general problems of the 2004 Kia Motor Sorento

I was driving when I heard a clunking noise, and my truck shifted. So I pulled over to see the my rear lower arm fell from subframe corrsion due to heavy salt use here in WI. I had to get car towed home.

My Sorento was in park running in my driveway started smoking and caught fire and burned up in a matter of minutes. I'm aware of recalls with kia vehicles catching fire. I would like this to be addressed and investigated as I feel it was due to a malfunction. 911 was called and the fire department came to distinguish the car it is a total loss.

Vehicle caught fire while stationary. Fire started in front compartment near fuses. Total loss.

I was driving down the road and all of a sudden my cars wouldn't turn the battery light came on and it was acting like it was dying. It happens a bout 5 miles from home and when I got it there I told my husband. He looked at it and told me my harmonic balancer was loose and it looked to have snapped the bolt. Now I cannot drive my vehicle until I can get the broken bolt out and get it fixed. I looked up what to do and noticed I am not the only person 28th this problem.

Took car to my mechanic for small leak in radiator and asked that he check the brakes because I heard a loud noise from the rear of the vehicle. Upon checking the brakes (which were o. K. ) he found the rear frame to be completely rusted through. He noted the vehicle was unsafe and dangerous to drive as there was a risk of rear drivetrain detaching from vehicle. This seems to be a problem known to kia -- as there was a recall in europe for this problem-- but not the us. I already contacted kia and the only response I received was to take it to a kia dealer for diagnosis. We would have to pay for a diagnostic test when we already know what the problem is. Kia does not give any guarantee that they would reimburse us for the test or anything else. Please let us know what we can do. How can we get kia to act responsibly? there are many other complaints about this same problem.

I brought this vehicle for inspection and was told it will not pass because one of the control arms is detached in the rear end. I was told not to drive the vehicle at all because it is not safe. Additionally there is rot under the entire vehicle. The left side frame was welded and repaired by the previous owner but the right side is now rusted badly and in need of repair. Axles are leaking due to rust. Brakes are a problem but I haven't investigated further to know if its caused by rot. I have been on multiple forums for this issue and it seems many people have same issues especially the control arm problem. I can not return this vehicle because I was scammed and am now stuck with a dangerously rotted car. I am told its not worth fixing. This car looks fine and without looking underneath a person would not know a problem existed perhaps until an accident.

On Monday, August 10th, 2015 I was driving my 2004 kia Sorento lx and heard a loud bang and then the vehicle began to fishtail. I was traveling at a low speed of around 35 mph. I immediately slowed down and managed to drive the vehicle to a nearby garage. At the garage the vehicle was placed on the lift and it was identified that the drivers side frame rail had completely broken in half and was severely corroded. The passenger side was also severely corroded but not broken all the way through. The cross-member above the rear axle is almost completely gone. I now have an 11 year old vehicle which should have a retail value of around $5k which is now completely worthless. I did some internet research and found I am not the only one experiencing this severe corrosion problem with this year and model kia. I am surprised there have been no safety recalls for this problem. Had my incident happened at highway speeds the story may be a lot different.

About to get on hwy in nc, red light turned green started driving not even 10 seconds later gas pedal goes straight to floor and sounds like something drops. In the middle of the road car just stops with no warning-right before major hwy. Try to crank the kia, nothing. Again, nothing. Physically push the car off road while others are speeding by-accidnet waiting to happen thank god it didnt. Get it towed home. Sat in yard ever since. Replaced multiple parts. Still does not run. .

We purchased our sorrento used (approx 65k miles)about 3 years ago. Since then, we've had to replace the gas tank ($1500) among other things. This year has been absurd: had to replace the radiator, water pump, computer system (2 months, $4700), brakes ($750) and 2 batteries. 2-3 months ago, we noticed a clunking/chunking sound that grew steadily worse. It sounded as if the 4wd was engaging and disengaging every 3 seconds and felt very unsafe at high speeds. I took it to kia of cobb county and was just given a quote Friday for a new transfer case, drive shaft, "rear end chunk" (all the service rep could tell me) and 4 new tires. Quote for this work ($9767). The transfer case alone was around $5700. This vehicle now has 112k miles and is less than 10 years old. The blue book value is (was) around $5-6000 and we're told it'll take $10,000 to fix it? I called kia's corporate office to ask if this was to be expected at kia. I was told that our vehicle was not under warranty. I said, " I'm just asking if there's anyone at kia headquarters who believes in their product and wants to protect the kia name and you just keep apologizing. " the rep responded, "I'm sorry, sir. " we've found multiple complaints online from kia owners reporting similar issues (chunking, transfer case, etc). When does this become. A recall issue? a safety issue?.

Traveling a 45mph and crankshaft pulley broke off inside crankshaft sprocket. 3rd instance of same problem.

Driving down road and heard noise and felt like it was loosing power. Pulled over to park the car. Lost power steering and went up a shopping store curb. Lucky that no one was walking or standing there. (pulley, broken bolt from crank and dial pin from crank).

While driving on the highway at 65 mph the crankshaft bolt broke, the timing belt and drive belt came loose.

Picked up vehicle after having rear support bearings repaired driving back home at 65mph on I-35/texas 410 east started to experience strong smell of exhaust fumes in passenger compartment. During drive home started to rain, activated wipers, drivers side wiper blade fell off during rainstorm had to open driver side window to navigate! upon arrival at home noticed, smoke coming from engine compartment (passengers side) and smoke underneath vehicle from catalytic converter. Looked underneath vehicle and catalytic converter, was smoking, inside engine compartment a hose at the rear of the engine compartment (sorry not a mechanic) had a hole in it and was smoking also? vehicle has not been driven since 12/7/12, vehicle was purchased 10/4/12, has limited warranty.

In this instance, the car failed to start. However, there were several more incidents concerning the same issues. In those instances, the car would suddenly lose power, stall out and if able to be restarted, could be driven with a lag in the engine a short distance before all the dash lights would turn on and the car would lose power steering. In two instances, the power steering was suddenly lost when making a left turn with a break across oncoming traffic.

Traveling at 40mph crankshaft bolt broke off inside crankshaft sprocket causing harm balancer and belt to fall off. 2nd instance.

Traveling at 40mph crankshaft bolt broke off inside crankshaft sprocket causing harmonic balancer and belt to fall off. Also had to replace a/c comp, water pump and timing belt due to damage. 1st instance.

On the above mentioned date the vehicle was taken to ntb for a 90,000 mile check and to replace a bolt that had broken loose it was located near the rear axle when put up on the lift a very dangerous situation was revealed. The frame above the rear axle had completely rotted which caused the bolt to break and the resulting loss of integrity caused weakening and and bouncing causing the gas tank to be punctured. The car was deemed undrivable. I have written to kia with no response the car had been reliable and was taken care of this put us in a tough financial situation having to buy another car in our area alone there are two kia,s that had rotting frames one the same year and make as ours his had 106,000 miles the rotting was not near as bad as ours but the same bolt broke off another was a different model but he had to get the front axle replaced because of rotting our family was put in a very dangerous situation we could have been killed the frame of the car is about the last thing you would expect to fail kia is saying that it is antiperforation and not covered antiperforation has nothing to do with the frame anything you can do to helpwould be appreciated I am filing this on behalf of my daughter.

Crankshaft pulley bolt_while decelerating to make a turn, I lost my power steering and power brakes. The brake and battery indicator lights came on. Thankfully, I was not involved in a potentially serious accident. I managed to make it home the last two miles using battery to supply ignition. The 2 of the 3 belts had dislodged and the crankshaft pulley was lose to the point that it nearly detached from the crankshaft end. I am greatly disturbed that, after some research, discovered that this exact failure has been regularly documented. I purchased my unit used so I am unaware if a previous repair had been made by kia. I have not received any notification of such. This is a very serious issue. I am thankful that I was in a rural area when this failure occurred. Based upon some research findings, I hope that I do not experience balking while attempting to have this issue remedied, as others have. I have reviewed some discussion regarding a service bulletin #018 (NHTSA item number : 10009688 date of bulletin : Jul 01, 2004 crankshaft pulley bolt) issued by kia concerning this failure. I will be arranging for the unit to be delivered to my nearest kia dealer (45 miles away in quincy, IL).