The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while exiting the vehicle, there was an abnormal burning odor coming from underneath the driver's side of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,700.
2017 Kia Sorento electrical complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 99, newest first, as owners wrote them.
First and foremost I am the 2 owner of this vehicle with only 38,000 miles, my 82 mother gave me the car with 22,000 miles on it b/c she barely drives anymore. The car is in excellent condition until I started noticing that the steering wheel was sticky and it is difficult to control the vehicle, the oil pressure and the traction control light would come on and off intermittently. In addition, while in park or driving the speedometer would display dashes and then display inaccurate speeds going up and down until reaching 95 miles on the display then, would go to dashes, and then everything would return to normal. I took the vehicle in the last months of 2022 to the dealership which they failed to acknowledge and display lights and any problems with the steering wheel. I took the vehicle home and the oil pressure light started displaying continuously along with all the other problems (I did not take it back to the dealership b/c they already had charged me a substantial amount of money for nothing). I took the vehicle to have the oil checked, oil levels were fine nothing could not figure out the leak location. Fast forward, the vehicle is sitting at an independent reputable mechanic who was able to find that the "Oil pressure sending unit" is responsible for the leak and the oil pressure light display. The Kia dealership neglects to honor any warranty, I am left paying thousands for this repair.
When I am driving the lights will shut off even when they are on auto. I have to pull over and turn the knob back and forth till they come back on. Sometimes they turn off when I use my blinker. The lights will also stay turned on even when the car is turned off and doors are locked.
On several occasions while driving down the highway at night going approximately 60-65 mph headlights, tail lights go completely out. With my whole family in the car but Thank God we have never been in an accident as a result of this. No recall information has been received even though I see plenty of complaints. The last 2 times I’ve gotten an oil change within 1500 miles my oil light comes on and when I check, there is low oil or no oil.
Lights will just turn off while driving and and the blinkers will not work. The horn will not work either. It happens all the time it doesn’t matter if it’s day time or night time.
Headlights shout off at night while vehicle is in motion. I have reported this issue to the manufacturer/dealership and was advised that vehicle needed to be brought in when issue is happening. Dealership is closed at night when issue occurs. No warning messages when lights shut off and first occurred 8/2021.
First issue: Computer fails to throw codes for issues like low oil or engine overheating because of a cracked radiator that was bone dry when the mechanic looked at it. At the time of the incident with the cracked radiator, mechanic checked fuses and system but could not find any issues. However, they agreed that check engine light should have come on. But it did not. Second issue: Oil some how magically disappears out of the engine, and because of this, I'm now stuck, with a worthless car that I'm going to have to abandon about 900 miles from my home because it'll cost too much to replace an engine. Even the mechanic that looked at it said it wasn't worth spending the money on replacing the engine. Think about the level of absurdity because that's a big amount of labor for them and they recommended against spending money on the Sorento.. I'm now car less and fucked because of Kia's shitty defects.. I'm sorry for the profanity but I'm lost.. I'm lost.
As you are aware this of the "Kia" Challenge running rampant in the US. I am one of these owners of these vehicles. I recently was made aware that my neighbor had a car identical to mine and his was stolen out of his driveway last Sunday morning. I contacted Kia of North America and they stated "We do not have a workaround for this at this time" They will not supply us with Steering Wheel Locks or Immobilizers. the federal safety agency needs to seriously investigate this to the high extent as this is causing anguish for people like myself who are fearful of our automobiles that we paid an exuberant amount of money for to be stolen from us. Its also very fearful that the car insurance companies are threatening to non-renew owners of these motor vehicles is VERY VERY concerning. Please address this please give the people like myself some guidance on how to proceed. If my insurance company decides to non renew my automobile insurance I am in deep trouble as I use this car to commute everyday to and from work. Please assist
I was driving at approximately 35mph when my vehicle loss power and the steering wheel locked and gas pedal did not work almost causing me to be rear ended. I put my hazard lights on and started my vehicle back up and tried to continue driving but my vehicle delayed in acceleration and has now continued to delay ever since that incident. I have parked my vehicle and have not moved it due to the danger.
The steering wheel seems to get stuck with prolonged straightforward driving such as highway trips. When attempting to make slight correction in steering the steering wheel seems to stick requiring increased force to move the steering wheel which results in over correction. Power steering malfunction, it is available for inspection upon request. Potential steering problem resulting in crash. No. Problem described to dealer service center, no problems found upon routine service screening. No.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated upon activating the high beam headlights, both the internal and external lights failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the lights had to be manually turned off before returning to normal operation. The contact also mentioned that his wife had driven into a ditch and scratched the passenger’s side of the vehicle due to the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where he was given an estimate for a diagnostic test and repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,600. The VIN was not available.
Intermittently, while driving, day or night, the headlights will turn on or off for about 30 seconds despite the called for sensor setting. For example, if it is dark outside, the sensors will trigger to turn on the headlight and running lights and vise a versa, when the sensors detect sufficient light, the running and headlights will turn off. I have only noticed this happens when the headlights are in the "auto" mode position as I don't keep them any other way. I have only noticed it a couple times when the headlights and/or running lights will turn on during the day (bright enough not to trigger the sensor). HOWEVER, it has happened A LOT at night where the lights will turn OFF WHILE DRIVING which causes panic because I'm driving a death machine blindly (nothing bright to mistakenly trigger sensor/no overhead lighting or approaching vehicles, i.e. pitch black). I have not been able to recreate it on demand and it has an unknown, unbiased pattern. I would say that it occurs weekly, up to 2 times per week. I feel that it has happened more often a few seconds after straightening from a turn using the turning signal (but I always use my turning signal). The direction of turn doesn't factor, it'll do it turning left or right. There has been a couple times where I almost have driven off the road and/or hit unseen objects because of having no lights. This has happened enough at night when the lights unwantedly turn off, that I have learned to quickly switch the lights from "auto" to "on" and the lights react/will work and stay on when switched back to "auto". Mechanic unable to recreate issue. No warning lights, messages, or notice of problematic signals (other than the standard "lights on" notification. The attached picture was taken at 4:06 pm on July 29, 2022. It was a hot, sunny day and I was doing 53 on the highway (straight/no curves). My running lights turned on long enough for me to pull out my phone and take a picture.
My car has repeatedly completely run out of oil after going 2500 of 5000 miles and the oil leaked into different parts of the car. The car is not drivable and shakes and the engine rattles. None of the dashboard indicators illuminated to indicate an issue, until after the car shut off as I placed it in drive and was trying to accelerate, on 9/24/22. I have only owned the car since 10/2021. This car’s repairs should be covered under the federal safety agency Recall #20V750.
While I was driving on the interstate my head lights and dashboard lights went out. My lights were in auto mode. The next morning my park lights were on with the light switch in auto mode.
There is an electrical problem with the Kia Sorento. I had the battery and Alternator replaced when the vehicle shut down and locked up on me. This is the second time in a few months it just shut down while I was driving.
While in Auto Lights mode, the headlights will randomly turn off while driving. Also, while in auto mode, while the car is parked the lights will randomly turn on- causing the battery to die within a few days of the car not being used. It appears to be the Auto lights mode that causes the problem. This is extremely dangerous to this car and other cars on the road, for obvious reasons. Issue has been noted to Kia dealer 2-3 times over the last 2 years. They are not able to replicate the issue. No errors in the computer.
Headlights go off without warning while in auto driving at night . Has occurred 2 in the month of August 2022. Can be turned back on by twisting the control nob to on. Poses a dangerous situation on the dark county roads that we drive if not quick enough to manually turn back on.
The "auto" headlight function keeps malfunctioning. It will randomly shut off the headlights and not turn back on. Numerous forums have reported the issue. This is extremely dangerous when driving at night.
My headlights are randomly turning on and off while I drive. Also when the car is parked and off for hours, the headlights turn on by themselves.
When driving down the the interstate at night, my headlights just turn off while driving. They are on Auto. This has happened multiple times while driving. I have not took it to be looked at yet. There is no warning light or anything else that lets you know that there is a malfunction. The lights just go off. For them to come back on, I have to manually turn it off and back on again, and they will come back on.
My car started running badly with a knocking noise at the start. The knocking noise got worse, I so pulled over and checked the oil and there was virtually no oil in the engine. I filled it with oil and the knocking continued and got worse as I drove it to the dealer for service. The engine failed before I could make it to the dealer. It now needs a new engine. The Car was serviced regularly. NO LOW OIL ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON TO NOTIFY ME OF LOW OIL. NO LEAK WAS DETECTED.
When “auto” for headlights the lights won’t turn on at night time unless I manually switch it or the lifts will be on and then go off on their own during the night.
Passenger seat belt not on warning no longer works when car is running or not running. Passenger can forget to put on seatbelt and no reminder chime. Problem is continuous. No warning lamps. Has been inspected but not repaired. Headlights come on and go off intermittently. Headlights come on when vehicle is off and not running Draining the battery down. Hard to duplicate. Has not been duplicated or repaired as it's intermittent without warning.
Car lights come on when the car is not in use. Car sporadically does not start. New battery installed in February and car wont start in May.
4/18/22 While making a right turn in a residential neighborhood, the car abruptly stopped and engine shut down. The stop was so abrupt that it threw my body forward and now have shoulder and neck pains. No warning lights were illuminated prior to this incident, however, after the engine shut down, the airbag light was lit. I drove it home slowly, called the Kia dealership in Manteca, CA. Making arrangements to have the vehicle towed and have it examined. Two days prior, the ! light came on. I noticed that the passenger side headlight was out. That same evening when I started the vehicle up, the ! light was gone and the headlight worked. I addition, when having the light control kept on Auto, the headlights remain on all the time. If this had happened in traffic or on the freeway, it may have had a different outcome.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the ABS warning light and other unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the contact noticed that the exterior of the driver's side mirror housing had melted. The contact stated that shortly after she could no longer lock or unlock the doors of the vehicle using the driver's side power door lock switch and the key fob. The contact was also unable to roll down the windows using the window switches. The contact stated that the instrument cluster had also failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that an electrical fire had occurred in the driver's side mirror housing. The independent mechanic disconnected the electrical wiring system of the driver's side mirror housing. The contact stated that she could no longer adjust the driver's side mirror as needed and it could no longer turn in when the vehicle was parked. The contact stated that she was still experiencing electrical failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering assist and seized without warning. The contact was able to safely guide the vehicle off the roadway. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that there was a mechanical defect in the steering assembly and had to be addressed by a dealer. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the battery and a faulty ball joint replaced. The dealer stated that the failure was not due to the steering. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Left low beam bulb went out. The right side was rendered inoperable. Had no operational low beam, just parking and high beam lights. Safety issue, generated a dangerous and lot of irate drivers in on coming vehicle’s, with inability to lower the high beams. Once the left low beam bulb was replaced right side became operable full low beam was operating. Don’t know if this a fluke with this vehicle or engineering problem. Created a high stress situation!
I was leaving my cousins apartment complex when the vehicle stalled. I attempted to try to start the vehicle again but it would not turn over. All the lights in the vehicle were on and the radio was still playing so it did not appear to be the battery. I attempted to try and start the vehicle again and noticed gray smoke coming from under the hood. I then began to smell something burning, so I exited the vehicle and popped the hood. I then noticed a fire coming from the engine behind the air filter componet. About 10 seconds later I heard a pop and took off running to a safer location and called 911. The fire then began to grow bigger and the whole front of the vehicle was in flames. The fire department responded and put the fire out. There were no warning lights that came on. If I had not exited the vehicle when I did I probably would have been severly burnt as the whole front windshield shattered and the dash was melted and front seats were burnt.
While driving with the headlights in the "Auto" position, when a turn blinker is used the headlights will randomly turn off for about 10-15 seconds. Not much of an issue during the daytime but certainly a major safety concern at night. This problem can be replicated during the daytime by watch the dash lights switch from "Auto" to "Off" on the driver's dash. Moving the switch from the Auto to On has no effect on the lights. This problem occurs about 30% of the time when using the turn signal.
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