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 vehicle just lost power at 75mph on [XXX] heading home to Princeton, ME, started vibrating really bad misfiring then we pulled over the Kia Sorento stalled. Then would not start back up. It-??s been using over a quart a week since we got it from the dealership in Bangor, Maine. We got it towed home our mechanic looked at it and noticed oil on the plugs and said we probably need a new engine. Low beam light keep coming off and on so thinking it-??s something electrical. Time to time the transmission take a min to shift the engine rpms stay up n takes a few extra seconds to shift. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I live in VA, bought my Sorento in 2018. Every winter when the temps drop below freezing my car will intermittently not start. This issue only happens below freezing and it is not every time the temps drop below freezing. Once the sun comes up and the day warms up a bit the car almost always will start. I have taken it to the Kia dealership multiple times over the years and of course it always starts right up, no problem, even in the single digits. I have taken it to a couple of other local repair shops as well to no avail. So far this winter I have had it at the dealership 3 times and finally on the third trip they figured out the issue. The factory installed remote start was pulling too much voltage, even while the car was off, that the brand new battery couldn't start the car. They removed the remote start (told me I could buy another and have it installed for $800) and the car has started every single time. This has left me and my family stranded previously so wanted to help others figure this out so it doesn't take them 6 years and stranded like it did us.
My Kia Sorento uses roughly 2-4 quarts of oil every week or 2. The smell of oil is so strong in the car it-??s almost unbearable. Just this week the the alert about a door being open is going off and the locks are malfunctioning. It locks and unlocks at random and it keeps sayings a door is open when it isn-??t. The cruise control also stopped working.
I just purchased this vehicle on Saturday.And now my engine light is on.It is blinking.I did my research after getting the car and the code p1326 came up at autozone.after that it showed that code with recalls for 2011 to 2017.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at night, the headlights became inoperable. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact later received Kia Extended Warranty notification for multi-function switch assembly failure. The local dealer and a second dealer, Kia Mall of Georgia (4180 Buford Dr, Buford, GA 30519) were contacted, but informed the contact that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Sugar Hill, GA, USA
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Oil consumption. My car is always empty after 3000 miles. I am always having to put oil in my car. Now having engine issues-?? No warning lights came on to let me know of issues or low oil.
Headlights turned off on 3 occasions in the last 2 weeks. first i was driving on an unlit section of a residential thoroughfare, dark night and suddenly, while both hands on steering wheel, not having had any interaction with dashboard/radio controls, smooth section of roads (no obvious bumps) the lights turned off. I immediately fiddled with the steering column mounted light control switch, which did not give me an immediate relief, flipped it to highbeams and they worked. 2nd and 3rd time (yesterday 9/8/23) while on semi lit highway they again shocked me by turning off, i again toggled the light switch, this time highbeam flip did not work, i was doing 65 on a 70 and having lights turn off, with no reason, scary. 80,000 miles. i have had the light switch in automode.
several occasions my headlights have completely gone out. I have to toggle the blinker button to get the lights to come back on. This happened 5 times at 5 am in the morning. I have taken my vehicle into the shop several times. It is in the shop again today. They are saying it is switch that causes headlights to go out. This is dangerous to others on the road and also myself. I have read online there has been over 1300 complaints but have not seen a recall come out. Please investigate why lights are going out sporadically. I had to slam on my breaks because I cannot see in the dark. Thank God other vehicle were not on the road. Please investigate this matter as I am not the only customer that has complained.
UNKNOWN 2017 KIA Sorento v6 XL July 29, 2023 @3am - Parking lights were found to be on. Upon checking, the vehicle was locked. The FOB was used to unlock the doors and I turned the light control switch from Auto to OFF. This turned off all lights and I locked all doors using the FOB. What triggered this event" Concern for battery draining will be an eventual result if this is not investigated"
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at night at an undisclosed speed, the lights on the instrument panel and the headlights became inoperable. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and turned off, the headlights and instrument panel lights turned on independently. The contact stated that while attempting to unlock the vehicle with the key fob, the vehicle failed to unlock. The contact was able to manually unlock the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V862000 (Trailer Hitches, Electrical System). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
Regularly the head light-??s randomly turn off as well as the tail lights and break lights. This is absolutely terrifying! It has been happening for over a year and know one can fix it. This is a huge problem across 2017 & 2018 Sorrentos. There are multiple forms for it as well as mechanic discussion groups trying to solve the problem. This NEEDS to be a recall and fixed immediately before some gets hurt or worse!
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while exiting the vehicle, there was an abnormal burning odor coming from underneath the driver's side of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,700.
First and foremost I am the 2 owner of this vehicle with only 38,000 miles, my 82 mother gave me the car with 22,000 miles on it b/c she barely drives anymore. The car is in excellent condition until I started noticing that the steering wheel was sticky and it is difficult to control the vehicle, the oil pressure and the traction control light would come on and off intermittently. In addition, while in park or driving the speedometer would display dashes and then display inaccurate speeds going up and down until reaching 95 miles on the display then, would go to dashes, and then everything would return to normal. I took the vehicle in the last months of 2022 to the dealership which they failed to acknowledge and display lights and any problems with the steering wheel. I took the vehicle home and the oil pressure light started displaying continuously along with all the other problems (I did not take it back to the dealership b/c they already had charged me a substantial amount of money for nothing). I took the vehicle to have the oil checked, oil levels were fine nothing could not figure out the leak location. Fast forward, the vehicle is sitting at an independent reputable mechanic who was able to find that the "Oil pressure sending unit" is responsible for the leak and the oil pressure light display. The Kia dealership neglects to honor any warranty, I am left paying thousands for this repair.
When I am driving the lights will shut off even when they are on auto. I have to pull over and turn the knob back and forth till they come back on. Sometimes they turn off when I use my blinker. The lights will also stay turned on even when the car is turned off and doors are locked.
On several occasions while driving down the highway at night going approximately 60-65 mph headlights, tail lights go completely out. With my whole family in the car but Thank God we have never been in an accident as a result of this. No recall information has been received even though I see plenty of complaints. The last 2 times I-??ve gotten an oil change within 1500 miles my oil light comes on and when I check, there is low oil or no oil.
Lights will just turn off while driving and and the blinkers will not work. The horn will not work either. It happens all the time it doesn-??t matter if it-??s day time or night time.
Headlights shout off at night while vehicle is in motion. I have reported this issue to the manufacturer/dealership and was advised that vehicle needed to be brought in when issue is happening. Dealership is closed at night when issue occurs. No warning messages when lights shut off and first occurred 8/2021.
First issue: Computer fails to throw codes for issues like low oil or engine overheating because of a cracked radiator that was bone dry when the mechanic looked at it. At the time of the incident with the cracked radiator, mechanic checked fuses and system but could not find any issues. However, they agreed that check engine light should have come on. But it did not. Second issue: Oil some how magically disappears out of the engine, and because of this, I'm now stuck, with a worthless car that I'm going to have to abandon about 900 miles from my home because it'll cost too much to replace an engine. Even the mechanic that looked at it said it wasn't worth spending the money on replacing the engine. Think about the level of absurdity because that's a big amount of labor for them and they recommended against spending money on the Sorento.. I'm now car less and f*cked because of Kia's sh*tty defects.. I'm sorry for the profanity but I'm lost.. I'm lost.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Princeton, ME, USA