general problems of the 2003 Kia Motor Sorento

The 2003 kia Sorento has a problem with extensive frame rusting, to the point where some owners have had the suspension detach from the frame. One owner in particular has had issues with the gas tank needing to be replaced, and Kia Motors refuses to do anything about the problem. They built the car, sold it to people, and when consumers have complaints about their vehicle, they (kia) says that they're not responsible. You need to examine this, because people could get killed by operating an unsafe vehicle. Do something about this now, before it becomes the next pinto. Make kia fix the damn vehicles now!!!.

I was driving back from orlando, florida after picking up my daughter who travelled down from uf in gainesville - 1st weekend in September, 2015. We were travelling south i95 in the middle lane, when the car completely shut off all the red lights on the dash board came on. Luckily I was able to steer the car over to the hard shoulder, this was extremely hard, & press hard on the brakes to stop. After 5mins or so I tried starting the car again, which to my surprised it started and we continued on our journey, this time I stayed in the right hand lane, next to the hard shoulder, after a few miles, the same thing happened exactly again. The engine shut off, and came to a halt. Now we were both upset as it was after 10pm at night, we called home to let someone know to be alert, and in the mean time started the car again, this off and on again issue occurred in total four times before we managed to get home safely. Due to driving very slowly along the highway!!! the next day the car started first time, drove to auto zone as it was a public holiday, after putting their machine on it. The test came back saying maybe it needed water, and a few other codes. They advise to take it to a car mechanic ASAP, started the car made it 1/2 way home, and the car stopped dead in the middle of a two lane road, nearly causing an accident. After pushing the car to a side road, left it for 4hrs came back & manage to get home. The next day along with my son driving the kia, and myself behind him we attempted to get to the car mechanic we never made it, the van shut down, again. Push it to another side road, and had to have it towed to the mechanic. Been there ever since, car mechanic is having trouble locating the problem, called the dealer they have offered no help. Noticed there have been reported problems occurring with the new 2016 models of the same issue!!.

While driving on highway approx 55mph the car just power. Dead gas pedal. Had to get over to shoulder but could not due to the steering locking up and the car shutting down. I got assistance from passerby who go me over to shoulder. I started up the car and it started up and ran with no issue. Sudden shut dowm of engine is very dangerous. Once I got home and had the car checked the mechanic could not duplicate the incident in order to make repairs. This happened 2 more times and only happens to me on highway driving. Never in city driving.

I am single old lady, late Jan. 2014 , driving back from orlando,FL. To my home<2 hrs away> on I-95 car slows down, all lights go on dashboard. Get home at 40 miles an hou. Next day go to tire plus, can not fix car, engine trouble. . Go to dealer bev smith kia, ft. Pierce, FL, I am a regular there,with car problemsell me can needs new lower engine, $7000 I almost faint, , car not safe, I left anyway, they would not exactly tell me what wrong with car. . . Coworker at walmart, tells me of mechanic,can fix it. . . Take it there, he tells me what really is wrong with car. . Screw that hold harmony part, had broken off, half of it was still stuck into lowere engine< by the way, this was a recall back 3 years ago, in which I had complyed with kia and they had replaced new harmony screw>. . . This honest mechanic, told me leave kia over the weekend, willput put screw softner on screw still in engine, see if it comes out. . . It did, they put new screw, give me all new belts, I paid $1,800 of my own money, . . I go ahead and drive to miami, fll< 2 hrs away> day latter I drive to orlando ,FL. < 3 hrs away>. . . In I 95. . . . Next day,try to get out of my driveway, same thing happened. . . Good mechanic comes over to my house, said same screw came off. . . He fixes it again, $1,500, . . . He tells me, get new car, do not keep this kia sorrento 2003, car has flaw, can not be fixed. . . . If keep it, just for around town drive, under 50 miles an hour, do not take turnpike or interstate highways. . . I contaced kia mototrs, bev smith kia, told them about recall screw replacement , tell me out of warranty, neither will really answer back. . . No money, no new car. . . . Kia motors is a crook,. . . Tell me car out of warranty, that what do I want with old car. . . Can not find any other prior complaints I made with car, since first year I bought it. . .

I bought a 2003 kia Sorento from my niece back in November 2013 for $2000 and not even two weeks into owning this vehicle, the crank shaft broke in half! the bolt broke off in half inside the crank shaft pulley and the other half of the bolt was inside the crank shaft case. To my understanding, this is the second time that the crank shaft needed repairing (my niece, husband who were the first and original owners to this kia Sorento had it break down on him on the freeway as well, had to get it towed to kia then paid them to fix it when they owned the vehicle) but this time, when this issue happened again while I owned the vehicle, the crank shaft failed in a greater and more costly condition then the first time the crank shaft failed on them. Which then caused engine failure, loss of power steering, loss of the charging system, loss of the cooling system and loss of control of the vehicle, everything shut down, vehicle wouldn't start up after that and it could have been a very dangerous situation as it happened while on the freeway and while my husband, my daughter and my granddaughter was in the vehicle traveling. It could have jeopardize their life's as well as other!.

While driving at a safe speed (35mph) with my children in the car my power steering failed and all my dash lights came on. I was able to pull over this time out of harms way. Once I got the car to the side of the I had noticed that one of my belts came off. I got it towed to the mechanic first thing the next morning and told me a bolt came off the pulley and the pulley was off. They fixed the car and I was good up until it happened 4 more times. Luckily I was the only in the car at the time it happened the last time due to the fact I was on a highway and going 70mph. Once again I managed to get to the side of the road to safety. With this happening numerous times no one wants to fix the car anymore and I don't understand why a recall has yet to be made on something so simple. Also in my state my car is not protected under the lemon law.

The crank bolt broke July 23, 2013. The second time was, the crank bolt again and it broke December 19, 2014. The odometer was at 133181 for the second bolt break.

When pumping as into the tank, gas shoots out of the tank like opening a soda after shaking it up. Fuel projection is very forceful. No matter if I trickle gas in. I have been rejected from gas stations because truck spits out so much gas & I was told my vehicle is a fire hazard. Kia performed two recalls sc092 & sc073. The problem still persists. Kia customer care nor the mechanics at bay kia in norfolk, va have been very unhelpful and instead of investigating the problem, say that it is user error!.

While driving my daughter to school, vehicle lost steering in a turn causing us to narrowly miss hitting a utility pole. Vehicle had to be towed to service garage where they confirmed that the crankshaft pulley bolt had become loose causing the harmonic balancer pulley to wobble, break and cause damage to all surrounding engine components. $1700. 00 repair did not work and issue recurred. After a second repair attempt, same issue occurred again this time with the crankshaft bolt having sheered off. Vehicle is a serious safety hazard, is not drivable at this time, and will this time cost minimally $3500. 00 for a replacement motor. . . . And potentially a life. It is imperative that the NHTSA mandate a recall on these vehicles as it is ludicrous to wait for a death or multiple deaths before acting on what I am well aware is a commonly reported and potentially deadly problem. A good part of "safety" occurs in being proactive. The absence of a recall on this is mind boggling. Nhtsa must act.

I had just purchased my 2003 kia Sorento on February 23 2013 from a local used car dealer. The car had 85,000 miles at time of purchase. It was driving fine until March 31, 2013. As I was pulling out of my drive way the car started making a loud noise and then I lost control of the steering almost going into my neighbors ditch. The car was taken to the mechanic(towed) where he found that the bolt going into the crank shaft had been sheared off causing the belt to come off. The problem is that even after he fixes it (1800. 00 +) he said it would happen again. This is a very dangerous problem. After reading countless accounts online of other kia Sorento owners with the same problem, I feel kia needs to recall this part.

I have a 2003 kia Sorento. . Crankshaft pulley bolt broke, steering went out, belts and bolt fell off and air stopped working. This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 6 months. The result of this problems caused me to buy a new senor that was $400. After looking on the internet, it seems as though hundreds and maybe thousands of people are having a problem with this and it needs to be recalled. I was on a major highway when my steering went out and I could barely turn the car because the steering had locked. This is extremely dangerous and could potentially injure someone or others around them. . Please investigate this case.

I have a 2003 kia Sorento that failed the emissions test. When going onto the website for recalls it comes up that their was a recall in November 2005. I never got notified and when calling kia they are telling me it is not my car as my car was built in a different month, and I am telling them that the recall is coming up for the same safety/emissions and they will not listen to me. If there is a recall on my car for the year listed and the recall is the emissions that is making my car fail what can I do.

Customer would like to know if any pending safety recalls or investigations for the 2003 kia Sorento*.