2021 Kia Sorento acceleration problems

Filed Oct 7, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · TX

UNKNOWN. Car all of a sudden wouldn’t accelerate while driving on the road. It was hesitating while pressing the gas pedal.

Filed Aug 10, 2026 · Acceleration, Transmission · DE

My car will randomly go into limp mode and I am unable to accelerate. The auto stop/start light will flash orange on the dashboard. I need to pull over and restart car and it seems to reset. I see there is a recall for a 2021 KIA Sorrento but I don't think it affected my vehicle even though the issue is exactly the same. Recall #22V6000. It happened once a few months ago then didn't reoccur until about two weeks ago and it has happened three times since. It is scary because I am afraid to cross traffic in fear that the car won't move fast enough

Filed May 29, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · AL

Intermittently, when coming from a stop (stop sign, red light, etc) or recent start of the vehicle, the Sorento will not accelerate past approximately 30 miles per hour and the auto-stop light will flash orange in the panel. Once the vehicle is stopped, turned off, and restarted, it goes back to operating as it should and accelerates like normal. This has happened when driving on small, low speed limit roads and on large, high speed limit roads. My safety and the safety of those driving around me is put at risk when vehicles around me are expecting me to drive a certain speed but I can't and am looking for a safe place to pull over to stop and restart the vehicle. To date, the vehicle acceleration has not suddenly dropped from a high speed to a low speed thankfully, but when the issue presents itself, it will not allow the vehicle to accelerate above the 30mph range. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. It is currently at a dealership that is working to reproduce and confirm the problem. There are Reddit threads that discuss other Sorento owners experiencing this same issue. To my knowledge, there were not any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to this issue presenting itself. It has been happening on and off for the last 1-2 years. My vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others but I am happy to have any of them do so. A simple battery replacement has not resolved the issue - it was happening before I had my battery replaced and it has happened since having my battery replaced.

Filed Apr 14, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · IL

Our 2021 Kia SORENTO has been to Elmhurst kia service numerous times . The chief complaint is the Kia Sorrento keeps losing power while in drive reverse middle traffic even on the highway but yeah every time we take it in, they say either it’s the battery .you can’t use it in the Eco mode .turn off the shut off while in drive mode when at stops ! always a different excuse, but yet no recall and it’s not showing up on their computer, but yeah it’s happening and Kia does not want to take ownership. The vehicle has been left there for numerous weeks at a time leaving us without a vehicle no loaner . But because cannot duplicate issue release vehicle back with no repairs or maintenance. Kia prefer you taking the car getting into a car accident before they decide to do anything or even a lawsuit because not enough people having same issue with the 2021 kia SORENTO s model ! If you also have these issues please report them here so they can be forced to open a recall !!! Before someone gets seriously hurt my SORENTO has loss power on highway and in the middle of train tracks with my little ones in SORENTO and we drove the vehicle from day one original owners not a used SORENTO

Filed May 24, 2024 · Acceleration, Engine · NY · crash

While in the process of pulling into marked stall in parking lot car accelerated unexpectedly jumping over a concrete stop and crashing into the wall of a building. Car sustained eleven thousand dollars worth of damage and the wall that was hit was caved in. Cost of wall repair is unknown at this time. After the collision an attempt to dislodge the car was attempted by putting the car in reverse. The engine RPM was still racing and the car jerked backwards uncontrollably requiring the engine to be shut off to stop the car. Nobody was injured only property damage.

Filed Jun 13, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · TX

My 2021 Kia Sorrento has shut down and died while on a Highway drive 2 days in a row. The engine light comes on, the oil light comes on, and and the phrase “Engine Off. Shift to N then start engine” comes on. Prior to this, other issues were happening. Originally, my automatic start wasn’t working properly, and a Kia service advisor told me to “turn that feature off”. After that, while driving down the road last month, all symbols on my dash began flashing and the phrase “Check forward safety system” appeared.

Filed Nov 13, 2022 · Acceleration, Transmission · NV

10/25/2022 started the suv at a Wal-Mart parking lot and as I drove out of the parking lot onto a street my suv made a motorcycle sound then it started to loss power with my foot still on the gas pedal. Suv came to a complete stop and was towed home. 11/03/2022 Picked up suv from Kia dealership. Drove 43 minutes home and parked inside garage. An hour later started the suv to go pick up kids from school. The suv wouldn't reverse out of the garage. I restarted the engine 4 times then it finally reverse out of the garage then when I put it on drive. There was no power to drive. I restarted the engine again 2 more times then it finally drive and I parked it back inside the garage. 11-04-2022 I attempted to drive suv to Kia dealership for help. I made it onto the freeway with a speed of 74 mph for about 8 minutes then my suv started to loose power with my foot still on the gas pedal. I almost got rear ended by a big rig before I can even put my hazard light on and pulled safely to the side of the freeway. My suv was towed into Kia dealership that same day. 11-12-2022 Picked up the suv from Kia, drove it 43 minutes then stopped at Chevron to top off gas. When restarted the suv my engine light came on the dash board. I drove it back to my house. I notified Kia asap with a picture of my dash board and it's been in my garage since yesterday. Today is 11/13/2022. All incidents are not able to be duplicated by the dealership's mechanic everytime they had the suv. No actions were taken. I showed them videos and picture of the proof that I do have but because it's not happening for them while they have my suv. They can't fix my suv problem. It's an accident waiting to happen and I already had a near miss on the freeway. An extremely concerned 2021 Kia Seronto owner.

Filed Nov 6, 2022 · Acceleration, Transmission · TX

On Aug. 24, 2022 I was out shopping at a few different places. My car at this point had never given me any issues, still practically brand new with barely a little over 10000 miles on it. I got in it and started it up. I go to put it into gear and it would not go. I tried again and again then noticed a check engine light on. I turned it off then started vehicle again. I tried putting in reverse, it would not move, drive, it would not move. I called dealership and they sent over service tech along with wrecker driver. The service tech duplicated the same issue I had. He drove me back to dealership to put me in a loaner. Next day he said the wrecker driver said it started and drove just fine however the check engine light was still on so service tech said they were going to look into it. Finally by Sept. 1, 2022 I was told it was ready to be picked up. Was told that the engine computer needed a software update for transmission and it cleared out the light. I picked up vehicle on Sept. 2 and along the way home all of a sudden my car went from 70 mph to a sudden halt! I managed to move off the freeway after almost being rear ended and stopped the car. Frantically I called dealership but they were already closed for the day. Once my fiancé showed up he was able to get it to go into drive but the max speed was around 15 mph which he drove to our house which was about another 7-8 miles as I followed in his vehicle. Had car towed to dealership next day on Sept. 3. Finally on 16th of Sept. I was told a new transmission was needed, which was going to be on back order. Now, as of Nov. 6, 2022 I am still waiting for my car to be fixed and returned to me. So in summary, my 2021 Kia Sorento which is barely a yr old and a little over 10,000 miles is waiting to have the transmission replaced. I was told it would have to be a re-built one, not even a brand new one, go figure!

Filed Oct 3, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · CA

As my vehicle was in drive and I was actively driving, an error displayed on the dash stating to "stop safely immediately." The vehicle would neither accelerate nor decelerate and would not generate any RPMs. The check engine light came on, went off hours lately and the vehicle appeared to perform normally thereafter. Nonetheless I had the vehicle towed to the dealership and was told they were unable to duplicate the error although. I was told that although they could download the code for the error, it was unlikely that Kia would replace the faulty sensor that needed replacing as it was located on the side of the transmission. I was told to video the issue if it ever happened again. 7 days later, the exact same thing happened while I was in the middle of an intersection with my children. I leased this vehicle in May of 2021 and this issue occurred in July 2022 with 7800 miles on the odometer. There were zero issues with this vehicle prior to this and I have all service records and video footage of the incident.

Filed Jun 25, 2022 · Acceleration, Engine · PA

Car jumps when going into reverse, going into a stop and coming off a stop. Hesitates off of stops. Feels like it goes into neutral when going around bends. When I’m park, it rocks back and forth and rpm’s go down. It’s been happening since I bought the car a year ago.