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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2013 Kia Sorento — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 981 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

981
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
23
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
44
Involved Fire
owner-reported
33
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Kia Sorento — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

2010 Kia Sorento

3 complaints

2011 Kia Sorento AVOID

1,519 complaints

2012 Kia Sorento

880 complaints

2013 Kia Sorento

981 complaints

2014 Kia Sorento

987 complaints

2015 Kia Sorento

751 complaints

2016 Kia Sorento

1,252 complaints

2017 Kia Sorento

804 complaints

2018 Kia Sorento

254 complaints

2019 Kia Sorento

428 complaints

2020 Kia Sorento

136 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 496 reports
Electrical System 116 reports
Structure 91 reports
Unknown Or Other 89 reports
Service Brakes 89 reports
Exterior Lighting 70 reports
Power Train 69 reports
Air Bags 60 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Electrical System ODI 11292259 12/31/2019

THREE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON SIMULTANEOUSLY WHILE I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AT 65 MPH. THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE THE ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, AND DOWN HILL. I TOOK IT TO PRECISION TUNE FOR A DIAGNOSIS AND WAS TOLD I NEED A PASSENGER REAR WHEEL SPEED SENSOR.

Engine ODI 11292308 12/31/2019

THE ENGINE SEIZED WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. THE ENGINE DID HAVE A MINOR OIL LEAK SINCE THE TIME OF PURCHASE FROM THE DEALERSHIP, IT WAS MONITORED AND REPLINISHED REQULARLY AND HAD BEEN DONE THE SAME DAY THE ENGINE SEIZED.

Engine ODI 11164204 12/31/2018

MY VEHICLE HAS GONE INTO "LIMP" MODE TWICE ON THE INTERSTATE AND TWICE IN LOCAL TRAFFIC WITHOUT WARNING. THE LAST TIME WAS YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2018. THAT MEANS THAT I LOSE ALL POWER TO ACCELERATE BEYOND A LOW LIMIT. IF I PULL OVER AND RESTART THE MOTOR, IT RUNS NORMALLY FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES AND THE MIL LIGHT GOES OFF. ACCORDING TO THE DTC CODES, I HAVE A FAULTY THROTT…

Visibility ODI 10669382 12/31/2014

SUN ROOF IS ACTUALLY BUCKLING. WITH THE INFORMATION LISTED ABOUT THE SUNROOF RECALL WE ARE NERVOUS THIS MIGHT IMPACT THIS. I AM 7 MONTHS PREGNANT AND AFRAID TO DRIVE MY CAR. *JS

Power Train ODI 10817053 12/30/2015

FRONT WHEEL, 4 CYLINDER ENGINE GROSSLY UNDER POWERED. MAKING A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN FROM STOP, THE ENGINE HESITATED ALMOST TO THE POINT OF STALLING. THIS IS A POTENTIAL HEAD-ON COLLISION EVEN ON A MODERATELY BUSY ROAD. KIA DEALER CLAIMS NO DEFECT IN VEHICLE. *JS

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2013 Kia Sorento, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2013 Kia Sorento reliable?
Owners have filed 981 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2013 Kia Sorento, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Kia Sorento years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.