2017 KIA SORENTO Complaints

I left my home in Northern California and drove my 2017 KIA Sorento EX V6 AWD to work. No one was with me in the vehicle. There seemed to be a rattling sound in the engine when I started and drove the vehicle. There was no illuminated light on the dashboard to indicate a specific issue. I was planning to drop off the vehicle at the KIA Service Center-Roseville Automall after work. I just got off the freeway, when the Kia slowed down by itself. I was able to pull over to the right shoulder of the freeway and the KIA just completely stopped with faint sounds coming from the engine. I turned the car off. I stayed in the car and was about to call my auto insurance company when I smelled smoke. I stepped out, checked the Kia from outside, saw something dripping under the front of the car, and started to catch fire. I immediately stepped far from it and called 911. The fire got bigger and just burned the whole front. We had the KIA Sorento serviced in December 2021 for a leaky oil switch despite timely maintenance at the KIA Service Center through the years. The maintenance guy said we did not have to pay to resolve the leaky oil issue because of a recall warranty. We brought the KIA again for a regular maintenance service and brake pad repairs on 4/2/2022. Later on, we got a letter from the KIA Headquarters dated 4/7/2022 regarding 2014-2018 MY KIA Sorento 3.3 L Vehicle Oil Pressure Switch Leaking New Vehicle Limited Warranty Extension. Somewhere in the letter stated, “If oil is NOT leaking from the engine or the Engine Oil Pressure Warning Light DOES NOT remain illuminated after the engine is turned ON, you DO NOT need to bring your vehicle to a Kia dealership for the purpose of this warranty extension.” I thought the vehicle was in the clear already since it got serviced for the leaky oil in 12/2021 and completed its regular maintenance in 4/2022. Proof of service records,vehicle photos, KIA’s extended warranty letter for recall are all available.

My husband and I were driving through a busy section of town and all of a sudden our suv completely lost power, dying on the side of the road. We never had a check engine light or anything come on. When we had it towed to the dealership we were informed our engine had locked up. Apparently there was a product upgrade that should have alerted us that our engine was going out, but we were not notified by Kia of the knock system upgrade. Nor were we informed that, as the second owners of the vehicle, in order to receive such notifications from Kia we needed to contact them and let them know we were the new owners and share our contact information. However, if Kia had classified it as a recall on the warning system, we would have been notified through our registration with the BMV. The dealership did share that this particular engine in a lot of Kia’s models have locked up suddenly similarly to ours. Luckily we were able to get our vehicle stopped right before the intersection, but did end up blocking a lane of traffic until the tow truck came. Kia also refuses to replace our engine because we did not get the knock system upgrade even though we were never notified.

I am requesting an investigation of a defect involving the oil pressure switch in my iKia Sorento vehicle engine. The oil pressure switch, a device which monitors engine oil pressure and illuminates a warning light when oil pressure is lost, is defective The defect results in an engine oil leak. The oil loss occurs without warning to the driver eventually leading to an engine stall and loss of motive power condition. This was brought to the attention of the technician that serviced my car several times. I was instructed to add some oil if I noticed it, but don’t fill it up. I was informed to let them take care of the liquid levels when I brought it in for the oil changes.

When steering the vehicle at speeds between 40 and 70 mph the steering will feel sticky or get a notch feel to it. When making minor adjustments to the wheel to keep the vehicle going straight there will be resistance, then when enough force has been applied it will move. This sudden movement of the wheel causes the vehicle to over steer on the direction the steering wheel was being moved. This can result in an overcompensation the other direction. Although these are small movements the driving experience is unsettling for the driver, and for others around. The dealership is aware of the issue, confirmed it, and applied a software fix to the vehicle per KIA TSB 060 Rev 5. This has made the issue intermittent at best, instead of correcting it. Upon my second visit the dealership they reset the vehicle computer and I believe applied the software again. Upon testing they could not recreate the issue. On the third visit they were not able to recreate the issue yet again. After every visit I could feel the vehicle exhibiting the problem on the drive home - it's is a 2.5 hour drive to the dealership. The vehicle currently has less than 20K and this issue has been occurring since about 8K miles on the odometer. There has been no indicators or trouble codes, only the driving experience. The first occurrence was during the winter and more pronounced. The sticky feeling and the way that affected my steering on icy roads was somewhat scary. KIA's TSB states if the vehicle fails the recommended course is replacement of steering components. After multiple visits I have found a serious reluctance for them to do anything more than software fixes. I simply want a safe vehicle to transport my loved ones in.

Car oil had not been changed but a month or two ago and only went on one 2-3 hour trip there and back after the oil was changed. Only stayed in town and went to regular grocery store and work after trip. Did not check oil due to not normally having it deplete fast. A month or so later oil deplited rapidly (this is an unknown part if it was fully the cars issue or if was the person who changed the oil.) Oil was lower than normal mainly noticed when car showed oil lamp light (was only blinking did not stay lit) and started halting and jerking when driving home. More oil was added and once that happened the check engine light came on. Car has jerked and been close to stalling when trying to drive to autostore for diagnostics. Since then the car is acting like it did not have oil added. Oil light is off but engine light blinks constantly. The halting and stalling is similar to the recall on other 2017 Kia Sorento's (with a 3.3 L engine) with the crankshaft being the problem. The halting and stalling can lead to an accident. No prior engine issues before this when the oil ran low.

My car is burning excessive oil. Recently had an oil change on May 9,2022. Oil light came on May 27,2022. There was literally no oil in the car. The remaining mileage that should have been left is 751 til the 3000 miles oil change. Prior to May 9th I had the oil changed early April.

Excessive oil consumption with no low oil warning light. Driving with no oil can cause severe engine damage. I was informed by the Kia dealership after reporting an issue with oil consumption. Issue started in March 2022, diagnosed in april 2022 and 1 month of driving had no oil and no low oil warning light come on after oil change.

The contact owned a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 35-45 MPH on the highway that suddenly there was smoke and flames coming from underneath the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The fire department came to extinguish the fire. The police department was present and filed a report. There were no injuries. There were no other vehicles involved. The vehicle was towed and the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000

Car lights come on when the car is not in use. Car sporadically does not start. New battery installed in February and car wont start in May.

Sunroof portion of moonroof exploded while driving on the freeway. We heard a sonic boom inside our car and the sunroof window shattered glass up and outward spraying glass out onto the freeway and into the fabric ceiling liner.