2022 KIA SORENTO Complaints

Dear. NHTSA I owned a 2022 Kia Sorento and my vehicle had serious issues. I have attached Complaint Letter as a PDF file. Kindly review and advise your help. Thank you so much. Best regards, [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V703000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer; however, the contact was informed that the remedy was not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

There was a complete loss of motive power. Myself and my passenger were on a busy 5 lane road approaching a busy intersection when the check engine light came on as well as a "Stop Safely Immediately" message and an audible chime sound. Then the car lost power. I was in the middle lane and had no way nor time to pull over safely before the vehicle lost power. Thank goodness I was slowing down for a stop light. This was the first time I had received any warnings, messages or other symptoms. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. They tell me that the recall number 22V760 is not the reason for the incident, but they do not know what the problem is. They have now had my vehicle for 43 days and still do not know what is wrong with it. I just completed a letter to KIA Consumer affairs as a written demand for a refund. I am calling them and filing a complaint online tomorrow.

On January 4, 2023, the windshield cracked without any outside force (no rocks, vandalism, etc.) it began underneath the passenger wiper moved upward and curved toward the drivers side. As I drove the following days, the crack grew and eventually splintered in a third direction, also with no outside forces. The stress of the crack formed a bubble-like crack in the middle of where it splintered. By the time I was able to get it to the dealership, the bubble was more of a hole. It is no longer available for inspection because it is at the dealership to be repaired. It effected my visibility and with how quickly and easily it spread I felt I was in danger of the windshield cracking to the point of breaking out completely at any time which could have caused an accident. The dealership denied the defect claiming the hole that was produced where the crack splintered was the origin and was caused by a rock. I explained and provided an earlier photo showing the stress bubble, but they still denied the claim. It was inspected at the dealership but pictures are forwarded to an outside source who makes the decision whether it is a defect of damage. There were no warning signs this would happen, no objects hit my windshield, I saw it happen as I was driving. It has been raining steadily and I believe the defect is near the installation point of the wipers which caused the crack.

This safety issue involves the windshield wipers. It is available for inspection upon request but must be inspected when it is snowing or freezing rain. When there is inclement weather such as temperatures dropping to create ice or wet and slushy snow, the wipers can not function correctly and you can then not see out your windshield and must drive with them stuck across the face of your windshield. The channel that holds the wipers fills with ice easily. Since the wipers on the 2022 Kia Sorento must retract under the hood during normal operation, they are not able to if ice or slush has accumulated in that channel. Therefore instead, they go up and down only about 5 inches. Even if you turn them off to try to clear and break up the ice in the channel, you can not do so as they are still moving. The only way to stop them from making this 5 inch movement is to shut the vehicle off. Warming up the Sorento does not prevent this from happening. Our safety was put at risk because every time this happens, we are unable to see out the windshield clearly at all. We must pull off the road and manually wipe the windshield off which is dangerous and could cause an accident. Someone could run into us outside trying to clear the windshield, rear end our vehicle putting their lives at risk as well. The dealer today could not replicate this action, the formation of this ice, as it was above freezing. We were advised to record the action (or lack thereof) with our phone video next time it happened. The manufacturer did not see this happen. There were no warning lights. We are hesitant to drive our new AWD vehicle in the snow as we could be put in a dangerous situation. This is the whole reason we bought an AWD vehicle! So we could get safely around town in the winter. We are also afraid of the wiper motor burning out or having a shortened life span.

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, he heard abnormal sounds coming from the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer where a software upgrade on the transmission was performed. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience the failure. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V760000 (Power Train). The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and had the recall repair completed. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer, but the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact continued to experience the failure. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

There was a complete loss of motive power. Myself and my passenger were on a busy 5 lane road approaching a busy intersection when the check engine light came on as well as a "stop safely immediately" message and an audible chime sound. Then the car lost power. I was in the middle lane and had no way nor time to pull over safely. Thank goodness I was slowing down for a stop light. This was the first time I had received any warnings, messages or other symptoms. The vehicle was towed into my KIA Dealership. They have had the car since December 6th and have not been able to tell me what is wrong. Before I received my recall letter, I had researched where other people have had the same issue and that KIA was recalling over 65,000 Kia's for this problem. KIA has run diagnostics on the vehicle but claims it is not due to this issue. Then on December 27th I received a safety recall for this very same issue stating that this notice applies to my vehicle and had my VIN number on it. The dealership has been waiting for KIA to diagnose the problem and have no idea when I can have my vehicle back. After demanding a loaner vehicle from KIA, two weeks later, I was finally given a Hertz rental car that is not comparable to my vehicle and which I have to pay $14.99 daily for insurance that KIA would not pay for.

The contact owns a 2022 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled inadvertently. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and continued driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where an unknown software update was completed; however, the failure reoccurred while driving 20 MPH. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the same software update was completed; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V760000 (Power Train), which she related to the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was unknown.

The emergency break goes on even when I’m driving straight in the freeway with no cars close to me. It’s terrifying. Has occurred multiple times

Multiple times I have experienced weirdness with the Transmission in my 2022 Sorento PHEV. One specific situation has happened to me multiple times and is a safety risk. Occasionally while stopped at a red light or stop sign with a reasonable incline it seems the electric motor fails to engage and it never switches to the ICE engine either. Step by step 1 - Stopped at Stop Sign or Red light 2- Release Brake an Hit Gas 3- Vehicle does not move forward no matter how hard you hit the gas (Doesnt seem to engage electric or traditional engine) 4 - Instead the vehicle seems like its in neutral and starts rolling backwards 5 - I slam on the brakes, and then try the gas again and everything is fine. I took it to the Anderson, SC kia dealer and they just told me they couldn't replicate it. It has happened to me or my wife probably 4 times over the last year. Just wanted to report it because it feels like a good chance this is eventually going to cause a wreck.