NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2017 Kia Sorento. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
Automatic Emergency Braking Passenger Side Air Bag Smart Cruise Control System Backup Camera Forward Collision Warning Lane Departure Warning System Head lights blinked on occasion and others all stopped working at the same time which makes the vehicle unsafe to drive. Took it into the dealer and they replaced the SOP Module due to code B10055, ACU communication error tested and found module not communicating with vehicle. To replace this part it costs me 925.50 After replacing this part they ran another coding and found that the ODS mat has internal short causing failure of variant coding. This part will cost an additional $3,287 to fix. Looked online and noticed that Kia has safety Recall (SC175) for 2015-2018 Kia Sedona for the Front Passenger Seat Occupant Detection System (ODS)Harness which is the exact same part that my Kia Sorrento needs and falls in the same year built. My 2017 Kia Sorrento has only 56,000 miles on it. Kia Dealership supposedly fixed the CCS Headlights Flicker Failure which was a separate recall which was a multifunction switch but this did not fix the other sensors.
For the last few weeksI have been experiencing problems with the steering wheel feeling like it's sticking while driving. It might happen on a straight roadway, but its mostly noticeable on curves, like rounabouts. I can hold the steering wheel around a slight curve and if I need to move it to the right slightly to keep in line with the curve then it jerks a little to get out of that position. I'll take it to the dealer for other recalls and I hope they'll take care of this as well...
Lost power on the freeway, flashing check engine light. Dealership said my fuel injectors failed causing my engine to fail. At 133k miles the car needs its second new motor. It is currently at Phil Long Kia in Colorado Springs waiting a voluntary repossession as I cannot see paying 10k for repairs on a vehicle that has such obvious defects
When the headlights are on the "auto" setting they will sometimes turn off when driving. Speed or driving conditions do not seem to be a factor. There have also been 2 separate incidents where the headlights are on in the morning. This occurred when Noone had been in the car for hours and the keys were inside my home.
Kia lost power on the interstate. I was able to pull to the side of the road and then the car completely shut off and is now Unable to drive and requiring a motor replacement. I have an estimated 121,000 miles in the engine
My headlights, when set to ‘auto’ randomly turn off. Very scary and dangerous at night! Also, illegal. I can get them to come back on by turning the lights off and on multiple times from the left stalk. But can’t believe Kia hasn’t addressed this.
None of the above. The paint is continuously chipping on the hood and top of the car. When I’m driving, sometimes I see others with the same car as me and their paint is also chipping really bad. It’s only on the Kia Sorento from what I can tell. It makes the car look horrible and it’s very expensive to repaint a car. There has to be some kind of warranty they need to issue. I have a 2017 Kia Sorento. It started maybe a year or so ago, and it’s getting continuously worse at a very fast pace. It looks horrible. You can already see where the next chunks want to come off. Even when washing the car the paint comes off. When you pay $30,000 for a car, the last thing you want is for all the paint to come off and there is nothing you can do about it. THIS IS NOT NORMAL!
On 12/31/23 my vehicle caught on fire while in my driveway and ignition was off. The fire started in the rear/at the hatch. Fire Department was called and extinguished. Arson investigator was called to the scene and found no fowl play. I did receive multiple recall letters for the tow hitch, which could catch fire due to corossion/electrical issues, but was told by a local dealership that I brought the vehicle to, my vehicle was not involved. Based on events, I disagree.
continuous issues with "sticky" or "notchy" steering. Steering is not smooth and almost caused several accidents.
The vehicle is in immacutlate condition and when I went to wash it yesterday I noticed what appear to be a spot. When I sprayed with water the paint peeled off and I noted that it is dowing this on other spots on the bumper. I take excellent care of this car and to see paint peeling off when the car has not even done 100,000 miles is very disappointing. Only to find that Kia has had compaints and it is documented that many customers have had issues with the snow white pearl paint peeling. Why has Kia not offered to rectify the situation. the vehicle is available for inspection but it is my understanding that Kia only warranty's the paint for one year. I have sent photos to indicate how well the car has been mainatined as well as the peeling paint. The system will not allow me to upload files it skips to personal info. Photos available
[XXX], traveling for the holidays, my 2017 Kia Sorento broke down. All dash lights came on, black smoke out exhaust. Only issue I had prior to this breakdown was excess oil use. $150 tow to Bengston Tire & Service in Salina, KS. They diagnosed cylinder misfires, spark-plug disintegration & recommended to take it to a Kia Dealership to be looked at, as they said it likely required an entire engine replacement. After a $440 tow, it was looked at by the Kia Dealership of Manhattan, KS, who ultimately did state that my vehicle would require a $7k engine replacement. The said I did not qualify for the 10 year/100k warranty since I was a 2nd owner. Since I still owed on my loan, I decided it was not worth putting the time/funds to fix. I had it towed home for $800. After searching online for hours with my VIN to search recalls, my Sorento did not show up in any recalls, class action suites, etc. During all of this I had to rent a car, which in total from [XXX], when I purchased a new vehicle, I spent $1,530 in total rental fees. It wasn't until I was researching that I found out about the KSDS sensor that many other Kia owners were having installed to assist in the prevention of a situation that my Kia had put me in 12/2023. Kia had never sent me any information on this and the Kia dealership never told me about this, nor offered to help in ANY way with another vehicle that likely should be added to the engine failure recall, as all my symptoms fit the bill. Oakes Kia of Kansas City, MO also told me previously that the excess engine oil consumption was normal, and just part of having a GDI Engine. I sold my Kia for $5k to a buyer who could fix it up. The KBB value of my Sorento was $14,000, as besides the engine failure the rest of the vehicle was in amazing condition with no other issues. I have lost a significant amount of money with this loss that I believe could've been easily prevented or at least better prevented by the manufacturer. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I just purchased this vehicle on Saturday.And now my engine light is on.It is blinking.I did my research after getting the car and the code p1326 came up at autozone.after that it showed that code with recalls for 2011 to 2017.
I was driving my car on a major highway and my check engine light came on. Luckily i was close to an exit so i pulled off and my car shut down. I had someone to come and check it and found out that it was my knock sensor and it gave a code#p1326. With further investigation, i see that this was on a recall. I haven't driven my car since 12/13/23 due to black smoke comes from my tail pipe and i don't think that's safe but Kia telling me i can still drive it.I contacted Kia and they tells me campaign#18V907000 isn't for my model car. When i check on KBB.com and enter my vin#, i see my year/make/model is part of this campaign.I'm just looking for some help with resolving this.
My car cut off on a major highway on 12/13/2023, but luckily i was able to pull off an exit. My car stalled and wouldn't crank. Called someone out who did a diagnostic and said it was for my knock system(P1326).I was able to get it home and black smoke was coming from my tail pipe. I haven't driven the car since then. I went to Kia on 1/15/2024 to get recalls done and also inquire about my check engine light. Kia never did a diagnostic test for the check engine light. They only did recalls and sent me on my way. I called Kia and made another appointment to get a diagnostic test done on 1/20/24 and then i was told that i would need an engine replacement and my warranty doesn't cover it. Then he gives me a printout of codes which states pending and told me that p1326 code didn't show so therefore it's not covered. He tells me that it's a blockage on cylinder 4. I told him when i came to you a few days ago, i asked about my check engine light and i was ignored. Upon pulling out of Kia parking lot, i noticed a large cloud of black smoke that i didn't originally see when i brought it in and it was so cloudy that other cars had to stop because they was unable to see. Luckily i got it back home and parked it cause it's very unsafe for me to drive even tho Kia saying i can still drive it. My car burns a lot of oil even tho i don't really drive cause i work from home but evidently, every time i get oil checked it's always low so i was getting it topped-off every other month and was told by a mechanic that Kia engines burns a lot of oil and the engines no good and now look, i'm needing a new engine and i just purchased this car in 2020 and i see it's been so many services done to it before i purchased itMy car only gets up to 50mph since the engine light came on so prefer not to drive it anymore.
While driving our 2017 Kia Sorento, it began exhibiting power struggles. Something was just wrong, but we didn't know what. There were no signs on the dashboard. No sensors, symbols, lights, no sounds, no leaks, nothing. Figuring it was just our imagination or whatever, because we continually have issues with this vehicle, we continued driving (looking back at it now, we know it wasn't as powerful as it should have been). One day we start it up and it begins knocking, and viciously. Checking the oil, we notice it's dry. Bone dry. We were terrified at that point because we know, that's not a good sign. We take it to diagnosed (700$) to be told the engine is seized, a rod in the engine is bent and put a hole in the engine. Oil and fluids everywhere. Like I previously stated, there were no signs. No symptoms. Nothing to question. The oil was seeping through the system and going out my exhaust. My car is still under a loan. It was only 6 years old when it experienced engine failure and completely died (won't even start). 146K miles. I now have to spend thousands if I want to continue owning this vehicle. It breaks my heart.
Me and my family were traveling on the interstate on a rainy December 10, 2024 and my engine started to lose power. I was driving approximately 75-77 mph when my car started losing power. No lights or warnings! I tried to give more gas but nothing happened. It then started to jerk as it was still losing power. I was able to safely exit the highway before the vehicle completely stopped. I tried to restart the car but it wouldn’t stay on. By then the engine light was on. I was 50 miles from home and had to call a tow truck to pick up the vehicle as well as a family member to pick us up from the side of the interstate. The vehicle was towed 50 miles to my local mechanic. On that Monday, he checked the Sorento and told me the motor was gone! He stated he could tell by the spark plugs that it had been burning oil. This was a total shock being that I had previously taken my vehicle to the Kia dealership in June of 2023 because the car was burning oil. I had checked my vehicle in between services to find out no oil was in it. The Kia dealership performed an oil consumption test. Their findings were there wasn’t anything wrong with the rate the vehicle was burning oil. Which now I find hard to believe once the engine failed. I had purchased the extended warranty which covered me until 100,000 miles. Of course my engine failed at 100,399. But I feel those extra 399 miles were from taking my vehicle back and forth to the Kia dealership for the consumption test which obviously they didn’t perform correctly or just didn’t want to admit it was something wrong because I live approximately 75 miles from the dealership. Kia is supposed to be the best but I definitely think otherwise after this. After calling Kia they were no help and this seems to be a common issue with 2017 Kia Sorentos.
We bought this vehicle on September 23, 2023 It had 72,935 miles. On October 15, 2003 After three weeks of having it, the check engine light came on. We took it a mechanic to diagnose the problem, he said it was the intake camshaft position sensor. We had it replaced o, and the engine light disappeared. We though that was the end of it but no. About a month later (mid November) the check engine light came on again, We contacted a local mechanic who said it might be the crankshaft or the time chain, he was supposed to call back with an estimate, but he didn't. We continued to drive it while trying to figure out what to do next, and two weeks later, on Dec 6 while driving home after picking my son from school, I heard a laud rattle noise, the vehicle slowed down, I though it was going to die completely, many lights on the dashboard came on, I don't remember which ones, (only the battery light) I knew it should not be the battery since we had just bought one brand new. Anyway, I pulled over to the side of road. I turned it off. After a minute or so, I turned it on again, and was able to make it home. The loud noise continued so turned on the hazard lights on and slowly drove it home. I was not that far. Next Saturday I had it towed to a mechanic we trust and he said the engine had plain failed and that it would be better to replace it. We decided to have it towed back to us. We made an appointment with a Kia dealership to have them confirm what our mechanic said, but they gave us an appointment until January 22, 2024 In the mean time it just sitting there in our garage. We know it had two previous owners. From the Carfax report we know it was serviced regularly. I don't think a vehicle with only 73,000 miles should have a failing engine.
Steering wheel has a sticky feeling, especially on the highway traveling at faster speeds. The wheel gets stuck in certain positions and then over exerts when you turn the wheel back. Overall, the steering wheel feels unstable.
I live in VA, bought my Sorento in 2018. Every winter when the temps drop below freezing my car will intermittently not start. This issue only happens below freezing and it is not every time the temps drop below freezing. Once the sun comes up and the day warms up a bit the car almost always will start. I have taken it to the Kia dealership multiple times over the years and of course it always starts right up, no problem, even in the single digits. I have taken it to a couple of other local repair shops as well to no avail. So far this winter I have had it at the dealership 3 times and finally on the third trip they figured out the issue. The factory installed remote start was pulling too much voltage, even while the car was off, that the brand new battery couldn't start the car. They removed the remote start (told me I could buy another and have it installed for $800) and the car has started every single time. This has left me and my family stranded previously so wanted to help others figure this out so it doesn't take them 6 years and stranded like it did us.
I was rolling and the car lose power and the engineer light turn on and it’s making a noise
Due to the engine block and heads being aluminum, the head bolt threads are stripping and pulling out of the block and creating a loose seal around the head gaskets. This does not allow the engine to cool properly resulting in overheating and damage to the engine and the radiator. This has been inspected by a dealer who confirmed this issue and inspected by an independent mechanic who has recommended resurfacing the heads and a fix for the threads of the bolts. There is significant cost to put a temporary fix on an engine that is failing significantly for many other owners as well. Most with the same issue. This is a known issue of the 3.3L V6 engines and Kia is not addressing the fix.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the engine started shaking uncontrollably and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road and restart the vehicle. After restarting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the vehicle is not able to exceed 65 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.
My Kia had a code for the crankshaft sensor. I took the car to a mechanic that checked the sensor, crank case and reset the code. A few weeks later, the same code came back on. Took to the same mechanic and said that the code had to be cleared by the dealership. No issues found. A week later, the check engine light came on (blinking) and when I tried to put it into gear, began to misfire. I turned the car off and had it towed to a different mechanic. This mechanic asked me "where did your oil go?". I said, I just had the oil changed about a month or so ago. He said "yeah, I can see that. But your car is low 4 quarts of oil. I had to flush the engine due to metal shavings being in your oil. I changed the crankshaft oil as well. The code will not clear and it is still misfiring. You need a new engine". I notified Kia and there response was "You're the second owner and since the car has 108,000 miles, is out of warranty". This is very frustrating and to think that I could have had my engine seize while driving makes me sick. I have ordered a remanufactured engine and am waiting for it to be shipped and installed. This is just negligent of Kia not to correct this issue.
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the front and rear exterior lights shut off unexpectedly. The contact turned off the light switch and then back on and the failure was fixed. Additionally, the vehicle had experienced excessive oil consumption, and engine oil was added shortly after having an oil change performed. The vehicle also experienced harsh driving due to the oil consumption failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 65,000.
The steering is sticky. When on the highway you have to keep correcting the steering because the wheel seems to be sticking then moving. As a result you can not just go straight down the road but have to keep putting in steering corrections!!!!! This needs to be addressed! This is an ongoing problem , not just on one date.
Sporadically during night driving the headlights will go out. Headlights set to AUTO each time. Most recently while turning right. Had not used right turn signal.
Steering wheel sticking when driving. Kia replaced the steering column assy-steering and the gear and linkage assy. Steering is some better but still the sticking
While driving at night, headlights turn off.
Oil consumption. My car is always empty after 3000 miles. I am always having to put oil in my car. Now having engine issues… No warning lights came on to let me know of issues or low oil.
My Kia Sorento uses roughly 2-4 quarts of oil every week or 2. The smell of oil is so strong in the car it’s almost unbearable. Just this week the the alert about a door being open is going off and the locks are malfunctioning. It locks and unlocks at random and it keeps sayings a door is open when it isn’t. The cruise control also stopped working.
The engine malfunctioned, it is available for inspection upon request. My family of four was traveling in the vehicle at 80 mph down I-65 when the malfunction occurred. No warning lights came on, the vehicle began to slow to 60mph and would not accelerate when pressing the gas. When the gas was pressed the entire vehicle began to shake, still no warning lights. Thankfully we were 1 mile from exit 71. I pressed the gas one last time, at this point we are coasting off the exit at 25 mph, that is when all the lights came on in the dash. We were able to safely park on the side of the road and the car died and would not restart. This all happened in less than a minute. Mine and my family's safety were 100% at risk. When my mechanic looked at the vehicle, he said it was lucky that the car did not catch fire. The entire base of the engine was melted, and all the oil was gone from the engine. My mechanic advised me to take the vehicle back to where I bought it, Car Town KIA in Nicholasville KY. They had in place an extended warranty on the engine due to a rod failure but have now told me that the engine will not be covered to be replaced.
Headlights intermittently turn off when set to the "auto" setting while the vehicle is in use. I received a warranty notification from Kia for the issue and attempted to have it fixed through a Kia dealership. Kia dealership did not have the part to fix it and does not know when they will have the part. This issue first started happening in October 2023. Visit to the dealership was November 22, 2023. Issue is still not resolved.
The motor and chemical smell
My Kia engine started consuming oil internally, with no external trace of a problem. First reported to Dealer at Service Appt on 5/16/23 (at mileage 58,370) and another on 9/25/23 (at mileage 61,789). I've had the car serviced regularly by this dealer. Only 3400 miles driven between those two appointments, but my engine consumed 4.5 quarts of oil during those 4.5 months. Copies of my service receipts are attached, with dealer's notations on the issue. The dealer service rep advised me that said there is nothing more they can do until the engine Fails. Then they'll contact Kia Corporate requesting total engine replacement, at no charge to me. They gave me Kia's Corporate phone number to call & report this problem to them, asking what they can do about resolving it for me. My car is still under Factory Warranty, and dealer said I have lifetime warranty on the engine. I found the following article reporting this problem, with comments from other owners experiencing the same issue: [XXX] Can NHTSA force Kia to take proper action, as a safety recall on this? - [XXX] [XXX] C: [XXX] E: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I have had my lights to go off at night while driving.
It is burning through 2 quarts of oil every 3000 miles and it is sitting at a Kia dealership whom doesn’t want to fix it. I have seen class action lawsuits in regards to this issue
When driving my Kia the steering wheel is sticking. At first it was just ever now and then. But now it it’s happening everyday. There is a recall for 2018 models doing the same thing. I pretty sure this is the same part and should be covered under the recall.
1. During nighttime driving, the headlights suddenly go off. Headlights are on auto and it happens randomly. The first time it happened was in August 2023 and then on 09/08/2023 twice during night driving. 2. It's very risky to be in the dark on a rural road. I really worry for my family's safety. 3. I could not reproduce the issue, nor have I taken it to a technician or dealer yet. 4. Not inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others. 5. There was no warning on the dash prior to that happening.
Headlights turned off on 3 occasions in the last 2 weeks. first i was driving on an unlit section of a residential thoroughfare, dark night and suddenly, while both hands on steering wheel, not having had any interaction with dashboard/radio controls, smooth section of roads (no obvious bumps) the lights turned off. I immediately fiddled with the steering column mounted light control switch, which did not give me an immediate relief, flipped it to highbeams and they worked. 2nd and 3rd time (yesterday 9/8/23) while on semi lit highway they again shocked me by turning off, i again toggled the light switch, this time highbeam flip did not work, i was doing 65 on a 70 and having lights turn off, with no reason, scary. 80,000 miles. i have had the light switch in automode.
Headlights switch set in Auto position. Headlights turned on spontaneously, two different times while auto was off and locked. This resulted in battery being drained and auto would not start. This has not happened since switch was set to Off position.
The car stalled and when restarted had a hard knocking. Bad engines in kias are a known issues. Why are they not replacing engines in all the vehicles!
Cars burns a qt of oil every 200 miles oil smells just like gas
I have KIA 2017 Sorento, the engine has oil consumption with no leak and I have to add oil almost every 3 days. I take it to KIA dealer and after checking he oil level for 1000mile, the dealer informed me that they can change the engine only when it fails and not before that. I found this solution is risky because I drive it in highway and it could cause a serious cars accident if it suddenly stopped in the middle of the highway. I can't find any reason why they don't want to do engine change and It is clear that KIA knows about the engine problem but they want to save money not save people life.
Car oil light doesnt come on , only when almost gone. Car stop and slugish on highways and automatic turns off , this issie since the update
several occasions my headlights have completely gone out. I have to toggle the blinker button to get the lights to come back on. This happened 5 times at 5 am in the morning. I have taken my vehicle into the shop several times. It is in the shop again today. They are saying it is switch that causes headlights to go out. This is dangerous to others on the road and also myself. I have read online there has been over 1300 complaints but have not seen a recall come out. Please investigate why lights are going out sporadically. I had to slam on my breaks because I cannot see in the dark. Thank God other vehicle were not on the road. Please investigate this matter as I am not the only customer that has complained.
Check engine light came on. 65,000 miles with documented regular maintenance. Took to dealership where i purchased the vehicle new. Engine code (P0172). Was told gas was getting into the oil and i would need a new high pressure fuel pump. This is a common issue and should be repaired free of cost.
My Sorento had been running just fine. I only did maintenance projects such as new brakes, new tires, oil changes and then one day out of no where my car starts making a knocking noise that got progressively louder. No check engine or oil light appeared. I took it to a mechanic the next day and they said that I needed a new engine and that there was no oil in the car. I know that I had placed oil in car with in the year when I got my brakes replaced. Also there was no leaking of oil anywhere underneath my car. I still own on my Kia and the price of a new engine was quoted over $10,000.00.
For months now I have been experiencing problems with the steering wheel feeling like it's sticking while driving. It can happen on a straight roadway, but mostly notice it on curves, especially a long stretch of road. I can hold the steering wheel around a slight curve and if I need to move it to the right slightly to keep in line with the curve then it jerks a little to get out of that position. It happens every time whether moving the steering wheel left or right. Last time it happened I said I wasn't going to drive the car anymore because it's unsafe. It got stuck around a curve and took more tug on the steering wheel to get it to move the tires in the direction I needed. There's so many other complaints online about this very problem from other Kia owners around the 2017 models. I've taken it to the dealer twice for this and they never experienced the problem because they just drove around the lot and did a rapid back and forth on the steering wheel. You have to be driving it on a longer stretch of road when you can get it up to faster speeds where it's more noticeable.
The vehicle headlights intermittently turn off while driving the vehicle.
Excessive oil consumption. Chronic problem. I don’t know how this isn’t a recall yet. Hundreds of people are having this EXACT same issue! Please make this a recall so Kia is responsible for resolving this issue!!!