10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
3,644 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.

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problem #20

Jul 212024

Sorento

  • miles
Automatic stop start admission. Was turning right on a green light. The vehicle stalled while trying to take the turn. All the dash lights flickered and the dashboard made a buzzing sound. Then vehicle then shut off, while trying to take the turn. There was 4 people in the vehicle 2 of them small children. We almost got hit on the left side of the vehicle. Because the light that was green had turned red. This is the fourth time the vehicle had failed us. By shutting off while driving. We having taken the vehicle in 2 times to be inspected by Kia, but have been told there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. But we are still having issues. There is no warning signs that the vehicle is going to shut off. It shows it after the fact.

- Dubuque, IA, USA

problem #19

May 252024

Sorento

  • 42,000 miles
The contact owned a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked overnight and the following morning it was driven a short distance to pick up their children, upon arrival the vehicle was parked in the garage and all the occupants exited, it caught on fire. No injuries were sustained. There was no property damage to the residence. No warning light had previously been illuminated. The contact stated a few weeks prior that the vehicle had new parts installed for routine maintenance. The local fire department arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire. The contact was advised by the fire department and insurance provider that the fire origin was related to the wiring behind the odometer. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer where it was later taken to the insurance provider. The failure was being investigated by the manufacturer and insurance provider. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 42,000.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #18

Mar 252024

Sorento

  • miles
The car just randomly turns off mid drive, several times a week. Even in drive the engine turns off and says I need to put it in park and return on the whole car, very unsafe.

- Southaven, MS, USA

problem #17

Nov 222022

Sorento

  • miles
While driving, all lights on the dash will light up and the gas pedal loses power. The only way to move the car to the side of the road out of danger is by coasting to the shoulder which can be very unsafe on the interstate. The car remains running with no power until it is cut off and turned back on. This has happened four times with the dealership being unable to specifically identify and fix the problem.

- Columbia, SC, USA

problem #16

Dec 082023

Sorento

  • miles
My 2022 KIA Sorrento PHEV periodically gives a "Check Hybrid System, Stop Safely" emergency warning. When this happens the vehicle will not accelerate and can only be limped to a stop. This has occurred 4 times in 18 months. In three instances the vehicle was limped to a safe stop but on the other occasion it left us stranded in an intersection. This problem creates imminent danger and potential peril. KIA maintenance looked at the vehicle after the last two events and reported that they can't do anything because there aren't any recorded fault codes. From a technical perspective, it appears that an electronic problem occurs where the hybrid control either fails to recognize the low battery status or fails to command the engine to run when needed. Once stopped I can see that the hybrid electric battery charge has depleted and the engine failed to start. Cycling power off and on a couple of times appears to reset the circuitry allowing the engine to restart and the hybrid battery to begin recharging. Unfortunately, the KIA OBD is not detecting this particular failure.

- Cornwall On Hudson, NY, USA

problem #15

Dec 092023

Sorento

  • miles
I was driving when the ESC electronic stability control kept going on. Then all of a sudden the pedal and brake would start to shake and not work. Randomly driving when light would go on and then the pedal and brake would shake. I had to pull over. Light would go on and off. Roads were dry normal no issues.

- Port St Lucie, FL, USA

problem #14

Aug 012023

Sorento

  • miles
I was driving the vehicle on a highway when the car shut off. No electrical or steering. It was very difficult to get the vehicle safely off the highway. Before the vehicle shut off there was an alarm and a message on the control panel to shift to neutral and restart the car. There were 2 incidents before this one. Both didn't have an alarm. The vehicle shut off with no warning.

- Idaho Falls, ID, USA

problem #13

Nov 012022

Sorento

  • miles
Warning lights go crazy. Power steering goes out for several seconds. Rpms and speedometer go nuts or lay on zero. Sometimes I can-??t shift into drive for several minutes. sometimes it sounds and feels like (under the pedal, in acceleration) it-??s losing power for a few seconds, almost like a slipping feeling but in power. The clock and profiles have reset overnight before where I had to reset clock and presets. Kia has had my car for many weeks already in January at just 2-3 thousand miles I-??d say (I bought it brand new in October 2022). My dash cam was plugged in. They tried so many things-??the -??remedy-?? was to not use the dash cam a while to see if it happens again. After a few months, I plugged it back in. Issues returned. Took back to Kia who said they-??ll need it to do it again without dash cam in so I unplugged it that night. Issue has returned at least three times since then. I-??ve sent video to Kia and i guess I-??m still waiting for them to get an extra loaner because they-??ll need to keep it-??when I went up there a couple weeks ago, I was told they didn-??t have any loaners available so they would call me when they did.

- Jefferson City, MO, USA

problem #12

Jul 192023

Sorento

  • miles
My raise and lower Windows don't work some times including the unlock and loock Windows. I get my house and want closed the car but I can rise the Windows, and try many times after a couple hours and could. I was far for the kia service and I dont have time at the moment to go, went al make the appointment the said that the car need to have the fail in the moment if the not fail at the moment the can do anything.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #11

Apr 292023

Sorento

  • miles
Vehicle unexpectedly shuts down while driving posing an immediate danger as there was no warning on four different occasions

- Springfield, VA, USA

problem #10

Jan 312023

Sorento

  • miles
The Sorento went in for three recalls on 1/24/2023 at 6970 miles. These were tow hitch recall ( no tow hitch on the vehicle). SC250 8 speed electrical oil pump and SC252 B HECU inspection. One week later, (and after approx. 35 miles), while driving all warning lights started flashing and the engine lost power. Luckily I was in an area where I could stop and when the car was in neutral with all lights warning still flashing the engine ran irregularly between 1000 and 1500 revs. When I tried to put in back in gear and drive it just limped at a about 5 miles per hour and when you depressed the accelerator nothing happened. I switched car off and waited 10 seconds and restarted it. This time the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) stayed on. I then switched it off again and waited 30 minutes. This time all lights went out and the engine operated normally. I immediately phone the dealer who did the recalls and who then examined the car. The error codes they found were P065312 (engine) C1161386 Brake) C136081 C174181 C161381 (Front Radar) C161386 C164286 (Front View camera) C169381111111 (Rear corner radar). They redid the SC 250 update and test drove the vehicle to see if the problem reoccurred. It did not and the vehicle was returned to me on 2/3/2023. With the sudden loss in engine power this could have been very serious had it happened on an expressway. My wife is now too scared to drive the vehicle. I did phone KIA Customer service to report the issue and their file number is 15300218

- Venice , FL, USA

problem #9

Jan 302023

Sorento

  • 17,000 miles
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH up an incline in inclement weather, the vehicle rolled backward. The contact stated that the AWD failed to lock the wheels. The contact then stated that all four tires started to spin while in AWD. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to turn on the heat, she smelled a burning odor through the vents. The contact also stated that there was an alert indicating to activate the heat in hybrid mode; however, the vent was blowing cold air. Additionally, the contact stated that previously the sensor malfunction warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

- Port Huron, MI, USA

problem #8

Sep 012022

Sorento

  • 13,882 miles
The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was jerking and was losing motive power while at a stop light. The vehicle was able to restart, and no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where an unknown software update was completed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the contact stated that the failure recurred and the gauges on the instrument panel were failing to display and that the auto START/STOP function and the downhill brake control were activating and deactivating independently while driving on flat surfaces. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The contact then stated that when she was shifting the gear into drive(D) the vehicle started reversing, and while shifting into park(P), the vehicle moved forward. Additionally, the contact stated two unknown warning lights had illuminated intermittently and that while driving at approximately 50 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance Emergency Automatic Braking activated independently and caused the vehicle to swerve. The vehicle was then taken to Kia of Valencia (24095 Creekside Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91355) where it was diagnosed that the Lo-Jack system needed to be removed; however, after the removal the contact stated that the failure recurred. The contact was awaiting another service appointment for additional diagnostic test and repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 13,882.

- Palmdale, CA, USA

problem #7

Dec 202022

Sorento

  • miles
Dear. NHTSA Good morning, Yesterday I filed a complaint regarding 2022 Kia Sorento Car Problems regarding recall issues. This morning, I received a response from NHTSA saying that NHTSA cannot help with this matter. My complaint is about serious car issues which concernts 2 recall issues. Kia America took my car for repair on 12/20/22 and today is 01/27/23 Until today, Kia American is not responding about my car. Kindly re-review my complaint and help advise. My case information is as below. Request #[XXX] Re: Kia Customer Care Case#[XXX] Thank you for your help. Best regards, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #6

Oct 012022

Sorento

  • miles
Vehicle's rpm goes up but the vehicle does not move and then goes back into shift or shifts into neutral without manually doing it. It stalls and refusing to shift while driving, coasting or at stoplight/sign. It unpredictable when it's going to happen, Have almost gotten hit from being since it looks like I'm going and the car is not. No lights come on and I have reached out to numerous Kia services and keep getting runaround. I was told that there was no recall and looked it up and there is. Power window and reverse camera continue to not function correctly either. This care is dangerous to drive!

- Round Rock, TX, USA

problem #5

Nov 112022

Sorento 4-cyl

  • miles
I was pulling out to cross a highway with my 13 year old daughter in the passenger seat when my brand new 2022 Kia Sorento completely lost power and we were almost T-boned by a white Ford F150 (I have all of this drivers info if needed). The screens went black like it simply shut off & I had no control of the vehicle whatsoever. I quite literally could not move my vehicle. We sat helpless, my daughter screaming bloody murder, watching a truck barrel towards us. By what could only be the grace of god, this man came to a screeching hault mere inches from my daughters windows. The car started back up like it never happened & I was able to drive almost 10 miles homes before suddenly losing power again, only this time, the screens turned black for a moment and it started back up on its own. I do not trust this car & I will be taking it back to the dealership today to demand a different car or a refund. This vehicle WILL CAUSE A FATAL ACCIDENT.

- Flower Mound, TX, USA

problem #4

Aug 102022

Sorento

  • miles
Smell something burning like electric

- Waterford, NY, USA

problem #3

Aug 162022

Sorento

  • miles
Last Tuesday, August 16, I parked in the driveway at around 8 PM. After about 2 hours I heard car alarm. I looked out window and saw flames engulfing rear of vehicle. Called 911. Firefighters extinguished flames. Fire crew stated fire was likely electrical and started near tow hitch receptacle. Tow hitch was installed by Kia dealer weeks after I bought car; they told me it was an OEM hitch. I'd never used the hitch until the day of the fire. That afternoon I bought a Kuuat bicycle rack with lights. Bike store installed the rack and plugged it into the hitch receptacle. I did errands for several hours with nothing appearing amiss. Then parked, and fire started hours later. No injuries and no other damage. Looks like total loss, but State Farm hasn't confirmed yet.

- Frisco, TX, USA

problem #2

Jun 062022

Sorento

  • miles
6700 miles and vehicle began exhibiting Check ESC, Check Engine, Emergency Brake lights. Daily driven, vehicle does not sit for more than a day at a time. 7092 miles now, local dealership inspection lead to concluding that a rodent has chewed through wires and must be repaired. Claims KIA warranty does not cover such damage. Of the SEVERAL (6+) vehicle I have owned/financed/driven over the last 3 years, this is the first and only incident involving a wiring harness chewed. NOT HAPPY! Quick research shows there's a bit of a problem with KIA manufactured vehicle including Soy-Based wire shielding.

- Yorktown, IN, USA

problem #1

May 082022

Sorento

  • miles
While driving at highway speed the vehicle lost power and all warning lights on the dash came on. Fortunately the traffic was light and I was able to get off the highway. It was early Sunday morning but if I had been in heavy traffic or construction it could have been much worse. The vehicle died and wouldn't start again. The vehicle repeated this 3 other times. It went to three separate dealerships for repair but none could find a problem. They saw all the codes for past problems but nothing was current so couldn't be diagnosed. Twice it wouldn't start in the morning. Once it died while idling. The dealership said the solution was to wait a few hours to see if it would reset. Kia was incapable of fixing the problem or even helping with my expenses. The car was only a few weeks old.

- Austin, TX, USA