CarComplaints.com Notes: Kia really changed the design of the Sorento in the 2011 model year. Instead of a truck-like body-on-frame more capable of offroad adventures, the newest Sorento is a unibody construction and is much more crossover than sport utility. The changes brought a whole slew of problems, including a frustrating problem where the door that won’t open. Is it too late to go back?
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
54,811 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
Vehicle had transmission sensor fixed in December 2012. Vehicle was jerking and would not get into gear. Supposedly fixed. This time my daughter was driving at night with a friend on a two way road, the vehicle stopped..cold...thank god no one was hurt. The vehicle had been unable to get into gear the last few miles. The vehicle was left to cool and she was driving it to the dealer. Now being told at 33,000 a new transmission is being ordered. The car apparent, starts in third gear. Still under warranty, but the car stopped dead. This could have been a fatal accident had someone been behind her. People must be warned.
Found this on another web site: www.topclassactions.com (see below for description) very interesting: Apparently this defect has been going on since 2002!! well it's still happening I have the 2011 6 cyl AWD and found out it's still a defect in the 2012 and 2013. Nothing more to say but 'shame on Kia motors' your lack of taking ownership for this defect is just discusting. NHTSA please help us.....lives need to be saved; I am bleary eyed reading all the powertrain defects for the 2011 Kia Sorento. The Kia Sorento is prone to catastrophic engine failure, according to a class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey. Plaintiffs allege in the Kia Sorento class action lawsuit that Kia motors knowingly concealed that its 2002-2009 Sorento crossovers were manufactured with a defective engine part called the crank sprocket. This alleged engine defect leads to a catastrophic chain of events that starts with severe heat buildup, the release of debris, and then leads to loss of steering control, engine failure and the potential for a hazardous accident, according to the class action lawsuit.
Chapter 2. NHTSA id number: 10519967 the problem occurred Saturday 6/15, dealership closed. Called dealership this morning and was able to bring the car right in. Left the car all day and then received the news, they cannot reproduce the incident. So of course nothing was repaired. So I drove home in the 'death wish' car and prayed all the way home. The car is a 2011 Kia Sorento 6 cyl AWD manufactured in August 11, 2010. I have search the internet nightly and I am finding more and more people who have exact issue as I experienced. This is making me sick knowing that Kia Corp knows about this defect and is not taking action to correct this potentially deadly defect. How do we get their attention that this defect needs to be corrected. Do we have to check off the fatality box on this form before Kia pays attention to us. Please if someone has had a good result with their dealership as far as getting a repair done without reproducing the error code, please contact me with that information. The lemon law in my state is 5 attempts at repairing the problem and no resolve...I only have 4 more to go! Kia help us please...this defect is in your 2011, 2012 and 2013 Kia Sorento....something is extremely wrong with your powertrain in these cars. Take ownership of the defect and save our lives.
While driving my 2011 Kia Sorento it just lost power, it would not go forward but the engine was still running and all the dashboard idiot lights lit up. I was in a parking lot with no one behind me otherwise I would have been rear-ended if this happened driving on the road or highway. The car would not go and there was no steering response. I turned off the key to kill the engine and then restarted the car. The car started and I was able to get to my destination and park. I checked this problem online by searching Kia Sorento stalling and found a dozen or more video's from people experiencing the same issue that I just experienced. Some of the drivers found that if you use the car in the manual shift mode the stalling did not seem to happen. This is a real potential disaster. You loose power and have no way of moving the car to get out of the way when you are in traffic on a highway...like riding in a 'death wish car'. the video's also stating that they experienced the stalling many times and once it started it got worse. They also stated that Kia dealerships were of little help since they need to reproduce the stalling and since it's just random that is not easy. The videos were taped when the issue was actually taking place and showed the tach at about 15 RPM's all the engine lights lit but no steering response or power to move the car. I am hoping this can become a recall and Kia will fix this stalling problem and keep the people in these Kia Sorento's safe! if this is a computer problem then there should be an error log to show when the car lost power for no reason. Kia needs to take ownership of this defect and fix this potential deadly problem.
Vehicle rolled down my driveway while in park, went across a two lane street into the neighbors driveway only being stopped by their vehicle parked in their driveway. The keys were not in the vehicle and when I got to the vehicle it was in park. After getting in the vehicle you could put it in gear without having the key ignition or your foot on the brake.
- Versailles, KY, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Stability control and downhill assist light came on while driving. Once stopped, shifter would not go past neutral. In order to get past neutral, had to turn off engine and restart.
Traveling at 70mph with cruise control engage, a large "thud" was felt in the cabin as if something had been hit. Pull off side of highway to examine for damage. No damage of any kind was noted. Upon leaving the side of the road, the acceleration was sluggish and at highway speed RPM was 4500, not normal. Pulled off the side if the highway again and turned the car off. This reset the car. Pull off the shoulder again and transmission operated normally again.
Stability control and downhill assist light came on while driving. Once stopped, couldn't get the shifter to go into park. Had to turn vehicle off and restart. Once I was finally able to get into park, the lights came on again and I couldn't get it to go back into any gear.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, the vehicle shifted into neutral independently and without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 54,200.
Stability control and downhill assist light came on while driving. When vehicle was stopped, shifter would not go past neutral. In order to get past neutral, had to turn off engine and restart.
Driving at 65mph with cruise control set; when suddenly there was a violent jerk/hesitation, and an extremely loud bang, as though I had hit something. Stopped on side of the road, vehicle not making any different noise or running different, placed without a problem into park. Checked around vehicle nothing out of order, no fluids running under vehicle, tires ok, unable to locate a problem. It seemed like a miss or something with the transmission, didn't notice lights or any thing abnormal on warning system. Got back in car and continued on no abnormal noise, shifted with out incident, not sure but I am wondering about a transmission issue, hope it doesn't happen again.
On several occasions, the vehicle does not want to go into/out of gear. When staring in the morning, I often have to pump brakes, or turn car off and re-start in order to get the car to move into reverse. On one occasion, it would not move out of drive and into park. While this hasn't caused any accidents/injuries, it could have on several occasions. Had my teenaged daughter been driving it at any of the times that the vehicle didn't cooperate and move out of drive, it could have been disastrous.
Reversed car from my driveway. Felt as if I had crashed into something (heard loud grinding sound). Put the car into drive and came to stop. Upon pressing the brakes, felt as if the ABS had engaged and gripped all four wheels. Heard loud grinding sound and car jolted (as brakes were pressed). I had my five year old and three old sons with me; they screamed from the jolt. I slowly released the breaks and applied the breaks again, and same thing occurred only with less force. Turned off the car and called for towing. Also, a howling whining noise is heard inside the car. The dealership had it for two weeks, and under the guidance of the field engineer they replaced the transfer case. The howling/whining noise continues. The dealership really tried to resolve the issue. The manager herself test drove the car and also heard the whining/howling sound. I did contact the manufacturer, but frankly felt disappointed. I had asked if anyone has called in with similar complaints and was not given an answer. I feel unsafe and very anxious about driving the car. They dealership stated the breaks were fine, and that no error code was detected. I was not given a definitive answer as to what caused the breaks to behave this way or what is the howling noise that is occurring. This is the third major issue we had with this car. I have an AWD vehicle and the current recall only covers the 2wd issue (that also has this howling sound). I have read numerous other complaints in which other 2011 AWD Sorentos are having similar issues. Please investigate; someone could be seriously hurt or worse.
We have previously had 2 transmissions put into our 2011 Kia Sorento. Today we were traveling home from san antonio and the dbc indicator and ESC indicator lights came on while driving. I pulled over to see what it was and tried to put the car into park. The gear shift would not move. It did it several times during our trip. It also sometimes makes loud bang noises when putting it into gear. I feel that the transmission is faulty again. We have been dealing with these issues since we purchased the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, all of the instrument panel lights illuminated as the vehicle stalled. The contact also stated that there was a sudden loss of engine power. There was a sudden increase in engine rpms and the vehicle failed to shift gears while the contact was traveling 15 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on five separate occasions. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000 and the current mileage was 38,000.
When pulling into a parking space today, the ESC and dbc lights came on and I could not get the car out of drive or neutral. I tried to put it in reverse or park and it would not move into that position. Finally, I turned the car off and turned it back on, the lights went off, and I was able to get it into park. This is a huge problem.
Wheel assembly appears to have completely given out. Vehicle traveling at ~35mph when it rose slightly then gave out. Vehicle hit side of parked car and flipped on to side and into retaining wall - full side curtain airbag deployment. Entire front passenger wheel well completely vacant. Everything laying on street including suspension springs. Witness to support events. Vehicle under 25K miles (2011 model, incident 2012). Vehicle totaled by insurance.
Attempted to park car while waiting for a relative to get off work. Car would not shift to reverse or park- no further than neutral. Was able to put car in neutral and brake to stop car. After dropping relative off at home (had to stop car in same manner as above), had to stop in a near empty parking lot, as I still was unable to put the vehicle in reverse or park. Contacted Kia dealership by phone and was told by representative to pump the break several times in order to shift the car to neutral/park. Did not work. Was told by rep that the braking "solenoid" " (spelling") has malfunctioned and that I should use something like a small screwdriver to push down a button in a small box at the top right of the shifter. Further stated that this would release the break so that the car could be put in park. Was told that car would now be unable to be taken out of park unless the same process was repeated. I've owned this vehicle just over 3 months. Certified per-owed. Less than 34000 miles. Will attempt to take to dealership for repair. Unaware if service center will repair on Saturday. This is the second time this has happened, but it was quickly remedied when I cut the car off and turned it back on while depressing the brake. Thought it was a fluke until today. Should have kept my 2006. This is my 3rd Kia. 1st vehicle with an issue like this.
This is my wife's vehicle, but given the issue she is afraid to drive it..... driving up hill with my foot on the gas pedal at 50 mph. My vehicle lost power ( as if I slammed on the brake ) my body went forward and was stopped by the seatbelt. My head whipped downward. Then the vehicle surged forward. My head and body slapped back into the seat. It was so abrupt and violently. It will scare you to death. This has happened to many times over the last year to count. I have tried to document the events in a journal because the dealer has been able to duplicate it only once. Some days it can happen up to 3 times a day for weeks on end. Some times I can duplicate it driving up hill and sometimes nothing. The worst times are when merging into traffic or when someone is following to close behind me. My fear is that I will hurt another motorist or a passenger in my vehicle. A term called " limp mode " has been said to me. Where the transmission shifts to a hi gear to protect it from damage. My vehicle still does this at least once every other day. I have been to the dealer 14 times. The tranny was replaced a year ago and a backfire code was found recently. A computer software update that didn't help was the last thing done in over a year, unless you count paying for rental vehicles doing something. There is also a suspension/steering issue. A hard pulling left/right and bump steer. The vehicle will pull the steering wheel out of your hand in turns and veers as it hits bumps.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- San Diego , CA, USA