2021 KIA Sorento problems
Owners have filed 357 complaints about the 2021 KIA Sorento with NHTSA. Power train accounts for 36.1% of them — the clear leader, ahead of engine at 17.1%.
Complaints357
Crashes9
Fires1
Injuries1
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Power train 36.1% · 129
Engine 17.1% · 61
Electrical system 12.9% · 46
Unknown or other 10.6% · 38
Fuel/propulsion system 5.9% · 21
Vehicle speed control 3.4% · 12
Forward collision avoidance 2.8% · 10
Visibility 2.2% · 8
Severity
Of those complaints, 9 describe a crash, 1 describe a fire and 1 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 20 model years of the KIA Sorento in this data, 2021 sits 12th by complaint volume. 2011 draws the most.
Filings are rising — 195 in the last three years against 162 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 36,000 miles.
In owners' own words
At first from 1st to 2nd took RPM to 5,000 before shifting to 3rd. Almost like it was stuck in neutral over that time but clearly in Automatic. Once in third girl no power until RPM drops and then shifted.At high speed all seemed fine. Happened ever time I start/stopped until When turned off car and it on went away. Now this morning on the way to dealship no Forward or Revese so having it towed to dealership. Power train
Our issues include not shifting into second gear with no warning lights on the dash to indicate a faul. It goes completely in to neutral at all speeds without any warning. Never recovers until stopped and turned off. Again, nothing happens, no sounds , no lights, no flashes. Just no transmission at all. My wife was almost rear ended on when it stopped functioning in traffic. Someone is going to get killed. Power train
Vehicle is showing symptoms and issues related to a recall on 2021 Kia Sorento transmissions. The vehicle hesitates shifting gears and there is no manual shifting mode available. Vehicle also has issues when accelerating due to the hesitation in shifting the gears. This vehicle was not included in the recall for this issue however it is the same issue as the recall describes. Power train
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…