7.2

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
7,880 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.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2018 Kia Sorento:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

Get free help with your lemon!
close ad
problem #29

Jun 242024

Sorento

  • miles
On multiple occasions our headlights will turn on by themselves without the car being on: for example while we are sleeping in the middle of the night we get a call from our neighbor that our car lights are on. Also while driving at night they will turn off by themselves. On all occasions the light are in AUTO mode, meaning the lights should turn on/off themselves when necessary but only when the key is in the car and the car is

- Olney, MD, USA

problem #28

Mar 152024

Sorento

  • miles
The passenger side headlight has been reinstalled 8 times. The dealership has replaced it and we have replaced it several times. The light goes out constantly and is costing me a fortune to replace as well as possible traffic tickets. The headlights turn off also when in automatic mode. Please recall this vehicle and have this safety and expensive issue fixed. This issue has been going on several months now. The dealership does not provide a permanent solution. This is a defect.

- Covington , GA, USA

problem #27

Jan 052024

Sorento

  • miles
My lights keep going out as I`m driving at night time so i can not go any where at night time I was almost hit head on this the second time this happened when I called Kia 3 times now the dealer i purchased it at they keep giving me a run around I have the extended warranty also electrical warranty which i paid extra for they still want to tell me these things aren`t covered.My vehicale has not had any of the software updates. I have tried calling a Kia dealer closer to my home I get told i have to go were i purchased my Kia

- Newport, NY, USA

problem #26

Mar 172023

Sorento

  • miles
When signaling a left turn, my right signal flashes before flashing the left signal.

- Twin Falls, ID, USA

problem #25

Nov 152023

Sorento

  • miles
When using my blinkers my headlights go out while the lights are in Auto mode. This is very dangerous as my headlights have gone out several times while driving in the dark.

- Genoa City, WI, USA

problem #24

Sep 062023

Sorento

  • miles
Lights go off unexpectedly while driving at night. The rear break light has been changed 3 times and continues to work intermittently. Lights come on after the car has parked and turned off.

- Marietta, GA, USA

problem #23

Oct 222023

Sorento

  • miles
Headlights will shutoff completely when driving at night in auto mode after using the turn signal. Then turn back on a.couple of seconds later. Which has created some dangerous situations.

- Tappan, NY, USA

problem #22

Oct 022023

Sorento

  • miles
My lights turn on and off randomly while driving or while parked in my driveway hours after parking while my car is in auto lights

- Stafford, VA, USA

problem #21

Aug 242023

Sorento

  • miles
While driving at night, the headlights turn off by themselves randomly. The lights need to be turned to off and back on to get them to turn back on. Driving with no lights in an area with no streetlamps obviously could result in an accident. It has not yet been inspected by anyone yet, but a check is scheduled. There were no warning lamps, messages, etc. when the lights turned off. Not a safety concern, but seems related: On another occasion, the car had been parked and locked for hours with the engine off, and the parking lights turned on and remained on until manually shut to off. They did not turn off by a remote unlock and lock.

- Round Rock, TX, USA

problem #20

Aug 182023

Sorento

  • miles
When the heads lights are in Auto Mode and driving at night, the head lights will just go out. This has happened 4 times now and is very dangerous. I need KIA to fix this problem. I have a 2018 KIA Sorento and I've seen where others have had the same problem with 2017 & 2018 Sorento's. The lights going out at night while my wife is driving is extremely dangerous. This just happens with no warning. Please Fix.

- Fredericksburg, VA, USA

problem #19

Mar 012023

Sorento

  • miles
Headlight automatic sensor is failing. When lights are switched to auto mode, the headlights will randomly turn on and off while driving, regardless of outside lighting conditions. Alternatively, the lights will come on without prompting when the car is turned off & parked in a driveway at night.

- Denham Springs, LA, USA

problem #18

Feb 212023

Sorento 6-cyl

  • miles
The headlights turn off randomly when in Auto mode. There are a lot of other people reporting the same issue. https://sorentoforums.com/threads/lights-shutting-off-in-auto-mode.16/

- Raleigh, NC, USA

problem #17

Nov 282022

Sorento

  • miles
While driving at night with headlights set to "auto" the car will (without moving the physical switch) change the headlights to "off" for approximately 2 seconds, after which it will change them back to "auto". This causes a momentary loss of vision to the driver. The drivers display shows the change from "auto" to "off" as though the switch had been turned. I am unaware if this also happens in lighted conditions, as It is only noticable when you are driving in the dark. It appears as though this has happened to multiple drivers of different vehicles

- Geneva, IL, USA

problem #16

Oct 092022

Sorento

  • miles
Headlights and daytime running lights turn on and off at random

- Eastlake, OH, USA

problem #15

Oct 042022

Sorento

  • miles
10/5/2022 Driving down Texas Interstate 20 last night, just east of Willow Park, Texas the headlights turned off. I switched the lights from the auto position to the On and the lights turned back on. Wife informed me this has happened to her previously as well. Driving down the road at 70 MPH and everything goes dark is a bit frighting. From my search, this has become a common issue with our KIA model. The issue happens randomly so difficult to pinpoint the issue.

- Benbrook, TX, USA

problem #14

Sep 222022

Sorento

  • miles
Driving down a dark highway tonight and headlights just randomly went out completely. Had to switch them on and off several times to get them back on. Safety risk is obvious for myself and other cars on the road. Has not been inspected, just happened tonight. I have noticed my lights cutting on and off during the day randomly lately but I just assumed it was the auto mode picking up shady areas but it appears to all be related based on the thread I just read online and sounds like an issue with this year Sorento.

- Asheboro, NC, USA

problem #13

Sep 142022

Sorento

  • miles
In the last month, I've started noticing issues with my headlights/icons. My lights are always set to auto in my 2018 kia sorento. First issue: when driving during the day, the dashboard will show the icon that appears when you turn on the lights manually. I'm assuming the lights actually come on as well, but it's daylight so I can't actually see if this is happening or not. Once when this happened, I was sitting at a red light with my turn signal on, and I was able to get a picture of the manual icon light showing and my switch was still in the auto position. This has happened about half a dozen times. 3 weeks ago I woke up to my lights being on, even though the switch was still set to auto. The back red lights were on and the front lights were on. I know the lights were out the night before and I double checked that the switch was as I left it in the auto position. Tonight 9/14 and last weekend, my lights turned off for a few seconds while driving at night. The lights had been on for a while and it was completely dark outside so there was no way they should've turned off. I was in an unlit area both times without any head on traffic, so it was extremely obvious that the lights went out and very dangerous not being able to see in front of me. It's also dangerous for any approaching traffic to not be able to see a vehicle at night until they get close enough to hit it. I've attached a picture of the auto setting when the icon light indicated it was set to manual during the day. I've also attached another picture of my vehicle the way I found it one morning when the lights were set to auto and they came on at some point in the middle of the night. I had to unlock the vehicle, and flip the light switch off, then back to auto, for them to go off. This instance my vehicle was not even on, and it was daylight outside.

- Hermitage, TN, USA

problem #12

Aug 302022

Sorento

  • miles
While vehicle is set to AUTO on the headlights, they will randomly shut off while driving.

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #11

Jun 182022

Sorento

  • miles
Last year my headlights melted & had to be ordered & replace because the melted in their encasements. I have problems with headlights again & have reported it to my Kia dealership. I-??ve been driving sometimes with one headlight or none or using my brights to drive at night. I currently have no headlights again & dealership has had to order parts for them again. It-??s been more than two months already. It-??s unsafe for me to drive at night with NO Headlights!!

- Chicago , IL, USA

problem #10

Jul 072022

Sorento

  • miles
The headlights will occasionally turn off at night while driving. We have to then turn them back on by touching the light switch. The are set on AUTO always and should not go out AT NIGHT, especially while driving. They should only go out when exiting the car after engine shut off. The parking lights (front and back) occasionally do not turn off when leaving the car, after engine shut off. They are also on auto and should go off so the battery does not drain. A few times they have even come on when we were not in the care and we discovered them on after a period of time when returning to the car. The dealer could NOT find a problem and did nothing to resolve it.

- Palmetto Bay, FL, USA

Read the next 9 complaints »