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.
Coolant system not functioning properly replace thermostat and worked a day then back to overheating. Engine overheating with new oil and filter also shakes badly Car does not shut of when ignition is pressed the first time have start the car then shut it off again
Shifter isn't releasing from park. They state the Body Control Module (BCM) I been reading on this and it goes out with higher mileage Kia Sorento SUV. This is a safety hazard.
I was driving down an interstate when my check engine light came on and began to flash. The car then began to shake violently. I was able to pull it into a parking lot successfully. There was a smell & it felt hot. During my routine oil changes, the shop had notified me a couple of times that I had low oil. No low oil lights or any other warnings ever came on my dashboard to say I was having issues until that day. I had it towed to a local dealership on 09/29/2024z Local Kia dealership confirmed on 10/04/2024 that the whole engine needs replaced.
When the headlights are in auto mode, they turn off and on sporadically. There are times that the car is not even on and the light turn on and I have to manually turn the headlights off. This has been ongoing for months. I've reported the issue to before to the dealership but they could not find any malfunction. This morning, I was driving with my lights on (not auto mode), and when I would use the turn signal (left and right), the lights would turn completely off and come back on. This new problem has been occurring off and on for about a week.
I was driving down the highway at night and out of nowhere my head lights turn off. Leaving me and my daughter driving blind going 60 mph. Prior to that on the same night, I picked her up from work I was turning out of the parking lot where she works and the same thing happened but very quickly corrected itself. The area was lit up so it wasn't as noticeable. This is a very dangerous problem.
- Camdenton, MO, USA
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The vehicle just lost power at 75mph on [XXX] heading home to Princeton, ME, started vibrating really bad misfiring then we pulled over the Kia Sorento stalled. Then would not start back up. It-??s been using over a quart a week since we got it from the dealership in Bangor, Maine. We got it towed home our mechanic looked at it and noticed oil on the plugs and said we probably need a new engine. Low beam light keep coming off and on so thinking it-??s something electrical. Time to time the transmission take a min to shift the engine rpms stay up n takes a few extra seconds to shift. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was driving down a country road, and suddenly the engine stopped working, all systems shut off, and dash started flashing. Luckily, there was no one around me, and I was able to coast to a stop. However, it would have been terrible if this had happened on a busy road. Nothing worked including brakes. Had the car towed to the dealership, since we were just over 100K miles they would do nothing, and said the only thing we could do was put a new engine in for 20K. We-??re going to have to sell the car for a loss of 5K, as we can not justify putting a new engine in an unreliable car.
I live in VA, bought my Sorento in 2018. Every winter when the temps drop below freezing my car will intermittently not start. This issue only happens below freezing and it is not every time the temps drop below freezing. Once the sun comes up and the day warms up a bit the car almost always will start. I have taken it to the Kia dealership multiple times over the years and of course it always starts right up, no problem, even in the single digits. I have taken it to a couple of other local repair shops as well to no avail. So far this winter I have had it at the dealership 3 times and finally on the third trip they figured out the issue. The factory installed remote start was pulling too much voltage, even while the car was off, that the brand new battery couldn't start the car. They removed the remote start (told me I could buy another and have it installed for $800) and the car has started every single time. This has left me and my family stranded previously so wanted to help others figure this out so it doesn't take them 6 years and stranded like it did us.
My Kia Sorento uses roughly 2-4 quarts of oil every week or 2. The smell of oil is so strong in the car it-??s almost unbearable. Just this week the the alert about a door being open is going off and the locks are malfunctioning. It locks and unlocks at random and it keeps sayings a door is open when it isn-??t. The cruise control also stopped working.
I just purchased this vehicle on Saturday.And now my engine light is on.It is blinking.I did my research after getting the car and the code p1326 came up at autozone.after that it showed that code with recalls for 2011 to 2017.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at night, the headlights became inoperable. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact later received Kia Extended Warranty notification for a multi-function switch assembly failure. The local dealer and a second dealer, Kia Mall of Georgia (4180 Buford Dr, Buford, GA 30519) were contacted but informed the contact that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown.
Oil consumption. My car is always empty after 3000 miles. I am always having to put oil in my car. Now having engine issues-?? No warning lights came on to let me know of issues or low oil.
Headlights turned off on 3 occasions in the last 2 weeks. first i was driving on an unlit section of a residential thoroughfare, dark night and suddenly, while both hands on steering wheel, not having had any interaction with dashboard/radio controls, smooth section of roads (no obvious bumps) the lights turned off. I immediately fiddled with the steering column mounted light control switch, which did not give me an immediate relief, flipped it to highbeams and they worked. 2nd and 3rd time (yesterday 9/8/23) while on semi lit highway they again shocked me by turning off, i again toggled the light switch, this time highbeam flip did not work, i was doing 65 on a 70 and having lights turn off, with no reason, scary. 80,000 miles. i have had the light switch in automode.
several occasions my headlights have completely gone out. I have to toggle the blinker button to get the lights to come back on. This happened 5 times at 5 am in the morning. I have taken my vehicle into the shop several times. It is in the shop again today. They are saying it is switch that causes headlights to go out. This is dangerous to others on the road and also myself. I have read online there has been over 1300 complaints but have not seen a recall come out. Please investigate why lights are going out sporadically. I had to slam on my breaks because I cannot see in the dark. Thank God other vehicle were not on the road. Please investigate this matter as I am not the only customer that has complained.
UNKNOWN 2017 KIA Sorento v6 XL July 29, 2023 @3am - Parking lights were found to be on. Upon checking, the vehicle was locked. The FOB was used to unlock the doors and I turned the light control switch from Auto to OFF. This turned off all lights and I locked all doors using the FOB. What triggered this event" Concern for battery draining will be an eventual result if this is not investigated"
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at night at an undisclosed speed, the lights on the instrument panel and the headlights became inoperable. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and turned off, the headlights and instrument panel lights turned on independently. The contact stated that while attempting to unlock the vehicle with the key fob, the vehicle failed to unlock. The contact was able to manually unlock the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V862000 (Trailer Hitches, Electrical System). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Regularly the head light-??s randomly turn off as well as the tail lights and break lights. This is absolutely terrifying! It has been happening for over a year and know one can fix it. This is a huge problem across 2017 & 2018 Sorrentos. There are multiple forms for it as well as mechanic discussion groups trying to solve the problem. This NEEDS to be a recall and fixed immediately before some gets hurt or worse!
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while exiting the vehicle, there was an abnormal burning odor coming from underneath the driver's side of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,700.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sylva, NC, USA