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:
2 / 9
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,940 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.

2011 Kia Sorento miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2011 Kia Sorento Owner Comments (Page 3 of 11)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #165

Jul 072020

Sorento 6-cyl

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Doors will not open from the outside. This is the third time this has happened for my vehicle.

- Brookhaven, PA, USA

problem #164

Jun 052020

Sorento 4-cyl

  • 46,000 miles
Driver side door can not be open from the outside.not with key fob or with the key.car has 46,000 miles on it. It is lightly used.dealer says it will cost $413 to repair.after looking on line, this is a common problem.cant understand why there hasn't been a recall on it.

- Perryhall, MD, USA

problem #163

May 052020

Sorento 4-cyl

  • 120,000 miles
Drivers door will not open through outside have to climb through passenger door.this could be definitely a safety issue with my well being as I could be pulled from car while attempting to enter..I am almost 60 and this is very hard on me to climb from passenger side to drivers side especially in the rain or dark parking lot with all the crime going on these days.

- Lex, SC, USA

problem #162

Jun 052017

Sorento

  • 125,218 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On 6/5/17 I was driving from mccall to boise Idaho which is approximately 90 miles. I parked the car at walmart and went out to start it and it would not start at first then when it would restarted it would die quickly approximately 3 times. I drove it to the boise dennis dillon Kia dealership and on the way it stalled, did chugging sound at a stop sign in town and jerked forward and I was able to make it there. The car has been burning oil and I would have to put a quart of oil in probably once a week. My brother who is a mechanic helped me to get parts for it at O"reilly auto parts and helped me replace the valve cover gasket, spark plugs, plug tube seals, headlight bulb, and air filter to see if that would help. Later I ended up buying a new oil filer cap to see if that would help but nothing ever seemed to.

- Mccall, ID, USA

problem #161

Feb 032020

Sorento

  • 220,000 miles
My ABS, airbag light is on before. After replacing the clock spring the lights are still on, and also both my back seat belts will not go down. The car has not been in any accidents

- Baker, LA, USA

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problem #160

Oct 012019

Sorento

  • 75,000 miles
Rear passager door will not open

- York, PA, USA

problem #159

Dec 122019

Sorento

  • 71,700 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have had to replace all doorsop latches on my 2011 Sorento with only 72,000 miles on it. I am a senior so the doors are not opened and shut the much. Mainly the drivers door used.

- Muncie, IN, USA

problem #158

Dec 292019

Sorento

  • 10 miles
I can not open both driver door and rear right passenger door from outside it seems the latches for these doors are broken I have always to jump to the passenger side to open these doors.I think there must be a recall to be reported to Kia manufacturers to fix this defective doors.

- Myrtle Beach, SC, USA

problem #157

Dec 222019

Sorento

  • 89,800 miles
Numerous times over the past couple of months, both the ESC and dbc indicator lights will come on and stay on as I'm attempting to park the vehicle. This has prevented me from shifting the car into 'park' after pulling into a parking space as I can't get it to shift beyond 'neutral.' When this happens, I've had to shut the car off, and start it again. If the indicator lights go off after restarting, I can then shift the car into park. I brought the car into my local Kia dealer this morning but they were unable to replicate the issue, and since they didn't have a technician on duty to look at it, I now have to return on Monday in the hope that they can figure out and fix this issue.

- Duluth, MN, USA

problem #156

Aug 202019

Sorento

  • miles
The vehicle jerks around 40 miles per hour. No codes

- Roanoke, VA, USA

problem #155

Dec 112019

Sorento

  • 170,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car stalls while driving on the highway or street. The engine light or dashboard lights will come on and my car will not accelerate although it is on. After continously trying to accelerate the car cuts off. I put the car in park and turn off and it starts again. This is unsafe because I can be hit by another when my car suddenly decides to not accelerate. The component part or system that may be the cause is unknown.

- Kernersville, NC, USA

problem #154

Nov 252019

Sorento

  • 118,000 miles
The rear passenger door handle will not open the from the outside or inside the vehicle. Car is stationary. Cause is unknown, just could not open one day.

- Richmond, TX, USA

problem #153

Nov 122019

Sorento

  • miles
En este ao a partir de julio mi carro Kia Sorento 2011 a presentado problema en la direcion, power tren, de acuerdo a lo que indica que tiene un desperfecto de fabrica, en dos ocaciones he tenido problema muy fuerte, SE bloqueo el carro manejando Y lo frenos no funcionaron Y el carro siguio rodando Y pude haber tenido un accidente... la otra en la carretera el carro comienza a sonar las ruedas Y cuando SE frena tambalea... lo lleve para la inspeccion Y paso correctamente pero me entregaron una hoja que el carro tiene desperfecto de fabrica, ,, lo lleve a la Kia para la revision de las partes, ,,la cual realizaron el pedido de las mismas... pero yo como usuario no me siento conforme ya que ese cambio no me da segurida por que corre peligro mi vidad Y la de la familia, ,, no necesito un carro reparado lo que necesito un carro que me de segurida para toda la familia, ,, una vez que cambien las parte Y SE me falla en la carretera quien responde por mi vida Y la de la familia Y la de otras personas, necesito que por favor me ayuden con una investigacion, ya que tambien tiene otros desperfecto.. lo lleve alinear Y me dice que le falta un pieza en las ruedas que no viene de fabrica Y ES un desperfecto, ,, ya a mi el carro no me da confianza al manejar Y no ES confiable... espero que durante los dos aos que falta de garantia ya que dan 10 aos no me pase nada a mi Y a mi familia.. ya que ese problema que tiene Y no SE realiza bien puede pasar un gran accidente...el punto ES que necesito un carro que me de confianza ya que en este manejo con temor. Adjunto fotos

- Glendale, AZ, USA

problem #152

Oct 012018

Sorento

  • miles
We have replaced the brakes several times and the calipers as well. Now we are having issues again with them. We see that there has been a recall for this issue. This happened in 2017, 2018, and now again in 2019. Two out of four of our doors will not open from the outside, we see there is also a recall for this issue. Please advise us how we go about getting these recalls for our vehicle as we are tired of putting out money when we shouldn't have to repeatedly.

- Williamsport, OH, USA

problem #151

Oct 262019

Sorento

  • 116,369 miles
Vehicle was parked in the garage and stationary. When trying to start the vehicle using the key-less ignition, dash and interior lights started to flicker in the vehicle and relays start to click. Locks would not operate nor could I shift into neutral, started to smelt burning, pushed ignition button to shut down. Would not shut off, electrical kept cycling like it was trying to start on its own, had to disconnect the battery to shut down the car. Starter solenoid never engaged at any time nor did the engine try to turn over.

- Rockford, IL, USA

problem #150

Oct 012019

Sorento

  • 133,000 miles
The airbag light is on and the steering wheel controls for volume and bluetooth do not work.

- Georgetown, KY, USA

problem #149

Oct 182019

Sorento

  • 13,825 miles
Car ran fine. Drove to store. Got out of store. Car wouldn't start. Had so.eone check battery.battery was good.12.5. had them check that wires where tight on battery and they where. Still no power to car. Left car at store. Came back next day and car started up like nothing wrong. This has happen twice since

- Midland, TX, USA

problem #148

Oct 212019

Sorento

  • 131,080 miles
As I was driving home at 35 mph across a busy bridge in the city what sounded like a bomb went off and then shards of glass pouring into the car and all over me. My sun roof had exploded and for no apparent reason. No known cracks or chips were ever previously noticed.

- Seabeck, WA, USA

problem #147

Aug 082019

Sorento

  • miles
Everytime I hit a little bump in the road my eco saver goes off causing me to burn more gas until I hit another bump to knock the saver back

- Hinesville, GA, USA

problem #146

Jan 302017

Sorento

  • 70,000 miles
Cold start chatter... Kia issued a redesigned parts. Because of a bad design issue on this problem..I feel if the is an issue with the engine and creates this type an issue it ca be a problem. It makes the noise everytime I start it after it sets for long period..

- St.Marys Ohio, OH, USA

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