Body problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Sorento

Hey I’ve recently wrecked my vehicle due to malfunctions this year just a few months ago & I reported it to the dealer before I crashed it. That something was wrong with the engine and also sent the dealership I purchased it from videos before hand but nobody would listen to me. Now my car is sitting in a lot engine blowed and I can’t afford another one. I have proof , names and also couldn’t get my car fixed because I only had liability insurance only. No report was filed because me and the other vehicle was transported to uab hospital.

The suspension mounting block rusted off the frame and the frame rusted into on the passenger rear side of the car it was good that we were running slow close to the house when it happened if that would’ve come loose at highway speeds, the car would probably flipped the vehicle is now undrivable.

The paint on the body between the windscreen and sunroof is rapidly delaminating, literally overnight. The vehicle color is pearl white. I wish to add my case to what I understand is an ongoing effort by other kia owners with similar delaminating paint issues for the NHTSA to get kia to act on this and issue a recall.

I own a white 2012 kia Sorento that the paint is rapidly peeling off of across the piece of roof just above the windshield (body shops have called this delamination). I have the pearl white paint, which began peeling in a tiny spot at approximately 45,000 miles and I thought this was a chip from a rock or something that fell on it, but since then it rapidly began peeling all over and now is in a few spots in the same area, and down to the metal, causing rust. I filed a claim with my insurance company January 2023, but the claim was denied. They were told by the autobody shop that there has been a paint chipping problem with other vehicles with the same pearl white paint, and that those had been recalled due to a defect.

With one simple google search you can find hundreds, if not thousands of results from people talking about their same experience with their pearl white kia’s. The paint is cheap, and it’s starting to peel off on its own, which has lead to severe cases of rust. Either kia was purposely being cheap, or it was a mistake. Either way it’s their responsibility to fix this.

The driver door will not stay closed. The hitch that hold the door shut is broken and does not always keep door closed. It will open while driving.

Passenger side headlight went out. The clip on the housing that holds the headlight was broken. Replaced it. Light started working then went out again. This time the wires in the housing came loose. Light out again. It doesn't matter if the car is stationary, in motion, it'll work when it wants to. As for the body of the vehicle. . . . Pulled into a car wash to spray it off. Turned around to start and noticed on the driver side mirror a spot of paint missing about the size of a quarter. Down to the primer. The paint is dark cherry pearl. There is no scratch, dent, or anything that caused it.

Vehicle was parked in a shopping parking lot. When we returned to the vehicle, I - the car owner - unlocked the car with the fob for passengers to load the vehicle. As the rear passenger grabbed the door handle, it came off in her hand. This is the 2nd time this has occurred. The first time was years prior under the same conditions, same passenger rear right door. I paid for repairs out of pocket that time because the dealership stated there wasn't a recall. I am sure this handle should be recalled clearly after happening twice for no understanding reason or aggression.

*white pearl paint is pealing / chipping away on the front hood and around the top of the windshield roof. *I have been told that the area of missing paint around my windshield can rust/corrode through and affect the windshield seal. Kia dealer has seen it and said it was a widespread problem with the white pearl paint on the Sorento model. . . . . But no further action was done. Has not been inspected by the police, insurance. . . . Just the kia dealer. Warning lamps or messages. . . . .

My wife was driving on the highway around 65-70 mph and the rear fixed panoramic sunroof just shuttered in her vehicle. I read about others had same issue. I had my 5 year old sitting on the back seat. She got scared but luckily didn't get into an accident. We have dash cam video and we have recorded there was no sign of any road debris hitting the car.

The retractable sunroof shattered without warning as I was driving on the highway with my child. There were no prior warning signs or damage. The glass fell in on us, mostly my daughter in the back seat. The service manager at the kia dealer acknowledged that this had happened to other vehicles, but said there was nothing they could do since kia has not issued a recall yet.

Sunroof exploded while I was driving to work on February 18, 2019. This is the second time this has occurred within 2 years. I have called kia customer service and they have been giving me the run around.

My driver headlight wiring harness keeps overheating and melts the harness casing. I have fixed this issue numerous time. My driver passenger door handle came off in my hand.

Engine spontaneously caught fire while driving the vehicle.

While driving on highway 50 about 20 miles from south lake tahoe my car just stalled out while traveling at the speed of about 55 mph. Steam/smoke from coming from the front end. As I pulled over to the side of the road other motorist traveling west bound started honking and pointing to the vehicle. After stopping is when we realized the engine area was on fire. After opening the driver side door the flames shot out from under that car causing 3rd degree burns to the back calf on my left leg. The car was in totally in flames within 5 to 10 mins.

Existed the freeway, stopped at 2 stop lights with other cars with no indication of trouble. Started forward from light 100+ yards and maybe 20 mph when fire erupted from under the engine compartment with large flames. I pulled to side of the road and fire burned from motor compartment into dash and ceiling of passenger area. Vehicle is totaled! the engine had been replaced by kia on a recall just 5 months ago. Only about 9000 miles on the new engine!.

Tl � the contact owns a 2012 kia sorrento. The contact stated that the the rubber around the inside of the driver and passenger side doors had came apart and the doors became inoperable from opening on the inside and outside. The vehicle was diagnosed by a dealer (team kia of bend � 611 ne purcell blvd, bend or 97701) who said the entire piece needed to be replaced but, it was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed they had to get in contact with the regional manager in order to replace it. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. Jc.

Drivers rocker cover light malfunctioned and shorted out starting a fire on the drivers side floor we were just pulling into the driveway at our home. Then the car filled with smoke.

This morning just 5 min after putting my daughter in her car seat I went to go grab her out of the rear passenger side and the door handle broke off in my hand. I am not a very strong person so this surprised me greatly. Upon further investigation into google I see this is a known problem which is insane and if I have to go replacing all my door handles as they break I will not be buying a kia again. I hope this is a one time thing but think that is really is an issue as some people use the child lock and would make it hard to get in that side if that were the case.

We are changing the 3rd head light on the drivers side in a month. We had a storm knocking out all street lights and it was hard to see. . Ansmd I keep getting pulled over. I feel like I need to carry a back up. Plus my plastic pos door panels detach and trap my kids in the car. . We have to beat them down so so we can open doors. Oh and we had to cut the gas cover off cause it wouldnt open. . . And the seats wont go down anymore, hatch wont stay up. . And my blutooth system only works about 20 percent of time! never again kia!.

I own a 2012 kia Sorento sx. 9pm temperature about 70 all day. Turned off main business street in des plains IL drove about 100 feet when rear panel of panoramic sun roof shattered. First thought was gun shot. There were no vehicles behind or in front of me, sidewalk was empty.

The driver's side rear door handle came off. I was trying to open the door, and the handle just fell off.

On 12/27 the rear passenger door handle fell off when my 10 year old daughter attempted to open the door and it was fixed by the dealer with a cost of almost $300. The handle was in her hand. Yesterday the rear driver door handle fell off when I attempted to open the door. This is very dangerous in that without the handle you cannot open the doors from the outside, and as such emergency responders would not be able to reach the rear passenger in an emergency situation. We have canals next to the road in south florida. Thus I am reporting this. Two different door handles in two weeks. Very dangerous.

Sunroof exploded while driving.

My paint color is pearl white. I have at least 2 spots of rust one on the right rear quarter panel. And one on the left side rear door. Neither one is dented or scratched but the paint is pealed and rust is showing through.

Went out from work to start my car and noticed the airbag light would not go out. I shut the car off and restarted to see if it would go out. It would not. The very next day, I went to open the front door on the passenger side to put something in the car. The handle fell off in my hand. The passenger side door is hardly used as I am the only occupant of the car. It had not been hit or damaged, the cover just broke off. I took the vehicle in to the kia dealer. The advised me that I would have to leave the vehicle, pay $85 for a diagnostic test so they could see why the light would not go out. They said it was not covered under warranty that the warranty for it ran out at 60k miles. Same with the handle. I have to pay over $40 just for them to replace the handle's cover. They said once they found out why the airbag light was on, if I paid to have it repaired that they will waive the diagnostic fee. So I have to rent a vehicle out of pocket for no telling how long, and pay for what ever is wrong with the airbag light. They claim that it will not deploy if I go into an accident. I've read several other complaints about the 2012 kia sorrento airbag not deploying. Another law suit in the making just like the gas mileage one they just were sued for.

Paint on roof of car at top windshield is peeling off at an alarming rate, has been for a while. Started not too long after I got the vehicla.

The power sun roof blew out while the vehicle was parked overnight. Thousand of small glass pieces were scattered in and outside of the car. Outside FL temperature was about 65 degrees.

My 6 year old child got into the vehicle to get a drink. She hit the gear shift and it went from park to gear and rolled down the hill until coming to a stop by hitting a tree. My neighbor tried to stop the car from rolling but he could not get the door open because it locked. My child was in the passenger side of the car and the keys were not in the ignition. Kia service manager told me that the car should not go out of park unless the keys are in the ignition and the brake is pushed.

Please make blind spot scores part of vehicle safety ratings. It needs to be an actual score. Most terrifying test drive of my life. 2012 kia Sorento was my dream car. I had built it online 10 times & walked in -specs in hand- ready to buy. The test drive to me was a formality. That changed during the test drive. New suvs are adding huge pillars to the rear of vehicles, shrinking rear third windows, shrinking rear trunk door windows, pushing driver seats tightly up against the driver door- to shrink the car and boost gas mileage. On top of that, they are pursuing "quietness" & part of that is shrinking the exterior mirrors. Add this all up & you can hide a semi in the blind spot of this car. It was like driving a windowless cargo van w/o the big cargo van mirrors. The mirror are small like what belongs on an economy car. Yes, my driver side mirror was well adjusted to only show a sliver of the vehicle. I just couldn't see. As I continued SUV shopping, I found this new design in many new suvs. Gigantic blind spots are now the new design. I couldn't see to change into the left lane. When I looked over my shoulder my face was so close to the window, all I could see behind me were the separating pillars. Changing lanes was a guess. I did not buy my dream car, but more importantly I realized there is a new highly dangerous design trend in many suvs that needs monitored. Consumers should be informed of the severity of this risk at the time of purchase. We need a visibility rating score on the label of vehicles. I walked away from dream car. Bells and whistles don't matter if you can't even see to drive. I contacted consumer reports and requested a report that shows which suvs have the best visibility and they had nothing on the topic. It is not even monitored. How can this danger be being installed in so many vehicles and go unchecked by the whole safety industry?.