Electrical System Problems of Kia Motor Sorento - part 2

There’s a big loud buzzing noise every time you open the tailgate. Sometimes it doesn’t lock, you have to try several times press the button it to unlock so that way you could lock it the tailgate down. If you do not make sure the tailgate is locked the tailgate would stay open and fly open while driving.

See all problems of the 2017 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

Fourth time we've had the car go into limp mode. Now at the dealer for third time. Driver was driving and the car went into limp mode after activating the cruise control follow function. Husband was behind in our Toyota tacoma truck and was able to pick her up with California highway patrol to get off the highway into a parking lot to tow her. No warnings, no messages on the dash. She was unable to accelerate to highway speeds and was capped, and felt that there was very little to no predictable responsiveness in the car's acceleration. Car now at dealership.

See all problems of the 2025 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

There is a safety recall concerning fire hazard during normal operation. Kia is refusing to buyback the inoperable vehicle.

See all problems of the 2022 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The contact owns a 2009 kia Sorento. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine, esc, and abs warning lights were illuminated. Upon speaking with other independent mechanics, the contact was informed that the failure was likely linked to moisture that might have entered the abs module. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA campaign number: 20v088000 (electrical system, service brakes, hydraulic); which the contact associated with the failure. The dealer was notified of the failure, and the contact was informed that the vehicle was already serviced under recall prior to owning the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

See all problems of the 2009 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

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!.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The contact owns a 2014 kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power, and there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that there was oil leaking out of the exhaust, accompanied by an abnormal sound and odor. The contact stated that the front driver’s side air bag was intermittently inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the engine, power train control module, brakes, and several other unknown electrical parts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

On October 26, 2025, Sunday, I was cleaning my windows. I discovered both rear windows would not roll up or down. I took it to valley kia on October 27, and it was diagnosed that I needed to replace both rear windows with new window regulator. It will be installed on October 29. I told my tech advisor about the window regulator recall on the 2017 kia optima and sportage. He told me there was no recalls on the 2017 Sorento. I had to pay out of pocket to have my vehicle repaired. How could my rear window regulator fail within 4 years? it seems really perplexing for both rear windows to fail at the same time. How can I recover the cost of repairs - because 2017 kia optima and sportage had the same problems. On October 22, 2025, Wednesday, I took my car to kia riverside regarding a voluntary recall for a multi-function switch. The rear window regulator behind the front passenger side failed on may 24, 2021. I took my 2017 kia Sorento to valley kia, fontana. The mechanic made the diagnose and replaced with new window regulator and it was installed on may 25, 2021. It poses a safety hazard if baby, children or adults are in the back seat, and windows does not roll up or down unexpectedly. It is a safety hazard when I cannot secure my vehicle. It is a safety hazard if I had things in the back seat, and it would fly out the window. It is a safety hazard when unable to open or close the window when it is hot, cold, or raining. There was no warning prior to failure. I just heard a grinding like sound, or like sound of plastic breaking when I pushed the button on driver seat to lower or try to roll the window back up.

The drive mode selector in my kia Sorento was found to be defective. The selector forces the vehicle into "eco" mode on startup regardless of the previously selected mode. This creates unexpected throttle response at startup given the manual states leaving the vehicle in other modes (such as "Smart" or "comfort") will be retained on key-cycle. The specific incident in question produced unexpected throttle response while backing into a highly-trafficked road and resulted in unexpected proximity to oncoming traffic. The selection module has a further failure state: the backlight lamp showing selected drive mode has gone out preventing ready identification of current drive mode.

See all problems of the 2021 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

My headlights went out completely and without warning on a dark highway. No brights or even the orange running lights. Not even the front hazard lights would go on. There was no warning until after they went out. I pulled over as best I could but there was very little shoulder and semi trucks speeding past me at 70 mph about a foot away from my car. There was a ditch about a foot to the right. I stayed in my car and turned the interior lights on until after highway patrol officer escorted me to a safe turn off. Thankfully my rear hazard lights were working. My husband had to drive a hour to come pick me up. I got home 3 hours later than originally planned. I talked to a mechanic who said it was likely a fuse that went out. I asked him why there was no warning and he said the warning for the lights is likely on the same fuse as the lights! how is that helpful?! we weren’t able to find the right fuse late at night in the dark, so we had to leave it on the side of the road about 60 miles from home until we could go to an auto parts store and drive it home in the daylight. It was a very dangerous situation. I could have been killed.

See all problems of the 2020 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The contact owns a 2021 kia Sorento. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 25v649000 (electrical system, visibility); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, with the a/c activated, there was an abnormal burning odor entering the vehicle through the vents. The burning odor was coming from the vehicle whether the a/c was in use or turned off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. On a separate occasion, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the failure was more evident while the vehicle was driven uphill. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. However, the vehicle was not repaired. Most recently, the battery was replaced, and the contact stated that there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

Safety concern – 2025 kia Sorento prestige hybrid (VIN [xxx] ) around October 13, 2025, my leased 2025 kia Sorento prestige hybrid experienced a sudden and severe loss of power while I was driving on the highway. The vehicle was towed to the dealership, where the high power control unit (hpcu), part number 36601-3dpg3, was replaced. No clear explanation of the root cause was provided. Less than a month later, on November 6, the same failure occurred again—this time in heavy highway traffic—creating a serious safety risk and increasing the chance of a collision. The vehicle is primarily driven by my wife, who regularly uses highways to transport our son. The recurring and unpredictable nature of this issue has made us feel unsafe and anxious. We are deeply concerned that another failure could lead to a serious accident or fatality. We respectfully request that the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) investigate this matter as a potential safety defect. Without a clear understanding of the cause, we are documenting these incidents to encourage action. It is critical that kia resolves this issue to protect families and maintain trust in its brand. Thank you information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

On 10/3 driving at roughly 60mph on the freeway, when going to accelerate, the vehicle would not accelerate with no power going to the engine. The gas motor was not engaging, and the car rapidly decelerated to around 20mph in an incredibly unsafe situation. Coasting it off the freeway, it was towed to the local kia dealership. No warning lights or any indicators went off during that event. 10/9/2025, I picked up the vehicle after they replaced the high-pressure fuel pump and high-pressure fuel line, I noticed the battery was very low and thought it would charge while driving. As I left the dealership, the vehicle did not engage the gas engine and quickly avoided acceleration - no power was going to the engine. The battery reached a catastrophic low, and the engine failed in a busy intersection - creating another extremely unsafe situation - as I was turning around to return to the dealership. This time the hybrid system warning system went off and the battery and oil lights went on. While waiting for the tow truck, the vehicle would not turn off. It is currently with the dealership, 41k miles on vehicle, 1 year old.

I've had a couple of issues with the electrical components. One time the drivers side door controls wouldn't roll down any of the windows or lock/unlock the doors. This is a safety issue if you needed to roll the windows down/up or lock the doors for the security of your vehicle. I've also had it where the infotainment system has cut out while driving. As far as I can tell, the vehicle could still drive but I was unsure for a minute because the engine kind of revved at the same time. There were no warning lights when the windows and locks didn't work.

See all problems of the 2024 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

My check engine light came on and my SUV started sputtering so I pulled over called my husband who came and had it towed to langdale kia of valdosta, GA.

The contact owns a 2020 kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the headlights became inoperable. The blinkers and the radio were inoperable for several seconds before returning to normal function. The contact stated that the failure had occurred several times while the contact and the contact's wife were driving the vehicle. The contact stated the failure was a major safety hazard, especially while driving at night. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the failure was not duplicated. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the contact was required to pay a fee for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

The driver’s door windows/lock button cluster on my 2025 kia sorrento lx will randomly not work. None of the buttons will work so I am unable to roll any of the windows down or lock or unlock the doors. The only way to fix this is to turn off the car and restart it.

The contact owns a 2022 kia Sorento. The contact stated that after coming to a complete stop, while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to immediately respond. Additionally, the “battery failure” and check engine warning lights were illuminated in red. The contact scheduled an appointment with the dealer, but the vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.

The engine light comes on and then the wheel lock light will come on and the car will disengage from 4 wheel drive to 2 wheel drive while driving.

See all problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

Adding to NHTSA safety issue id # 11685509. The car was taken back to the dealership on 9/8/2025 and the maintenance department was showed were the junction box that controls a lot of safety features could be the issue and why normal diagnostics tools used could not isolated the issue to it. Online research shows that this junction box is a common issue and an undiagnosed issue with major safety issues. Actually the maintenance department had no clue as to were it was even located on a 2019 kia sonata. Please look into this issue. I am having mine replaced but it will take a week to do it. It maybe because of the unavailability because of quality fixing the issue.

See all problems of the 2019 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

There is an electronic glitch with the gear shifting system where it will randomly / sporadically not allow shifting from reverse to drive and provides the error message "gear already selected. " this has happened numerous times and resolves itself after 1-2 minutes. However, the vehicle remains in the wrong gear (reverse) while waiting, creating a significant safety issue. I purchased this vehicle brand new from kia coughlin in dublin, OH. After two service visits where they were unable to recreate the problem (it happens randomly / sporatically), they have not provided resolution or a way ahead. I have multiple videos of this issue taken while it was happening.

The red steering wheel with an exclamation point pops up on the dashboard and instantly I lose power steering the wheel gets really hard, it went out as I was making a turn and I almost hit the truck . I had to yank the wheel really hard to control the steering, then had to pull over turn the truck off then back on to reset the problem. This have been going on mildly for a few years now has gotten to its worst.

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.

See all problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

I was driving and my kia started over heating and smoking and smelled like plastic burning I got it towed to the hendricks of kia and it sat there for 2weeks and I contacted them about giving me a lender until they fix my engine problem and they told me that my engine is not under warranty but is a recall I didn’t blow my engine I recently bought it about 6 months ago.

The car has completely shutdown on 3 separate occasions. It wouldn't start and all the electrical did not work. It started the next day. All this in a span of 5 out of the 8 months we purchased it. The last time, we found the fuse box was burnt when the tow truck showed up to take it to the dealership. The dealership is trying to blame us because we changed the battery after the second time and not honoring the warranty. They are trying to charge us $18,000. The car had already shut down two times before we even changed the battery. We contacted kia corporate and nothing has been done, but just phone call saying they will call us back after they talk to the dealership. I got so scared for my wife because she was the one driving the car. This is such a dangerous problem with the fuse box. I researched car problems with kia Sorentos and sure enough other Sorentos have been recalled, but not ours.

There are eight recalls on my car I do not trust dealerships I do not trust mechanics I work on my own car I have very bad experience with mechanics I would rather return my car to the dealership I want to sell my car do the dealership eight different recalls is too much.

My headlights flicker when the left turn signal is used. I have taken this vehicle to the dealership previously for headlight flickering issues. I have owned it since 2019. When the lights flicker at night driving at highway speeds, it is dangerous for me and other drivers around me. The ray skillman kia dealer has confirmed these issues and offered fixes that have not lasted. The most recent flickering did not come with warnings or messages prior to malfunctioning.

August 18, 2025 at 3pm pt; my 2025 kia Sorento x-line was parked in my driveway facing the street. I had the engine on, and in park mode, ac on, back hatch door open. No one was in the vehicle. I was standing behind the vehicle when it then started to go in reverse, then stopped for 2 seconds. It then proceeded to go into reverse again. The garage door was open. The vehicle pushed me into the blades of our lawn mower (it is stored in the garage on its end, so the blades face the garage door), and continued to push me and the lawn mower into our gardening tool supply rack. I did all I could to stop the vehicle with my body and yell for help. I was trapped. The vehicle eventually stopped because the back hatch door was open and caught on the upper part of the garage frame. I got myself unstuck and got out to the right, and went straight to the passenger front door to check out the gear shift. It was still in park mode. All was captured on our ring camera. I called kia corporate customer service and received a case number (25476533) and was told I would hear back in 10 business days. This was after calling the dealership twice directly (elk grove kia) leaving a detailed message with no response.

Sorento is not working properly due to transmission oil pump. This has been recalled by kia but my car does not fall under the warranty.

My car will sometimes completely stall at a light when stopped and not restart with the automatic stop system it has happened about 5 times almost causing a wreck.

My 2020 kia Sorento engine light came on and not able to accelerate more than 40 mph. The code when I went to an auto repair shop says knock signal range/ performance. I had it reset by the mechanic and the engine light still on. The engine is also eating through oil very fast. We have to fill the car with oil frequently in between oil changes.

Horn has stopped working. Appears it happens often with the 24 Sorento. Almost had a car collision due to the inability to warn the driver of the other car that I was in my lane. I do have an appointment to have it looked at, but not for almost 2 weeks.

Both horn units need to be replaced . It's been confirmed by safford brown kia in manassas ,virginia. The dealership did not have the parts and I have to wait 3 to 4 days for the parts to come in. In the meantime I have been driving the vehicle without an active horn because I was not given a loaner vehicle . I did call kia customer service whom stated that they are not aware of an open recall for my issue .

Headlights turn off at night when set in the auto position and turn on when the car is off.

The contact owns a 2011 kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving 55–60 mph, the engine overheated and the vehicle stalled while making a turn. The vehicle stalled and failed to restart. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA campaign number: 23v877000 (engine). The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but no assistance was provided. The vehicle was towed to another independent mechanic, but the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was determined that the battery and bracket needed to be replaced. The dealer also informed the contact that the engine and fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

My 2021 kia Sorento lx has been having issues everyday where all of my dash lights come on, my power steering goes out and I can’t shift into or out of any gears. I have taken it to a kia dealership (towed) twice already and they can’t find out the issue or unwilling to find it out. I have contacted kia corporate and still no response from them. Kia has also refused to give me a loaner during this issue.