general problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Sorento

My speedometer was jumping from 0 to 20 mph while in park. A couple weeks later it did it while I was driving, I was going 25 mph and it jumped to 55 mph. I took it to the shop that day and all 4 of my wheel speed sensors were out, which wasn’t accurately measuring my speed. The shop said it was common with this model and year. Also, my headlights do not work in auto mode. I will have shut my car off, made sure the lights were off, and hours later I have a text from my neighbors that my lights are on.

The vehicle’s ignition system began malfunctioning immediately after a recall-related service (campaign cs2312 – ignition cylinder protector installation) performed on January 9, 2026. Prior to this service, the vehicle had no ignition or electrical issues. After the repair, the ignition key became difficult to turn, and the vehicle intermittently failed to start. Additionally, multiple electrical components began to fail intermittently, including the infotainment screen shutting off, the air conditioning system stopping, and windshield wipers not operating at times. These failures create a safety concern, as they may affect visibility, driver awareness, and vehicle operability while driving. The issue was reported to the dealership, and their own inspection confirmed that the ignition key cylinder is sticking. The vehicle remains available for inspection, and the condition persists.

Lighting and/ or electrical. When using the auto headlight switch, all lights will come on randomly and periodically and stay on until you notice them or they ware down your battery. This is something that could be checked out by dealer and I will ask about it. So, for now, I do not use the auto headlight switch. My other problem is a glass issue. For no apparent reason, when I shut my driver side door a few weeks ago. My entire rear window shattered into pieces. There were no signs of damage to the rear window. Happened in my drive way. But, it could have happened anywhere. Filed a insurance claim and had the rear window replaced.

The headlights will randomly turn off while driving, mostly when turning on the right blinker. This has been happening a few times a month since I got the vehicle in 2017. More recently, the bottom brake lights and running lights have been shorting out.

My lights are set to auto but when driving they randomly switch off. The dash shows the switch from auto to off but the control is still set to auto. I have to manually switch the control off and then back on for the lights to come back on. I’ve also noticed a few times in the morning my lights are on. My switch is set to auto and my car is completely off but the lights are on. This is very unsafe as it happens at night and I can’t see the road.

All exterior lights and interior lights are turned off while driving. Exterior “running” lights turn on by themself.

Oil leak was diagnosed as bad oil pressure switch that is under extended warranty for certain kia Sorento models with gdi system, but not my car.

On multiple occasions our headlights will turn on by themselves without the car being for example while we are sleeping in the middle of the night we get a call from our neighbor that our car lights are on. Also while driving at night they will turn off by themselves. On all occasions the light are in auto mode, meaning the lights should turn on/off themselves when necessary but only when the key is in the car and the car is on.

The passenger side headlight has been reinstalled 8 times. The dealership has replaced it and we have replaced it several times. The light goes out constantly and is costing me a fortune to replace as well as possible traffic tickets. The headlights turn off also when in automatic mode. Please recall this vehicle and have this safety and expensive issue fixed. This issue has been going on several months now. The dealership does not provide a permanent solution. This is a defect.

My lights keep going out as I`m driving at night time so I can not go any where at night time I was almost hit head on this the second time this happened when I called kia 3 times now the dealer I purchased it at they keep giving me a run around I have the extended warranty also electrical warranty which I paid extra for they still want to tell me these things aren`t covered. My vehicale has not had any of the software updates. I have tried calling a kia dealer closer to my home I get told I have to go were I purchased my kia.

When using my blinkers my headlights go out while the lights are in auto mode. This is very dangerous as my headlights have gone out several times while driving in the dark.

Headlights will shutoff completely when driving at night in auto mode after using the turn signal. Then turn back on a. Couple of seconds later. Which has created some dangerous situations.

My lights turn on and off randomly while driving or while parked in my driveway hours after parking while my car is in auto lights.

Lights go off unexpectedly while driving at night. The rear break light has been changed 3 times and continues to work intermittently. Lights come on after the car has parked and turned off.

While driving at night, the headlights turn off by themselves randomly. The lights need to be turned to off and back on to get them to turn back on. Driving with no lights in an area with no streetlamps obviously could result in an accident. It has not yet been inspected by anyone yet, but a check is scheduled. There were no warning lamps, messages, etc. When the lights turned off. Not a safety concern, but seems related: on another occasion, the car had been parked and locked for hours with the engine off, and the parking lights turned on and remained on until manually shut to off. They did not turn off by a remote unlock and lock.

When the heads lights are in auto mode and driving at night, the head lights will just go out. This has happened 4 times now and is very dangerous. I need kia to fix this problem. I have a 2018 kia Sorento and I've seen where others have had the same problem with 2017 & 2018 Sorento's. The lights going out at night while my wife is driving is extremely dangerous. This just happens with no warning. Please fix.

File:///var/mobile/library/sms/attachments/00/00/8030235a-f1b0-40d7-bdf6-cab347299f91/mc-10235412-0001. Pdf recall on lights should be added. Mine did this. Had it fixed.

When signaling a left turn, my right signal flashes before flashing the left signal.

Headlight automatic sensor is failing. When lights are switched to auto mode, the headlights will randomly turn on and off while driving, regardless of outside lighting conditions. Alternatively, the lights will come on without prompting when the car is turned off & parked in a driveway at night.

The headlights turn off randomly when in auto mode. There are a lot of other people reporting the same issue. Https://sorentoforums. Com/threads/lights-shutting-off-in-auto-mode. 16/.

While driving at night with headlights set to "auto" the car will (without moving the physical switch) change the headlights to "off" for approximately 2 seconds, after which it will change them back to "auto". This causes a momentary loss of vision to the driver. The drivers display shows the change from "auto" to "off" as though the switch had been turned. I am unaware if this also happens in lighted conditions, as it is only noticable when you are driving in the dark. It appears as though this has happened to multiple drivers of different vehicles.

Headlights and daytime running lights turn on and off at random.

10/5/2022 driving down texas interstate 20 last night, just east of willow park, texas the headlights turned off. I switched the lights from the auto position to the on and the lights turned back on. Wife informed me this has happened to her previously as well. Driving down the road at 70 mph and everything goes dark is a bit frighting. From my search, this has become a common issue with our kia model. The issue happens randomly so difficult to pinpoint the issue.

Driving down a dark highway tonight and headlights just randomly went out completely. Had to switch them on and off several times to get them back on. Safety risk is obvious for myself and other cars on the road. Has not been inspected, just happened tonight. I have noticed my lights cutting on and off during the day randomly lately but I just assumed it was the auto mode picking up shady areas but it appears to all be related based on the thread I just read online and sounds like an issue with this year Sorento.

In the last month, I've started noticing issues with my headlights/icons. My lights are always set to auto in my 2018 kia Sorento. First issue: when driving during the day, the dashboard will show the icon that appears when you turn on the lights manually. I'm assuming the lights actually come on as well, but it's daylight so I can't actually see if this is happening or not. Once when this happened, I was sitting at a red light with my turn signal on, and I was able to get a picture of the manual icon light showing and my switch was still in the auto position. This has happened about half a dozen times. 3 weeks ago I woke up to my lights being on, even though the switch was still set to auto. The back red lights were on and the front lights were on. I know the lights were out the night before and I double checked that the switch was as I left it in the auto position. Tonight 9/14 and last weekend, my lights turned off for a few seconds while driving at night. The lights had been on for a while and it was completely dark outside so there was no way they should've turned off. I was in an unlit area both times without any head on traffic, so it was extremely obvious that the lights went out and very dangerous not being able to see in front of me. It's also dangerous for any approaching traffic to not be able to see a vehicle at night until they get close enough to hit it. I've attached a picture of the auto setting when the icon light indicated it was set to manual during the day. I've also attached another picture of my vehicle the way I found it one morning when the lights were set to auto and they came on at some point in the middle of the night. I had to unlock the vehicle, and flip the light switch off, then back to auto, for them to go off. This instance my vehicle was not even on, and it was daylight outside.

While vehicle is set to auto on the headlights, they will randomly shut off while driving.

The headlights will occasionally turn off at night while driving. We have to then turn them back on by touching the light switch. The are set on auto always and should not go out at night, especially while driving. They should only go out when exiting the car after engine shut off. The parking lights (front and back) occasionally do not turn off when leaving the car, after engine shut off. They are also on auto and should go off so the battery does not drain. A few times they have even come on when we were not in the care and we discovered them on after a period of time when returning to the car. The dealer could not find a problem and did nothing to resolve it.

Last year my headlights melted & had to be ordered & replace because the melted in their encasements. I have problems with headlights again & have reported it to my kia dealership. I’ve been driving sometimes with one headlight or none or using my brights to drive at night. I currently have no headlights again & dealership has had to order parts for them again. It’s been more than two months already. It’s unsafe for me to drive at night with no headlights!!.

Headlights , all front lights shut off while driving, repeatedly.

Having intermittent issues with the headlights turning of while driving at night. The headlights were set on "auto". I have had this happen multiple times! went to local dealer to report the problem & was told that they would have to drive it at night to replicate the issue. I asked if I would be charged for this & was told that if the technician could find anything that I would be charged for the technician's time. I found online that kia had this same issue with 2015-2015 k900 vehicles & issued a recall to replace the multi-functional light switch. Losing headlight rumination can reduce visibility and increase the risk of a crash. Kia dealerships should replace this multi-function switch free of charge to the owners of kia vehicles. There should be a recall issued for this issue because it is a huge safety issue.

The right head light just stops working and I have to open the head light casing and play with the cables to get it to work again. Also the power seats don't work.

Car headlamps shut off when car is in motion, first noticed when driving at night as lights were in auto setting and the dashboard shows the light setting change and the lights outside changing as well with nothing being touched. Lights have completely shut off about 5 times when driving.

Tl- the contact rented a 2018 kia Sorento. The contact stated that upon applying the light switch it failed to properly turn on causing a lack of visibility. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and they had no specific remedy nor solution concerning this year, make and model pertaining to the lever for the light switch function. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was not available. Dyd.

Tl the contact owns a 2018 kia Sorento. The contact stated that the vent control functions failed to work properly when needing to use the heater. In addition, the headlamps failed to illuminate as the contact was informed by a passerby on the roadway. The dealer (bev smith kia, 5655 us-1, fort pierce, FL 34982, 1-(772) 465-8589) was notified of the failures and the contact was waiting for a response to schedule an appointment to service the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified. The contact would like the dealer to buy back the vehicle if there was no remedy. The failure mileage was not available.

In April, 2025, my vehicle's engine power was significantly reduced while on the highway. I could not keep pace with traffic. My mechanic said there were recalls for the turbo engine but my car was not included. I paid forbthe part and repair. Less than a year later and the car began burning a lot of oil very fast. I add oil weekly. The car has again been losing power and there is still no recall for my car's engine. There is burning and smoke coming from the engine because of an engine oil leak jiffy lube detected yesterday, Mar h 11, 2026. The problem began at around 65k miles and now has 88k miles.