2021 KIA SORENTO Complaints

View complaints related to 2021 KIA SORENTO. The complaints found here are submitted by actual consumers with first hand experience. There are more than 260 complaints submitted for the 2021 KIA SORENTO. You can submit your own complaint to the NHTSA or call the Hotline, Monday-Friday 8am to 8pm at (888) 327-4236, TTY: (800) 424-9153.

  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Rancho Cucamonga, CA

    while driving car dropped to 20 miles pe hour pressed gas harder and rpm stayed at 2 and car failed to accelerate, Loss of driving power. It intermittently will drop rpms and lose speed with no warning no light or indicators. This is the 2nd transmission the original failed on 09/11/21 with only 12,000 miles on the car and had to be replaced. this transmission only has 14, 00 miles on it and is a replacement from the Valley Kia dealer. This car is unsafe to drive you dont know if you press the gas pedal it will actually accelerate or stall.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - HOUSTON, TX

    I have a 2021 SX with 6000 miles sitting at the dealership with a failing transmission. yesterday September 2, 2022, my vehicle lost 100% of power and I was left at a traffic light with no power. The dashboard said, "Stop safely immediately". The engine light came on and thank God I was not on the highway. Got towing service to Kia Dealer in Houston. It is a very dangerous situation for any driver to lose all power suddenly. I went to the internet and this is a common problem with this model. It is related to the DCT transmission.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO HYBRID
    - Santa Clarita, CA

    i have 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid, which a regular message stating that it needs to refill inverter coolant fluid keeps coming up, even though the car coolants level is full. This is not a new problem for the all the Kia users that have this model. Also, Kia and their network of dealerships have known of this problem for over 1 yr and their standard answer is" we know its a software program, and will get back to you once the software code is fixed". Basically, they are dismissing the complaints and issues from the car owners. Also, this is poses a security and safety concern, since the warning light/message takes over the entire center console/display. Other relevant safety and security warnings/functionality is obstructed by it. Please force Kia to make this a mandatory recall for all Hybrid owners. There are thousands of customers impacted.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO HYBRID
    - New Braunfels, TX

    Refil inverter fluid warning light is on constant, this doesn’t allow the driver to access any digital information while vehicle is on. The vehicle is also having issues with the entertainment consul, Bluetooth connection issues along with the ability to access apple car play. Dealership says it’s Kia and nothing is being done. Various forums with others having similar issues.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Leola, PA

    Vehicle is not shifting properly. The vehicle is hesitating on shifting up and have a very hard down shift. When vehicle was brand new this was mentioned to the dealer and they said it was "normal" for these "new" transmissions. This issue has now since gotten way worse. When sitting at a stop sign and needing to accelerate to get out onto the roadway and wheel is slightly turned on "dry" roads the traction control light will come on and vehicle will not accelerate. This is a very BIG safety concern as myself and my kids use this car daily! This problem has been made aware to dealer but only to be told its "NORMAL" this is not normal its a big risk of possibly getting myself or others into an accident. The vehicle is going to be relooked at with another dealer 8/30/22 as it has gotten worse and im concerned of the safety of myself that this vehicle may malfunction causing as accident. I have also looked at other reports of these 2021 Sorentos and seeing a pattern with the transmission issues of them.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Layton, UT

    Car fails to shift gears. Will not allow to switch to manual and get stuck in first gear. Car has less than 12,000 miles

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Mesa, AZ

    Vehicle went into limp mode suddenly while driving on the road and would only go 10 mph. We were able to pull vehicle aside and within a minute the car would not move. Check engine light came on with a warning message to pull vehicle to the side of the road. We were able to drive the vehicle home 7 miles after waiting about 1 hour after the issue and the next day drove it to the dealership. Car has been at dealership since 8/8/22 and service advisor and Kia engineer have yet to figure out what went wrong. We have no eta as of today when we will get car back. This issue is concerning as the vehicle came to a complete stop with traffic around us.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Lawrenceburg, IN

    On my way to the grocery store less than a mile from my home an alarm and dash alert popped up "SAFELY STOP IMMEDIATELY." The vehicle was stuck in first gear and the rpms revved up. Almost immediately I lost power and it was stuck in neutral even though it was in drive. Then the engine shut down. When I restarted it I could not move. This is extremely dangerous and should never happen. The vehicle has 17,802 miles on it and now my wife and I are afraid to drive it. After sitting for about 20 minutes I was able to start it and return home. It has not moved since. We called the dealer and they were backed up for over a month on service. This is a new vehicle? Upon investigating this issue I found just on one website over 43 reports of the same incident. One person said that a dealership has an entire row of these vehicles with the same problem and transmissions are on backorder. It's been 3 days and still waiting for a reply from my local dealer. This is not safe!

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - Chapel Hill, NY

    1) Automatic Braking: Twice, Car has auto braked in the middle of a 4-way intersection when a car was stopping at the light. Car has auto braked in the middle of the 3rd lane (fast lane) on the highway during rain. Car has auto braked multiple times when reversing out of a parking spot. In one of those incidents, I have to drive forward in order for the car to move; turning it off and on does not reset the vehicle. The auto-braking while driving especially on the highway causing rapid decceleration could result in another vehicle rear-ending me. 2) MANY transmission issues: jerky transmission, car moving backwards while in drive (usually uphill, doesn't have to be steep), car stalling in park or when going up steep hills, traction control kicking on and engine downshifting (even though the roads were dry).

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2021 KIA SORENTO
    - mckinney, TX

    I have owned this vehicle for about 1 yr & 7 months now. it's been great but all of a sudden last Friday, the dashboard started producing an engine overheat warning with an alarm sound when I was driving under normal conditions. So then I pulled out of the highway and went to the nearest parking lot, and checked the engine. The coolant color was normal & max level. no sign of leaking. Then we resumed driving and nothing happened. later on the way back home... the same thing happened. The alarm sounded for a while and the temperature indicator reached red at the max level then it went away. it was already too late for us to reach out to either dealership or KIA, so I was going to get in touch later. The next day afternoon, I got a diagnostic appointment for the coming Wednesday with the nearest KIA dealership and went out to take care of a few other stuff. The alarm sound with the temperature gauge reaching the red max level happened again after merging into the highway, and it went off after a while. This occurrence has happened 3 times already and I'm a bit worried that it may happen again and something else may happen even though the engine and other fluid levels were fine based on the visual inspection. Not sure if this is fixable...

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE