2019 KIA SORENTO Complaints

2019 Kia sorento caught on fire while driving. Drivers behind my wife saw flames coming from under motor. They signaled her to pull over and she got out just in time before entire car went up in flames. We believe the fuel pump was faulty as entire motor was on fire.

While I was driving on the NJ Turnpike near Newark, NJ, I saw black smoke coming in the front windows that I had open about 3 inches each. I immediately pulled into the shoulder of the highway and turned the cars ignition off. By the time I got the car in Park and turned it off the entire front cabin of the car was so thick with smoke that I couldn’t see or breathe. I was able to get out and away from the vehicle just as it completely went up in flames. Two truck drivers stopped and emptied their fire extinguishers on the fire but it did not help at all. By this time the NJ State Police had arrived to help with traffic and they had me sit in the back of one of their vehicles away from the heavy smoke. Prior to seeing the smoke, I had no warning lights on my dashboard, the temperature of the car never rose, and there were no emergency messages whatsoever. There also had not been any work performed on the car for at least 3 weeks prior to fire. Had I not been in a location where there was an accessible shoulder I don’t know that I would have been able to get out in time to escape being overcome by the thick smoke. I have no idea what caused the smoke and ensuing fire and I also have no idea if anyone has inspected the vehicle since the fire. The insurance company is not paying anything because of a clause in my policy indicating they do not pay if the vehicle was being used to transport for money when the incident occurred. They also knew that I had a courier service and used this vehicle for personal and work use. When I told them I wanted an investigation to find out what happened and who is at fault (because it’s NOT me) I was told that they don’t have to release the vehicle for any investigation because they wouldn’t be paying on it anyway! I believe Kia is responsible for this and I want them held accountable. There will be a police incident report but I checked on it today and it still is not ready. The vehicle was towed to Moran Towing in Kearny, NJ.

The pearl paint is chipping off exposing the metal underneath. I’ve contacted the dealer in Clermont, Fl twice trying to receive help with no results. I’ve also contacted KIA corporate and have been told my 2019 is no longer covered for paint. I have 40,000 miles on it and paint should not be peeling off leaving metal exposed. Obviously something was not done correctly in the setting of the paint or an ingredient left out of the mixture. I am including an image.

The fuel system is faulty in that the cabin of my vehicle now smells like gas. The fumes gradually became stronger in smell. This is a huge safety concern in that it's impairing my way of driving. This put not just myself and my passengers but those on the road with me. Not to mention a fire hazard. I have gradually become I'll, major headaches, nasal/sinus pain, irritated throat and difficulty breathing, dizzy and nauseated. I'm on my way to 2nd ER visit in a span of 3weeks. Prior to smell I had notice a pull back in power. Feeling like the engine was lacking what it needed to run.

The Transmission for my 2019 Kia Sorento V6 AWD stumbles and hesitates when accelerating. It is a safety issue. When I attempt to accelerate the transmission does not engage for a second or two which is critical in normal driving. This hesitation could easily cause an accident. It is available for inspection upon request. I have reported to KIA dealers on multiple occasions and to KIA consumer affairs and they have performed two Technical Service Bulletins that did not correct the problem. The dealer reproduced the problem but indicate that it may be a design flaw by KIA but they do not have a fix at this time. There are no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to failure. The issue first appeared since the vehicle was purchased in 2018. There are numerous complaints for the same concern on the NHTSA -Power Train Problems for 2019 Kia Sorento.

Today, while driving on the road, the sun roof of the vehicle just exploded. Nothing was thrown into it nor was it caused by an object. It sounded as loud as a gun shot, and and it exploded into many pieces of glass. Because the shade was pulled up, these pieces did not fall over us, but if the shade has been uncovered, the glass would have fallen on the driver and passenger. As far as today we only called the insurance and went to a repair shop to get an estimate of the cost to repair. A friend of mine has a Telluride 2022 and the same thing happened to her last year, she just repaired it, but now I think it is very important to let you know what happened to both of us since she did not report the incident. Now , I am worried because my daughter is driving a Kia Sportage 2023. The loud sound can scare the driver very easily and cause an accident not to mention the glass falling on the driver.

I purchased my Kia Sorento in 2020. It was a used 2019 with 7,000 miles. I immediately noticed that it would squeak rather loud and bounce high when driving over very small humps on the roads. Being that I'm no mechanical savvy, I assumed this was normal for SUV's because I've driven sedans all my life. Anyways, I was informed of the issue when going to a tire repair shop asking why my back tires sounds so harsh when driving. I was told that there are waves in my tires due to the shocks. and that the shocks has had to have issues for a while to now change the formation of the tires. I have now read several Kia forums and there are lots of Kia Sorento owners who have suspension issues close or the same as mine. Another issue is the automatic emergency brake. I was unaware of this feature until one day having to make a sudden stop and the vehicle stopped and shut off on its own almost causing me to be hit in the rear. This event was very traumatizing. I googled this feature and thought that I had turned it off but I realize that I can't make it go away and it is a very dangerous feature to have. My vehicle does not have as much driving experience as I do and I am capable of controlling my vehicle to avoid an accident if I need to without the assistance of a computer which has almost caused nearly fatal accidents by immediate stops or shutting off the vehicle causing me to not be able to control the vehicle myself. Another defect is the powered trunk. Whether I open it from the button near the steering wheel or the button on the rear gate, the trunk will immediately close on its own after opening; sometimes closing down on the top of the head of my children or myself. I selected to disable the "smart" feature but it does not stop it. The last defect is electrical. I have replaced the same internal light near the rear view mirror, and it continues to go out. This is an indication of an electrical issue and with my Kia only having 54,000 miles, further action is needed.

when vehicle is started and put in drive, you go about 5-10 feet and the FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE ASSIST, warning lights come on dash. Bright orange triangle with a exclamation mark,& 2 orange cars crashing symbol,& middle display says FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE ASSIST(FCA)SYSTEM DISABLED. RADAD BLOCKED. And the warning lights remain on. I have taken to KIA East in Louisville, they say my vehicle is fine, no problems. My advisor even told me that they popped off the plastic bumper and removed the radar and cleaned it.(I was told that if they did that the radar would have to be recalibrated--and it was not). When I left the dealership the warning lights came on and I took it back in and they still tell me they worked on it and its fine. called Kia Consumer, they tell me to video and get it back in the shop that if its throwing codes there is no problem. I told her I don't feel comfortable trying to drive and video my dash board, but did have a passenger help with this task. Lights come on every time you start it and proceed forward. I also reported how sluggish on take off and how it does not want to speed up and almost get hit if you pullout in traffic and then how it lunges forward and the accelerates very hard. I feel this is a very unsafe vehicle and they are giving me the run around Kia Consumer telling me to take it to other kia dealerships for service that are miles away from me. the documentation from the dealership just says can't duplicate and no real written explanation of what was done to my vehicle. it took 3 months to get my vehicle even checked at the dealership. i even took my vehicle to a local body shop to make sure it had not been hit and it had not. Please help me get this taken care of.

The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that the front passenger side headlamp failed. The vehicle was taken to Carmax where the headlamp was replaced however, the front driver's side headlamp failed. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

The transmission is not shifting from first to second or third to fourth gear. RPMs jump between 4-5 and it won't accelerate. Dealership was able to replicate issue but no codes appeared during scan. They put in a ticket. It has stopped in traffic already. I was able to shut off and restart but this is dangerous.