10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 4 / 29
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 5 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 24,817 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Driving on highway at 65 miles per hour and car suddenly lost all power and came to complete stop in heavy traffic. Vehicle restarted after 2 attempts. Took to Kia dealer for inspection and there was no recorded code and they were unable to re-create issue so nothing was done. Reading other complaints of sudden stalls on this site makes driving this vehicle scary. The vehicle has only 31K miles on it and has had no other issues. Kia should be doing something before someone has a tragic accident!
- Palos Heights, IL, USA
At 65,000 miles my 4 cyl. Sorento started losing oil. The light came on once when no oil on dipstick. Original owner. Contacted Kia, said to do oil consumption check. Have done. Using 2 quarts every 1000 miles. They are dragging their feet, not responding to my emails requesting a solution. It's nothing I've done. What good is their 100K warranty when they won't fix the problem. Communication with Kia customer assistance very slow and poor. This should be a recall or class action suit based on the number of complaints I see posted.
- Springboro, OH, USA
Total engine failure at 50 thousand miles at highway speeds. Transmission acting funny & shifting hard in weeks prior to engine failure.
- Palm City, FL, USA
My vehicle began excessively using oil, no leak in spring of 2019. Took it service once I documented my oil changes in September. No answers, wanting to do an every 1,000 miles documentation at the dealership. By December, it is giving an engine code P0014, meaning the exhaust camshaft has advanced to much to go to a lower timing. Eventually the passage become clogged and causing oil flow to the phasivers to be restricted - leading to a locked engine. The only fix, a new engine. Although I am still under power train - they request I drive the vehicle 1000 miles for testing before approving however the engine code tells us further drive will lock the engine. Exactly what older models were previously recalled for. With this Kia gives you no proper solution and no guarantee to cover.
- Mount Pleasant, NC, USA
The contact's family member owned a 2016 Kia Sorento. After driving approximately 15 miles and parking the vehicle, it suddenly caught fire under the hood. The driver quickly exited the vehicle. The contact and the fire department attempted to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed and deemed destroyed. There were no injuries. A fire report was filed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Durrant, OK, USA
The contact owned a 2016 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that a loud popping noise occurred, the vehicle started to smoke, and the temperature gauge overheated. Also, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. While coasting the vehicle to the side of the road, it decelerated and flames appeared under the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the flames and filed a report. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
- Lexington, SC, USA
My Kia was bought 1/2016 and since then my steering column has had to be replaced 3 times, Cadillac converter once, and my car is now ready after 23 days because of a motor leak that had cracked the block. Everyone of these have been defects that Kia has covered and yet I can't seem to get anyone from the escalations department to talk to me about a buyback or getting me into another car. It had 5 miles on it when I bought it and now is around 80,000.
- Decarur, TX, USA
I drove my Kia sorrento from rochester NY to oswego NY without incident. I had no car trouble nor have I in the distant past. I parked in a lot and turned off the car. Smoke began to emit from under both sides of the hood. As I gathered my purse and coat, the smoke become more volumnios and dark. As left the vehicle, I inspected my dashboard for signs of overheating or a lit indicator light. Nothing was light or overheated per the dash. As I exited the car, the car was on fire. A man in a car parked near me, approached the car with his fire extinguisher, aimed under the closed hood and sprayed. It did no good. As he did this, I called 911 to request a fire crew. By the time they arrived, the car was engulfed in flames. The car is a total loss, just metal charred remains.
- Rochester, NY, USA
I started experiencing overheating issues in July. Knowing Kia are notorious for engine trouble, my mechanic checked the head gasket. It was fine but my radiator fan needed replaced. The very next day after having my fan replaced, my head gasket blew, driving down a state route. No warning, no check engine light, nothing. I have now had my entire engine replaced (long block, cylinder head, and gaskets). They have now discovered that my radiator is leaking, which like the radiator fan, is not covered under warranty. It seems that Kia knows there is an issue with these cars and is doing nothing to recall them.
- Franklin, OH, USA
2016 Kia Sorento with 67,000 miles had flashing check engine light. Car was towed to the Kia dealership in which the service advisor said the fuel injector was broken which spilled fuel into the motor causing $7,800 of damage. The diagnosis sis not and will not determine if it is a faulty injector and Kia will not participate in covering the other parts effected in the warranty. They offered a good grace assistance for $2,500 but offered a higher price on the parts saying they are parts covered in a factory manufacturing warranty. Regardless I never had symptoms of a worn fuel injector and believe the fuel injector is and was faulty and should be investigated further. The Kia managers believe this is normal for cars and that they will not comply with the warranty because of the injector causing the damage. The injector is not covered in the limited 100,000 mile warranty. This happened on Monday September 16, 2019 and was on a access road 5 miles away from my home. Currently the car is at the dealership while I wait for the next supervisor from Kia corporate call me in regards to the final offer on this repair.
- Trafford, PA, USA
During a routine oil change, my 2016 Kia Sorento had no oil on the dipstick. I've used synthetic oil with every change since buying the Sorento new. With the engine light showing up, the error code suggests replacing the intake camshaft position sensor. Symptoms that began with the check engine light included the following: Revving of rpms in park, slow acceleration when trying to cross a busy highway (it stalls), and climbing into 6K rpms when going up highway inclines (hills) at 55-60 mph. And there is still the question of "where did the oil go in the first place?" there is no external leak of engine oil.
- Cullman, AL, USA
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. When the vehicle was started, the contact noticed that the oil light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who changed the oil gaskets and advised the contact that the engine had a very high oil consumption. The contact also mentioned that the horn and the door locks failed when the vehicle was first purchased. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. The VIN was unavailable.
- Marquette, MI, USA
When trying to speed up to merge onto the highway my check engine light came on blinking and my car was chugging and would not go past 2 rpms. Second tine this has happened since bought my car at the beginning of August.
- Kaukauna, WI, USA
My temperature gauge began reading hot while driving. After replacing the thermostat and the etc sensor, my car was diagnosed as having a faulty cooling fan. This should not happen on a quality car that is just a few years old. I have been without a car for over a week while they track down the part and it is going to cost me over $500 to have fixed.
- Franklin, OH, USA
"takata recall" Kia Sorento 2016 model sx-AWD it started making weird noises from the engine and felt little thumps when I press on the accelerator and binding noise from the rear of the vehicle from the beginning of 2019. The car does not exceed over 90mph.
- Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to lokey Kia (27960 us-19, clearwater, fl 33761, (888) 458-9360) where it was diagnosed that the transmission and computer module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000. The VIN was not avaialble.
- Coral Springs, FL, USA
Takata recall while driving my car, it completely shut off in the middle of the road. It was almost like it was out of gas but had a full tank gas. We tested the battery also. It still failed to start back. It would not start back after multiple attempts and I had to get it towed yesterday. The mechanics I had it towed to says they think it may have something to do with the engine but are unsure.
- Spruce Pine, NC, USA
Driving on the highway and the car just shut down, no warning lights or odd sounds Kia dealer said they engine locked
- Chalfont, PA, USA
Vehicle started to make knocking sound when driving. They knocking got louder with acceleration. Took vehicle home and checked the engine and oil. Everything seemed ok but the knocking sound continued. Had vehicle towed to Kia dealership and found out a rod in the engine went out causing the entire engine to go out and fail on the vehicle. This was addressed in a previous recall regarding the ECU, but it did not prevent the engine from going out.
- Kingston, TN, USA
- Smorma, TN, USA