16 complaints reported

2019 Kia Sorento POWER TRAIN,ENGINE

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
16
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Feb 2026

A failing alternator caused me to take my kia into a mechanic for OEM replacement. The mechanic informed me that the engine rattles. I got to talking with the mechanic and told him that my car has been experiencing high oil consumption with no 'low oil' warning light on the dash and ive checked my oil periodically between changes and have found the dip stick bone dry multiple times. A year later, my alternator failed AGAIN and was replaced with another OEM part. The same mechanic told me that the engine is still rattling (i hadnt gotten it fixed/diagnosed because i am low income) and that he found out there had been a recall for Kia Sotento engines with my vehicle date range. Upon research, I find thousands of people on different platforms are also experiencing high oil consumption and there was actually a recall. When I checked my VIN, my vehicle was NOT part of the recall. There seems to be a high number of consumers who have the SAME issue, but are also NOT included in the original recall and we are all being told that unless we pay for a new engine out of pocket, there's NOTHING that can be done. High oil consumption with NO warning light is DANGEROUS. How is it possible that only HALF of the vehicles with the SAME defect are eligible for a recall/repair and the rest of us are S.O.L? I am the second owner of this vehicle and purchased from a used lot, however Kia knew about this defect before I purchased the vehicle from the used lot. The used car dealership no longer exists so I can't even ask them if Kia made them aware (which they potentially did not since my VIN isn't considered eligible anyways) This issue needs to be rectified for the thousands of consumers/customers that are experiencing this problem and I strongly suggest a new investigation be conducted for the remaining vehicles that were manufactured in the same time frame as the vehicles that ARE covered. My vehicle has only 90K miles on it!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2025
Dec 2025

Engine has a leak, the engine oil sensor was defected ,front axel leak and needs replacement

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2025
Nov 2025

2019 Kia sorento with the 2.4 is consuming so much oil and is very noisy. I just changed the oil 4k miles ago and the dipstick doesn’t show any oil. Dealer says it’s normal. There is clearly a problem with these motors. The Kia dealership doesn’t want to figure it out unless they’re getting paid a ridiculous amount of money. Kia should take care of this and pay the bill. They basically said to drive it until it dies and maybe the motor will get replaced. So basically my family and I have to drive this thing and hopefully we don’t get hurt if it seizes up. They want to charge me for an oil change, oil consumption test and an 800 cleaner for a maybe temporary fix. I don’t have a date when this started because it’s been so long with getting the run around. Kia is avoiding our problems when we spend so much money.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2019
Sep 2025

This has to do with your investigation into the oil pan caps cracking. I had my vehicle serviced 6 months ago and KIA of York PA required me to pay for replacement. Over $150 to correct this issue that seems to be a defect.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2025
Aug 2025

Car suffered catastrophic internal engine failure due to rod bearings. Began having problems with engine stuttering then knocking July 2025. Car was taken to local mechanic stated that the engine failed. Followed up with local Kia dealer and they verified that the engine had indeed failed. Car is in my possession and available for inspection. My safety and the safety of other drivers was compromised in that all engine systems failed rendering me incapable of driving vehicle and needing to push the car manually. Dealer has reproduced and confirmed the engine failure. Car inspected by dealership only. No warning lights came on. The only lights that have EVER come on in my vehicle are the low tire pressure sensor and the scheduled maintenance light. NEITHER of these sensors came on during these events.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2025
Aug 2025

Purchased this vehicle in June 17 2025 from a used car dealer, as i was driving from time to time, i noticed that the vehecle would hesatate, and at times would stall, i had the spark plugs and coild replaced along with a new high pressure fuel pump, it still hesatates when pulling out into traffic, from a stop, this places the vehicle in a very dangerous position in that it can be broadsided, or another form of collision with on comming traffic, I looked on line on various sites and there are quite a number of kias with this issue, some contacted the mfg and were told that it is withing the 8 speed transmission, something about the servers inside it, this appears to be an issue with several year models, and the mfg does not repair or replace the defective part, so i am quite sure they are awar of it, i am not aware of any loss of life for this priblem, i have also seen that by placing the selective system out of eco, economy or comfort mode into ( sport ) mode that it does not do it as often, but at time does, this mode also has a determental effect on millage. i am sure that many KIS SORENTO owners have the same issue and shoudl be fixed under a nationwide recall, ASAP before anyone is hurt or killed like stalling out when pulling out into highway traffic.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2025
Jul 2025

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

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2024
Apr 2025

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact pulled over to the right side of the road and waited for several minutes before the vehicle started working as intended. The check engine warning light was illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced, and that the transmission fluid was burnt. The contact had experienced the failure on several occasions. The transmission was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified on the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 71,682.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2025
Jul 2024

I was driving and car lost power, couldn’t drive anymore

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2024
May 2023

I was told by the dealer, that we had to have it dropped off at {400 miles from home}, that the oil drain plug fell out and the engine seized. there are are no previous warning lights no temperature rise the car just stalls, then the warning lights for engine and oil come and by this time your engine is dead. Thank God we where stuck in traffic. Otherwise at cruising speed this could have been a very catastrophic event with the possibility of lose of life.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2023
Jan 2023

Traveling out of town on the highway from Pennsylvania to Virginia in June 2022 and our 2019 Kia Sorrento started shaking at the steering wheel and lost complete power in the engine. I was unable to accelerate with busy highway traffice behind me. I barely made it to th shoulder of the road without being rear ended with my wife and two children in the car. The forst thing I check is engine oil and it was bone dry. We just had it serviced in May at Sipala Kia before we left for our trip. I limped to a small service station in Virginia where he plugged into it but was unale to diagnose. He has us towed to Charlie O'Baugh Kia for repairs. We had this Kia Sorrento to two of our local dealers, Sipala Kia of West Chester and Scott Kia of Springfield, PA for oil leak or oil consumption but both dealers kept telling me nothing wa wrong. In addition to regualar oil and filter change I continue to check the engine oil on a regualr basis where it seems to be buring engine oil at a higher than normal rate.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2022
Jul 2020

LIKE MANY OTHERS, MY 2019 KIA SORENTO V6 AWD STUMBLES, HESITATES AND JERKS WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP. DOES IT MORE PRONOUNCED WHEN THE VEHICLE IS COLD. HAD IT TO THE LOCAL KIA DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID IT IS A PROBLEM THAT KIA IS AWARE OF AND "THEY" WOULD NOTIFY EFFECTED CUSTOMERS WHEN THEY HAVE A FIX. REALLY! IT HAS BEEN 2 YEARS AND THEY STILL DON'T HAVE A SOLUTION?

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2020
Jun 2020

STUMBLES HORRIBLY THROUGH THE LOW GEARS DURING ACCELERATION UNTIL HITTING ~45-50MPH ON COLD START-UP (AFTER SITTING SEVERAL HOURS OR OVERNIGHT). AFTER ENGINE WARMUP THE EFFECT BEGINS TO MODERATE, THOUGH IT REMAINS PRESENT AT ALL TIMES. WORSE IN ECO AND COMFORT DRIVE MODES. GOING UP HILL THE CAR ACCELERATES FASTER WHICH LURCHES THE CAR FORWARD AND IS VERY SCARY. SOUNDS LIKE A MISFIRE WHEN I START THE CAR THIS HAPPENS IN THE CITY/TOWN AND SPEEDING UP TO GET ON THE INTERSTATE. *TR

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2020
Apr 2020

PURCHASED VEHICLE NEW WITH 12 MILES ON IT BACK SEPT. 2019. I NOTICED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THAT IT FEELS LIKE THE CAR IS LURCHING FORWARD, OR SKIPPING LIKE WHEN I ACCELERATE. I TOOK TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THEM CHECK IT OUT. BEFORE I COULD GET IT INTO SERVICE DEPT. TECH TOLD ME THAT THEY ALL DO IT. WITH THE NEW SPORT, ECO, COMFORT AND IT IS TRYING TO ADJUST TO YOUR DRIVING HABITS. IT IS STILL DOING IT. THE OTHER DAY, IT LUNGED FORWARD LIKE IT WASN'T GOING TO STOP WHEN I HAD MY FOOT ON BRAKES. I AM TAKING BACK TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT AGAIN. WILL POST UPDATE. I PERSONALLY THING KIA NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE PROBLEM.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2019
Apr 2020

WHEN PULLING OUT ONTO THE ROAD PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR THE VEHICLE WONT ACCELERATE ,PUSHING DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR ANOTHER 1/8 OF AN INCH AND THE VEHICLE WILL TAKE OFF VERY FAST, ALSO IT FEELS LIKE A MISFIRE AT SLOW SPEEDS.IT HAPPENS ALWAYS.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2020
Aug 2018

CAR HAS PROBLEM WHEN DRIVING IN ECONO MODE. WILL HESITATE WHEN GIVEN GAS IN MORNING AND AT TIMES WHEN PULLING OUT IN TRAFFIC. NOTE NEVER INFORMED ABOUT THE PROBLEM BEFORE LEASING OF CAR. TOLD BY SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED. MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR OTHER DRIVERS OR ACCIDENTS. NOTE BY MILEAGE WAS NEVER TEST DRIVEN AFTER SO CALLED FIX.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2019 KIA SORENTO, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2018

Trend Over Time

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Quick Summary

The 2019 Kia Sorento has 16 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.