10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 84,000 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I purchased this 2005 Kia Sorento and on my way home there was a knock before I lost my sterring and brakes. Luckily I slowed down when I heard the sound. I got the car home safelybeing only a half a mile away. Called the dealer I purchased the Kia from and he came and got it to repair it. He bought the updated so call bolt that was suppose to fix the issue with the crank shaft bolt. Then I got the car back and had the gas tank leaking from the seams. He fix and replaced that. Just the other night on my way to work and I lost my sterring and brakes again..I travel on main roads but there is a lot of amish here and thank god I wasn't going around any of there buggy and hurt those people or myself..there is no fix what so ever for this issue and someone needs to make Kia stand up and take responsibility for this faulty defect before a innocent child or woman or husband gets killed.
- Hiram, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2005 Kia Sorento. While reversing the vehicle from a parking space and placing the gear shift into the drive position, the vehicle began to accelerate forward. The contact's vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle at 10 mph. The brakes failed while being depressed. The passenger side of the vehicle sustained major damage. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
- Bloomsburg, PA, USA
I was stopped waiting to turn into a fast food place when I let off the brakes to turn in, the SUV took off from 0 to 60 in a split second.when I tried to mash the brakes it wouldn't go down and I couldn't stop.I ended up hitting a tree, the air bags did come out.the SUV was totaled.I contacted Kia's office and they had the SUV towed to a lot for investigation.as of this date I haven't heard form Kia as to what they found out.this was the second time the Kia took off on it's own with me.I would like this accident off my record and info as to what went wrong with the Kia.
- Silver Creek, MS, USA
First incident-on August 16, 2014 while on vacation and driving from Virginia to Chicago ill, the vehicle start making a rattling noise coming from the front of the vehicle and warning lights came on the dash (battery, brake) and the power steering went out making the vehicle very hard to maneuver, I immediately pulled over into a fast food parking lot to check the noise and found that the harmonic balancer was loose and belts were not turning, I had the vehicle towed to a mechanic after inspection I was informed that the crank shaft gear pin had broke off to the harmonic balancer. I purchase the parts (harmonic balancer, bolt and crank shaft gear) and had the mechanic repair the vehicle and drove back to Virginia. Second incident-October 2014 while my wife was driving the vehicle, she encountered the same problems the warning lights, rattling in the front of vehicle, power steering locked unable to turn vehicle, I inspected the vehicle and saw that the harmonic balancer was loose and belts were not turning, the pin in the crank shaft gear has broken again, I had the vehicle towed to the Kia dealership in richmond, and they stated that I needed a new motor. After investigating complaints about this vehicle on line I found out that this problem is well documented with this make and year vehicle. If I or my wife had been on the highway at the time of this fault it could have been catastrophic. I also found that their is a class action suit against Kia motors addressing the exact same fault.(civil action no. 13-006 United States district court, district of New Jersey) essentially, plaintiffs claimed their vehicles were designed with a "defective crankshaft pulley bold and balancer, ? which could result in ?breaking off the spring guide pin, ? causing ?catastrophic engine failure." This vehicle is unsafe, a recall is warranted and Kia motors needs to correct the defect.
- Richmond, VA, USA
I recently had to have the crank shaft sensor replaced on my 2005 Kia Sorento. This morning, driving my young son to school, I lost the steering on my vehicle. Additionally, the engine light and brake light came on. As I understand it, this is an ongoing defective issue with Kia's. this is a dangerous problem for the public as well as consumers.
- Windham, NH, USA
- West Liberty, KY, USA