Car fails to shift gears. Will not allow to switch to manual and get stuck in first gear. Car has less than 12,000 miles
2021 Kia Sorento transmission complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 146, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Vehicle went into limp mode suddenly while driving on the road and would only go 10 mph. We were able to pull vehicle aside and within a minute the car would not move. Check engine light came on with a warning message to pull vehicle to the side of the road. We were able to drive the vehicle home 7 miles after waiting about 1 hour after the issue and the next day drove it to the dealership. Car has been at dealership since 8/8/22 and service advisor and Kia engineer have yet to figure out what went wrong. We have no eta as of today when we will get car back. This issue is concerning as the vehicle came to a complete stop with traffic around us.
On my way to the grocery store less than a mile from my home an alarm and dash alert popped up "SAFELY STOP IMMEDIATELY." The vehicle was stuck in first gear and the rpms revved up. Almost immediately I lost power and it was stuck in neutral even though it was in drive. Then the engine shut down. When I restarted it I could not move. This is extremely dangerous and should never happen. The vehicle has 17,802 miles on it and now my wife and I are afraid to drive it. After sitting for about 20 minutes I was able to start it and return home. It has not moved since. We called the dealer and they were backed up for over a month on service. This is a new vehicle? Upon investigating this issue I found just on one website over 43 reports of the same incident. One person said that a dealership has an entire row of these vehicles with the same problem and transmissions are on backorder. It's been 3 days and still waiting for a reply from my local dealer. This is not safe!
1) Automatic Braking: Twice, Car has auto braked in the middle of a 4-way intersection when a car was stopping at the light. Car has auto braked in the middle of the 3rd lane (fast lane) on the highway during rain. Car has auto braked multiple times when reversing out of a parking spot. In one of those incidents, I have to drive forward in order for the car to move; turning it off and on does not reset the vehicle. The auto-braking while driving especially on the highway causing rapid decceleration could result in another vehicle rear-ending me. 2) MANY transmission issues: jerky transmission, car moving backwards while in drive (usually uphill, doesn't have to be steep), car stalling in park or when going up steep hills, traction control kicking on and engine downshifting (even though the roads were dry).
I have owned this vehicle for about 1 yr & 7 months now. it's been great but all of a sudden last Friday, the dashboard started producing an engine overheat warning with an alarm sound when I was driving under normal conditions. So then I pulled out of the highway and went to the nearest parking lot, and checked the engine. The coolant color was normal & max level. no sign of leaking. Then we resumed driving and nothing happened. later on the way back home... the same thing happened. The alarm sounded for a while and the temperature indicator reached red at the max level then it went away. it was already too late for us to reach out to either dealership or KIA, so I was going to get in touch later. The next day afternoon, I got a diagnostic appointment for the coming Wednesday with the nearest KIA dealership and went out to take care of a few other stuff. The alarm sound with the temperature gauge reaching the red max level happened again after merging into the highway, and it went off after a while. This occurrence has happened 3 times already and I'm a bit worried that it may happen again and something else may happen even though the engine and other fluid levels were fine based on the visual inspection. Not sure if this is fixable...
Vehicle randomly losses power when trying to accelerate from a stop. This creates a risk of being rear ended or struck while attempting to merge into traffic. Power loss is 100%. May last from a couple seconds to several minutes. No warning lights come on. The vehicle is currently at the dealership awaiting diagnosis which I was told could take several weeks due to a “backlog of vehicles awaiting repair and a shortage of repair technicians”. Dealer refused to offer a loaner car and Kia will not provide a loaner or rental vehicle until the car is diagnosed by the dealer.
Vehicle randomly looses power to the wheels while driving vehicle. This has occurred while in drive and reverse. Engine check light is lit (not blinking) and message appears on instrument panel of "Stop Safely Immediately" at time of occurrence. This first started on 7/4/2022. This occurred while in heavy traffic which put myself in a dangerous position as it did for other drivers around me. Vehicle is at the dealer service department for the third time. They are having difficulty recreating the issue. On first visit technician found history code P1C2D03 described as "Incorrect Gear Ratio". Transmission software was updated, I picked up car on 7/7/2022 and did not make the 4 mile trip home before it occurred again. The last occurrence was on 7/27/2022. Problem occurred while backing out of driveway.
Vehicle slams into gears, jerks forward when accelerating, hesitates a long time when reversing then changing to drive(extremely dangerous), and when in park and not turned off yet it surges or revs slightly and you can feel it trying to go forward. At first these things were rare but then became occasional and now after a year they have become constant. Dealership says I need a new transmission and they may have my car for two months or more! Have also had a dead battery twice already with nothing left on or plugged in.
Transmission failure—car stopped driving mid-drive. Thankfully I was driving on a suburban street at low speeds, but it could have been dangerous in another circumstance. The car was towed to a Kia dealership and they claimed it was fixed after a week, however they could not successfully start the car when I went to pick it up and I had to leave it at the dealership. Additionally, the paperwork I was given that detailed the service did not match the records the service department had. After several weeks and despite attempts to contact them, I have received no updates. The check engine light came on after the initial failure.
Vehicle stuck in high RPM until I parked and restarted vehicle. Additionally continues to rock back and forth while parked and jumps forward significantly upon braking and acceleration.
Transmission started slipping after 25,000 miles, very scary in traffic. Got home and transmission completely failed.
Wet clutch went out causing the car to stall and stutter, that has been replaced and now it is struggling to shift into 2nd gear. Jerry shifting and high rpms.
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.
car suddenly stopped going while driving on interstate, almost like the car went into neutral while driving. It started back again after a few seconds and thankfully I was coming down a slight incline and was able to keep coasting while trying to get off of interstate. I pulled over and it seemed to be fine again so I continued home and when driving up my driveway it did it again and I could not get it to go forward to pull into garage. I was able to put it in reverse and back up and then after that it went into drive and pulled forward but then I tried reverse again just to see what it would do and then it would not reverse and would just rev up like it was in neutral again. I have called 5 Kia dealerships this morning and nobody seems inclined to look at it or to assist me with this matter.
We have been having a few issues with our sorento. 1. There will be times when the car wont accelerate or go past the current speed. The first time this happened, we were traveling on the highway and it was difficult to pull over to safely pull over. We had to restart the car completely and let it rest then restart it. The second time this happened, was right after it was "fixed" by the dealership and I was able to safely pull over and restart the car. 2. The second issue is the car will jerk violently when shifting in reverse or down shifting to a stop while driving in automatic. When we originally took the car in for this issue (not even a full year after purchase), a transmission leak was said to be the problem and fixed. This worked for a few months then the issues started to gradually return. The car will also jerk forward and back while sitting in park. While this issue isnt as dangerous, the hesitation in the movement of the car could put myself or my family at risk if the car will no accelerate or decelerate in time. No warning light or problem indication is given when this problem arises. .\
While driving the car displayed a notice in the dash stating “stop safely immediately” . We stoped the car in on the edge of traffic. After we restarted the car we shifted into Drive but the transmission wouldn’t allow the car to move. The car had reduced RPMs and wouldn’t move in drive or reverse. Ultimately had to have it towed to a nearby dealer.
Transmission down shifts hard when coming to a stop or putting it in reverse. Car has been to the Kia dealership were we where told this normal. We had a expert look at the car and his diagnosis was there is something wrong with it. You can here the Transmission making a clunky sound when coming to the stop. People in parking lots have noticed this as well.
Transmission has to be replaced. Car shut off, redlined when gears switched, struggled between gear shifts, would not start.
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into neutral. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 11,978.
I began having issues with my car rolling forward around a foot or two after coming to a stop. This was very disconcerting as it meant that I could not be sure if when I stopped, I would not roll forward into another car or something else. It also twice began having a difficult time shifting automatically after idling for 10 minutes, I switched to manual and eventually got it to shift that way. I took it into my local dealer to have it looked at and they assured me this is just how the transmission is. It was driven only a few times over the next two weeks, then I went to pick up my daughter from school and after she got in, it began having a serious issue with shifting, only shifting automatically once RPMs reached over 5,000. I could not get the manual shifting to work at this time. Additionally, the engine light came on. We slowly made it home and I made an appt to have the dealer look at it again. I have now been told I need an entirely new transmission.
After being driven for 45 miles, with no problems, then parked for 2 hours, then when I started to drive, dashboard lit up "PULL OVER SAFELY IMMEDIATELY". I pulled over, shut car off and restarted. Same notice appeared. Tried again and nothing appeared. I attempted to move the car and it would not engage in drive or reverse. Shut car off, started again and still would not move. Then was towed to a KIA dealership. Upon inspection, I was told it needed a new transmission. Vehicle had 5,606 miles. Car is at dealership since April 4 waiting for new transmission. I was told there are other KIA's also waiting for new transmissions. If I had been driving and car suddenly shut off, it would have been very dangerous (there are many such reports online where people have experienced this). There is documented evidence on line that others with low mileage have had this problem dating back to April 2021. This car needs to be recalled and significant changes made. The car is available for inspection at the dealer's location, Lou Sobh Kia, 1135 Buford Road, Cumming GA 30041 if you need. You can reach me at[XXX] or via email [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Vehicle's transmission would not engage in "drive" or "reverse". After sitting for almost an hour, tried again and it engaged in "drive". Took to dealership, could not duplicate the problem. 4 days later, while driving, the vehicles transmission automatically disengaged from "drive". The car was left inoperable, in traffic. This is very dangerous.
The vehicle stutters before it comes to a complete stop and creates a panic feeling thinking it is not going to stop completely. Have had the car into KIA for two separate inspections and they just tell me it's due to a dual manual clutch working in and automatic car. I know I am not the only one experiencing this terrifying sensation on a brand new vehicle. KIA won't do nothing until the transmission completely fails. Even their master tech indicated there are issues with these transmissions causing shifting and breaking issues.
Suddenly one morning the transmission didn't work at all. I had to get a towing service to bring the car to the service. After a couple of days, they told me that the car needs a new transmission. BTW, the car ONLY has 12,000 miles!
2021 Kia Sorento EX had 3,196 miles on it when the transmission failed. The car was driving down a street when it lost speed and alerted driver to pull over. Driver had seconds to pull over before car completely stopped among traffic. Had the car been in heavy traffic, it almost certainly would've resulted in a collision from behind, especially at high speeds. The vehicle is currently at the dealership awaiting shipment of a new transmission. The vehicle has been expected by Kia dealership. There were no warnings of transmission failure before it failed, only once the problem was occurring in real time did driver receive an alert to pull over and a code regarding powertrain issues. Kia dealership mentioned that they had "a whole wall of cars with transmission issues" which conveys that this is a wide spread issue among their brand. If that is the case, it needs to be investigated and a recall needs to be issued.
I've had a concern for last several months with my transmission not shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. A new car with 100,000 mile warranty shouldn't be having transmission issues, so just started paying closer attention to ensure it wasn't my imagination. Gears not shifting became worse & more noticeable. On 2-21-2022 (on way to work), the transmission wouldn't shift from 1st to 2nd and then 2nd to 3rd gears. The RPMs went to 4,000 and 5,000 respectively. No lights are showing. I noticed a beep (like a seatbelt not engaged) that sounds 3 times prior to the transmission issues. Nothing in seats to activate a "seatbelt not buckled" sound. I pulled over, shut car off, sat for a few minutes & restarted the car. Same issue. The car was not moved again until 5:15 p.m. to head home from work (35 miles one-way commute). I pulled out onto the highway and transmission again rev'd to 5,000 RPMs. Pulled over and shut car off again. Car in park, restarted the car, and the car lunged as if going into gear, but I was in park. On 2-22-2022, same issue as the day before. Still no lights coming on. Called dealership & had Kia roadside assistance tow the car. Dealership kept for 3 days and could not duplicate the error. On 2/27/22, drove to church & had same issues. Returned home, put car in park in driveway (still running), the car shuts off and restarts on it's own. Monday, 2/28/22, does not appear to have any gear shift changes on the way to work until 5 miles from work when traveling 45mph and the car stalls almost to a dead stop in traffic; engine light comes on. Sent pic of engine light & text service advisor. Car towed by Kia roadside assistance to dealership. Now I'm without a vehicle because Kia won't provide a loaner car. I can rent a car and take it up with Kia Customer Cares in hopes of getting reimbursed - which is not likely to happen. 25,000 miles on car. Very Unsafe - does someone have to die to get issue resolved/recalled?
Driving @70 miles per hour complete loss of transmission ...this is not a safe car to drive ..
I noticed a clicking sound coming from the front driver's side wheel well. I also noticed a burning smell coming from the engine after driving the car for 10-15 minutes. Shortly thereafter, while driving the vehicle the RPMs seemed too high for the power being put out in the vehicle. It was also acting sluggish and felt like it was going to stall when at a stop sometimes. At one point, the check engine light came on but then went off after driving it for a few miles. I took it to the dealer's service department and they discovered that there was a fault in the transmission and it needed to be replaced. This is a 2021 Kia Sorento with only 6,500 miles on it.
Vehicle loses all power at random. First incident was dangerous merging into traffic. The vehicle remains in this condition until restarted. Dealer found no code problems. There are lots of issues with this vehicle and failing transmissions.
Hello, My 2021 Kia Sorento SX was purchased new and it currently has 1917 mileages on the odometer. After purchasing the vehicle I have noticed a very noticeable noise which seems like coming from the transmission. When I slow to a stop a big clicking noise comes from the transmission. This noise is concerning regarding a safety stand-point and to be honest it is really annoying. I have read some other comments online and it seems to be an issue around this certain make and model. I have been to a Kia service center on two separate occasions on this issue. At this time the service department stated they can not assist me moving forward unless I escalate this to Kia Support which I plan on doing. Thank you for your time.
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