Wiper Problems of Kia Motor Sorento - part 1

While driving on the interstate at 70 mph the front part of the panoramic sunroof exploded. There was no debris or road hazards that caused it.

See all problems of the 2023 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

I have less than 100,000 miles on my 2018 kia Sorento. When I reached probably 50,000 miles this car went down hill. I feel like I’ve replaced everything on this car. Now every oil change was saying no oil on the dip stick, so I take it to the kia dealership. They tell me that I need an entire engine. My car is less than 100,000 miles. I saw something that said if it was under that threshold, it could be covered but they said they couldn’t find anything. This car has been failing me. I still owe half of the car, what it’s not even worth on carfax anymore. And the engine cost is exactly 50% of what I owe on this car. I don’t know what to do, but never buy a kia again. This is a hazard for everyone around me the gas it is putting into the air. I don’t know what else to do. I even paid them to do an oil change and the oil light lit up as soon as I left the parking lot. There are no leaks whatsoever. I even had someone from the kia engine settlement verify my VIN # and told me that it was eligible and she told me that everything would be taken care of at the dealership without charge. She then told me to wait for the dealership to call and let me know because I was on hold while they were talking. But right after I received a call asking how I was going to pay for it because they could not find anyway to cover it. I don’t know how to ask for a second opinion. Kia is never available to speak with or try to resolve the issue. This has just been a nightmare.

See all problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

Was merging onto the san tan l202 freeway from the sr24 on ramp. While accelerating to up to roughly 65mph, what sounded like a gunshot went off and it became very loud in the cabin of my car. I then noticed glass flying around the outside of my car, so I immediately pulled over onto the shoulder to see what happened. When I got out and looked up I noticed that the sunroof had completely exploded out in the center and that the glass was facing upwards. My husband came to help me take the vehicle to horne kia dealership and we left it with them that day. There was no any indication of anything hitting or striking the vehicle, anything falling down onto it, or any external factors that could have contributed to the sunroof exploding.

See all problems of the 2025 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

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.

Panoramic sunroof panel spontaneously exploded at highway speed.

See all problems of the 2024 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The rear backup camera brackets inside are broken, causing the camera to dangle down. There was a recall on 2022 kia Sorentos for this, but my VIN number is not coming up as part of the recall when it should be. This causes me to not be able to visibly see the things in the rear when the car is in reverse. There are no warning lights, lamps or messages to notify of thus.

See all problems of the 2022 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

My backup camera had a safety recall issued previously. In March of 2024 I received a letter from kia notifying me of the recall related to this issue, and offered a remedy. I took the car in for inspection, but it was working at the time. Now in oct of 2025 the backup camera starting getting moisture inside, and has completely failed. I contacted the kia dealership that I purchased it from, and they told me to bring it in. When I did, the technician told me that it had been a bracket that was the recall issue, and it was repaired, in direct conflict with what my paperwork said. They refused to repair the backup camera for free. Please inform me of my recourse, as my backup camera does not work at all, and it is expensive to repair/.

See all problems of the 2019 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

On passenger side interior between glove box and dashboard, there is a textured, metallic trim plate that during a sunny mid day, casts a reflection on the passenger side window over the top of the where the passenger side rear view mirror is.

At highway speeds and in windy conditions, both side view mirrors partially fold inwards obstructing the ability to check blinds spots. The vehicle was purchased new from a dealership a month ago. The dealership has been notified of this issue as well as the check engine light being on since the vehicle was 5 days old and we were told they are unable to take the vehicle in until they have a loaner car available. Attached are two images of the driver's sideview mirror showing the approximate distance the mirror folds inwards with little effort.

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 vehicle was driven home from work, parked outside in a secluded spot. When I went to leave like an hour later, there was a huge crack in the windshield on the driver side. The crack seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and there is no chip, indicating that it was hit by something that would’ve caused the crack.

Even though the dealership reports that safety recall 23v610 / sc280 for the mounting clip replacement was completed on 2/16/24, my rearview camera has just fell out of its housing, hanging by its wires, with the mounting clips laying broken in my driveway. My rearview camera is currently unusable; its taped up so that it is not just swinging by the wires. When I contacted my dealership, they are pretty sure they can get this work covered under the warranty, but they are not sure. And my VIN# is currently not pulling up any "active recalls". Either the clips they used to replace the previous clips were also bad, or the dealership didnt actually complete the work as reported.

Panoramic sunroof sunshade has detached on one side and is hanging down, affecting visibility.

See all problems of the 2017 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The panoramic sun roof opens but will not close. It takes 6-12 attempts to get it to close, it will move to where its an inch away from closing then reopen. Kia has recalls for this make and year but says my car is not affected. Attempting to get it to close is very distracting and frustrating taking focus away from driving.

See all problems of the 2021 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

My wife was driving down the highway (xxx) after dropping our daughter off at school. The closest car was approximately 10 cars ahead of her and there were no vehicles behind her. The outside temperature was about 48 degrees, the a/c was set to about 70 degrees. She was driving about 70mph. My wife described the sound to be what she thought was a shotgun blast above her head followed by wind noise like if the sunroof had opened. She looked in the rear-view mirror and observed glass flying behind the car, and what sounded like glass continuously falling on to the cloth for the retractable headliner. When she arrived home I took pictures of the sun roof and noticed that the glass appeared to be pushed upwards (away from the car) as if the glass had been over-pressurized and "popped". By the looks of the glass it appeared as though something massive had been thrown from the inside of the car through the sun roof (although not possible as my wife is small and the retractable headliner was closed). My two youngest kids were in the car with my wife and if the headliner would have been retracted they 100%, without a doubt in my mind, would have been injured by the blow back of the glass "exploding". For context I am an aviation electricians mate in the navy and it looked the exact same as when we have had windows on our aircraft fail and they have blown outwards. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Driver side headlight keeps going out. Bulb doesn’t blow and fuses are fine…. Take the bulb out and put back in and after a couple minutes light starts working again for a couple days before it goes back out. If you go to the passenger side and pull that one out the bulb is smoking.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

The rear camera on my 2016 kia Sorento no longer works. Over the past year, the camera images have been getting blurry and smaller. Now, there is no indication or warning of cars or people behind my vehicle, which is a safety concern. I found online that there is a recall on the rear camera for this model, but the dealership claims they haven't been informed. I'm worried about the safety risks this presents.

I have been without transportation for 3 months now and I’m about to lose my job.

Infotainment center continues to have issues/restarting as if the car was just started. Attempted to resolve with kia after ongoing issues but they do not feel that this is a safety concern or feel it needs to be investigated appropriately. This occurs when driving typically on the highway because most of my travel is highway. When this occurs it is a distraction for the driver. It interferes with the ability to use hands free/calls/gps. Timestamped photos and video available.

On the morning of July 14, 2024 I noticed a crack on the driver side on the window. The crack appeared on the bottom of the window and travel upwards where it ended. This morning July 15, 2024, the crack spread across towards the passenger side of the vehicle. Nothing hit the window for it to develop a crack as my car was parked in the driveway and there were no markings on the window. I do put on the window sun visor to keep the excessive heat out of the car.

Back up camera failure while attempting to drive. Ongoing since water issues in 2019 due to "manufacturers design flaw". Manufacturer will not resolve.

The problem started after a quick stop at a convenient store on the way to work. After starting the engine the vehicle would not shift from park. I was able to bypass this after a quick internet search by removing a small cover near the stick shut and a small straw to bypass the shift control. I've had the car twice at the mechanics without a diagnosis as to a possible cause and was able to have the mechanic permanently disabled the shift lock but was warned the vehicle could be shifted to drive or neutral at any time and moved with a key. About a month later I found myself without headlights and shortly after this without wiper controls. Another visit to my mechanic would this time show the problems, shift lock, headlights and wipers were all from a faulty pcm. My mechanic has shipped my pcm out twice for repair but both time only caused the replacement part to blow. It's not suggested they use the dealer to further repair the problem. I've been 3 weeks without my vehicle and it's another week before the earliest availability from my local dealer. I'm only hoping now it's not a long backorder to gets the parts necessary to fix my vehicle. I have also read this has been a common problem and costly repair with other 2016 kia Sorento owners.

Without warning or indication, my windshield wipers stopped working in a heavy night rainstorm causing me to not be able to see anything. The dealership told me to bring my car in the next morning, while it was still raining, and they said they don’t know what caused it but stated that I need a replacement windshield wiper motor. They ‘escalated’ the issue due to the safety concern involved with lack of functional windshield wipers. As of today, 3/29, kia continues to tell me there is no eta of the windshield wiper motor. The wipers are stuck in reverse and only work occasionally… but in reverse. Most times they do not work. I have been in constant communication with the dealership and kia customer care and no one is able to help or offer a loaner car, but everyone I speak to confirms that this is in fact a safety issue and continues to tell me the case is being escalated. How high does it need to be escalated before a part is received and the issue is fixed? I do not feel safe driving in this condition as it has been raining a lot and no one seems to care about my safety. I don’t want to get into an accident due to limited or completely obstructed visibility. It is now spring and spring in NY means alot of rain, and since 3/6 it has rained more days than not. Today, kia customer care sent me an email saying that the part was ordered on 3/19, but it should have been ordered on 3/7 which was the date I went to the dealership where they confirmed my windshield wiper motor needs to be replaced. I am getting the run around from kia and associated dealerships and want to feel safe. Please help.

Issue occurred and came to like during the past winter snow storm. The hood of the SUV does not allow and blocks the wiper blade arm from being lifted in order to clean ice off the wiper blade nor can the wiper arm be lifted to clear ice and snow under the wiper arm to allow proper operation. This design flaw does not allow safe and clear sight function of the windshield wipers.

Winshield lamination cracked/seperation. No rock chips or anything that hit the winshield. It just started to seperate by itself.

The rear camera picture has become foggy and I can't see what is behind me. There is a NHTSA campaign id 23v639000 for this problem. It covers the 2019 kia Sorento (which is my vehicle) but kia says my particular VIN number is not included in the recall. Kia needs to expand this recall to include additional VIN numbers including mine.

The low beam headlights are very dim at night time. The inside reflective coating of the projector headlights has deteriorated over time.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

This morning, I had the software upgrade patch applied to my 2020 kia Sorento that was supposed to fix the potential theft issue. After that service appointment, I started a 2 hour road trip. We stopped for gas and when we went into the store, I noticed that my car was not sounding the horn when I hit the key fob twice like normal. I went back to the car and saw that the car was in fact not locked. I was able to lock the car manually, but had I not paid attention, someone could have snuck into my unlocked car. Later in the roadtrip, I needed to clean my windshield using wiperfluid and wipers. I sprayed the wiper fluid, but to my surprise the windshield wipers did not activate. I tried all the settings on the stick to activate the wipers, but they did not activate. I was driving 70mph on a highway and could not see. This was a huge safety problem. Luckily this was momentary as the speed cleared the wiper fluid. But had it been raining, I would not have been able to see which is unsafe for me, my passengers and those around me. Third, I noticed that my headlights were not working as expected. The auto setting did not seem to be activating as normal. After playing with it, it appears that the auto and off settings on the lights seem to be switched. This is unsafe because drivers rely on that auto setting to turn the lights on when it is necessary. They may think the lights are on when they are not and are not able to be seen by other drivers. By the time I realized these things, the service department at the dealership was already closed. I have tried to leave them a voicemail, but their phone is not set up to accept that. I have sent an email and will be calling them as soon as they reopen on Monday. There are no warning messages to tell the drive about these issues.

See all problems of the 2020 Kia Motor Sorento 🔎.

While driving a vehicle on the highway, the sunroof exploded violently. The large, moving piece of the panoramic sunroof appears to have broken outwards. Large pieces of glass and smaller pieces landed in the front and middle of the cabin, including on the driver. Small chunks of glass landed on and cut the driver of the vehicle. A loud sound occurred. This was very startling, the glass was very dangerous, and we were lucky that no one was in the middle seats where the glass primarily fell. This occurred in a temperate (high 60s or low 70s f) climate and with no prior damage to the glass. No sign of an impact from anything on the glass. The sunroof cover was pulled back while the glass was in the closed position. The vehicle is at the dealer and we are reaching out to the manufacturer.

Backup camera and infotainment screens failed while driving 4/18/2023 . As a result this makes hands free phone usage unavailable as required by michigan law. This is also a safety concern due to distracting the driver. Date and time functions no longer available as an option of the infotaiment center. Dashes replace time kia has been aware of issue since April 2021. Has yet to resolve the issue. Refuses to respond since 2022.

Backup camera and infotainment screens failed while driving 4/7/2023. As a result this makes hands free phone usage unavailable as required by michigan law. This is also a safety concern due to distracting the driver. Failed 4/1/2023 as well. I was instructed by kia to record the issues per my invoice from dealership when they had vehicle for 27 days in 2022 kia has been aware of issue since April 2021. Has yet to resolve the issue. Refuses to respond since 2022.

Backup camera and infotainment screens failed while driving 4/1/2023. As a result this makes hands free phone usage unavailable as required by michigan law. This is also a safety concern due to distracting the driver. Kia has been aware of issue since April 2021. Has yet to resolve the issue. Refuses to respond since 2022.

Backup camera and infotainment screens failed while driving 3/29/2023. As a result this makes hands free phone usage unavailable as required by michigan law. This is also a safety concern due to distracting the driver. Kia has been aware of issue since April 2021. Has yet to resolve the issue. Refuses to respond since 2022.

I purchased my kia sorrento several months ago and the windshield has chipped or cracked at least four times in that period when traveling at high speeds on the freeway. I contacted the kia dealership and kia customer service and they have not responded to my request for assistance.

2nd rear section (non-movable portion) of panoramic glass shattered while driving. No road debris is possible due to roof rack being on car which would prevent road debris or falling material. It simply shattered like temperature differential shatter.