9.1

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,917 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.

2021 Kia Sorento electrical problems

electrical problem

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2021 Kia Sorento Owner Comments

problem #18

Jun 112023

Sorento

  • miles

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

My 2021 Kia Sorrento has shut down and died while on a Highway drive 2 days in a row. The engine light comes on, the oil light comes on, and and the phrase -??Engine Off. Shift to N then start engine-?? comes on. Prior to this, other issues were happening. Originally, my automatic start wasn-??t working properly, and a Kia service advisor told me to -??turn that feature off-??. After that, while driving down the road last month, all symbols on my dash began flashing and the phrase -??Check forward safety system-?? appeared.

- Mckinney, TX, USA

problem #17

Feb 212023

Sorento

  • miles
Vehicle shut off on interstate while slowing for a wreck and almost caused our own ACDA crash. Entire gauge cluster flashed and started back up after stopping in the roadway for approximately 5 minutes without restarting. The vehicle was able to be driven home and was taken to a local Kia dealership where after 3 days has not been able to replicate the issue.

- South Bloomfield, OH, USA

problem #16

Dec 212022

Sorento

  • 34,000 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving and coming to a complete stop, the auto Start/Stop feature failed to engage upon releasing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact restarted the vehicle manually. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while at a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where an unknown software update was completed under an unknown recall; however, the failure reoccurred increasingly. The contact stated upon releasing the brake pedal while at a complete stop, the vehicle would turn on temporarily. The contact stated she would manually restart the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact to bring the vehicle to their location for test driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure referred the contact to the dealer. A case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.

- Palmdale, CA, USA

problem #15

Dec 242022

Sorento

  • miles

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

I received the recall notice essentially telling me not to drive this vehicle and park it away from my home or other vehicles. When i contacted KIA I was told all they are currently doing is a reimbursement of up to 40 dollars a day for a rental while they figure out how to fix this. Rentals here are over 100 dollars a day and when I told them that I was told the additional money would be on me. My car is still under warranty but they expect me to pay for their issue. Due to this I am still driving a car they recommend parking and will continue to do this. If they were actually concerned about this they would fund rentals and not make me pay for them up front and for over half the cost. When I contacted my dealer they directed me to the manufacturer, no help at all. I am only still driving this car because it would be too expensive for me to fund a rental for an unknown length of time.

- Basehor, KS, USA

problem #14

Aug 062022

Sorento

  • miles
Refill inverter coolant notice comes up after routine oil change and downhill control turns on without me turning it on I have to sh*t my vehicle off in order for the brake control to turn off, available for inspection upon request. This notice interferes with me seeing the digital speedometer. Coolant was checked by dealer no leaks found, was told to wait patiently until a fix is available. No prior issues until I took it in for an oil change with the dealership.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #13

Apr 192022

Sorento

  • miles
Refil inverter fluid warning light is on constant, this doesn-€™t allow the driver to access any digital information while vehicle is on. The vehicle is also having issues with the entertainment consul, Bluetooth connection issues along with the ability to access apple car play. Dealership says it-€™s Kia and nothing is being done. Various forums with others having similar issues.

- New Braunfels, TX, USA

problem #12

Aug 072022

Sorento

  • miles

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

Vehicle went into limp mode suddenly while driving on the road and would only go 10 mph. We were able to pull vehicle aside and within a minute the car would not move. Check engine light came on with a warning message to pull vehicle to the side of the road. We were able to drive the vehicle home 7 miles after waiting about 1 hour after the issue and the next day drove it to the dealership. Car has been at dealership since 8/8/22 and service advisor and Kia engineer have yet to figure out what went wrong. We have no eta as of today when we will get car back. This issue is concerning as the vehicle came to a complete stop with traffic around us.

- Mesa, AZ, USA

problem #11

Aug 052022

Sorento

  • miles
I have owned this vehicle for about 1 yr & 7 months now. it's been great but all of a sudden last Friday, the dashboard started producing an engine overheat warning with an alarm sound when I was driving under normal conditions. So then I pulled out of the highway and went to the nearest parking lot, and checked the engine. The coolant color was normal & max level. no sign of leaking. Then we resumed driving and nothing happened. later on the way back home... the same thing happened. The alarm sounded for a while and the temperature indicator reached red at the max level then it went away. it was already too late for us to reach out to either dealership or KIA, so I was going to get in touch later. The next day afternoon, I got a diagnostic appointment for the coming Wednesday with the nearest KIA dealership and went out to take care of a few other stuff. The alarm sound with the temperature gauge reaching the red max level happened again after merging into the highway, and it went off after a while. This occurrence has happened 3 times already and I'm a bit worried that it may happen again and something else may happen even though the engine and other fluid levels were fine based on the visual inspection. Not sure if this is fixable...

- Mckinney, TX, USA

problem #10

Mar 012022

Sorento

  • miles
Inverter coolant refill light will not turn off. This is available for inspection. This could be a possible fire risk. Issue has been confirmed at dealership. Components have been inspected by manufacturer. Issue started around 23,000 miles.

- Owasso, Ok, OK, USA

problem #9

Jun 292022

Sorento

  • miles
There is a constant error happening daily where a warning shows -€œrefill inverter coolant-€ it takes up the main display and no dealer has a fix

- Blaine, MN, USA

problem #8

Jun 012022

Sorento

  • miles

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

There is a warning message stating "Refill Invertor Coolant" that keeps coming up. The coolant is already full and the car functions normally. However, the warning message can only be cleared for a few seconds before it returns. The message covers up other information on the display such as digital speed and driving warnings such as lane departure. I feel this is an unsafe condition. The dealer I talked to said they are aware of the issue and trying to resolve it on another customer's car. At this time they are unable to resolve the issue.

- Saint Joseph, MI, USA

problem #7

Mar 012022

Sorento

  • miles
The inverter coolant refill light will illuminate at all times even with the system serviced. Kia has serviced the system but has no solution on how to stop the light. The light also blocks out any other warning that may happen on the dash. With the light illuminated while driving, it is impossible to determine if the system is empty to cause a fire or just a faulty light. The dealership has confirmed the faulty warning light. There are no computer codes associated with the warning light.

- Owasso, Ok, OK, USA

problem #6

May 112022

Sorento

  • miles
Car has been having issues with not starting many times also dealership was contact also was serviced and still having issues.

- Bayonne, NJ, USA

problem #5

Mar 262022

Sorento

  • miles
I have a -€˜21 Sorento hybrid. The refill inverter coolant warning light keeps coming on. The first time it happened was on a road trip. A local dealer told me to check coolant levels and when it was full, told me it was safe to drive. I had it looked at as soon as I got home. By that time, the light had gone off. They flushed and refill the coolant. It happened again within 3 weeks. I took it in again. The dealer inspected said nothing was wrong with vehicle. Safe to drive. Also said I was the second one of these they-€™d seen. They were told corporate is working on a fix. I starting a ticket with Kia customer service. It-€™s been 9 days and no response from them. I am counting on the dealers being correct and that it is safe.

- Long Beach, MS, USA

problem #4

Apr 042022

Sorento 4-cyl

  • miles
After being driven for 45 miles, with no problems, then parked for 2 hours, then when I started to drive, dashboard lit up "PULL OVER SAFELY IMMEDIATELY". I pulled over, shut car off and restarted. Same notice appeared. Tried again and nothing appeared. I attempted to move the car and it would not engage in drive or reverse. Shut car off, started again and still would not move. Then was towed to a KIA dealership. Upon inspection, I was told it needed a new transmission. Vehicle had 5,606 miles. Car is at dealership since April 4 waiting for new transmission. I was told there are other KIA's also waiting for new transmissions. If I had been driving and car suddenly shut off, it would have been very dangerous (there are many such reports online where people have experienced this). There is documented evidence on line that others with low mileage have had this problem dating back to April 2021. This car needs to be recalled and significant changes made. The car is available for inspection at the dealer's location, Lou Sobh Kia, 1135 Buford Road, Cumming GA 30041 if you need. You can reach me at[XXX] or via email [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Gainesville, GA, USA

problem #3

Feb 162022

Sorento

  • miles
We had just received our Sorento back from being in the shop for 4 months due to being in an accident. Part of the repair work was to have the software updated and reprogrammed at a Kia dealership, which was completed. We picked up the car on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2022, and on Wednesday, Feb. 16, as we were traveling down hwy 27 in Lake Wales, FL, the alert began to ding and the hybrid warning came on, as well as other lights (I can't remember which ones). The car lost acceleration capability, but as we slowed and turned down another road, the car began to slightly accelerate very slowly. We were able to travel another mile, when the acceleration completely stopped. We pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park. The engine was very rough. The message came on to leave vehicle in park to charge the hybrid battery. When we did that, the engine started for about 5 seconds, then shut off. We attempted this two more times, with the same results. We also tried to jump the car, according to the operator's manual, but it didn't work. We had to have the car towed to the dealership.

- Fort Meade, FL, USA

problem #2

Dec 092021

Sorento

  • miles
Transmission failure at 9108 miles. Car was turned on and error code stating of some form of a transmission failure. Odd electrical sounding issue in engine bay as well. If the transmission had failed while I was driving I could have gotten into a serious accident. Kia is already notorious for failing transmissions in their other vehicles. This car maybe no different.

- Melville, NY, USA

problem #1

Apr 152021

Sorento

  • 500 miles
Only had car 8 days with 500 miles. Went to pull away from stop sign and car cut off. When attempted to restart, car advised to place in park first. Once placed in park and pressed start button - all systems went dead. Sparks came from grounding cable under hood. When grounding cable was adjusted, car started turning on and off randomly. After waiting two hours for tow truck, was able to adjust ground cables well enough to drive home. Subsenquently, car was towed to dealership.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

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