2008 KIA SORENTO Complaints

I ALMOST KILLED EVERYONE IN MY CAR, ALONG WITH OTHERS ON THE HIGHWAY. I PULLED OUT ONTO THE HIGHWAY AND HAD NO POWER TO MY VEHICLE. I COULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL AND HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE SHOULDER TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF TRAFFIC. I NOTICED MY ESC OFF LIGHT HAD COME ON SOMEHOW. I TURNED MY VEHICLE OFF AND TURNED IT BACK ON AND THE LIGHT DISAPPEARED AND I HAD POWER AGAIN. SEVERAL TIMES SINCE THEN THE LIGHT WILL RANDOMLY COME ON AND I WILL LOSE POWER. I CALLED A COUPLE MECHANIC SHOPS BUT WHEN I TRY TO TAKE IT IN THE LIGHT DOESN'T COME ON. I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAUSES THIS TO HAPPEN BUT I SEE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THE ISSUE. *JB

I WAS TRAVELING DOWN THE ROAD WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE VEHICLE DECELERATED QUICKLY AND THE ESC LIGHT CAME ON. I COASTED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURNED THE ENGINE OFF. SAT THERE A FEW MINUTES THEN TURNED VEHICLE BACK ON AND THE POWER CAME BACK ON. I HAVE SINCE EXPERIENCED THIS ISSUE SEVERAL TIMES AND HAVE NOW THE SAME ISSUE HOWEVER THE LIGHT IS NOT GOING OFF.

MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND ESC OFF LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER DRIVING AROUND FOR THE DAY IT WENT OFF. THEN LAST NIGHT SEPT. 2 2013 THEY BOTH CAME ON AGAIN. *JB

DRIVING TO WORK ON THE HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH, I LOST SIGNIFICANT POWER AND WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE PAST 40 MPH ON A LOCAL HIGHWAY. I WAS ABLE TO SLOWLY DRIVE TO A AUTO CENTER WHERE I WAS TOLD MY TRANSFER CASE ASSEMBLY AND ACCELERATOR PEDAL ASSEMBLY WAS MALFUNCTIONING, CAUSING ME TO LOSE POWER AND CAUSING MY CAR TO SHIFT ERRATICALLY WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE OWNED THIS CAR FOR LESS THAN 11 MONTHS.*JB

WE WERE RETURNING HOME FROM THE STORE SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF AND THE KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT . TWO HOURS LATER WE WERE ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY. IF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EMERGENCY WE WOULD HAVE BEEN DELAYED BECAUSE WE COULD NOT GET THE KEY OUT. *JS

I HAVE A 2008 KIA SORENTO THAT HAS HAD THE FRONT ROTORS REPLACED THREE TIMES DUE TO WARPING. I AM ABOUT TO REPLACE THEM FOR THE FOURTH TIME AT 79,000 MILES. I BELIEVE THAT THE BRAKES ON THIS SUV ARE INADEQUATE FOR THIS VEHICLE. KIA HAS INFORMED ME THAT SINCE THE SUV IS OUT OF WARRANTY IT DOES NOT FEEL IT HAS ANY RESPONSIBILITY. I BELIEVE THAT SINCE THIS ROTOR WARPING PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED SO MANY TIMES THAT IT IS A DESIGN ISSUE WITH THE BRAKES AND SHOULD BE COVERED BY A RECALL. I HOPE ENOUGH CONSUMERS? COMPLAIN SO THAT THE NTSB DOES AN INVESTIGATION. *TT

MY 2008 KIA HAS HAD A CONTINUING PROBLEM WITH THE ESC OFF LIGHT COMING ON INTERMITTENTLY. CAUSING FAILURE TO ACCELERATE PROPERLY. DEALER RAN DIAGNOSTICS. REPLACED AN ITEM AND SAID THAT SHOULD TAKE CARE OF IT. WITHIN THREE WEEKS IT STARTED AGAIN. THE LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND I WOULD LOSE POWER. THE DEALER STATED IT WASN'T RELATED BUT I NEVER LOST POWER UNTIL THE LIGHT WOULD COME ON. THEY CHECKED IT AGAIN AND COULDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEM. SERVICE TECH SAID HE COULDN'T "RECREATE" THE ISSUE. THE LIGHT WAS ON WHEN HE TESTED IT, BUT I TOOK IT TOO ANOTHER LICENSED MECHANIC SHOP AND THEY COULD TELL THAT THERE WAS NO ACCELERATION POWER. ANY ONE WHO DROVE THE CAR COULD TELL THAT IT WOULDN'T ACCELERATE. NOW THE ESC OFF LIGHT THEN STAYS ON CONSTANTLY. NO ACCELERATION. WILL NOT ALLOW 4 WHEEL ACCESS TO OPERATE. TRANSMISSION SHIFTS FROM 1ST TO 5TH TOO RAPIDLY NOT ALLOWING THE ACCELERATION. I'M OBVIOUSLY NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM THAT THE SERVICE TECH'S CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT. *TR

CURRENT AND ONGOING PROBLEMS BEGAN JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER RECEIVING A NOTICE OF RECALL FROM KIA REGARDING THE FAULTY/DEFECTIVE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. THE SWITCH WAS FAULTY AND THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH NO BRAKE LIGHTS COMING ON UPON BRAKING AS WELL AS "ESC OFF" AND "CHECK ENGINE" MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHTS APPEARING AND STAYING ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THE VEHICLE WAS PROMPTLY TAKEN TO A KIA DEALERSHIP WHERE THE RECALL SERVICE WAS PERFORMED. REPLACEMENT OF A FAILED BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH UNDER THE RECALL CAMPAIGN DID NOT ELIMINATE THE PROBLEMS/CODES THAT BEGAN WHEN THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH FAILED. SHORTLY AFTER THE REPAIR (LESS THAN A MONTH AFTERWARD AND VERY FEW MILES DRIVEN) THE "ESC OFF" AND "CHECK ENGINE" MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHTS APPEARED, STAYED, THEN CAME ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY WITH ENGINE NOT GOING OVER PAST APPROXIMATELY 2,000 RPMS RESULTING IN UNPREDICTABLE VEHICLE BEHAVIOR ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MERGING ONTO A HIGHWAY/INTERSTATE OR GETTING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THE SERVICE ADVISORS GAVE ASSURANCES THAT THE NEW BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH IS NOT DEFECTIVE. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE SERVICE ADVISORS/TECHNICIANS COULD NOT SPECIFICALLY DIAGNOSE WHAT NEEDS REPLACEMENT TO ULTIMATELY SOLVE THIS ONGOING PROBLEM OR IF IT IS RELATED TO THE FAILURE OF THE OF THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH. *TR

BOUGHT THE VEHICLE BRAND NEW AND NOTICED YOU HAVE TO DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL ALL THE WAY DOWN IN ORDER FOR THE VEHICLE TO SLOW DOWN AND STOP. SPOKE TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID ALL KIA SORENTO MODELS ARE LIKE THIS, YOU HAVE TO PRESS HARD DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL FOR VEHICLE TO SLOW DOWN AND FINALLY STOP AND IT TAKES A WHILE FOR IT TO RESPOND. HAVING OWNED SEVERAL VEHICLES AND DRIVING FOR 15 YEARS, I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE BRAKING SYSTEM BUT I JUST DEALT WITH IT ACCEPTING THE ANSWER THAT KIA SORENTO BRAKES WERE NOT GOING TO BE AS GOOD AS OTHER BRAND BRAKES (HONDA, TOYOTA, MAZDA). I TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE AND ALWAYS ASKED THE ENGINEERS IF THEY COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BRAKES AND HOW LONG IT TAKES TO BRAKE (BRAKING DISTANCE). I FELT UNSAFE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE AND ULTIMATELY SOLD AFTER REPLACE BRAKES AND SHOE PADS. THE PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT WAS ALSO FAULTY WHEN AN ADULT WOULD BE SITTING THERE AND IT WAS NOT WORKING. THERE WAS ALSO A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THAT WOULD RANDOMLY COME ON AS WELL AS THE TPMS (TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM). I TOOK IT TO THE MECHANICS AND KIA DEALERSHIP AND THEY WOULD JUST TURN OFF THE LIGHTS BUT COULDN'T EXPLAIN A REASON FOR THESE TURNING ON AS THE VEHICLE TIRES AND ENGINE WERE OK. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE BRAKING SYSTEM WAS ALLOWED TO PASS ON THIS VEHICLE WHEN IT WAS NOT ABLE TO STOP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IN A ACCEPTABLE TIME. I HOPE KIA ISSUES A RECALL ON 2008 KIA SORENTO LX MODELS TO REPLACE OR FIX THE BRAKING ISSUES BECAUSE IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO BE DRIVING ON THE ROAD AND NOT BEING ABLE TO BRAKE PROPERLY. *TR

WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON LOCAL AND HIGHWAYS, THE BRAKE DOES NOT GET ACTIVATED UNLESS YOU PRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL ALL THE WAY DOWN WHICH ENGAGES THE VEHICLE IN REDUCING SPEED BUT THIS TAKES TOO LONG. THERE IS NO REDUCTION OF SPEED IF YOU PRESS A LITTLE OR IN INCREMENTS ON THE BRAKE PEDAL, THE ONLY WAY THE VEHICLE BRAKES IS YOU HARD PRESS YOUR FOOT DOWN ON THE PEDAL AND THAT TAKES TOO LONG TO MAKE IT EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. WHEN I NEED TO COME TO A SUDDEN STOP THE BRAKES DO NOT ENGAGE PROPERLY WITH DELAY RESPONSE AND I AM PRESSING HARD ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE BRAKE PAD. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO DIFFERENT MECHANICS AND EVEN REPLACED BRAKE SHOES AND BRAKE PADS, HOWEVER THIS PROBLEM CONTINUES WITH VEHICLE TAKING TOO LONG TO BRAKE AND NOT BRAKING PROPERLY WAS A PROBLEM SINCE I BOUGHT THE VEHICLE. I HAVE OWNED SEVERAL VEHICLES IN PAST AND AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH CAR BRAKING SYSTEMS AND THE RESPONSE TIMES NEEDED TO BRAKE. THE BRAKING SYSTEM ON THIS VEHICLE IS FAULTY AND IS UNSAFE AND DOES NOT MEET STANDARDS TO APPROVE THIS VEHICLE FOR SAFE DRIVING. *TR