic look at the vehicle at the same time the paper was being signed. The mechanic stated that it sounded like a bad bearing or something and instructed my wife to call the service department to schedule an appointment. The receptionist stated that the vehicle was still under a Kia warranty and that we needed to go to Kia. It was at the Kia dealer ship that we found out about the recall. However mark jackobson produced a document that I had signed stating the recall. But I interpreted the document as meaning that the recall had been taken care, of. I believe that mark jacoson in good faith should have never had let my wife drive the vehicle off the lot. There wasn't any property damage to the vehicle as she only drove it for about a week or two prior to taking the vehicle to the Kia dealership. I believe that there should be some law that would prevent a dealership from selling a vehicle and then allowing the customer to drive the vehicle off the lot knowing that there is a safety recall the had never been resolved.
My wife had the vehicle parked on a slight slope in her moms drive way maybe a 10 degree hill. She placed the vehicle in park and left it running while my daughter finished a birthday card she was making in the back seat. My wife stepped out of the vehicle to get some tissue paper out of the back with the drivers door open she pressed the rear door /hatch release or open button located on the dash. She pressed the button at that moment the vehicle came out of park and went into reverse nearly running her over she tried to get in but the vehicle took off to fast she was knocked over my daughter was in the car rolling out of control down the drive way. The vehicle followed the driveway down crossing the main road only doing some light damage where it ran over the mail box and stopped by hitting a tree. We contacted Kia and our insurance. Kia opened a case #K3237787 and then they have not responded since. We took the vehicle to the dealer where it was purchased and left it there. We have still no answers what they are planning to do with this vehicle. This event happened on 7-25-2016. We are requesting some help due to not having a vehicle we feel is safe to park and not worrying about it coming out of gear and potentially killing someone in its path. We also would like to have our vehicle repaired and back to drive since we are paying for it.
The ECM failed engine light on engine stammering wouldn't accelerate they reprogramed ECM I drove it 22 miles engine light on slowly it will speed up won't shift correctly tech told me I had better hope the fix works, rear view mirror won't change unless you hold flash light to sensor, light through back window won't darken mirror tech tested with flash light on the sensor and told me there wasn't a problem he didn't test through back window I have complained at 2 dealerships about the mirror no repairs
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vehicle could be shut off while it was engaged in any gear. On several occasions, the contact shut off the vehicle without it being parked and the vehicle rolled away. The last time the failure occurred, the contact fell to the ground while attempting to get in the vehicle. The contact was able to get up and stop the vehicle before it crashed. The dealer stated that the vehicle did not come equipped with a gear shift interlock. The failure mileage was 10,300.
You can shift the car from park to reverse/drive without putting enough pressure on the brake peddle to actually engage the brake pads to the brake rotors. If you aren't pay attention to how hard you are pressing on the brake peddle, the call will start to move at a normal speed. I have taken the car to two Kia dealerships and I have been told this is normal and safe. I feel that this is a huge safety issue. One dealership even checked other 2016 Sorentos on the lot and it was the same for them as well. This happens every day.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Middle Village, NY, USA