CarComplaints.com Notes: There are just too many engine stalls or shuts down while driving reports to feel good about the Sorento. Especially when those things happen, on average, at just over 32,000 miles. Hopefully things will change.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
50,774 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.

2013 Kia Sorento drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2013 Kia Sorento Owner Comments (Page 3 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #28

Jun 232016

Sorento

  • 119,000 miles

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

In late June my engine started S knocking noise while I was driving and all of the sudden the car stalled in the middle of the street. I tried turning it on and the engine just kept making the knocking noise. I had my car towed to a mechanic and he let me know that my engine needed to be replaced. In September, I received a letter from Kia dated August 29,2016, stating that they were extending my warranty on my vehicle because of the exact issue I had with my engine in June. At this point, I have already paid for my vehcle to be fixed, but it's still not right.

- Chuluota, FL, USA

problem #27

Jun 202016

Sorento

  • 65,000 miles
Bought my Kia on 6/17/2016 and today 3 days later I am driving the car and it starts powering down while I am at 70mph. Scary to say the least. There is also a jerking forward movement that I get, but today was the scariest, the car actually stopped with no power while driving. I had to pull aside and restart the car. What the hell is this. M daughter could have been in the car. This is crazy a 2013 car shutting down in the middle on the road. Totally unacceptable.

- Mattapan, MA, USA

problem #26

Jun 152016

Sorento

  • 0 miles
This vehicle has less that 67,000 miles on it and we have been informed that the front right axle needs to be replaced because it is bad. I looked up recalls on this vehicle and found that the 2014 version has a recall for this very reason. We also have issues where the "gas full" sensor clicks repeatedly when pumping the gas, even after just starting to fill a tank less than 1/4 of the way full. Please investigate.

- Lake Elsinore, CA, USA

problem #25

Jul 152014

Sorento

  • 39,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power train control module needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred six times. The vehicle was taken back to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

- Reliance, TN, USA

problem #24

Feb 132013

Sorento

  • 3,200 miles
Front wheel, 4 cylinder engine grossly under powered. Making a left or right turn from stop, the engine hesitated almost to the point of stalling. This is a potential head-on collision even on a moderately busy road. Kia dealer claims no defect in vehicle.

- Taylors, SC, USA

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problem #23

Nov 012014

Sorento

  • 35,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. While driving at approximately 45 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed and the engine stalled. An unknown warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was shifted into park and the ignition was turned to the off position and back to the on position in order for the vehicle to restart. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power train control module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Nashua, NH, USA

problem #22

Dec 232014

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 78,513 miles

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

While driving at highway speed my wife with 7 year old daughter in car had all the dash lights and interior lights illuminate and the car became sluggish and was hard to drive. I advised he via mobile phone to immediately pull over and turn the car off. I told he to wait a minute and try to restart it and see what happens. All dash lights lit up again and the car made a click, click, click sound over and over again. She tried this 5 times and she had the car towed to the dealer. The dealer replaced the alternator for $946.14 on 12/23/2014 at dulles Kia in leesburg, va.

- Charles Town, WV, USA

problem #21

Dec 012013

Sorento

  • 15,000 miles
I bought this car brand new 2.5 years ago and for about a year or more now I have had at least 50 incidences of my car stalling mostly when at a stop (either stop light or stop sign) but now it's even stalling when I decelerate to make turns. This is so dangerous and I'm lucky I haven't been in an accident yet because of the car stalling out while driving. The car flips into "limp mode" and I'm unable to accelerate. I've had my car checked out at the Kia dealership/service center many, many times and they say they did some type of systems logic update and the car should be ok, but sometimes the day of or day after getting the update, my car will stall again. The service guys also say they don't see any message on my car computer system that any stalling has occurred. When this happens, the check engine light intermittently comes on.

- Milpitas, CA, USA

problem #20

Oct 112011

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 16,000 miles
When leaving a stop sign vehicle went to idle and would not respond to gas peddle. After shutting off and restarting engine light was on and car drove ok. Took car for service and was told this is a common problem. They did a software update and cleaned motor that controls the throttle. (this is a "fly by wire" system.)

- Spanaway, WA, USA

problem #19

Oct 192014

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 50,000 miles
This has now happened about ten times and seems to be a very serious flaw in the transmission and/or powertrain. I'll be in park and shift the car into reverse or drive and when I let up on the brake to idle and proceed slowly there is a loud bang/clunk (almost as if something internal or external is slamming the car with a ramming rod) and the car lurches until I brake. This is very worrisome as I feel that it can injury pedestrians nearby or even the occupants of the vehicle if the car loses control. Also, I don't think this can be good for the automatic transmission or powertrain. Since this happens sporadically, the dealers say they cannot reproduce it and deny a problem. Please advise as to what recourse I might have. Thank you.

- Sewickley, PA, USA

problem #18

Aug 082014

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 22,565 miles

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

While accelerating on an incline the engine lost power all together and the engine light came on. Kia needs to investigate immediately!

- Athens, GA, USA

problem #17

Jun 182014

Sorento

  • 8,000 miles
The traffic light for my daughter's vehicle turned green. She proceeded into the intersection. And ended up crashing into the passenger side of another vehicle that ran thr red light. My daughter's vehicle sustained heavy damage to the entire front end. However there was no airbag deployment. We are very concerned due to the amount of damage done to the vehicle. And we wish to put it on report so that someone can investigate if there may be a defect in the airbag system.

- Bronx, NY, USA

problem #16

Jun 202014

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 13,500 miles
We bought the vehicle new from Kia dealer with 8000 mile in March 2013 and we did all the maintenance as prescribed. V6 3.6L 4X4 after 14 months while driving approximately at 20 - 25 mph, the vehicle suddenly would not accelerate. After turning the vehicle off and restarting the engine the vehicle operated as normal. This happened 2 times in 4 days in same circumstances. The mil came on Friday 20 June and stay on until Saturday 21 June. It happened again on Sunday 22 June at almost the same speed. We take it at one close shop and they read the codes P2110; P2106; P0638 which are power train related and throttle actuator control range /performance. They didnt erase the codes. I dont know the reason but on Monday 23 June the mil went off again. The car is functioning normal now but I dont know what to do I wonder if the codes are stored in the ECM. This seem to be verry dangerous it can happen anywhere and anytime and I wonder why Kia didn't make a recall cause I see a lot a complaints as mine. I will take it to the dealer and keep you informed, I hope they will fix it under waranty. Anyway this will be my last Kia!!!

- Downers Grove, IL, USA

problem #15

Jun 132014

Sorento

  • 34,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly failed to accelerate. The contact indicated that after turning the vehicle off and restarting the engine, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000.

- Salem, IN, USA

problem #14

Apr 012013

Sorento

  • 5,094 miles
I have a 2013 Kia Sorento V-6. approx. 6 mths into owning the vehicle, while accelerating to turn right after stopping at a stop sign, the engine died and car lost all power. The car was stuck at a 45 degree angle 1/2 way into the lane of traffic. I was lucky that no-one was coming or I would have been T-boned. The car dash was completely dark with no lights whatsoever, no brakes and no steering (since both are power). I had no idea what happened and had a lot of trouble getting the car into neutral to attempt re-start. After several attempts, it finally did re-start. Took it to Kia who was unable to duplicate the problem. Second time (11 mths), I was accelerating from stopping at a stop light - engine died and car lost all power, no steering or brakes - no dash lights. Cars had to go around me and I was praying I didn't get rear-ended. Again, car started after several attempts. Third time (12 mths), was at the bottom of a freeway off-ramp. Attempted to go after light turned green and engine died - again lost all power - no dash lights, steering or brakes - cars had to go around me. Fourth time (17 mths) stalled in parking lot when I stopped at intersection to turn left - same symptoms. This car is dangerous! Kia needs to recall and correct this problem before a serious accident occurs and someone dies. I'm afraid every time I drive it. Huge safety issue! NHTSA, please do something.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #13

Feb 102014

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 9,000 miles
First incident : after a full stop at red light, as car took off, engine stalled out. Had to try several times to restart engine. After restarted, the car drove fine. Second incident : after slowing down the car to about 3mph and reaccelerating, engine stalled out. After a few tries to restart the engine, it restarted and drove fine.

- Edison, NJ, USA

problem #12

Nov 202013

Sorento

  • 14,747 miles
While driving in parking lot and breaking the engine stopped, engine light came on. Car would not restart. Took multiple tries to get gear shift into park. Engine finally restarted. Took in to dick hannah dealer to check codes, after 2 hours they could find nothing and had not heard of the problem. Apparently they don't have internet access where this NHTSA site reports 14, now 15, of the same instances. This is a very unsafe situation & the dealers don't know about it........really. This is our first and probably last Kia. This vehicle has had the electronic throttle failure while driving, faulty back seat latch, leaky power steering fitting draining most of the fluid out.

- Vancouver, WA, USA

problem #11

Oct 192013

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 11,400 miles
2013 Kia Sorento LX - V6 AWD purchased 3/2013. On 10/19 at 11.5K miles on vehicle the transmission slipped and then lost most function at 45 mph. Car limped home with check engine light on and spewing fluid.he next morning (sat)called Kia roadside service and had car towed to nearest dealer. The dealer took vehicle and notified me later in the day transmission would be and ordered on Monday. I was notified that car would be repaired with new trans and car would be ready on wed. The dealer called me a said the water pump was corroded and was out of coolant. A water pump was replaced and trans. I picked up the car on thurs and noticed fluid under the car the next morning. Took the car back to the dealer the next morning, he stated they overfilled and now the problem solved (fri) Y confidence shaken and not feeling safe, I traded in the vehicle (got fair market value),for a leased newer model. I have lost $7,000 for owning the vehicle 7.5 months, with 11.5K miles. I am arguing with Kia motors foursome compensation, but their attitude is they will not do anything, suggested dealer discussion. I am continuing a dialoguewith Kia, they need to be responsible.

- Montville, NJ, USA

problem #10

May 252013

Sorento

  • 28,606 miles
My husband and I purchased this vehicle on 5/25/13. We had the car for 2 hours and were driving home when the vehicle stalled and when holding the gas pedal to the floor, the car would not go. The RPM's didn't move either. The engine check light came on as well. I got the vehicle to the side of the road and turned it off and when I turned it back on and pushed the gas pedal down, the RPM's moved and when I put it in gear, the car moved down the road again. My husband then took over driving and this happened to him four times. The last time that it did this, it took turning the car off and restarting it three times before it would even go down the road. We are hoping to return this car to the dealership and get our trade in back and will not get a Kia ever again.

- Spalding, NE, USA

problem #9

Jul 212012

Sorento 6-cyl

  • 3,021 miles
I purchased my car on May 8, 2012. Approximately 2 months later, I began having trouble with a loud thumping noise in the front end when accelerating. This thumping was most noticeable at lower speeds. I took the car back to the dealer on Saturday, July 21, 2012. I called on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 and was told that they are still testing my vehicle to determine what was wrong. I finally heard from the dealer on Thursday, July 26, 2012, and was told that my new car required a new transmission, that it was on order and my car would be ready by Wednesday, August 1, 2012. My vehicle was ready for pick up on Saturday, August 4, 2012. The car was running fine. I had a regular maintenance check at 5,477 miles, oil and filter change, etc., on Saturday, September 29, 2012. On Monday, March 4 2013, I again began to hear the thumping noise, not loud, but it became louder as the week progressed. I took my car back to the dealer on Saturday, March 9, 2013, informed my service advisor that the thumping noise was back, and that the lumbar was not working on the driver's seat. I was informed that I had to leave my car, so that the technician can look at it on the following Monday. I received a call on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 and was told that my car would need a transfer case, which had to be ordered and that my car would be ready in one week. I received a from the dealer on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 informing me that my car was ready to be picked up, and that they could find nothing wrong with the lumbar support, as the technician tested it and could find nothing wrong, and that the routine maintenance due at the time was also performed however, there is still an issue with the lumbar in the driver's seat, the motor works, but the lumbar bar does not expand or contract for support.

- Upper Marlboro, MD, USA

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