2025 KIA SORENTO Complaints

My wife was pulling in spot and car took off at high rate of speed and hit parking pole . Kia corporate after 2 months tells me nothing wrong with vehicle . i found on kia of Manahawkin they have a page on this issue forced acceleration and cause so how they can tell me no it doesn't happen also goggle searches show this a reported issue , and recently friend of my women in Florida her car did the same thing .

In February, on my car that I had had for six months with less than 3500 miles on it, I was driving and got a “driver assist warning“ on my car and I no longer have the ability to apply gas to the car. Thankfully, I was able to pull over safely. I restarted the car and everything was fine. I called the dealership and they said it is probably a bad sensor and I made an appointment to bring in my card that Friday. They said that this was due to probably a dirty sensor due to it being snowing out. The next day I took my car to a car wash to clean it to make sure that there was nothing messing with the sensor. As soon as I exited the car wash, I got the same quote, driver, warning, assist quote, warning on my dashboard and lost the ability to gas my car. I immediately took my car to the dealer where it stayed for 18 days. They said that they replaced the sensor which was causing the issue. I had my car back for a total of 10 days when the same thing happened to me. This time I was driving on a 55 mph road. Luckily, again I was able to pull over safely. I took my car straight to the dealer where they had it for 28 days. They got the corporate Kia mechanics involved. They tried a bunch of things to fix my car, and eventually said that the sensor malfunctioning was due to the oil being too high. This is on a car now with less than 38,000 miles which has never had service on it. My car has been in the shop for a total of 46 days of the last two months. The sensor just going out abruptly can cause a major accident. Since I have had this problem, I have heard of at least two other cars doing the exact same thing.

I purchased this vehicle from McGrath Kia in [XXX] . The fuel line recall kept me from picking up the car the day of purchase as was indented and stated. This was deception because they knew about the recall even know they waited for me to sign the contract before telling me. This was verified by another sales person at Kia. The current problem is electrical with the 12 volt battery discharging to zero at unusual and times with no particular reason such as lights or anything in the vehicle turned in the on position or running. The service coordinator told me the solution is to un hook the battery terminal when stopped. That is wildly unacceptable to have myself and family risk injury due to Kia's faulty electronics on a newly manufactured vehicle. This added risk of using the kia Sorento makes it unsafe. Multiple visits to the dealership resulted in nothing. They did not want me to bring the car in twice as they don't have a solution. This is becoming more frequent and the McGrath is openly stating I'm over 12 months time for lemon law and ill have to pay to fix my new car. Which has the "lifetime" warranty. Im stuck with a new car that's unsafe to drive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I am submitting this revised complaint to correct a prior report that was not accurately documented during a phone submission. Vehicle: 2025 Kia Sorento (259 miles at purchase) Within approximately two months of ownership (~3,000 miles), the vehicle began experiencing serious safety-related issues, including intermittent stalling, braking problems, and electrical malfunctions. Symptoms include: •Vehicle stalled and failed to restart, leaving me stranded •Radio/display screen went blank •Heating/climate system became nonfunctional •Vehicle would not shift into neutral •Persistent burning odor inside and outside the vehicle These issues raise concern about a potential fire risk. In May 2025, the vehicle was inspected by two separate dealerships, both of which reported no issues. The condition worsened, resulting in a complete failure requiring towing. A dealership later identified “electrical issues,” but key symptoms were not documented. A second dealership has since stated the vehicle is operating normally; I disagree, as I believe the root cause has not been resolved. Issues began at ~3,000 miles, with major failure at ~22,000 miles. I have contacted Kia and requested a buyback due to repeated failures and safety concerns. This request was denied twice; a goodwill credit was offered but not accepted. This complaint is submitted to report ongoing safety defects involving stalling, braking, electrical failure, and a potential fire risk.

The contact owns a 2025 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unexpectedly stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the braking system became inoperable and failed to function properly. Additionally, while the vehicle was parked, it failed to start and lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the electrical system had failed and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was then taken to another dealer, where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000.

Sunroof exploded when driving sounded like a shotgun. This is a known issue by kia.the glass blow upward.

I have a 2025 KIA Sorento Hybrid and several months a go Car play stoped working correctly If car developers like to replace the car stereo with Car Play or a new Tecnology they better make shore that the Tecnology is working correctly before they Install it in people vehicle don't let the consumer develop the product for Tham, Car play is not working, at times sounds stop playing ,navigation stop talking and there is no AI I'm a Uber Driver wen I"m in the car I need to concentrate on the road driving I should not trying to figure out how to fix the sound, or what is wrong with Car Play. I would like for Apple to make a Recall. Car Play is a very dangers issue that no one is been able to fix. Please I hope you take this in cosideration it's a Sefty issue. Mahalo

In December I submitted a complaint about the powertrain not knowing the extent of the problem. My 2025 Kia Sorento X-Line SX prestige with shy of 48000 miles had a catastrophic and potentially life threatening malfunction with the powertrain. The technicians revealed that the transmission housing actually exploded, launching shrapnel into the surrounding area. This had the potential to impact other drivers on the road, and had the blast gone in my direction it may have pierced the shielding and struck me or my passenger. It was far beyond a regular breakdown. The damage was so severe that while under warranty i still as of today 4/18/2026 do not have my vehicle back. They seem to be unable to fix the problem.

On March 13, 2026, Friday, at about 3:00 pm, was driving XXX on US XXX toward the XXX stop and go traffic backup for several miles. Sun was behind direction of traffic flow. Temperature was low-mid 50s and road was dry and no rain or snow. Winds were 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph. Road was 3 lanes in the east direction with one lane closed. Attempting to keep about a 3 foot distance from car in front. My was is a Kia 2025 Sorento PHEV model purchased in July 2024 and has had regular servicing. I was keeping a firm pressure on brake pedal to not allow car to roll into the car in front. Suddenly, the car surged forward into the other car. Keep both feet on the brake pedal to attempt to stop the car. Hit the other car and pushed it forward a foot or 2. The advertized FCA feature of the car appeared to have failed. It has stopped me in one prior situation. Damage to my Sorento is still be to determined. The car in front appears to have a body panel crease in the back tailgate. The damage appears to be at knee height. The car will be check out by KIA servicing this week (March 23rd, 2026). The car has several other quirks, but this is the most scary. Mileage is 9800. Most of my driving is main roadways = city streets, US and Interstates. No recalls seem to address this situation. However, may other quirks are also not addressed. Report was filled with Maryland State Police.

1/24/26 -- While driving ~25-30mph (~2 miles from start of trip) car produced “Engine Management System error” and within a minute or so “Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely” warning and went into electric only mode, limp mode. Turning off the car and turning back on temporarily enabled the gas engine to run. Dealer reviewed fault codes and stated vehicle was now running correctly. ~800 miles and less than 30days later the same problem occurred again. 2/17 – While driving ~30mph (~1mile from start of trip) the car produced a “Engine Management System error”. At this point I was approaching a traffic light and stopped at the red light. Decided to return home and attempted to turn right on red at the light. When I hit the gas to turn, the gas engine did not engage, the car limped forward a few feet in electric mode, and the car started beeping with the “Check Hybrid System. Stop Safely” warning. If I had less less space when turning right, or the car would have a moved a few feet farther, I would have been hit in the intersection by an oncoming car. Thankfully I had left a lot of space and my car did not pull that far into the intersection. I turned the car off, when I turned the car on again, the gas engine engaged, and I was able to slowly drive the 1 mile home. Car was then towed to the dealer 2/18 for repair. As of 3/17 dealer still has the vehicle (so do not have a second repair invoice) and waiting on an Customer Care escalation from KIA as dealer recalibrated the Hybrid module but can't recreate the issue after driving 400miles. This issue leaves the car in a limp mode with a significant chance of causing a accident, I was almost hit, when there is loss of ability to accelerate at any meaningful rate or drive any sustained distance.