Kia Motor Sorento - Problems, Statistics, and Analysis

Kia Motor Sorento owners have reported a total of 13,717 problems for their cars built in the 24 model years listed in the chart below. The chart shows the number of problems reported across all service years for each given model year of the Kia Motor Sorento. The 2011 Kia Motor Sorento cars have the most problems reported (2,055 problems).

Table 1. Total number of problems by model year for Kia Motor Sorento

🔍 Common problems of Kia Motor Sorento

The following chart shows the 29 most common problems for Kia Motor Sorento cars. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling (4,092 problems). The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's equipment (1,412 problems).

Table 2. Common problems of Kia Motor Sorento

Problem Category Number of Problems
  Engine And Engine Cooling
4,092
  Equipment
1,412
  Electrical System
1,373
  Power Train
1,132
  Structure
897
  Exterior Lighting
845
  Air Bag
713
  Service Brakes
683
  Steering
533
  Other Fuel System
428
   
  Vehicle Speed Control
395
  Suspension
217
  Visibility
204
  Electronic Stability Control
152
  Seats
121
  Forward Collision Avoidance
101
  Seat Belt
78
  Gasoline Fuel System
77
  Wheel
64
  Lane Departure
52
  Latches/locks/linkage
44
  Tire
40
  Back Over Prevention
27
 
14
  Firerelated
11
  Air Brake
5
  Parking Brake
4
  Unknown Or Other
2
  Traction Control System
1

📉 Compare Reliability Across Model Years Using PPMY Index

It would not be fair to compare the Kia Motor Sorento of an older model year to newer model years since older vehicles have been in service longer and thus are expected to have more problems. In order to compare the reliability across Sorento model years, we use the PPMY index which is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. A smaller PPMY index indicates greater reliability of the given model year cars.

    PPMY = P / S / Y * 1000,

where P = total problems reported during the life of a Kia Motor Sorento model year; S = total units sold of the model year; Y = years since the debut of the model year (the age of the vehicle).

The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Use PPMY Index to Compare Reliability Across Sorento Model Years

Sorento
Model Year
Problems Sales [1] Vehicle
Age
PPMY Index
  2022 30279,3484    
0.95
  2021 35462,1025    
1.14
  2020 17684,5406    
0.35
  2019 584143,9977    
0.58
  2018 32171,6878    
0.56
  2017 994129,1379    
0.86
  2016 1,579159,15710    
0.99
  2015 95096,15611    
0.90
  2014 1,339111,79712    
1.00
  2013 1,273100,87413    
0.97
  2012 1,184107,98114    
0.78
  2011 2,055183,75815    
0.75
  2009 7912,45917    
0.37
  2008 31643,82818    
0.40
  2007 22331,87119    
0.37
  2006 37854,33220    
0.35
  2005 44758,60621    
0.36
  2004 34048,82122    
0.32
  2003 41844,09723    
0.41

📊 Number of Problems Reported During the First Year

Another way to measure the reliability across the model years of the Kia Motor Sorento is to use the total number of problems reported during the vehicle's first year in service, as shown in the Table 4.

Table 4. Number of problems in vehicle's; first service year

Model YearProblems Reported
  2026 Sorento
2
  2025 Sorento
92
  2024 Sorento
18
  2023 Sorento
63
  2022 Sorento
97
  2021 Sorento
67
  2020 Sorento
16
  2019 Sorento
65
  2018 Sorento
21
  2017 Sorento
41
  2016 Sorento
39
  2015 Sorento
15
  2014 Sorento
47
  2013 Sorento
77
  2012 Sorento
40
  2011 Sorento
172
  2009 Sorento
7
  2008 Sorento
18
  2007 Sorento
44
  2006 Sorento
28
  2005 Sorento
50
  2004 Sorento
16
  2003 Sorento
29


Safety Ratings of Sorento Cars
Fuel Economy of Sorento Vehicles
Sorento Defect Investigations
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