10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 8
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 4 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 15,211 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 have a 2019 Kia Sorento which I bought new and changed the oil every 5-8k miles. I was told this was fine with newer vehicles that use synthetic oil. I started having issues with my car burning oil really fast around 60-70k miles. The oil would be dark and low without any warning light, well before my window sticker indicated I should need service. The shop where I take my car warned me this was happening with Kia engines. They also shared with my that my dashboard light was not coming on because it had not been "re set." I have always had a problem with the oil light coming on when I don't need oil and it not coming on when I do. I had my oil changed and was back after 3k miles because my engine was dry. A week later I stopped for gas on my way home from work at 1am, and its a good thing I checked my oil because it was dry. I have young children I drive around town daily. This is terrifying for me- not knowing if my engine could blow up any time, without warning. So I took my car to Kia where they started an oil consumption test. Which was time consuming and stressful to deal with. I have a maintenance gap that took place during Covid. Likely because my father in law changed my oil. I am hoping we can get receipts for this or apparently I am screwed, but this was 3 years ago! :( On top of it, the back of my white car is now grey because of all of the oil I am burning. Which explains the awful smell that fills my home when I open the garage door with my car running. That really can't be good. This has been a nightmare and its only the beginning for me. Kia needs to step up and take responsibility for their faulty engines. Stop making it so complicated for customers to get the quality service they deserve. I should not be fighting for them to fix an issue that has come highly complained about.
- El Cajon, CA, USA
We were driving home Saturday and our 2019 Kia Sorento EX V6, 3.3L engine with 24000 miles, just stopped running. We got the car pulled over and noticed smoke coming out of the hood. The tow truck towed it to the dealership: seized engine. We are the second owners of this vehicle, we purchased it from a Honda dealership 20K miles on it and have not had one moment's trouble with it until this happened. We have had regular maintenance done, etc. So now I have a vehicle that I owe several thousands of dollars on that is completely useless.
- Belflower, CA, USA
Engine burns too much oil
- Leesburg, FL, USA
This Type of vehicle has a Recall for Oil Pressure Sensor Switch. I Contact Dealer prior my Warranty Covers. But they keep denying the Repairs. Saying tis types of works its not cover on this Warranty. This Vehicle its a Recall for this Oil Pressure Sensor Switch. The Dealer Kia Dont Want to work with the Client other than offering you. A Trade for a new Vehicle Not A Good Bussiness from Kia. Very Dissapointed
- Orlando, FL, USA
Oil consumption, car seizes, loses power and stalls when at 65 to 70 mph on highway, almost caused two accidents in which i was able to avoid, both times my children were in the vehicle.spoke with kia as well and they stated they were unable to help with this issue and only suggested us to go to a dealership.We have taken the car to the dealership and to auto shop 3 times in the past 6 months no resolve.Just got an oil change again and did oil consumption test (result was.8 oil burned at 1,000 miles),now 2 weeks later no oil in car as oil light came on after it was filled back up at the oil consumption test, engine is faulty and burns oil at alarming rates.
- Trenton, OH, USA
Recently the 2019 Kia Sorento 3.3L V6 has had an intermittent Engine Oil Pressure Light. It will sometimes come on at low idle but not all the time. We did find a leak at the oil filter housing and repaired that, which did not solve the light issue. The vehicle has oil in it, thus not the problem. The vehicle was Manufactured in June of 2018 and there was a recall on the exact issue just prior to this for 2018's. Given the manufacture date and the fact this issue was not discovered until AFTER the vehicle were produced, I feel that given the timing it would be fair to say this vehicle would fall into the recall. I did have an independent shop diagnose this as a possible electrical short or part issue. I have spoken to Kia and they have provided no assistance on this.
- Colage, WI, USA
The vehicle (90k miles) has a check oil light on. When I took it to the dealer, they diagnosed the issue as a faulty oil pressure sensor (see attachment #1). The model year warranty is 10yr/100k for engine/powertrain, I was informed that since I am a second owner that they will only honor a 5yr/60k warranty. I then looked to see if there was an extended warranty on this component and there is on the nhtsa.gov site. A letter from Kia dated 4/6/2022 (WTY026) (attachment #2). Attached for you convenience shows an extension of the warranty of this component to 15yr/150k. The letter includes my vehicles make and model, but uses the model year 2014-2018 with a manufacturing date of 12/17/2012 - 3/7/2018. My vehicle was manufactured on 3/2/18 from the VIN plate attached to the vehicle (attachment #3). The dealership also refused to cover the warranty based on this letter because of the model year. My issue is this model year uses the same engine and components and was manufactured before the cut-off of the extended warranty. I would like to see the extended warranty extended to cover further model years as the component is still causing the same safety issue
- Elmira, NY, USA
The engine blew up. I have all of my oil change receipts and gave them to West Herr Kia, and per Kia West Herr, Kia denied covering the blown engine because the piston went through the engine with great force. This happened at approximately 110,000 miles. West Herr Kia quoted 10,400 to replace the engine. Please let me know if you would like copies of the oil changes. I won't be able to upload all.of them.
- Pavilion, NY, USA
This Engine is the Lambda II 3.3 Cylinder and it has been using a quart of oil every 400 miles. The oil light went on while my wife went to Mayo clinic in Minnesota for [XXX] and she had to pull over and put more oil in while on the side of the road. Kia dealership looked at it and said they could do an oil consumption test but that KIA would not pay for a new engine since at 96000 miles, it is out of warranty (second owner). This issue appeared suddenly and is getting worse. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Chicago, IL, USA
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was taken to a dealer four times where an unknown diagnosis was provided and the vehicle was repaired four times with unknown parts, but the failure persisted. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle jolted forward, shuddered, and lost motive power. The check engine warning light was flashing. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the cylinder #2 valve was burned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was being repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.
- Festus, MO, USA
I have been without transportation for 3 months now and I-??m about to lose my Job
- Birmingham, AL, USA
My car has been in recall with Kia motors and nothing has been changed or done
- Birmingham, AL, USA
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken for an oil change and the oil warning light illuminated immediately after the oil change was performed. The vehicle was returned to the mechanic who diagnosed that oil was unclean. The mechanic informed the contact that the failure had caused the air conditioning to fail. The mechanic informed the contact that there were metal shavings found in the oil. The oil was flushed and replaced. The contact was referred to the dealer. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the repair was not covered under recall or warranty. The manufacturer had not been made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 149,000.
- Las Vegas, NV, USA
The Oil Pressure sensor was lighting up on the Dash indicating Low Oil pressure when the engine was running under 1500 RPM. Was replaced and Same condition appeared within hours leaving the dealership. KIA USA was no help in resolving the issue. Technician noted that there was no Sludge or any reason for the issue. I have seen many reported issues with the same result on line
- Blue Point, NY, USA
Fuel pump malfunction. It is available for inspection. My safety was put at risk and others because the car stalled abruptly while driving and would not accelerate. Yes the dealer was able to recognize fuel pump issue. No other symptoms.
- Atlanta, GA, USA
Engined failed in the middle of the highway at 100,800 miles. Engine has had horrible oil consumption issues for a long time, despite regular oil changes and checking the oil levels. KIA already has a 150k class action settlement for engine failure due to connecting rod bearing failure, but have denied warranty and wanted out of pocket $7600 for full engine replacement.
- Round Hill, VA, USA
My engine was replaced and the fuel line was reported "mangled" by Kia of Coatesville where I took my car in after an engine replacement. One in which emissions codes were still going off. The car still smelled like fuel and it was then found that the fuel pump was leaking. To further this when we got the car back, the csr still smelled like fuel. The car was yet again taken in and found to have a crack in the fuel rail.
- Philadelphia, PA, USA
While driving on a highway my engine failed causing me to have to pull over into the shoulder. I was told there was a defect in oil consumption.
- Monroeville, NJ, USA
Codes P1326 and P000B showing up. Vehicle will not go over 2000 RPM and 60MPH. When you try to accelerate it stalls and jumps. Was almost rear ended. Kia has had vehicle for the over a week and says it will be at least another week before they can even diagnose and let me know if we need a new engine- another shop already said we would need a new engine. No warning prior to stalling, check engine light immediately came on as soon as we couldn-??t accelerate.
- Humboldt, TN, USA
- Shelby, NC, USA