On many occasions while driving at night (happens almost every night when we are driving), the headlights turn off on their own. This is when the headlights are set to "auto". This is a very dangerous situation - especially when driving on poorly lit roads. When it happens, I can get the lights to come back on by switching from "auto" to "off" and back to "auto". Drivers should not need to do this. Apparently a lot of people with my (or similar) year Kia Sorentos have experienced this issue based on online postings.
2017 Kia Sorento lights complaints
Page 3 of 5: complaints 41 to 70 of 126, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Regularly the head light’s randomly turn off as well as the tail lights and break lights. This is absolutely terrifying! It has been happening for over a year and know one can fix it. This is a huge problem across 2017 & 2018 Sorrentos. There are multiple forms for it as well as mechanic discussion groups trying to solve the problem. This NEEDS to be a recall and fixed immediately before some gets hurt or worse!
The vehicle turns the headlights on while the engine is off, parked, and no occupants in the car and no keys in the ignition. I have experienced this multiple times. There are many other reports of this on the Internet as well. The multi switch was in the Auto position. I started the car, then turned it off, removed the keys, locked the doors and the lights went off. I checked on it later and the headlights had come back on (with the tail lights) while parked in my driveway. I then searched on the Web for others having this issue and there are many with this same year and model. This could run down the battery repeatedly, and also it is unknown if it is an electrical/fire hazard because something is clearly still activated after the car has been turned off.
The shift release has been replaced for 2017 kia sorento but now it is traffic light switch causing one of my car problems. In gas I spend 40 dollars a day for less than 110 miles of driving even with an full synthetic oil change just done is problem two. The speedometer is off by 3 to 5 I have had bmv and officers do their test on vehicle along with the head and tail lights being replaced every 6 to 8 weeks what am I to so with a vehicle that I am still paying on.
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.
Headlights in auto mode will randomly go off while driving without any change in ambient light. Dangerous on unlit roads.
While driving at night on dark road 50 mph with lights on auto. Lights went out completely. Had to make hard stop and turn lights to on position.
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.
When traveling when it is dark, the head lights will suddenly turn off. The indicator on the dash shows that the switch has been changed to parking lights. If you turn the switch on and off the lights will come back on. This has happened on approx 10 occasions. I documented the time and date of one of the incidents below.
Tonight (3/4/23) while driving in the dark my headlights turned off while driving 45 mph. This is the 2nd time this has happened. It happened last October as well. I turn on my brights, turn them off again and the headlights are working normally again. Both times that this happened, I was driving with the lights in auto mode.
Headlights and dash lights will suddenly and randomly turn off while driving when using auto setting. Have experienced this multiple times.
The lighting switch assembly has an issue that causes the headlights to turn off at random times. I have only seen it happen when the switch is on the auto setting, but that is the setting I most often use. When the lights go off, the instrument panel display shows that the switch has changed to the parking lights setting, but the physical switch has not been moved. The lights remain off for a few seconds and then switch back to the auto setting. I have also seen issues with the turn signals, such as when I make a left turn and complete the turn, the switch flips to the off position and then the right turn signal turns on by itself. This is a safety risk because the lights randomly turn off at night and it hinders my ability to see in the dark and for other vehicles to see me. It is also a safety risk because other drivers may react based on my turn signal being on, but I don’t intend to move in the direction it is indicating. I have seen this happen multiple times over the past year, but not consistently. The dealer I brought it to was not able to reproduce the issue and did not replace the switch. A dealer has inspected it, but no other parties have. There is no prior warning or messages before it happens.
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.
While headlights are set to "Auto" mode, they will automatically shut off wile driving on multiple occasions. Also, while on "Auto" mode, parked, and vehicle turned off, head lights will turn on. This is a safety issue as driving without headlights is illegal and can cause an accident. Also, if vehicle has headlights on while vehicle is parked and turned off, this can cause the battery to drain and vehicle will not turn on. Enabling it driveable. This is a failure within Kia's electrical system/wiring, and needs to be brought to their attention.
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.
2017 Kia Sorrento burns excessive amounts of oil between oil changes, more than 4 quarts. Eyebrow and rear parking lights come on their own, even after the car has been off for several hours without touching Kia or keys.
When the headlights are on "auto", they shut off at night while I'm driving. This has happened when I have been traveling out of state on dark highways and it is very dangerous. It is available to be inspected. I have not taken it in to get checked. I have not been able to use the "auto" feature because I do not want to take that kind of risk.
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.
The auto lights turn off randomly during night operation
While driving at night down an unlit roadway, the headlights turned off. I was the passenger and my wife the driver. She touched the light control arm and they came back on. She said this has happened about 5 times, all at night. It takes about 3-5 seconds to get the lights to come back on. We were on a back country road driving about 55 mph which means we drove anywhere from 240 feet to 400 feet down the highway in the dark. This is a safety concern. I have also discovered some of the vehicle's lights come on at random while parked in the garage. I have also discovered the battery dead on 3 occasions. I assume these issues are related.
On 3 different occasions, my headlights have gone out during driving at night. My switch is always set to auto. I have noticed at times during the day they will shut off as well. Shutting off during night driving is very dangerous as i'm not always in areas that are lighted. On a few occasions my eyebrows and tail lights have randomly come on when my car is off during the night. These issues are happening without warning.
Headlights were in auto mode and twice have shut off when it was completely dark at around 0600 on 9/22 and 9/26. Dashboard and all exterior lights went out. I had turn them to the on position for see. In both cases the vehicle was stopped at a stop sign and it happen just as was pulling out.
The headlights spontaneously shut off while driving at night. This has happened multiple times since we have owned the car. Mostly happens when lights are in AUTO mode. Also the headlights will turn on while parked and shut off.
While headlight switch is in Auto mode, it will frequently turn off the headlights at night while indicating that I changed the headlight mode even though I haven't touched it. This happens on dark rural roads with no other vehicles around so oncoming headlights isn't the issue. This happens multiple times a week and I am forced to quickly turn the headlights manually to the "always on" position before I crash into something. I am quick, but it is dangerous and scares my wife to death. Searching online forums shows this to be an extremely common problem. This happens all of the time so there is not one specific date to select. It has been happening multiple times a week for about a year now. Kia pretends they haven't heard of this issue before but any simple search online will show they are lying.
My 2017 Kia Sorento, While driving (at night) the head lights will shut off in auto mode. turn the switch off and back on lights come ON, SAFETY TO ME AND OTHERS WHEN YOUR HEAD LIGHTS GO OUT ON A DARK ROAD
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.
Headlight Switch is faulty when in Auto. Lights shut off randomly while driving at night and when your car is parked and turned off all the lights will come on and drain your battery. I have had the lights shut off on me a dozen times roughly and had to replace a $300 battery because of the lights turning on and draining it. I have been stuck in bad situations with the battery dead and driving down dark roads at night when headlight failure occurs. I see hundreds of complaints from others online. I cannot understand how this safety hazard has not be addressed or corrected by KIA.
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.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2017 Kia Sorento?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history