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 was driving from daughter bus stop after leaving the hospital and it just was shaking or felt funny then brake light and battery light came on and took to parking lot called mechanic told me crank shaft was broke reported to Kia as well.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, there was a sudden loss of steering power and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was diagnosed that the crankshaft pulley needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 90,000. The VIN was not available.
3/2/13 had timing belt replaced @50,031 miles on my 2005 Kia Sorento to manual specs.drove from phx to nashville.5/2013 I heard a terrible squeaking sound under my hood, first thought loose belt. Went on to get it check out&as I was trying to make a right turn a few blocks from the house, my steering wheel was almost impossible to turn. Thought my power steering pump had gone out. I almost ran over 2 people crossing the street&almost hit another car. I was turning my steering wheel to the right w/all my might! everyone was honking at me & thought I was probably drunk! I was so upset. Had it towed to Kia. My power train still under warranty, am original owner&denied coverage 3X.they tried to sell me a used engine for $5K.stated they knew they could not get the broken piece of bolt out.I did some research on-line&there is many complaints w/ this problem, some have had it happen 2,3,4 X.mgr. Told me my model had the new re-designed bolt, &it was brakes plus fault when they put on the timing belt. Mgr. Said that they should have never used the old bolt&that they put on a new bolt when replacing timing belt.I heard a tsb went out regarding the bolts to all service shops to use the new re-design bolt on 03&04 models, but not 05.if I had gotten a copy of that notice, I would have made sure that whoever replaced timing belt, used new bolt. A Kia tech wrote:8/10/12 its not the bolt, it is the crank sprocket&balancer, the design of the balancer sticks out to far&weighs to much breaking off the spring guide pin.when there is a repair, we replace them everytime we do a timing belt on one.you take the crack sprocket&balancer&U add 2 more spring pins as well as drill&tap the crank&install a timesert (heavier helicoil) have not had one of these come back, if anyone is doing a timing belt I highly recommend doing this at the same time, but it will not break the bolt or sheer the guide pin.
Was driving down road with my son when my car started to vibrate and make a horrible noise. The warning lights on the dash turned on and I lost my power steering just as I was turning onto our street. I had the vehicle towed to an auto shop and before they looked at it, the owner told me that it was the crank pulley bolt that sheered off. He said its common in Kia SUV's of that time period! I was lucky to be on a side street and not a highway going faster because there was no warning to this happening and I could've easily lost control. This defect will eventually cause someone to lose control and become injured or killed.
Second failure of crank shaft pulley bolt within 2 months of it being repaired. Dealer assured me it was fixed properly according to the manufacturers tsb. Bolt sheared off again and all belts came loose. 18 year old female driver, while slowing to turn corner lost power assist steering, incredibly lucky to be alive. Loud clunk...that was the harmonic balancer falling off the vehicle. Kia fails to acknowledge design flaw in this dangerous, dangerous vehicle!
- Discovery Bay , CA, USA
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The power steering on our 2005 Kia Sorento being driven by my 18 year old daughter failed. It was so fortunate that it occurred when she was decelerating to turn a corner, however it was incredibly hard to steer with the loss of power. She was lucky to be able to navigate out of traffic safely. Had aaa tow to the dealer who had sold us the car 2 months earlier. I had purchased an extended warranty for just this purpose...never thinking that I would need to use it so soon.. the aaa driver said it looked as a belt had come off. When at the dealer, found that the crank pully bolt had sheared off resulting in no power steering, ac or charging system! bolt had broken off and harmonic balancer had dropped off the vehicle! after some net research I found a technical service bulletin{ #072 revised} for this same crankshaft bolt. Kia is well aware of this failing bolt and continues to put peoples lives at risk? this is a huge design flaw.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. The contact was traveling 10 mph when the power steering assist failed while attempting a left turn and the contact crashed into a ditch. The vehicle was destroyed. The police were not contacted. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 143,000.. updated 07/27/12 the consumer stated the power steering failure happened on four different occasions. The airbags did not deploy during crash. Updated 08/02/2012.
While driving my vehicle home I noticed pulsating in the steering wheel and the power steering went out, the vehicle became very hard to turn, after parking the vehicle and turning it off, I turned it back on and the power steering came back, this issue will be addressed with the dealership on Monday.
While traveling down the road in my 2005 Kia Sorento my car lost steering. My brake light and battery light came on, I took it to the dealer where they told me crankshaft bolt had broke with half of it stuck in engine. Kia refuses to address the issue with some many people having it. It is a dangerous condition that causes you to lose steering while driving luckily I didn't crash, but some many others have. Kia must recall this crankshaft bolt issue, someone my get seriously hurt or killed!
On Tuesday May 24, 2011 as I was about to make a turn in my 2005 Kia Sorento the steering wheel locked and the brake light turned on. I was able to turn the steering wheel to the right slightly and drive diagonal to the sidewalk and park the vehicle. Upon towing the vehicle it was found that the bolt that holds the damper, controlling the steering had broken. I am currently researching how this bolt could have broken. My vehicle has 111,025 miles and I am the first owner. The vehicle is undriveable.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. The contact was driving approximately 60 -65 mph when the battery and parking brake warning lights illuminated momentarily. The contact stated that the power steering failed suddenly and caused extreme difficulty in steering capabilities. The vehicle was then inspected by an independent mechanic and they advised that the failure was the harmonic balancer bolt and that the entire engine would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was approximately 75,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia sorrento. The contact was attempting a turn while driving approximately 2 mph when the steering wheel abnormally locked. The contact was unable to turn the wheel and the vehicle was immediately shut off. The vehicle was then towed to an independent repair facility where she was informed that a bolt within the driveshaft had fractured and caused the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 64,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that when entering her vehicle she had a difficult time trying to turn the steering wheel. The vehicle was towed to a independent mechanic who informed the contact that the bolt on the crank shaft had fractured. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The VIN was unknown. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 82,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia sorrento. The contact was pulling into a driveway at relatively low speeds of 5 mph when he noticed an unusual popping sound. The steering immediately failed and the contact was able to stop the vehicle without incident. The contact noticed that when turning the steering wheel, the tires would not move. The manufacturer advised having the vehicle towed to a local dealer for a diagnosis of the failure. The contact stated he would have his personal mechanic diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 78,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. While driving at 15 mph, the contact noticed that the power steering suddenly stopped functioning. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealership where the contact was informed that the crank shaft pulley bolt needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 72,000. Updated 07/29/10 the consumer also stated the vehicle lost steering. Updated 08/09/10
Intermittent hard steering as stated on technical service bulletin, Kia motors, # KT2005022519, model: Sorento ex, produced before 10/06/04. May intermittently have variations in the level of power assist during driving and parking. Steering problems were related to dealer, alignment of front wheels was performed that required major rebuild due to defective parts. Did not solve problem. I became aware of this service bulletin recently while speaking with a service writer at new Kia dealership. No action will be taken due to vehicle being out of warranty. This information was never made know to me since the vehicle was purchased new. This is a serious safety issue that should be addressed.
While returning from our vacation our Kia started making at lot of noises in around the airconditioning heating system, the air coming from the vents didn't seem to be warm enough to defog the windows, then the next day when it was warmer it started making a rattling fan noise when the air was turned on. When the system was turned off it didn't make the noise anymore. We arrived home unloaded our gear and then went out again a while later. The fan noise started again and the warning light came on and the power steering didn't work, when the air was turned off everything resumed to normal. We arrived at our friend house and went inside. After several minutes we smelled something burning and went outside to see smoke coming from the engine area. We lifted the hood to investigate where we saw flames coming from the engine. We immediately extinguished the fire and had the vehicle towed the next day. Come to find out several days later that our vehicle was too badly burned to repair the engine. The engine had to be replaced due to a timing belt failure. If this is an ongoing problem it should be mandatory that they should be replaced by whomever owns the vehicle or the dealer if the car has been traded because the next owner would not know any of the previous repairs such was our case. As it stands now there are some interior electrical problems such as the lights an the electronic seats we are hoping for some kind of recall for this problem. There was also a problem with the fan running on after the car was turned off. This was still happening even after the engine had been replaced and we were told earlier that it was a sensor problem which still happened even after the sensor was replaced.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Charlotte, NC, USA