I recently purchased a kia sorento with 38k miles. When I test drove the vehicle I noticed a distinct pull in the steering and the vehicle would drift in either direction. Since the vehicle still has 20k left on the kia warranty I went ahead with the purchase. I then took the vehicle into the kia dealership to have them troubleshoot the problem to which they informed me that the tires were unevenly worn and that they should be replaced. I replaced the tires and the problem persisted. I took the vehicle back to the dealership again where they performed a tsb to address the drift/pull issue and performed an alignment. The problem was still not resolved. I took the vehicle back to another dealership and they informed me that they noticed the vehicle pulling and recommended that I get another alignment. I stated that I had just had an alignment done. Since it was my third time taking it in I have been in contact with a kia corporate customer service representative. She has been extremely dismissive about the problem and has not agreed to send out a tech to address the problem. There is a whole forum dedicated to the steering problems with the 2012 v6 kia sorento and yet kia refuses to acknowledge the problem. Hopefully all the complaints that have been registered will prompt a corrective action from kia.
2012 Kia Sorento steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 20 of 20, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 MPH, the power steering failed without warning. The steering wheel became very hard to turn. The failure recurred four times over a period of two years. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. Rk
While driving the vehicle on two separate occasions the vehicle has either stalled with a total loss of steering, brakes and acceleration or with the engine still running a total loss of steering, brakes and acceleration.
This has happened four times! While coming to a stop sign, engine dies, power steering out, power brakes out. After shifting into park or neutral, car will immediately restart, and function without this problem for weeks. Kia dealership finds nothing wrong and no "codes" to indicate the car has had problems.
The first time I was driving at 35-45 MPH and slowed to turn and my engine spontaneously stalled and steering wheel locked up. Luckily, no one was around me so I braked, and restarted the engine and car seemed to reboot fine. Today, it happened again except I was driving at a much slower speed, 15 MPH. I was ready to take a turn and the wheel locked up in the turned position (but not fully turned) and the engine stalled. I braked the car again and restarted the engine in the middle of an intersection. This is completely dangerous for all passengers of the car and everyone who's driving around me!
I was driving on the freeway, there was a lot of traffic so we weren't driving very fast, and the car just shut off, the engine light went on and the steering wheel locked. I was able to put on my hazard lights and then I turned the car off and tried restarting it. The car started without any problems and drove normal after that.
While driving at freeway speeds (55-65 MPH) our vehicle spontaneously shut down; all electrical powered off, engine shut down, loss of ABS, loss of power steering. The vehicle would not restart until shifting into 'park' position. This was the third time this has happened, all under the same circumstances.
This vehicle is extremely dangerous in the snow or on wet pavement. You cannot control the vehicle - it just goes where it wants to. This situation is going to cause catastrophic problems and loss of lives. I don't know if the problem is the very light 4 cylinder engine, problematic suspension, steering, or tires, but it is extremely dangerous and will definitely cause accidents. Something has got to be done to make this vehicle much, much safer to drive in wet and/or snowy weather. It is difficult negotiating a hill in either direction, whether going up or down. I literally slide into the street from my driveway, which is by no means a very steep drive and I certainly cannot make it up the drive in the snow without first backing up into my neighbor's drive and getting enough speed up to make it to the top of my drive. We bought and utilize this vehicle to make deliveries and put up to 500 miles per week on the car and our driver now refuses to drive this vehicle because of the imminent danger -- he calls it a death trap!
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the traction control warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the weather was windy and the vehicle was jerking from side to side as the steering wheel remained straight. The wind was pushing the vehicle eight feet into another lane and eight feet back into the contact's lane. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 1,500.
The panel assembly under cover is broken off easy and obstructing the wheels movement, can causes over turn or flip over.
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