2006 Kia Sorento: steering wheel locks up

Filed Jun 24, 2021 · Airbags · 162,000 miles · KY · crash · fire · 1 injury

The contact owned a 2006 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at 15 - 20 mph, the steering wheel seized and the brakes failed when depressed which caused the vehicle to fall over a 25 ft. cliff and flip 3 times after hitting the ground. All of the air bags failed to deploy. The contact saw that there was smoke coming from under the hood and exited the vehicle. The contact was taken to the hospital by a family member and the vehicle was towed to a tow yard. No police report was filed. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 162,000.

Filed Jan 14, 2019 · Steering · 154,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia sorento. While pulling out of the driveway at approximately 20 MPH, the power steering seized and the battery and emergency brake indicators illuminated. The contact pulled the vehicle back into the driveway. The dealer was not contacted. The contact called the manufacturer and was referred to roadside assistance, but was unable to speak with anyone. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 154,000.

Filed Apr 26, 2017 · Steering · 160,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia sorento. While the contact's daughter was driving 70 MPH, she heard a loud bang and felt an impact underneath the vehicle. The driver noticed a piece of metal had detached from the vehicle. The vehicle independently pulled to the right and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the crank shaft pulley bolt failed and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. A dealer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not eligible for a free repair because the mileage was over 100,000. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Filed Nov 23, 2015 · Suspension · 155,000 miles · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia sorento. While driving at approximately 30 MPH, the front of the vehicle shook violently, the steering wheel seized, and the brakes failed. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the universal joint failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.

Filed Aug 10, 2015 · Steering · 130,000 miles · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia sorento. The contact stated that while traveling 60 MPH, there was a sudden loss of power steering and the steering wheel locked with no warning. The vehicle was merged over to the side of the road and the contact was able to restart the vehicle which reset the computer. The contact stated that the vehicle was making an extremely loud abnormal noise when the failure occurred. The vehicle was parked at the contacts residence. An independent mechanic inspected the vehicle and indicated that a bolt fractured into the crank shaft. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop for further diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

Filed Feb 17, 2015 · Electrical, Fuel system · 61,000 miles · CA

On january 17, 2015, I retrieved my 2006 kia sorento lx from the dealership. I had to have the water pump and heater hoses replaced. It was suggested that since my vehicle had close to 60k miles on it that according the manufacturer that the timing belt be replaced. It cost me a little over $1,200. Two weeks later I was at a stop light waiting to make a left turn. As I proceeded to make my left, from a complete stop, the vehicle bogged, stalled, the dashboard lights all came on for an instant and the steering wheel locked. Luckily there was no on coming traffic and I was able to pull into a parking lot. I got the vehicle to stop and attempted to re-start my car and it did. Nothing happened to the vehicle again until a week later and it did the same thing again. I took it that there was a possibility that it was cheap gas. My husband, on saturday 02/14/2015, moved the vehicle to the front of the house and parked it. At 4 p.m. We went to leave and the vehicle wouldn't start. I googled some information and had to re-set the fuel cut off switch under the hood and that fixed the problem temporarily. Last night, 02/16/2015, the vehicle did the same thing again and again we had to re-set the fuel cut off switch and the engine light remained on. Today, 02/17/2015, we returned the vehicle to the dealership to have it diagnosed and they determined that the camshaft positioning sensors and the crank shaft positioning sensor need to be replaced and now they want to charge me another $1,100. I have gone online and done some research and found several other complaints similar to mine. I also noted that there was a class action lawsuit in nj for the same thing. It seems to me that kia motors is aware of the problem and just turning a blind eye. These problems continue after repairs are made according to the complaints I found.

Filed Jan 31, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 73,000 miles · NJ

While stopped at a traffic light, the car was running fine. When the light turned green, I took my foot off the brake and all the lights on my dash illuminated and the car immediately shut off. I shift into park and restart the car with no problems as if nothing happened. No other issues occurred until today (3 weeks later). This time I started my car and was driving through a parking lot with no signs of a problem. After I stopped, to let a car out in front of me, I took my foot off the brake to proceed. Immediately as I stepped on the gas, the dash illuminated, the steering wheel locked, and the car shut off. I tried restarting it a few times, but it wouldn't budge at all. I shut off all electrical devices, such as headlights, radio, and hazard lights and tried starting it again. This time it started as if nothing was wrong. I drove around stopping and going for another 45 mins to see if it would happen again, and nothing. Based on what I've been reading, it sounds like this is a common problem. Why isn't this getting the same attention toyota and gmc cars received when their cars experienced dangerous malfunctions in several of their cars? Perhaps the media needs to be alerted to this to actually bring more attention to the matter. Apparently kia is waiting for a few deaths first before they part with money to fix the problem.

Filed Jul 30, 2008 · Engine · 26,404 miles · MI

Car stalls while driving without any warning. It has stalled in intersections and just riding down the road. When the vehicle stalls it just cuts off and my steering wheel locks up and you have no time to pull over. Almost rear ended 3 times in a week.