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.
Daughter was traveling at highway speeds (60 mph) when engine loss all power and hard to merge over in lanes due to loss of speed and other traffic. Once to side of road found coolant blowing out of reservoir under hood. Towed to service station where they said head gasket blown on back cylinder bank. Replacement motor needed to make repairs as 7 of 8 head bolts found loose and 3 threads striped from aluminum block which they said is common issue with Kia engines.
On the morning of October 31st, 2022 I used my remote starter to warm the engine in my driveway for approximately 10 minutes, when I got into the car I noticed the air blowing was ice cold and when looked at the temperature gauge the needle was in the red. I allowed the engine to cool down for about an hour, checked the coolant level and found it empty. I looked all around and under the engine for signs of leaks, none were found. I purchased a gallon of coolant, topped off the system and brought the car to my local garage to check the problem. They replaced the thermostat and bled the cooling system. About a week later it started overheating again so I topped off the coolant again and took the car to the nearest Kia dealer. After keeping my car for a week they concluded that the head gaskets were leaking and the repairs would be more than the value of the car and they'd be happy to trade what's left of my car for a new Kia. I had my car towed to a reputable independent shop and ended up paying a total of $12, $274.84 for a re-manufactured engine and for labor involved in stripping down the old engine for the extended warranty who inspected the engine and denied the claim. I purchased this vehicle on 1/9/2021 with extended warranty from and authorized Kia Dealer for $20,522.78. I have since found out that this is an ongoing issue with the Kia/Huyndai V6 engines from 2016-2019. As a Mercedes-Benz employee for 30 plus years I am appalled at Kia for their unwillingness to stand by their products.
Car when into a low power mode, could not keep it running, took 5 times to go thru a very busy intersection and motor was making a knocking noise, smells like burnt oil-motor, misses out..The car was towed into a KIA dealership,3 weeks later they said it was fixed, drove off and didn-??t even make it a mile until it started knocking and having the same smell like burnt motor, went into a reduce power.now it-??s been 3 more weeks or more and still nothing is getting resolved. Yes the dealership knows about this issue. Yes warning messages came on when it went into low power mode. This is motor number two as the motor was replaced less than 12 months ago.
Been dealing with oil issues for over a year. With a closely monitored oil level the car engine blew a hole and is now not drivable. There was never a low oil light or any warning.
There is a common issue with these year model Sorentos that poses a dangerous safety hazard for those in the car as well as others on the road. This model has a manufacturers defect that causes the head bolts to strip from the block, causing overheating engine, power loss, and other symptoms. A car that overheats and has these symptoms while on the road could cause a fire, cause hot steam or coolant to burn skin, and risks lives if it happens while on a fast paced roadway. The issue is common and pretty much guaranteed to happen to these model Sorentos. There are thousands of people complaining and report the issue. KIA is aware and not concerned of the issue. The only solution offered is an engine replacement, which most people can-??t afford so will more than likely keep driving the vehicle regardless of the risks. My Sorento has been at the dealership already. I-??ve contacted KIA corporate as well as attorneys seeking litigation of the issue. My insurance completed a full investigation by U.S. Forensic and determined the cause to be two of my head bolts stripped the threads out of the block. I have the final report from the investigation. We had no early warnings of the issue. We first noticed something was wrong when the car started over heating. You could, then, smell coolant and there was white smoke from the exhaust. There was a loss of power and bubbling in the coolant reservoir. The car would drive without overheating as long as you kept the radiator full of coolant. In summary, this is a common issue that has been ignored by KIA. It is clearly a safety concern and could pose life threatening risks. KIA won-??t care and will never do anything about this unless they are forced to.
- Colfax, LA, USA
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At an ODO of 87,337 the Sorrento turned off while at a speed of >45 mph on a highway, luckily near an exit. There were no warnings before the car turned off. The car allowed for a slow crawl off the highway. The Sorrento could not be restarted. After towing it to an independent mechanic we were told that the car engine had seized, likely due to low oil. The car did not indicate anything before the catastrophic event. This was a danger to the young driver and everyone on the highway at the time due to the sudden slowing of the car, likely without brake lights. This occurred after dusk which added totes danger.
while driving engine suddenly got hot and blew radiator hose causing overheating to engine cylinder head and leaking coolant. No warning light or gauge indicating coolant overheating. Car was towed to dealership and they indicated no safety recalls on this engine exists despite known common problems of head gasket failures and head bolts coming undone.
The contact owned a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that as he had parked and shut the vehicle off, he saw smoke emitting from under the hood. The contact exited the vehicle and saw flames from under the front of the vehicle. As the contact was stepping away from the vehicle he saw that flames were issuing from the rear passenger side wheel well where the fuel filler door was located. The contact stated that there was no warning light. The fire department was called and extinguished the flames. The police were on the scene and issued a report. The vehicle was towed away to an impound lot and later declared a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 99,000.
I-??ve had my 2016 KIA Sorento for a month. The engine locked up. So, I would like for it to be repaired at no cost to me since it was within the 30 period of purchase. I need to know what to do at this point. My car is at the dealership where I bought it from. Thank you for a speedy response.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to push the vehicle off the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
Last year before my 100,000 mile warranty was up, my vehicles engine light and oil light came on. This was following an oil change which was approximately 3000 in. I checked the oil to find out there was no oil. After adding oil, I took it to the Kia dealership and was told the place who changed the oil didn-??t tighten my oil filter which was not true because there was no oil on the garage floor where it was parked. They then proceeded to tell me this engine uses a quart of oil every 1000 miles. Fast forward, to last week, I was driving on the highway when my car all the sudden had high RPM but wouldn-??t accelerate. The vehicle started stalling and died. I pulled over and again tried to start the car which it died again. The oil level was fine. I took it to a mechanic to find out the engine had 3 cylinders misfiring due to not getting the compression needed resulting in the engine failing. The oil consumption resulted in needing a new engine and now outside of warranty.
My 2016 Sorento LX is consuming 3quarts of oil in 1000 miles, I have asked the dealership and mentioned this to them and now after warranty is over they finally did oil consumption test and my car needs a new engine, I was told it could blow up at anytime, I have all maintenance papers and was told I would have to pay $7,000 to replace engine
My car started jumping while driving we had put oil in my car 3 weeks prior. It also smelt like my car was burning while the heat was on I had 2 babies in the back seat and I was scared to death. I haven-??t received anything in the mail about any recalls what so ever. I had to hear by a family friend the day of the incident that he thinks they-??re recalls on my call so I looked it up. My car is currently not working now and I have work and doctors appointments for babies I got to Kia tomorrow they-??re saying I don-??t have any recalls on my car and I looked it up on here and I do. I-??m pretty sure they-??re just not wanting to pay for it. They said if I have a warranty they could do. I just don-??t know what to do I have no car and I ave 2 children I can-??t afford to not have a vehicle.
Engine light come on and had someone to check it and they said recall on motor car has been using a lot of oil I put in one quart every two weeks the car is stalling and missing also
due to low oil pressure the timing chain failed causing immediate loss of power. The call was then rolled off the highway at idle speed creating a hazard while this was being done. There were no warning lamps prior to incident. This was inspected by the dealer "Team KIA El Cajon".
While driving car sputtered, was able to get to side of road. Turned car off, waited and then turned on again and was able to proceed, engine light on - got occasional performance issues. Kia dealer checked out and servicing, informed me of the oil was depleted issue and in need of substantial engine repair. (Provided written estimate, approx $4800). Able to continue driving but risk of stalling, told eventually timing belt will fail. Got estimates for repairing, and total engine replace to compare options. (Have not done either option as yet).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Felicity, OH, USA