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?
3.1
definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
44,326 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.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. While driving 30 mph, the vehicle lost power steering ability and stalled. The vehicle was not able to restart after numerous attempts. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to valley hi Kia (14644 valley center dr, victorville, ca 92395, (760) 955-0046). The vehicle was diagnosed, but not repaired. The results of the diagnosis was not known. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was no longer in the contact's possession. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. While the vehicle was parked in a parking lot, the steering wheel became loose. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (shottenkirk Kia of West burlington in West burlington, ia) where it was diagnosed that the power steering column needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred on December 20, 2017. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering column needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 49,563.
My car started screeching and steering wheel made a knocking sound after leaving church on 08/27/2017. I thought it could not be my power steering fluid was low. The next day my day checked the level. It was below the half mark on the reservoir. My dad filled it nosie stopped and the knocking two days later it started again. I refilled the reservoir nosie stopped except this time grinding continued. The very next day low again grinding knocking and hard to steer. I could not turn the steering wheel. I asked about a recall. As usual I was told by the dealer there isn't one. I filled the reservoir and the fluid pours out from the rack and pinion. Yet there is no recall. This is dangerous. I'm going to call the Kia head quarters to check on a recall SC147
In the last week, the vehicle shut down completely while driving. The first time it happened on the highway while driving 70mph - the car shut off and dropped to 50mph, the steering wheel locked but it started back up. Twenty minutes later while driving 25mph on a side road, the same thing happened. And then again while in a drive thru line. This has since happened twice while on the highway. The vehicle does start back up again but it is obviously unsafe to drive, especially on the highway. After researching the issue, I found there was a recall on 2011-2013 models with the same issue. I contacted Kia and was told my vehicle was not part of the recall but to bring it in and have it looked at. I have an appointment on Monday, December 19, 2016 to have several other recall items corrected.
The temperature was minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit and the paved road was dry. The vehicle was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green I crossed the intersection and was going about 25 to 30 miles an hour when I completely lost control of the steering. The vehicle veered to the right quickly. I was in the right hand lane of two lanes. I could not hold the steering wheel to keep the vehicle from turning. I used the brake and was able to stop the vehicle before it went over a curb where I would have hit a light pole. The vehicle could not be driven, so it was towed to the Kia dealership. The tires were fine. The serpentine built was fine. The power steering fluid was not low. Kia service technicians reported that the steering rack failed and caused damage to the steering pump.
- Hiawatha, IA, USA
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After sitting overnight or all day, when backing up then going forward the car acts like the ABS is sticking and wont move forward, pulls to the left. You have put car in park, turn it off, then turn back on for it to stop.
I was driving to work on a 2 lane road with people behind me. My car made a sound like a rock rolling around in an empty water bottle then all the dashboard lights turned on and the engine died. Luckily I was able to pull over with a great deal of strength applied to the steering wheel. I called Kia immediately and they had it towed to a dealership within the hour. The dealership is now claiming I had a coolant leak which caused the car to overheat but I had no indications prior that the car was overheating. They said this is probably not covered by warranty since its a leak and it should have been discovered earlier.
While braking to slow for a stop sign, my 2011 Sorento turned off. I took it into the dealership the next day and they could find nothing wrong. We moved cross country day after the dealership released the car. In our new state, the Sorento shut off multiple times, in multiple locations. In traffic, in the neighborhood, parking lots, etc. The car is always moving when it shuts off. I took it to the local dealership and they found no issues. I have now, since January 2013, taken the Sorento to the dealership four times. I am taking it in today for the fifth time, after the car has shut off twice this past weekend. This issue has occurred more times than I can count. I have had a case open with Kia, but they closed it after the dealership could find nothing wrong. On three occasions, I came quite close to hitting people while turning in parking lots, because power steering suddenly goes out when the car shuts off. This morning, the car shut off in a school parking lot during drop off, with kids walking through the lot. It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured.
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.
Bought car on 4-12-12 had 22531 miles on it. From time of purchase it would pull to the right severely. We had Kia dealership check out steering problem. They couldn't find anything wrong. They charged us for an alignment and said car should stir fine. Alignment do nothing to fix steering problem, still pulls severely to the right at any speed.
My wife was driving my our 2011 Kia Sorento at around 55 mph entering the highway when she suddenly lost power. She tried to use both the brakes and accelerator and found that neither of them worked. The car slowed to about 5-10mph before eventually stopping in the middle of the road, as she had been unable to pull the car to the side of the road. After several minutes of trying, she was eventually able to get the car restarted and drive the rest of the way home. She does recall that the driver side window appeared to be working. The car was brought to the dealership immediately the day after this happened. However, they were unable to reproduce what happened to the car. They did update the electronic control module software. Will continue to monitor situation closely.
Vehicle has a constant pull to right, even after alignment.ruined a set of Michelin radials in 6K miles. Also, related or not, vehicle has a very hard ride for it's type-have experienced rear wheel hop when exiting highway.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact was driving approximately 60-70 mph when the steering began to veer from left to right abnormally. The contact had to hold the wheel with both hands in order to maintain control of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they advised the contact that they were unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. While the contact was driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle began to pull into the right direction without intent. The failure was consistent. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on four separate occasions for the same failure. The technician was unable to locate the problem. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 550.
Vehicle has 5000 miles on it and it is very well cared for and garage kept. The steering wheel coating began to peel, which leads to hands slipping on the wheel and the layers continue to peel. Note: This involves a Kia sportage. The Kia choices do not allow for this model.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 30 mph the vehicle would pull to the left. The dealer readjusted the steering wheel; however, the vehicle became very sensitive when the steering wheel was moved. After the vehicle was repaired when the steering wheel was moved slightly it had too much movement in it. The contact stated the vehicle was not stable and it was unsafe to drive. The failure mileage was 3,800.
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vehicle would pull to the right abnormally when driving at any speed over 10 mph. The vehicle was taken to the dealer numerous times for the failure where the intermediate shaft was replaced twice yet failure was not corrected. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the manufacturer was contacted who advised that there was nothing more they could do in attempting to correct the failure. The VIN was not available. The vehicle was not further repaired. The failure mileage was 2,000 and the current mileage was 12,000.
The 2011 Kia sportage comes new this year with electric power steering. The car is steered by an electric motor activated by reostates when the wheel is turned. The steering is very jerky, darting from left to right on level roads. In high cross winds and rain covered roadways the car becomes highly unstable. I have contacted the dealer that sold me the car and was informed this is a problem with the car but they have no solution for it. I have spoken with other owners of this car and they experienced the same problems. This is the most unstable car I have ever driven and feel it is a danger to the public. Mark my word, lives will be lost as a result of the poor engineering exhibited in this car. Two major car magazines that reviewed this car noted the steering was terrible. I asked the dealer to give me a number to speak to Kia and was told there was nothing anyone could do.
Vehicle pulls to the right and has since day one. Dealer states "we cant duplicate your concern", yet when we picked up the vehicle (from the cruise control breaking, the vehicle again pulled to the right. We did not say much after until reading about dozens of other vehicle owner whom experience the same problem. When will the national highway transportation and safety administration do something about it?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Victorville, CA, USA