2012 Kia Sorento UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THE PUSH BUTTON TO OPEN THE GAS TANK DOOR CONTINUOUSLY HAS PROBLEMS ACTIVATING TO OPEN THE DOOR. YOU HAVE TO PUSH THE BUTTON SEVERAL TIMES RIGOURSLY TO ENGAGE THE UNLOCK MECHANISM. THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. I'VE BEEN ADVISED BY OTHER SORENTO OWNERS THEY TOO ARE HAVING THIS ISSUE.
SUN ROOF SHATTERED
THE PANERAMIC SUNROOF SHATTERED WHILE DRIVING AT 60 MPH ON HIGHWAY IN VERY LIGHT TRAFFIC. NOTHING SEEMED TO STRIKE THE SUNROOF.
ON 06 APRIL 2018 AT 1743, MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR 2012 KIA SORENTO AND THE SUNROOF EXPLODED. AFTER FURTHER INVESTIGATION, THE VEHICLE'S GLASS WAS SPREAD ACROSS THE TOP OF THE VEHICLE. NO FOREIGN OBJECT, ROCK OR MAJOR TEMPERATURE CHANGE CREATED THE ACCIDENT AND THE VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING AT FIFTEEN (15) MILES PER HOUR.
WHILE DRIVING DOWN AN EXPRESSWAY AT APPROX. 45MPH, MY SUNROOF EXPLODED. GLASS WAS FORCED DOWN AND THE COVER SCREEN SAVED ME FROM THE DEBRIS COMING INTO THE CAR. THERE WAS NO OTHER TRAFFIC AROUND ME AND NO FOREIGN MATTER FOUND IN THE DEBRIS. THIS EVENT WAS EXTREMELY FRIGHTENING , AND I HAD MY MOTHER AND MY DAUGHTER IN THE VEHICLE WHEN IT HAPPENED. I MADE A POLICE REPORT OF THE EVENT AND I HAVE PICTURES OF THE DAMAGE.
1. A FEW MONTHS AGO I LOST POWER WHILE ENTERING THE HIGHWAY WAS NEARLY REAR ENDED 2. A FEW MONTHS AGO WHILE DRIVING THE CAR ON A HIGHWAY OR BASIC STREET IT WILL JERK THE RPM DROPS TO 0 AND WON'T ALLOW YOU TO ACCELERATE, SHUT THE CAR OFF TURN BACK ON ITS FINE THEN RANDOMLY HAPPENS AGAIN. THIS IS STILL HAPPENING. 3. ABOUT A MONTH AGOWHILE SITTING IDLE IN TRAFFIC THE CAR STALLED, TURNED THE IGNITION OFF THEN BACK ON AND IT STARTED BACK UP 4. YESTERDAY I PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE IT DOES NOT ENGAGE RIGHT AWAY AND WHEN IT DOES IT JERKS. NOW THE ENGINE LIGHT IS ON. I HAVE HAD MY CAR TO THE DEALER REGARDING THE ISSUES AND EVERY TIME THEY SAY THEY CAN'T DIAGNOSE IT BECAUSE THE ENGINE LIGHT WENT OUT AND THAT THEY TEST DROVE IT AND NOTHING WAS WRONG. THIS VEHICLE IS DANGEROUS TO MYSELF AND OTHERS TO DRIVE AND I'M ABOUT TO CONTACT THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU IF THIS DOES NOT GET RESOLVED. THERE IS A RECALL OUT ON THE YEAR MAKE AND MODEL OF MY VEHICLE BUT NOT ON MY "SPECIFIC" MOTOR. WELL IN TELLING YOU THERE'S A PROBLEM AND I'VE READ ABOUT OTHER KIA'S HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.
VEHICLE STALLS DURING OPERATION TRAVELING AROUND 15 MPH; HAPPENS FREQUENTLY ON FREEWAY AND HIGHWAY; HAPPENS AT RANDOM; VEHICLE STARTS IMMEDIATELY ON NEUTRAL; UNSAFE POTENTIAL COLLISION ON MAJOR FREEWAY AND HIGHWAY; CHILDREN IS TRANSPORTED IN THIS VEHICLE.
REAR TRUCK DOOR LIFT GATE SUPPORT, TAIL GATE SUPPORT. I WAS CLEANING OUT OUT OUR VEHICLE WHILE STATIONARY IN OUR DRIVEWAY WITH THE BACK DOOR OPEN, AND NEXT THING I KNEW HE DOOR HAD SLAMMED DOWN ON ME. ONE OF THE LIFT GATE SUPPORTS GATEWAY AND BLEW AND COLLAPSED ON TOP OF ME. I SUFFERED FROM A MAJOR HEADACHE AND SOME MINOR BACK PAIN. I'M GRATEFUL THIS WAS NOT MY CHILD WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN HURT WORSE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE.. I CONTACTED DEALERSHIP AND NO RECALL LISTED NOR COVERED WE HAD TO REPLACE AND REPAIR OURSELVES. WE PURCHURSED NEW ONES AND REPLACED TODAY WHEN WE RECEIVED THEM!
TRUCK STARTED MAKING A KNOCKING NOISE. TOOK IT TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND TO MY SURPRISED, WAS TOLD THAT I NEED AN ENGINE. IT WAS SHOCKING BECAUSE THERE WERE NO SIGNS PRIOR TO THE KNOCKING TO INDICATE A PROBLEM. NO LIGHTS ON THE PANEL LIT UP, NO OIL LEAKS OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE. THE MOST APPALLING THING IS THAT THEY QUOTED SEVERAL PRICES FOR REPLACING THE ENGINE? IT WAS NOTHING THAT I DID WRONG TO CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. IN RESEARCHING, I FOUND THAT SHAVINGS FROM THE ENGINE COULD CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. THIS IS A MANFACTURE DEFECT. MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING IT WHEN IT FINALLY STALLED. HE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK ONE YEAR AGO AND IS NOT ABLE TO PNYSICALL PUSH THE TRUCK OUT OF THE WAY OF TRAFFIC. FINALLY, HE WAS ABLE TO COAST IT OFF THE HIGHWAY. ALTHOUGH IT HAS ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES, IT WAS SERVICED REGULARLY AND SHOWED NO SIGNS OF A PROBLEM. IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM, IT WAS NOT CAUGHT OR IT WAS IGNORED DURING SERVICE APPOINTMENTS. WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE? I DO HAVE A LAWYER WAITING TO HELP ME WITH THIS PROBLEM. I WAS NOT GIVEN INFORMATION THAT SUPPORTED THE NEED OF A NEW ENGINE AT THE COST OF $8,000.00 WHICH IS MORE THAN THE VALUE OF THE TRUCK.
THE DOOR WILL OPEN FROM THE INSIDE BUT NOT FROM THE OUTSIDE. AFTER SPEAKING TO OTHERS I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THIS HAS BECOME A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE SORENTO.
WHEN DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS, ROUGH IDLING BETWEEN GEARS THE CAR STALLED AS I WAS DRIVING UNDER 30 MPH AND DASHBOARD LIGHTS ALL CAME ON, STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP, COULDN'T TURN ONTO SIDE STREET UNBEKNOWNST TO ME SO I WAS DRIVING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. WHEN IDLING AT A RED LIGHT, THE CAR STALLS AND ALL DASHBOARD LIGHTS TURN ON. VEHICLE WON'T MOVE AFTER STALLING. HAVE TO PUT IT IN PARK, SHUT VEHICLE OFF AND RESTART VEHICLE. BEEN TO DEALERSHIP TWICE FOR THIS, RAN DIAGNOSTICS, CAN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2012 Kia Sorento has 36 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.