Blind Spot Detection problems of the 2023 Kia Motor Sorento

When attempting to start the car, the engine will not start and every alert system and dashboard light turns on. The car is undriveable when it does this. It takes 5-10 minutes of turning the car on and off before it stops and is drivable again. It does not happen every time and seems to be random. This has happened 5 times. An additional 6th time this same issue happened while I was driving - all of the dashboard lights went on, and every alert / warning turned on (forward collision, lane warning, etc). The steering wheel also became stiff and extremely difficult to turn. I have been attempting to work with 2 different kia service departments and their corporate escalations department without luck. They are unable to replicate the issue and are planning to give the car back to us. After seeing so many similar or same issues reported on various forums I am filing a NHTSA claim. (one forum example here: [xxx] ) information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The blind spot assist warning came on, with no other cars around, and then the engine seized. This Sorento is a 2023 and only had 29000 miles. The engine is now destroyed and kia is not upholding the warranty.

The forward collision warning system and emergency braking were engaged when no forward object was present. Amount of times 2 driver side rear quarter panel falsely detected a car swerving into my lane and engaged an emergency maneuver to avoid collision even though there was no car there. Amount of times 1.

There are two user profiles on the main infotainment system for this vehicle and there are two seat position memory buttons on the door. I am the main driver of the vehicle and have input my seat position into seat memory button #1 on my door making sure my profile on the infotainment is up and the position is confirmed. The system will randomly delete my position and the seat will move to what appears to be the factory setting. I am 5’ 2” so the seat moves lower and so far back I cannot reach the gas nor break pedals. As this has happened what seems like at least 100 times, I mention the problem to the dealer in early August 2023, they had not heard of a similar problem and they ran a diagnostic and all was fine. On Saturday, sept 9, 2023, I was in the driver seat and put the vehicle into drive. A few seconds later my husband changed the infotainment system from his profile to my profile and the seat went to the factory setting while the vehicle was in drive and I could not reach the gas nor the break pedals. Luckily I had not pressed the gas yet and we were on a flat side street and the vehicle did not move but we were in a residential neighborhood. The second problem has happened around five times with the latest incident on Friday, September 8th. I was on the interstate traveling at 75 mph with light traffic I came up on a few vehicles and noticed the blindspot detectors on both sides of the vehicle did not work while passing the other vehicles. I have also had this happen in heavy traffic with speeds in the 30-50 mph range.

Vehicle gear slipping acceleration loss with difficulty in proper control of the vehicle. Vehicle has a consistent noise that comes from the accelerator as if something was loose and vibrating. The wheels don’t seem to be moving at the same time and feels like the cars slightly moves side to side as if something in the structure of the vehicle has como off loose with sounds/ rattle coming from the passenger side and back. The vehicle has have wheels aligned and checked more than 6 times with continuous problems and no real solution from the dealers. The dealer has stated everything is fine and to go back if a light sensor turns on. They have said every excuse possible, from telling me that I don’t know to drive the vehicle to having the cops called on me to be removed from the premises . To the dealership telling me they will not check the vehicle. I have gone to 5 different dealership and they refuse to acknowledge my concern with the vehicle. I went ahead and place the vehicle on a lemon law and settled with kia stating they would validate the warranty. The problem is the dealership have told me that they have to do lots of paperwork and they have to replicate the problem, but have me drive the vehicle instead of them . They stated they only drive the vehicle for about five minutes. The service advisor at time have requested authorization from me inorder for them to drive the car. When asked for a mechanic to do the testing, ive been told they are may no be available and are working on other vehicles. I have stated the vehicle starts presenting the problem after it has been driven for a while. Again the dealership dismisses all of my claims. The vehicle doesn’t feel safe to drive and I fear a collision may happen putting my life and others at risk.

My blind spot and forward collision warnings kept going off with any vehicles in front me or in my blind spot. I was on the road by myself and they constantly would go off over and over and nothing covering the sensors.

I have only had the kia Sorento for a few months and bought it brand new. While driving normally, one of the collision warning indicators came on while switching lanes and then nearly every alarm in the car cycled continuously. These audible and visual alarms were highly distracting to drive with and it is surprising the software allows this to happen and that there’s no sensor override or silencer button. Even when the car is turned off and back on again the alarms continue. I took the car into the dealer and it sat there for two weeks waiting for kias central maintenance group to give them some guidance on what to do. They suspected a short somewhere and checked the main controller wires and one of the pins was a bit loose. After adjusting the pin they drove the car a few times and returned the car to me after it had been there for 3 weeks total. Within two days of driving it the same alarms came back. I will be taking back to the dealer again, hopefully this problem is only on my vehicle, but these Smart cars should really have a way for drivers to easily disable all the sensor based features in case this happens so at least the car can still be driven to get maintenance without increased risk of an accident. If I had been on a long road trip or in a rural area it could’ve been hours on the road driving with alarms blaring constantly and highly distracting.