After start up when shifting from park to reverse the transmission will shift violently and will produce the same reaction if you try to shift it back into park. This has occurred intermittently and otherwise the transmission shifts normally. If you attempt to drive the vehicle once this occurs it feels underpowered as if the transmission is locked in a higher gear and there is no eco indication or indication of what gear the transmission is in. We took the vehicle to the dealer where it was purchased on 10/13/12 and picked it up on 10/15/12 and were told that the software had been upgraded to prevent this. Since this upgrade the transmission has slipped out of gear twice while backing out of the driveway. When you shift back into park it produces the same violent shift. I have contacted Kia's roadside assistance and they are coming to take the vehicle back to the dealership on 10/23/12 since the last attempt to repair this concern did not work.

- Chesterfield, SC, USA

When shifting from reverse to drive, vehicle clunks and then jolts forward. When shifting into drive, vehicle whines, doesn't move and so I then shift back into park which results in clunking noise. This has happened numerous times. I brought this to the attention of my dealership on 8/28/12 and they couldn't find the problem at that time. I was advised to keep a log of when the problem occurs which is often but intermittent. Just recently vehicle lost power at a stop sign (had plenty of gas in tank) and after several attempts to keep it running it jolted forward and ran fine.

- Atascadero, CA, USA

At complete stop, car would not shift into reverse. 10 miles later, attempt to park. The vehicle would not shift past neutral. Dash light illuminated steer assist and downhill park. I finally drove around until it allowed me to shift into park and restarted and was able to engage into park. 5 miles down the road did the same thing. Made it to work and shut car off.

- Paris, TX, USA

On 11 September 2012 I attempted to place the automatic transmission in park and it would not go into park. This is the 5th time this has happened with this vehicle. Kia motors will say there is no problem.

- Douglasville, GA, USA

Incident #1 while traveling 45 mph car lurched, and gas pedal was non-responsive. Engine was running, but no response. Only forward motion was "idle" speed which was not enough power to make it up hill. Stopped car in median. Towed car back O dealer. Check engine light stayed on. Dealership replaced a recall brake switch, and said as there was no computer code they couldn't find anything else to fix. Reset the computer to clear the check engine light. Incident #2 less than 50 miles (24 hours) after taking the car - at 60mph same issue occurred. Shut off engine, restarted & drove back to dealer. After starting/stopping about 4 times the check engine light went off. Car seemed to respond appropriately. The car is not safe to drive in this condition. Should this happen while merging, on a bridge, or in heavy traffic accident would occur.

- Reed, KY, USA

On several occasion during the last two (2) weeks, I have had difficulty shifting gears (e.g. into drive, into neutral, into reverse, etc); gear shift was stuck. Only after several minutes was I able to shift gears again.

- New Orleans, LA, USA

The other day, I was driving down the highway at about 60 mph in my 2011 Kia Sorento when I heard a horrible sound and felt a terrible jerk. It felt like I had hit something or had been hit, but there was nothing in the road. My rpms went up to about 4,000 and stayed there. I could hear an unusual sound but couldn't put my finger on where it was coming from. When I came to a stop, I put the car into park, then reverse, then drive. Each time, the car jerked and I heard a sort of clunking sound. I called roadside assistance, and the car was towed to the nearest Kia dealer, which is where I had purchased it. We were told the following day that they could find nothing wrong with the car. I told my husband that I did not feel safe driving this car and was not going to pick it up until the problem was diagnosed and fixed. We did some research and found that there was a recall issued involving the transmission in these cars. We called Kia of America 2 days ago and were told that our VIN number did not fall under the recall. We were given a case number and told that we would be notified by the regional office within 2 business days. We also spoke to the manager of the service department and they're going to continue to drive it to see if they can recreate the problem. We're still waiting to hear back from either place.

- Donovan, IL, USA

Vehicle stuck in drive when I was pulling into a parking place. I was able to brake but engine kept running. After several tries, I managed to force it into neutral and the curb maintained my car stationary since I was unable to put it in park. Because I was unable to put my car in park, it idled in neutral until the tow truck arrived (20 min later) by which time it had begun to overheat. The incline light was on, but I was not on an incline. The traction light was on and I have no clue why since the car was not in motion. I also called the Kia dealer and spoke with someone in the maintenance dept. Who directed me to repeatedly pump on my brakes and at the same time to keep turning my steering wheel back and forth. After several tries, I was finally able to get it into park but the traction light and the incline lights remained on and the car was overheating. I encountered another incident a couple of months ago, when I was on a road trip. At that time the vehicle's mileage was about 35,000. I was going 70 mph on hwy 281 S heading to san antonio when my engine began to lose power and the engine light came on. Luckily, I was able to make it to a Kia dealership in the area. They worked on it for about a week and a half but since then I've experience odd things such as the car jumping or popping when it changes gears. Also, it tends to overheat when the car idles for more than 10 min. As well as cruise control issues. I'm very disappointed my Kia Sorento and I truly feel it is a safety hazard.

- Bangs, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the vehicle stalled. The contact mentioned that he was able to restart the vehicle immediately after which was working normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 300 and the current mileage was 14,800.

- Fort Pierce , FL, USA

My husband was on private property. He got in the car, put the car in reverse and backed up. He heard a loud pop. He put the car in drive, and his foot was still on the brake. The car began to accelerate on its own with his foot on the brake until the vehicle got up to 60 miles per hour. Trying not to hit the house, or the person outside of the property he maneuvered the car into the back yard. The car was steadily picking up speed and his foot was on the brake the entire time. He could not get the gear to shift or the brakes to work. The vehicle struck a tree and that impeded the movement of the vehicle. He turned the car off and got out of it.

- Crockett, TX, USA

At complete stop, car would not shift into reverse. 1.4 miles later, attempt to park. The vehicle would not shift past neutral. Dash light illuminated steer assist and downhill park. Depressed emergency brake and turned vehicle off with gear shift in neutral. Restarted and was able to engage into park.

- Blythewood, SC, USA

I had the same incident happen twice in the last week. I came to a complete stop at a stop sign while my car was in drive. I tried accelerating several times to proceed through the intersection and my car would not move but the engine would rev up. I had to put my car into park and then put it into drive again in order to have the car function so that I could proceed through the intersection. I am terribly nervous I will be rear ended if this happens again. I recently had a brake switch replaced because I was unable to get my car into park. I had to put the car into neutral while engaging the emergency brake in order to turn off the engine but I was unable to remove my keys from the ignition. I don't know if these 2 problems are related to one another.

- Minnetonka, MN, USA

Stability control and downhill assist lights illuminate while driving. Then when stopped, car will not go past neutral when trying to shift into park. Also, when driving, the brake lights do not work immediately when pedal is depressed. Car will not shift out of park after started and stability control and downhill assist lights are illuminated. Located switch at the upper part of the brake pedal and while car was in neutral, with parking brake on, was able to bump the switch box and then shift car into park.

- Sugar Hill, GA, USA

The date above is the first date there was a indication of a problem. The actual speed of travel has varied. The issue is random and has affected most systems at one time or the other. It has normally been a headache more than safety always going away after shutting the car down and restarting. To me it became a safety issue when about two months ago I heard a loud bang like I hit something and then my rpms increased and the transmission would not shift out of the lower gears. I pulled into a safe parking area, shut the car down and called the dealer. After restarting the car the problem went away, just as it has every time no matter what system has been affected. The issues have ranged from a cruise control refusing to activate, the cruise control having erratic behavior (often kicking in the passing gear when not required), total electronic panel shutdown (including radio), to doors locking on their own when open, to headlights not being turned off when they should have been after 2-30 seconds. The transmission issue has been the most serious. The car should have already been serviced under a similar recall. I have noted similar complaints including a similar transmission compliant on Kia forums. Kia itself refused to give the go ahead for a computer reset/upgrade. My dealer did this on his own for me after I made it clear this has gone too far. A personal conversation with Kia was negative and was nothing short of talking in circles. I understand the issue of trying to traced random problems, but not the failure to start an investigation into, for instance, possible computer shielding issues making outside interference a possibility. It remains to be seen if the computer update works, but it is a issue when a transmission shuts totally or partly down. The dealer has never been able to verify my complaints.

- Grandview, MO, USA

When pulling into a parking space when I went to lunch today the ESC and dbc lights came on and I could not get the car out of drive or neutral. I tried to put it in reverse or park and it would not move into that position. This has happened to me at least 10 times. Today, it took over 20 minutes until it would move into park. This is a real problem. The same thing happened to me last night. I'm getting really aggravated because I don't know when I'm going to be stuck again. Kia needs to recall these vehicles and get this fixed or give us a new vehicle to drive without these problems.

- Trenton, IL, USA

Automatic, front wheel drive this happened to me 3 times in 1 day. -pulled into a parking space, noticed the ESC and dbc lights illuminated and vehicle would not go past neutral to get into park. After a minute or so of trying to get it to park (while pressing on the brake pedal all along) it finally released and went to park. -the car sat for 2 and a half hours. -on my way home I pulled into a gas station, turned the vehicle off and pumped gas. Went to leave and the car would not go out of park, the ESC and dbc lights once again illuminated. Finally after about a minute or so, while pushing the brake pedal, it released and went into drive. -the third time that same day, I got home about 5 minutes later, pulled into the driveway and again the ESC and dbc lights were on and the car would not go past neutral to park. Once again, after a minute or so while pushing the brake pedal the whole time, it finally released again after a minute or so. I have yet to drive my car again, and am actually afraid to drive it at this point, not knowing what else is going to happened. I am taking it to the dealership tomorrow to get it checked out. I've seen a lot of others complaining about this same issue and it needs to be recalled and fixed if this many people are having this same problem.

- Apopka, FL, USA

ESC and cbc lights came on couldn't shift into park.

- Aberdeen, OH, USA

The same thing is happening to my Sorento that is listed in OD10459049. Vehicle would not go into park from the drive position. The dbc and ESC dash lights were also illuminated. This has happend 3 times in 2 weeks.

- Douglasville, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the vehicle started to jerk and lunge forward. The contact mentioned that the vehicle shifted from drive to neutral independently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 25,500.

- Salisbury, NC, USA

Automatic transmission, went to shift from drive to reverse and would no go into reverse or park. Has done this several times in last two days. The ESC and dbc lights were on and should not have been on. I went on a Kia forum and there are many complaints for the same thing with cars that have even less mileage than mine.

- Bedford, VA, USA