2005 KIA Sorento problems
Owners have filed 457 complaints about the 2005 KIA Sorento with NHTSA. Engine accounts for 13.8% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of exterior lighting at 12.3%.
Complaints457
Crashes31
Fires7
Injuries37
Deaths1
What owners report breaking
Engine 13.8% · 63
Exterior lighting 12.3% · 56
Electrical system 10.7% · 49
Air bags 9.8% · 45
Engine and engine cooling 9.8% · 45
Steering 8.5% · 39
Power train 8.3% · 38
Suspension 5.5% · 25
Severity
Of those complaints, 31 describe a crash, 7 describe a fire, 37 report an injury and 1 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 20 model years of the KIA Sorento in this data, 2005 sits 9th by complaint volume. 2011 draws the most.
Filing volume has held steady, 10 in the last three years against 9 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 89,500 miles.
In owners' own words
The harmonic balancer mounting bolt sheared and stripped the threads in the crankshaft of my 2005 KIA serento. The mechanic had my car for 3 months trying to fix this problem. This is evidently a design issue and should have a recall issued. This problem cost me a lot of money to fix. (The car was in motion when the harmonic balancer fell off) my wife struggle to get the car home due to lost of belts. Engine · reported at 266,000 miles
When driving there was a clunking noise and then the steering was hard to steer and the battery light came on & had to have it towed to find out that the harmonic balancer bolt broke. There are hundreds of complaints online about this same issue happening with these engines as this is a poor design. This is a safety hazard and very dangerous since you loose the steering and should be recalled. Engine
The crankshaft sprocket key (PIN) got loose and the sprocket displaced which chewed the timing belt and short-circuited the crankshaft sensor and fuel pump, causing $1946.03 Of repair, $213.67 Car rental during repair, loss of working time and stress to me with health damage. The total loss is estimated to be $3,000.00 At least. Engine · reported at 101,427 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…