general problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Sorento - part 1

Head gasket leaking, yes causes engine to overheat. Radiator looses coolant and backs up into overflow. Makes heat and ac flow coolant fumes into vehicle. No longer clear air. Not yet. Still researching. Independent mechanics shop. No there was no warning when the vehicle overheated.

The contact owns a 2016 kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at 50 mph and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle speed decreased. The contact was able to pull into a parking lot safely. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to restart as intended. An independent mechanic and a dealer were contacted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 83,000.

For about 23,000 miles our mechanic has mentioned that the engine is burning oil. The exhaust pipe is covered in black soot. I monitor the oil level and it is always low even after oil changes with no oil leak. This has been provided to kia with no remedy. Recently our Sorento was in a busy highway and the check engine, oil and battery lights came on and the car went into limp mode. We had the vehicle towed to kia chula vista and the engine will be replaced by them. My concern is that the catalytic converter will soon fail and the engine issues need to be addressed for all of these makes/models before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

The vehicle is a 2016 kia Sorento equipped with a 2. 0l turbo theta ii engine subject to the ksds (knock sensor detection system) safety recall. The original engine was replaced at approximately 70,000 miles under kia’s engine service program. The replacement engine currently has approximately 32,000 miles. The vehicle developed internal engine damage diagnosed by a kia dealership as a burnt exhaust valve. A burnt exhaust valve indicates abnormal combustion conditions such as lean operation, pre-ignition, detonation, timing deviation, injector malfunction, or lubrication failure. These are conditions the ksds recall was intended to detect and mitigate. Kia consumer affairs denied warranty coverage, stating that the extended warranty applies only to rod bearing failure and that no further escalation would be pursued. Kia consumer affairs declined to escalate the matter for district parts & service manager review and directed the owner back to the dealership. During the prior engine replacement, the dipstick was observed to be glued in place, raising concerns regarding oil level accuracy and lubrication integrity on the replacement engine. This complaint is submitted due to concern that a ksds safety recall-related engine failure involving abnormal combustion was not properly reviewed or escalated, and that recall procedures were not administered in accordance with their intent.

Lost motor power while driving. No warning light before engine failure.

Engine suddenly started making a lot of clattering noise. Oil consumption has been extremely high! mechanic stated engine needs replaced.

Vehicle: 2016 kia Sorento, VIN [xxx] incident date: November 13, 2025 incident location: durham, nc (3828 guess rd) cause of loss: engine fire, confirmed by durham fire department report (incident #253663) as "originated from under the hood. " technical narrative & symptoms (critical for liability): I am filing this complaint to report a catastrophic vehicle fire that I believe is directly linked to multiple acknowledged manufacturing defects that create a fire risk in kia vehicles. Abs/traction control light warning (direct fire risk symptom): immediately prior to the loss, the abs and traction control warning lights were constantly illuminated. This is a known precursor symptom for the defective hydraulic electronic control unit (hecu) or abs module short-circuit, which has been cited in numerous kia fire recalls (e. G. , NHTSA 20v019, 20v519). The fire's origin under the hood is consistent with this component failure. Prior engine failures (systemic defect history): this vehicle has a history of catastrophic manufacturing defects: the engine assembly was replaced in 2023 due to the known theta ii rod bearing failure. The knock sensor was replaced in September 2025 as part of the ksds product improvement campaign, demonstrating the vehicle was still under active service for critical engine monitoring defects just weeks before the fire. Potential tow hitch wiring fire risk: the vehicle was fully engulfed, but the fire may also be linked to the defect cited in NHTSA recall 22v703 (tow hitch wiring harness short circuit, which also poses a fire risk). I require a full investigation into this defect leading to compensation for the total loss of the vehicle and consequential damages. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Mixing coolant with oil engine failure.

Around 140k miles the engine started to randomly overheat. We changed the serpentine belt as well as all hoses. The engine then started to burn large quantities of oil. At 142k miles it failed all together and we are now looking at having to purchase a new engine or a new vehicle. After doing some research I read that this was a common issue with the 3. 3l v6 motors and felt the need to provide my case as well.

My 2016 kia sorrento consumed all oil resulting in engine (3. 3l lambda ii) failure within 72 days (3,442 miles driven) of kia dealer service department complete inspection and service (including oil).

The car was running as normal and then randomly it started kind of rough and seemed like maybe just cold. But I had my mechanic take a look, and he said that when he started it, which was the next day that it made a loud knocking sound upon start. On the 30th I had it towed out to west hills kia in bremerton. And they reported back that the engine needed full repair. I only owned this car one year and before me it was reportedly well maintained. I maintained it well also! kia is denying all recall, but it’s a 2016 kia Sorento. It’s within the one or two years that the recall doesn’t cover??? the brake lights also work and always one of them is not working. It is not exclusively one or the other but the bulbs keep burning out. I need to know what to do to get this engine fixed, and it should fall under the bad engines that kia’s have!.

Loss oil in big quantities headed to engine damage.

The safety hazard began with a pattern of ignored warnings by the authorized dealer network. On Aug 15, 2025, I brought the vehicle to luther kia of bloomington for a check engine light. The dealer simply cleared the code without diagnosis, failing to catch early signs of engine trouble. On sept 22, 2025, the engine failed again. I drove the vehicle in unsafe "limp mode" to luther Nissan kia [xxx] ). They found the engine was "4 quarts low on oil" (severe starvation just 37 days after a dealer oil change). Despite this catastrophic finding, they failed to diagnose the root cause and released the unsafe vehicle to me after selling only a spark plug replacement. On sept 26, when I attempted to pick up the vehicle, the check engine light was flashing immediately at handover. I refused to take the unsafe vehicle. The dealer then replaced an oil control valve (ocv) and released the vehicle to me again later that day. After this second "repair," I drove the vehicle for only a few miles before the engine failed again with a check engine light. The dealer has since admitted in writing (bbb complaint #xxx) that the engine was "deprived of lubrication" due to the initial low oil condition. By ignoring early warnings and releasing a vehicle with a dying engine twice, the dealer put me and other motorists at risk of a sudden loss of power at highway speeds. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Just bought the car, was perfectly fine during the test drive, no lights on or engine codes present. On my way home check engine light came on showing code p0420 , catalyst system efficiency below threshold (bank 1), saying the catalytic converter needs to be replaced. Did some research and found there were certain 2016 kia Sorentos recalled for this issue, but doesn’t show up on affected vehicles list when I look up my VIN # .

Over heating , loss of heat in the vehicle , oil in the radiator fluid so possibly a bad head gasket car has 121000 on it.

I am receiving an engine problem on uvo. I took it to autozone to run a diagnostic test and states cam sensor engine problem. It is using excessive oil. I keep my engine oil changed consistently on time. It is not making it to the next oil change date before I have to add oil. This is my main source of transportation and I am on social security and cannot afford engine failure repair. This should not be happening since I have my oil changed consistently. Please advise.

My kia, engine just died. I was at a stop light, the light turned green I pressed on the accelerator to go and at the middle of the intersection the engine died. Not certain what had happened or why the engine would die. After a week I had the vehicle towed to a car shop. The same shop that had just done a maintenance on the vehicle in July 2025. I have attached the copy of receipt from the work that the shop had done. When they looked at it they thought at first it was the key fob, so a new key fob was done, it still did not start. Then it was thought to believe it was the starter, so a new starter was installed, vehicle still did not start. At that time I was advised that it was the engine that had siezed. My complaint is that there was no warning signs or signals in the vehicle of anything mechanical going wrong or needing any kind of attention. No warning light displayed on the dash. I drove the vehicle not knowing why would my engine just die, my miles is between 175,000 - 178,000 so the last thing I would think to happen is my engine siezing up on me. Warning lights give you something needs to be looked at and figured out. But as a safety you get nothing displayed then your engines just dies, anything could happen when you are in the middle of traffic, highway or even if it was in the middle of the train tracks. I had spoken to kia dealer service and he advised my vehicle does not have an engine recall but there were a recall in the past for engines such as mine. The kia dealer service advised that they would have to do an inspection, at a cost of $270. 00 dollars, and unfortunately it would have to be towed. Advised me that if I wanted to get a new engine it would cost $12,000. 00. The vehicle is available for inspection just need to be towed.

Got into my vehicle pushed button to start, could hear a clicking for the first few seconds, then clicking went away. Drove off, went approximately 0. 30 mile at a stop light when started to go it stalled in the the middle of an intersection. No warning light no other warning of anything wrong with vehichle, no other warning signs that there could be anything wrong. In July 2025 I had just took vehicle in for a major maintenance, oil, air filters, spark plugs, timing belt, and I checked oil and again no warning signs that there was anything wrong with vehicle. Took to a shop, mechanic believed it was the key fob, due to immobilize, had a new key reprogrammed and still not start, then proceeded to check the starter and installed a new starter still not start and found to be engine siezed.

While driving the vehicle started making loud engine noises. Contacted the extended warranty department and got the car in the shop. The engine had blown and had metal in the oil pan and oil filter. The car had a fresh oil change and showed to have a clean maintenance history. Just purchased the car a month prior. Warranty covered the replacement of the motor.

Engine seized up while driving. I had just visited the dealership and had 5 recalls done.

83,000 miles just changed oil and knock sensor and engine seized.

We have been having problems with the speed control not functioning. Sometimes we couldn't set the speed or slow it down. Now it doesn't function at all! when it was working the cancel switch would also not work and we had to use the brake pedal to shut it off. Later on while driving through town with the cruise control still on, I stopped at a traffic light and the engine began to race at a high rpms. I took my foot off the gas pedal not knowing exactly what it would do and rpms settled down. Luckily the SUV didn't accelerate into the vehicle in front of me. The engine has done this a couple of times with or without the cruise control on. My wife drives this vehicle with our grand children onboard and I am highly concerned about their safety.

I now believe I've had a lemon. Since I purchased my car in 2016 they have been trying to diagnose a smell from the exhaust and started replacing parts, this was in miami. Then for a few years in vegas the car spent months at the dealership trying to fix a burning oil issue which I've been told there is a known problem with the turbo still isn't fixed. From the first year I had paint peeling on my snow white pearl color which has numerous forums about kia/Hyundai paint issues especially with my color. I had them repaint the hood which took twice after the bad job the first time. I saw little bumps in the paint which I thought was over-spray from that incident and now I have peeling from one of those spots which is how they form from what I read. My car is 2016 but only has 65k miles. The spot now is getting bigger by the week, the rain isn't helping. There are other spots around the edges and a big spot on the roof and others I've already filled in with a paint pen which looks ugly. If you see my car, inside and out it looks pretty close to new from the way I've taken care of the car. The paint started in August of 2016 but most recently 2025. The engine issues were day one but most recently 2024 they fixed a cylinder that got a hole in it after consuming all the oil and it seems to be headed down that path with the remedy they are offering at kia. The engine and paint should be convered under a class action lawsuit or recall to hold them accountable and fix the issues.

Paint peeling everywhere an innocent burning excessive oil.

My son was driving on the hwy and a banging sound started- lights started flashing on dash and it lost speed. Stranded on road. Read that 2016 kia Sorento v6 engines have this prob but apparently ours doesn’t??? according to kia these run quite a while so 160k isn’t many miles! and all maintenance done at same location the life of vehicle. Makes no sense that it states everywhere I’ve read 2016 v6 have this problem, why not ours?? now we battle with putting a new motor in a vehicle I just bought less than a year ago for the same price that I bought it for! it’s very nice interior and body but that does me no good with no engine! unfair kia!.

I’m driving down the road my engine started knocking like head gasket lifter and rod was knocking.

While driving on the highway, the vehicle engine began to shake violently. The check engine light came on. The car was driving normally prior to this moment. The car has been well maintained and is in excellent condition. I looked it up and found tons of cases that reference a judgement directive from the theta ii engine class action settlement (case no. 8:17-cv-00838-jls-jde), where the warranty coverage has been extended due to known engine issues. The ksds software update (sc260) was installed in 2023, by kia of orange park. The vehicle now has approximately 127,121 miles. We towed the vehicle to daytona kia who diagnosed the engine as failed, but declined to initiate a warranty claim or submit the case to kia corporate because diagnostic trouble code p1326 was not present. I purchased this diagnostic for nearly $200 from daytona kia and they verified the second cylinder failed. They blamed it on a sticking fuel injector, but did not verify that this was the issue. Only stating that they believed this to be the case in their review. They did not conduct testing to rule out rod bearing failure or to verify fuel injectors were to blame for the issue. I asked for that. They checked to see if the service manager would be willing to do a bcs test on the vehicle. It was denied. I asked for definitive verification of the cause of the failure. They said I would have to pay for additional diagnostics to start that process. I contacted kia corporate and asked them to intervene. Kia has denied my warranty claim, stating that the failure either doesn’t qualify under their extended warranty or that the lack of formal documentation disqualifies my case. In a recent interaction with the dealership, they also cited the lack of a specific diagnostic trouble code (dtc) as a reason not to proceed with warranty repairs…despite the fact that many vehicles with this engine fail without triggering that code, and the software update (sc260) was already applied.

The contact owns a 2016 kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle experienced a loss of automotive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the road. However, upon further inspection, the engine oil dipstick had an abnormal fuel odor. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to a lack of maintenance records and the costs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.

My wife was taking my granddaughter to her dance recital on 06/14/2025 she went to pass a car and the Sorento started missing out then died. She had to get to the side of the road and call for help. Once I arrived, I noticed oil on the ground under the vehicle. After I had my mechanic look at the car it was determined that it threw a rod out bottom of motor and the car was towed home. This is a 2016 kia Sorento lx with the 3. 3 motor. We have had no issues with this car and it has had regular maintenance perforemd since we purchased it at 27000 mikes. It now has 11000 miles warranty ran out at 100000.

The intake valve cam engine variable valve timing (vvt) sprocket pin wasn't properly seated in the phaser and worked its way out. Additionally, the corresponding hole in the camshaft was machined too deep, allowing the pin to completely depart the phaser and move into the camshaft. This resulted in no control over valve timing and the bank 2 camshaft over-advancing the intake valves to 63 degrees from standard. This is under-engineering of critical engine parts and poor quality control by kia. It caused the engine to go into "limp home mode" with a significant reduction in power and a flashing check engine light. Had this happened towing a trailer, or in poor driving conditions, the vehicle may have been difficult to control and put occupants in danger. The pin was found completely inside the camshaft. There seems to be low quality engineering with this manufacturer, as there are many reports of these known problems.

My Sorento burned oil excessively, without warning, and now has a damaged engine, requiring replacement. This is a serious problem and common. There are two other kia vehicles with the 3. 3l lambda engine in weston kia for the same problem - low/no oil and no “low oil” light. Those two vehicles and mine now require new engines. When my car experienced the problem, the car shook and the engine vibrated with a significant loss of power. This would’ve been extremely dangerous if towing anything or driving uphill. This is a common problem among kia forums and kia is unwilling to assist.

I was driving my Sorento sxl on a highway, at approximately 50 mph. With no warning, the engine began to run rough. The check engine light immediately began flashing. I was able to drive the car approximately three more miles to an auto service center. The engine ran very rough the entire time, wanting to stall when slowing down. The mechanic determined that my car’s oil reservoir was 4 quarts low, yet no engine oil light ever illuminated on the dashboard. It holds 6. 2 quarts, and had only 2. 2 quarts in it. Again, there was no illuminated light whatsoever telling me my car was dangerously low on oil. Because of this low oil condition, one of my timing chains skipped, and the cam rotated approximately 62° out of center. That’s what caused it to run rough. It appears my only options now are to have the engine apart, and hope no real damage was done, or replace it entirely. The engine for my car has been discontinued, with seemingly no suitable replacement from kia. This could have been completely avoided if my car had alerted me to a low oil condition sometime before. This is very dangerous and it seems it is a common ailment among some kia cars like mine. A low oil light would have informed me immediately that my car was in need of oil, a critical fluid for proper and safe operation. If I were towing a trailer when this happened, or on a winding stretch of road in snow or ice, this could have been catastrophic.

The contact owns a 2016 kia Sorento. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle shuddered and made an abnormal sound. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle vibrated while being turned off. The vehicle was taken to autozone, where unknown diagnostic codes were retrieved. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 40 mph and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The check engine warning light was flashing continuously. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the fuel injectors had failed, and the cylinder #6 spark plugs were replaced. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with oil intrusion into the engine and the cylinders. Additionally, the contact was informed that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption. The dealer determined that the cylinder block assembly and the engine needed to be replaced; however, an unknown spark plug was replaced. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, where a scope with a camera was used to inspect the cylinders, and no oil was found; however the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle needed to undergo an oil consumption test. The contact was advised to drive the vehicle for 1,000 miles. The contact had parked and had stopped driving the vehicle due to safety concerns.  the failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

Driving on the frwy when car started loosing power/acceleration, no warning lights or indicators on dashboard. Safely able to merge off the frwy. Turned off vehicle, engine would not turn back on. But all the dash lights came up as warning including engine light. Started to smell like burnt. Open the hood and it smelled like burning oil. Towed my vehicle & under the vehicle a pool of engine oil. Dealer confirmed engine seized. When repairs began water pump was damaged & engine mounts due to engine seizing.

Possible head gasket failure, present problems coolant leak, scent of coolant, oil leaks, overheating, hydrocarbons where found in cooling system, engine failed coolant pressure test. Complete engine may need to be replaced. Car presently has 74,000 miles break down reported at allstar kia, san bernardino, CA 92408 on may 29, 2025. 909-763-4740 victor morales & joe west. Car running fine, took in for simple oil change, and the problems above were reported.