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.
Kia has a known excessive oil consumption issue. This issue has caused my car to suddenly stall while driving which is a huge a safety concern for myself, my passengars and other drivers on the road. If the oil is being sucked into the intake, it will eventually cause engine failure. The Engine Defect is life-threatening and dangerous. As a result of latent design, manufacturing, material, and/or workmanship defects, the Affected Vehicles are prone to excessive oil consumption and/or the restriction of oil flow through the connecting rod bearings as well as to other vital areas of the Engine, causing the Affected Vehicles to experience sudden vehicle stalling, catastrophic engine failure, and/or non-collision engine fires during operation.
I was told by the dealer, that we had to have it dropped off at {400 miles from home}, that the oil drain plug fell out and the engine seized. there are are no previous warning lights no temperature rise the car just stalls, then the warning lights for engine and oil come and by this time your engine is dead. Thank God we where stuck in traffic. Otherwise at cruising speed this could have been a very catastrophic event with the possibility of lose of life.
Traveling out of town on the highway from Pennsylvania to Virginia in June 2022 and our 2019 Kia Sorrento started shaking at the steering wheel and lost complete power in the engine. I was unable to accelerate with busy highway traffice behind me. I barely made it to th shoulder of the road without being rear ended with my wife and two children in the car. The forst thing I check is engine oil and it was bone dry. We just had it serviced in May at Sipala Kia before we left for our trip. I limped to a small service station in Virginia where he plugged into it but was unale to diagnose. He has us towed to Charlie O'Baugh Kia for repairs. We had this Kia Sorrento to two of our local dealers, Sipala Kia of West Chester and Scott Kia of Springfield, PA for oil leak or oil consumption but both dealers kept telling me nothing wa wrong. In addition to regualar oil and filter change I continue to check the engine oil on a regualr basis where it seems to be buring engine oil at a higher than normal rate.
The evening of December 13, the driver noticed an engine rattle when accelerating. No -€œcheck engine-€ or other warnings were displayed. The morning of December 14, the vehicle stalled. The driver waited then restarted the vehicle, which immediately turned over. The driver perceived no issues with electronics or engine and, again, the vehicle displayed no warnings or alerts. Upon accelerating from the location at which the vehicle was stopped, the driver heard a -€œboom-€ and the vehicle cabin filled with smoke. Upon exiting the vehicle and attempting to ascertain the issue, the driver noticed flames. The entire engine became engulfed.
I purchased my Kia Sorento in 2020. It was a used 2019 with 7,000 miles. I immediately noticed that it would squeak rather loud and bounce high when driving over very small humps on the roads. Being that I'm no mechanical savvy, I assumed this was normal for SUV's because I've driven sedans all my life. Anyways, I was informed of the issue when going to a tire repair shop asking why my back tires sounds so harsh when driving. I was told that there are waves in my tires due to the shocks. and that the shocks has had to have issues for a while to now change the formation of the tires. I have now read several Kia forums and there are lots of Kia Sorento owners who have suspension issues close or the same as mine. Another issue is the automatic emergency brake. I was unaware of this feature until one day having to make a sudden stop and the vehicle stopped and shut off on its own almost causing me to be hit in the rear. This event was very traumatizing. I googled this feature and thought that I had turned it off but I realize that I can't make it go away and it is a very dangerous feature to have. My vehicle does not have as much driving experience as I do and I am capable of controlling my vehicle to avoid an accident if I need to without the assistance of a computer which has almost caused nearly fatal accidents by immediate stops or shutting off the vehicle causing me to not be able to control the vehicle myself. Another defect is the powered trunk. Whether I open it from the button near the steering wheel or the button on the rear gate, the trunk will immediately close on its own after opening; sometimes closing down on the top of the head of my children or myself. I selected to disable the "smart" feature but it does not stop it. The last defect is electrical. I have replaced the same internal light near the rear view mirror, and it continues to go out. This is an indication of an electrical issue and with my Kia only having 54,000 miles, further action is needed.
- Allen, TX, USA
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The transmission is not shifting from first to second or third to fourth gear. RPMs jump between 4-5 and it won't accelerate. Dealership was able to replicate issue but no codes appeared during scan. They put in a ticket. It has stopped in traffic already. I was able to shut off and restart but this is dangerous.
JERKS IN LOWER GEARS AND SOMETIMES SPEADS UP WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO STOP AND/OR SLOW DOWN & WHEN YOU MAKE A TURN, CAUSED ME TO GET INTO AN ACCIDENT ON i95 WHILE MY KIDS WERE IN THE CAR WITH ME!!!! WHEN I TRIED TO BREAK THE CAR SLIGHTLY SPED UP BEFORE STOPPING CAUSING ME TO REAR END ANOTHER VEHICLE. THIS IS MY SECOND KIA CAR, THE FIRST WAS AN OPTIMA. I THOUGHT KIA'S WERE STRONG, RELIABLE AND SAFE CARS. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!
Vehicle hesitates upon acceleration on takeoff. At times it will almost stop. This has been a problem since purchase date 7/11/2019. Dealer has no solution and there has been no recall. Dealer has other 2019 Sorentos with the same problem, but has not been able to duplicate the problem with our vehicle. This is very problematic when pulling into traffic from a standstill or accelerating from a stop light. No inspections have been made other than dealer. No warning signals have ever appeared.....JUST A DEFINITE HESITATION UPON ACCELERATION.
We have been experiencing a lost of power. The engine sputters and loses power when accelerating. This has happened on several occasions. Today, 10/11/2021, we were nearly hit four times on interstate 580 in Oakland. We were travelling in the number two lane at sixty miles per hour. I began to accelerate to reach the speed limit when the Sorento began to sputter and lost power to five miles per hour. As we lost power the vehicle behind me nearly rear-ended our vehicle. As we moved to the shoulder we were almost struck two more times. Once on the shoulder I turned the Kia off and back on. I attempted to accelerate on the shoulder and it sputtered and lost powers at twenty miles per hour to five miles per hour. I have done research and its apparent there is a major safety issue with this year. Its unfortunate it take a loss of life (or lives) to have a major recall.
Car lost power while drving and a semi truck almost ran into me. Have taken car to Kia dealership and throttle body was replaced and week later same problem exist. I have taken the car there 3 times for the same problem haven't had the car 3 months have had this problem since I purchased the car.
Jerks in lower gears when you're about to stop and/or slow it down when you make a turn, bad workmanship on Kia's part. Keeps happening everytime. This is my second car, the first is sedona, thought Kia's were strong, reliable and sturdy cars, but sadly disappointed. Never again another Kia.
Inconsistent power to the wheels especially when cold but also on freeway. Uneven delivery of power to the wheels is usually called transmission surge from a lack of consistent fluid pressure being maintained in each gear. Has bucked hard enough in 3rd and 4th gear to rock my head forward and back. In eco mode it's downright dangerous. More than once I thought I'd be ht by another car trying to turn onto a busy city street. Does this less in comfort mode. This happened on many dates but below you only allow tp pick one so I [picked one date. It doesn't buck in comfort mde but the stutter or surge is still there. In the first 4-5,000 miles, maybe 10 times or so, after coming to a complete stop on a city street while waiting to make a left turn with my foot still on the brakes, I have felt it drop into first gear. Three or four of those times it was such a distinct thud I could feel in the steering wheel, the seat and the floorboard. Either it hadn't fully downshifted into 1st by the time I stopped, or it downshifted all the way into 1st then into to neutral, and what I'm feeling is it fall back into 1st. Dealer said mechanic couldn't duplicate my surge problem. I demanded a test drive with the mechanic and went to a smooth part of a nearby road where he said he 'could feel it some but it's not bad enough for Kia to fix it. Let us know if it gets worse'. the flip side of this statement is: Gee, too bad your anticipated new car joy isn't going to happen, but Kia is happy with it's anticipated profit, and won't act on this unless it gets worse. Multiple attempts to say costco gas is the problem.
When accelerating from stop (19th ave and vineyard) the car will hesitate then take off at a fast rate of speed. There has been instances where the brake system hesitates to stop, almost like a delayed reaction (mostly while traveling on local streets such as West bound baseline rd). The brakes squill (all the time when braking) so bad and so loud. I feel like I've been ripped off on a car that's already giving problems less than six months of purchase. The city of all instances is phoenix, AZ.
The transmission hesitates while accelerating. Acceleration is very slow in every mode except sport. The transmission still hesitates. Very unsafe. This occurs when Kia is first started or accelerating after a turn. It's also noticeable when accelerating while merging onto the interstate.
Like many others, my 2019 Kia Sorento V6 AWD stumbles, hesitates and jerks when accelerating from a stop. Does it more pronounced when the vehicle is cold. Had it to the local Kia dealership and they said it is a problem that Kia is aware of and "they" would notify effected customers when they have a fix. Really! it has been 2 years and they still don't have a solution?
When pulling out onto the road pushing on the accelerator the vehicle wont accelerate, pushing down on the accelerator another 1/8 of an inch and the vehicle will take off very fast, also it feels like a misfire at slow speeds.it happens always.
Stumbles horribly through the low gears during acceleration until hitting ~45-50mph on cold start-up (after sitting several hours or overnight). After engine warmup the effect begins to moderate, though it remains present at all times. Worse in eco and comfort drive modes. Going up hill the car accelerates faster which lurches the car forward and is very scary. Sounds like a misfire when I start the car this happens in the city/town and speeding up to get on the interstate.
We only have about 14000 miles on the vehicle. The vehicle has been checked twice now for the transmission having a problem. Yet the "dealership" keeps telling us that it is not "reproducible" yet they "tell me they reset the computer" even though it did not kick any codes. The transmission - is very sluggish in getting into gear. (especially in the morning warmed up or not) the other issue I have tried to address with Kia is the gap in the interior carpet of the third row. The dealerships hide it and when addressed with Kia they try to cover it up. The carpet is gapped on the floor board.
When cruise control is set or just starting the Kia and going it will without warning surge, jerk, and jump. The RPM needle will show acceleration from 2.5 RPM and it jumps to 4.5 RPM and stays their for awhile before going back down to 2.5 RPM. This happens without notice and not on any incline or declines, it's on straight aways. This also happens at any speed when the cruise control is set or when just starting the Kia and going. It's not just on the highway when this happens it also happens in city streets. It first only started happening when it was cold out but now it's happening even with warmer weather. I've taken it to Kia of duluth many times and always get told nothing is wrong or to just change the drive mode from smart to eco but it doesn't make a difference and it has been doing this since I got the Kia which was 16 months ago.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Whitman, MA, USA