10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 27
Injuries / Deaths:
5 / 0
Average Mileage:
25,504 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.

2016 Kia Sorento engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Kia Sorento Owner Comments (Page 5 of 28)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #468

Nov 222023

Sorento

  • miles

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

Knock sensor goes bad. Car does not receive fuel to engine. Cuts off while driving and will not accelerate over 20 mph

- Rochester , NY, USA

problem #467

Jan 022023

Sorento

  • 99,000 miles
The contact owned a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that as he had parked and shut the vehicle off, he saw smoke emitting from under the hood. The contact exited the vehicle and saw flames from under the front of the vehicle. As the contact was stepping away from the vehicle he saw that flames were issuing from the rear passenger side wheel well where the fuel filler door was located. The contact stated that there was no warning light. The fire department was called and extinguished the flames. The police were on the scene and issued a report. The vehicle was towed away to an impound lot and later declared a total loss by the contact's insurance provider. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 99,000.

- Cairo, GA, USA

problem #466

Nov 272023

Sorento

  • miles
I-??ve had my 2016 KIA Sorento for a month. The engine locked up. So, I would like for it to be repaired at no cost to me since it was within the 30 period of purchase. I need to know what to do at this point. My car is at the dealership where I bought it from. Thank you for a speedy response.

- Pulaski, MS, USA

problem #465

Nov 292023

Sorento

  • 100,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to push the vehicle off the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

- Winder, GA, USA

problem #464

Nov 212023

Sorento

  • miles
Last year before my 100,000 mile warranty was up, my vehicles engine light and oil light came on. This was following an oil change which was approximately 3000 in. I checked the oil to find out there was no oil. After adding oil, I took it to the Kia dealership and was told the place who changed the oil didn-??t tighten my oil filter which was not true because there was no oil on the garage floor where it was parked. They then proceeded to tell me this engine uses a quart of oil every 1000 miles. Fast forward, to last week, I was driving on the highway when my car all the sudden had high RPM but wouldn-??t accelerate. The vehicle started stalling and died. I pulled over and again tried to start the car which it died again. The oil level was fine. I took it to a mechanic to find out the engine had 3 cylinders misfiring due to not getting the compression needed resulting in the engine failing. The oil consumption resulted in needing a new engine and now outside of warranty.

- Goddard, KS, USA

problem #463

Apr 152022

Sorento

  • miles
My 2016 Sorento LX is consuming 3quarts of oil in 1000 miles, I have asked the dealership and mentioned this to them and now after warranty is over they finally did oil consumption test and my car needs a new engine, I was told it could blow up at anytime, I have all maintenance papers and was told I would have to pay $7,000 to replace engine

- Groveport, OH, USA

problem #462

Oct 182023

Sorento

  • miles

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

Does not show low oil light when the car has no oil in the engine

- Fort Cavazos, TX, USA

problem #461

Nov 202023

Sorento

  • miles
My car started jumping while driving we had put oil in my car 3 weeks prior. It also smelt like my car was burning while the heat was on I had 2 babies in the back seat and I was scared to death. I haven-??t received anything in the mail about any recalls what so ever. I had to hear by a family friend the day of the incident that he thinks they-??re recalls on my call so I looked it up. My car is currently not working now and I have work and doctors appointments for babies I got to Kia tomorrow they-??re saying I don-??t have any recalls on my car and I looked it up on here and I do. I-??m pretty sure they-??re just not wanting to pay for it. They said if I have a warranty they could do. I just don-??t know what to do I have no car and I ave 2 children I can-??t afford to not have a vehicle.

- Cookeville , TN, USA

problem #460

Nov 172023

Sorento

  • miles
A lot of oil in the floor. Oil Pressure Sensor Fail Lock of all doors are crazy (lock and unlock so many times)

- Gurabo, PR, USA

problem #459

Nov 172023

Sorento

  • miles
Engine light come on and had someone to check it and they said recall on motor car has been using a lot of oil I put in one quart every two weeks the car is stalling and missing also

- Morristown, TN, USA

problem #458

Feb 092023

Sorento

  • miles

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

due to low oil pressure the timing chain failed causing immediate loss of power. The call was then rolled off the highway at idle speed creating a hazard while this was being done. There were no warning lamps prior to incident. This was inspected by the dealer "Team KIA El Cajon".

- Ramonas, CA, USA

problem #457

Sep 152023

Sorento

  • miles
While driving car sputtered, was able to get to side of road. Turned car off, waited and then turned on again and was able to proceed, engine light on - got occasional performance issues. Kia dealer checked out and servicing, informed me of the oil was depleted issue and in need of substantial engine repair. (Provided written estimate, approx $4800). Able to continue driving but risk of stalling, told eventually timing belt will fail. Got estimates for repairing, and total engine replace to compare options. (Have not done either option as yet).

- Glen Gardner, NJ, USA

problem #456

Aug 202022

Sorento

  • miles
The engine has not worked properly in over a year and has problems accelerating and skipping. Engine light remains on at all times.

- Columbia , SC, USA

problem #455

May 272023

Sorento

  • miles
Engine began regularly overheating. Problem began in May 2023. No warning lights, other than the temperature gauge going up. Thermostat was replaced, radiator was cleaned and checked, without defects found. No leaking hoses. Problem continued to get worse, requiring coolant be added every time the car was driven. Mechanic decided the head gasket was failing. Due to the nature of the head bolts, the recommendation was to replace the engine. This has not been done and the car is unusable and unsellable due to the failure.

- Harrisburg , SD, USA

problem #454

Nov 092023

Sorento

  • miles
17-year-old daughter driving 65 mph down the highway when engine just gave out. Loss drive power but was able to make it to the side of highway, once stopped coolant find blowing out. There was no overheating warning or light luminated on dash. Once towed to shop and inspected told head gasket blown out dur to loose head bolts & possible head crack due to lost coolant.

- Felicity, OH, USA

problem #453

Nov 012023

Sorento

  • miles
2016 Sorento 3.3L with approximately 136,000 miles on it. Did not have heat. Diagnosed with low coolant and possible head gasket leak due to loose head bolts. No warning lights. Seems to be a common manufacturing issue with these engines.

- Higganum, CT, USA

problem #452

Oct 032023

Sorento

  • miles
Engine stalled when merging in the freeway. Mechanic said that the engine stalled because there was not enough oil. I did an oil change a month prior, and no oil light indication came on until after the car broke down.

- Shafter, CA, USA

problem #451

Oct 102023

Sorento

  • miles
2016 Kia Sorento SX 3.3l engine failure at 87k miles. Head bolts backed out. Kia dealership verified the issue. The engine could have seized why driving which is a safety risk. No warning lights at all.

- Cleburne, TX, USA

problem #450

Oct 242023

Sorento

  • miles
I was taking my mom to her knee appointment after her surgery, and my temperature gauge started to rise. No lights or warnings came on in the car what so ever. I pulled over before it reached the red, let it cool and checked fluids. From what I could see the oil, and coolant were fine. The heat in the car stopped working, and the car kept wanting to over heat in the lower gears. I got it to Lion Country Kia in St.College and diagnosed it as finding a cylinder head gasket. My car could no longer be driven, from St.College to my home in St.Mary-??s. I had to have it towed, as well as checked here as well to find they were right with a cylinder head gasket issue. I was under the assumption I had the power train warranty as well because it-??s under 10/100,000 but unknown to me I didn-??t. I could-??ve been in an awful accident if I wasn-??t paying attention to my gauges and my car overheated and locked up while driving. If anything would-??ve happened to my children and my mom in the car that day, all because of a fault in the car manufacturing, Id be knocking on doors! To see all the recalls on the years previous to this for the same issue, you would think it would-??ve either been taken care of, or a recall put on this year as well. From what I-??ve been reading it-??s been happening all too often. Something needs done.

- Saint Marys, PA, USA

problem #449

Oct 252023

Sorento

  • miles
I noticed one day when filling up my wiper fluid that the engine was just slightly below the coolant low level. I topped off the coolant and tried to see if there was any leaks under the car. I couldn't see any. I started the vehicle and noticed there was bubbling in the coolant reservoir.I called my local mechanic and scheduled an appointment to bring the car in. The car wasn't driven until the day it was going in to be looked at. When driving the car in it started rough and slugish but then went back to normal. I drove it to my mechanics and on the way the car started running very rough engine shaking and the check engine light started flashing. I was only a few blocks away from the shop so I coasted in. They took the car in said it had a code for a cylinder misfire and started the car saying it was blowing white smoke out of the exhaust. They ran a test on the car and said they didn't want to take anything apart and to tow it to Kia. The car was towed to Kia in Wheat Ridge, CO. Car was inspected and the diagnosis was that the engine had overheated. The block is made of aluminum and so is the head. The headbolts that hold the two pieces together are a different type of metal. This manufacturing defect caused the threads in the aluminum block to strip or pull and loose tension on the head gasket. This allowed coolant to enter into one of the cylinders. Kia is recommending the engine be replaced for $11,910 and change. Car was regularly serviced and drove perfectly fine up until the day it went into the shop. Dealer service dept says this is very common on Kia and Hyundai 3.3L engines. Multiple cases around the same mileage.

- Lakewood, CO, USA

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