2017 Kia Sorento ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Headlights turn off at night when set in the auto position and turn on when the car is off

I was driving down the highway at night and out of nowhere my head lights turn off. Leaving me and my daughter driving blind going 60 mph. Prior to that on the same night, I picked her up from work I was turning out of the parking lot where she works and the same thing happened but very quickly corrected itself. The area was lit up so it wasn't as noticeable. This is a very dangerous problem.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at night, the headlights became inoperable. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact later received Kia Extended Warranty notification for a multi-function switch assembly failure. The local dealer and a second dealer, Kia Mall of Georgia (4180 Buford Dr, Buford, GA 30519) were contacted but informed the contact that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown.

Regularly the head light’s randomly turn off as well as the tail lights and break lights. This is absolutely terrifying! It has been happening for over a year and know one can fix it. This is a huge problem across 2017 & 2018 Sorrentos. There are multiple forms for it as well as mechanic discussion groups trying to solve the problem. This NEEDS to be a recall and fixed immediately before some gets hurt or worse!

Headlights turned off on 3 occasions in the last 2 weeks. first i was driving on an unlit section of a residential thoroughfare, dark night and suddenly, while both hands on steering wheel, not having had any interaction with dashboard/radio controls, smooth section of roads (no obvious bumps) the lights turned off. I immediately fiddled with the steering column mounted light control switch, which did not give me an immediate relief, flipped it to highbeams and they worked. 2nd and 3rd time (yesterday 9/8/23) while on semi lit highway they again shocked me by turning off, i again toggled the light switch, this time highbeam flip did not work, i was doing 65 on a 70 and having lights turn off, with no reason, scary. 80,000 miles. i have had the light switch in automode.

When I am driving the lights will shut off even when they are on auto. I have to pull over and turn the knob back and forth till they come back on. Sometimes they turn off when I use my blinker. The lights will also stay turned on even when the car is turned off and doors are locked.

Headlights shout off at night while vehicle is in motion. I have reported this issue to the manufacturer/dealership and was advised that vehicle needed to be brought in when issue is happening. Dealership is closed at night when issue occurs. No warning messages when lights shut off and first occurred 8/2021.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated upon activating the high beam headlights, both the internal and external lights failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the lights had to be manually turned off before returning to normal operation. The contact also mentioned that his wife had driven into a ditch and scratched the passenger’s side of the vehicle due to the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where he was given an estimate for a diagnostic test and repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,600. The VIN was not available.

Intermittently, while driving, day or night, the headlights will turn on or off for about 30 seconds despite the called for sensor setting. For example, if it is dark outside, the sensors will trigger to turn on the headlight and running lights and vise a versa, when the sensors detect sufficient light, the running and headlights will turn off. I have only noticed this happens when the headlights are in the "auto" mode position as I don't keep them any other way. I have only noticed it a couple times when the headlights and/or running lights will turn on during the day (bright enough not to trigger the sensor). HOWEVER, it has happened A LOT at night where the lights will turn OFF WHILE DRIVING which causes panic because I'm driving a death machine blindly (nothing bright to mistakenly trigger sensor/no overhead lighting or approaching vehicles, i.e. pitch black). I have not been able to recreate it on demand and it has an unknown, unbiased pattern. I would say that it occurs weekly, up to 2 times per week. I feel that it has happened more often a few seconds after straightening from a turn using the turning signal (but I always use my turning signal). The direction of turn doesn't factor, it'll do it turning left or right. There has been a couple times where I almost have driven off the road and/or hit unseen objects because of having no lights. This has happened enough at night when the lights unwantedly turn off, that I have learned to quickly switch the lights from "auto" to "on" and the lights react/will work and stay on when switched back to "auto". Mechanic unable to recreate issue. No warning lights, messages, or notice of problematic signals (other than the standard "lights on" notification. The attached picture was taken at 4:06 pm on July 29, 2022. It was a hot, sunny day and I was doing 53 on the highway (straight/no curves). My running lights turned on long enough for me to pull out my phone and take a picture.

While I was driving on the interstate my head lights and dashboard lights went out. My lights were in auto mode. The next morning my park lights were on with the light switch in auto mode.

When “auto” for headlights the lights won’t turn on at night time unless I manually switch it or the lifts will be on and then go off on their own during the night.

While in Auto Lights mode, the headlights will randomly turn off while driving. Also, while in auto mode, while the car is parked the lights will randomly turn on- causing the battery to die within a few days of the car not being used. It appears to be the Auto lights mode that causes the problem. This is extremely dangerous to this car and other cars on the road, for obvious reasons. Issue has been noted to Kia dealer 2-3 times over the last 2 years. They are not able to replicate the issue. No errors in the computer.

When driving down the the interstate at night, my headlights just turn off while driving. They are on Auto. This has happened multiple times while driving. I have not took it to be looked at yet. There is no warning light or anything else that lets you know that there is a malfunction. The lights just go off. For them to come back on, I have to manually turn it off and back on again, and they will come back on.

Headlights go off without warning while in auto driving at night . Has occurred 2 in the month of August 2022. Can be turned back on by twisting the control nob to on. Poses a dangerous situation on the dark county roads that we drive if not quick enough to manually turn back on.

Car lights come on when the car is not in use. Car sporadically does not start. New battery installed in February and car wont start in May.

The "auto" headlight function keeps malfunctioning. It will randomly shut off the headlights and not turn back on. Numerous forums have reported the issue. This is extremely dangerous when driving at night.

Left low beam bulb went out. The right side was rendered inoperable. Had no operational low beam, just parking and high beam lights. Safety issue, generated a dangerous and lot of irate drivers in on coming vehicle’s, with inability to lower the high beams. Once the left low beam bulb was replaced right side became operable full low beam was operating. Don’t know if this a fluke with this vehicle or engineering problem. Created a high stress situation!

WHEN THE CAR'S HEADLIGHT SWITCH IS SET TO 'AUTO', THE HEAD AND TAILLIGHTS WILL TURN ON AND OFF AT RANDOM, REGARDLESS OF LIGHTING CONDITIONS. THE LIGHTS RANDOMLY TURN ON WHILE THE CAR IS OFF AND STATIONARY AND HAS RESULTED IN A DRAINED BATTERY ON THREE OCCASIONS. . THE LIGHTS TURN ON AND THEN BACK OFF WHILE IN MOTION DURING DAYTIME DRIVING (AS INDICATED BY THE DASHBOARD INDICATOR). WHEN ON AND WHILE IN MOTION AT NIGHT, THE LIGHTS TURN OFF, RESULTING IN ZERO VISIBILITY WHILE DRIVING.

HEADLIGHTS INITIALLY WERE JUST FLICKERING ON OCCASION NOW HEADLIGHTS ARE TURNING OFF WHILE DRIVING. SOMETIMES THEY GO BACK ON AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T. WARNING ⚠️ COMES ON AND DASH DISPLAY ALSO INDICATES A HEADLAMP ISSUE. SOMETIMES TURNING THEM ON AND OFF HELPS.BEEN GRADUALLY GETTING WORSE. NOW ALL LIGHTS WILL NOT TURN ON INCLUDING BRIGHTS. HORN ALSO NOT WORKING. HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES AT NIGHT ON BUSY CITY STREETS.

WHILE IN THE AUTO POSITION AT RANDOM TIMES ALL MY EXTERIOR LIGHT WILL TURN OFF. I DRIVE A LOT FOR MY JOB. THE LAST TIME MY LIGHTS TURNED OUT WAS LAST NIGHT ON THE FREEWAY IN A RURAL AREA COMPLETE BLACK OUT. I QUICKLY TURNED THE SWITCH TO THE OFF POSITION AND THEN BACK TO AUTO. THIS HAS HAPPENED FEW TIME WITH IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS. A FEW MONTHS AFTER I PURCHASED THE CAR, I NOTICED THE TURN SIGNAL WOULD SWITCH TO THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AFTER I COMPLETED MY TURN. THE TURN SIGNAL SWITCH WOULD BE IN THE NEUTRAL POSITION WHEN THIS OCCURRED. THIS ALSO HAPPENS INTERMITTENTLY, WHILE DRIVING CITY OR HIGHWAY. I CAN NOT TURN IT OFF. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL IT STOPS ON ITS OWN, WHICH LUCKILY HAS JUST BEEN THE SAME LENGTH OF TIME AS A LANE CHANGE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 KIA SORENTO. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE HEADLAMPS FAILED TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WITH THE HEADLAMP SWITCH IN THE AUTO POSITION. THE TURN SIGNALS WERE ALSO INOPERABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT HEADLIGHT SUGGESTED MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE HEADLAMPS OPERATED AS DESIGNED WITH THE HEADLAMP SWITCH IN THE ON POSITION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO GREENWAY KIA WEST LOCATED AT (8701 E COLONIAL DR, ORLANDO, FL 32817) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND A CASE WAS OPENED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 38,000.

HEAD LIGHTS TURN OFF WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD