63 Total complaints
5 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
2 Injury reports
Quick answer: The 2025 Kia Sorento has 63 consumer-submitted complaints in our database. The most common complaint categories are unknown or other, power train, electrical system. Enriched records show 5 crash reports, 0 fire reports, and 2 injury reports.
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.

Buyer interpretation

How to use these complaints before buying

Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.

Complaint volume

63 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.

Pattern to inspect

The most common categories are unknown or other, power train, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.

Severity flags

Enriched records include 5 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 2 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.

Mileage clue

Mileage is available on 7 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 4,751 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.

Questions to ask the seller

  • Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, power train, electrical system?
  • Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
  • Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
  • Can we also check the recall record for this 2025 Kia Sorento?
Used-car checklist

Use these complaints before the test drive.

Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.

2025 Kia Sorento
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.

How severe are the 2025 Kia Sorento complaints?

Enriched complaint indicators from official bulk records.

5 Crash
0 Fire
2 Injury
0 Fatality
5 Towed
1 Medical attention

Mileage at failure is available on 7 complaints ; average reported mileage is 4,751 miles.

Most common incident states: MA (2), NY (2), CA (1), HI (1), IL (1), SC (1).

What are the most common 2025 Kia Sorento complaint categories?

63 total complaints on record

Latest complaints

Showing 51-63 of 63 complaints.

Date Component Summary Severity Mileage
Aug 2025 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE On [XXX], while driving home at highway speeds, I attempted to accelerate and the vehicle bucked and sputtered violently. The check engine light came on, and my OBD scanner showed multiple misfires in Cylinder 1. I have also experienced suspected transmission slipping from a full stop and during highway driving—RPMs will spike (up to ~5,500) with little or no increase in speed, sometimes after releasing the accelerator. These issues have occurred multiple times prior to [XXX]. On [XXX], while traveling 80–85 mph, I released the accelerator and the RPMs again spiked to ~5,500 while the vehicle rapidly lost speed and barely moved. Starting mileage at first occurrence is unknown, but Kia should have this documented from a prior service visit. The condition is ongoing and worsening, creating a serious safety risk by causing loss of acceleration and unpredictable power surges while in traffic. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident: Aug 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jul 2025 STEERING,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE It feels like the engine is starting to cut out and as soon as that happens, the electronics in the car seem to start fighting each other. They adaptive steering and the lane assist it feels like they don’t work together anymore and I’m always fighting it or it won’t stay in the right lane and the car jerks from line to line. If I turned the lane assist off then it drives OK but the engine still is doing something funny.
Incident: Jul 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jun 2025 BACK OVER PREVENTION On numerous occasions during extreme ambient hot temperatures, one of the body sensors keeps malfunctioning giving me an error message about the front parking sensor malfunction. I have reported this to my local dealership on a number of occasions, but as soon as I place the vehicle in park the message clears. The error has shown up on a history report with they connect a scanner to the OBD port but have yet to rectify this issue. Started before I hit 15k miles and is randomly generated.
Incident: Jun 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jun 2025 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM Have had an issue of losing power while on an interstate traveling back from work twice now. After the second time I reported to my local dealership. While driving home, my vehicle lost power and was extremely slow and unresponsive. Check engine light came on but when checked under the diagnostics of the entertainment system, showed no issues present. Light turn off but still was having issues with responsiveness. When arriving home connected my personal ODB scanner tool to the vehicle and showed 1 code P0301Cylinder 1 Misfire. Had take. Pics of the code and of my OBD tool and cleared the code. Car started functioning correctly again. But still took to dealership for analysis. Dealership could not find any issues or codes, probably cause I cleared the code which allowed the vehicle to run normally again.
Incident: Jun 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jun 2025 POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE While traveling to VA from TX, [XXX] and on [XXX] the vehicle hesitated to accelerate multiple times. Some were from a complete stop, and other times it occurred when accelerating to merge on the highway. On [XXX], I pulled out of a driveway onto a very busy road and upon increasing pressure on the gas, the vehicle shook (similar to the behavior of a manual when letting up off the clutch and not applying even pressure to the gas. Due to the vehicle's hesitation, I as almost hit by a large truck traveling on my exact path. This was the sole instance that warranted a call to Kia Corporate, as I feel the issue is a significant safety concern. I placed the vehicle in service 11-12 JUN and the attached receipt highlights that the dealer was unable to replicate the issue. As of 16 JUN, the vehicle is still exhibiting the same issue intermittently, along with the break pedal popping when ascending or descending on a hill/ramp. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident: Jun 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
May 2025 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE The contact owns a 2025 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while her husband was driving 50 MPH, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact's husband coasted the vehicle off to the shoulder of the highway. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure persisted. The contact called the dealer and made an appointment to have the vehicle serviced. The contact drove the vehicle without failure. The dealer performed a diagnostic test, but no fault was found with vehicle. The contact was instructed to pick up the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the dealer. The failure mileage was 213.
Incident: May 2025
Crash: No Fire: No 213
May 2025 FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE Driver Attn Warning randomly goes off frequently for no reason, this malfunction involves the front camera causing this frequent warning for no reason. This faulty issue gives the driver the sense that it should be ignored as it goes off for no reason, this makes this safety system null and void. It is equivalent to the blind spot warning going off so that the driver ignores it over time leading to them pulling in front of a car in there blind spot. The dealer and manufacturer know about this issue but refuse to do anything to fix it, the dealer says it's in the software of the car and they can't change it and Kia refers me back to the dealer, it's a frustrating run around for the customer. No it has not been inspected by insurance or police. The driver attention warning feature with a coffee cup began flashing a warning as soon as we pulled it off the lot
Incident: Nov 2024
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Apr 2025 STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION Was turning right onto the road when the steering locked up and every safety warning light came on. My car literally stopped moving in the middle of the road. I wasn't literally right down the road from my house so thankfully I was able to get the car back to my house. The steering felt worse than not having power steering. I called and the dealership Matt Blac KIA of Toms River, and they had my car towed to the dealership around 10 am on April 4th. Around 4pm I was told they still had no idea what was wrong with my car, and to come pick up a loaner car. On April 5th at 4:42 pm I received a text stating the wiring harness wasn't secured properly and rubbed the steering shaft, and they had to contact Kia to see how to proceed. April 11th was told the part arrived and hopefully sometime next week I would get my vehicle. As of right now I still don't have my vehicle and have no idea of when I will get it back. My main concern is that this was a serious oversight on the assembly of this car, and could have had very different results if I was not in my neighborhood and was on a busier road.
Incident: Apr 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Mar 2025 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING The contact owns a 2025 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that upon purchasing the vehicle brand new from the dealer and driving the vehicle to the residence, the contact became aware that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V006000 (Electrical System, Exterior Lighting) after conducting a VIN search the same day. The dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted. The mileage on the vehicle was 10. The actual mileage was 530.
Incident: Mar 2025
Crash: No Fire: No 530
Mar 2025 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Outside temp was 33 degrees F with a slightly lower windchill. I started the car and, when I accelerated to 30 mph, my car began to beep and the dashboard indicated the speed was limited to 30 mph. It went into limp mode and resisted when I tried to go above 30. We were towed to Kia but they could not replicate the issue and said it may have been due to the cold. A Google search showed others with 2025 model Kias also had the issue and they also happened during colder temps. I was glad I was on a 40 mph road and not a highway or it could have been a dangerous issue. There was no indication of any issue until I tried to accelerate to 30 mph. It drove fine the night before when it was also below freezing.
Incident: Feb 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Feb 2025 UNKNOWN OR OTHER While driving my 2025 Kia Sorento on the highway, I noticed a coolant leak and an overheating warning. I immediately pulled over, and the vehicle was towed to a Kia dealership for inspection. After diagnosing the issue, the dealership claimed that small pebbles had damaged the radiator, leading to the coolant leak. They stated that this was considered an accident, not a defect, and therefore was not covered under warranty. Why This is a Concern: After researching online, I discovered that many other Kia owners are experiencing the same issue, suggesting that the radiator may be vulnerable to road debris due to poor design or insufficient protection. A radiator should be durable enough to withstand normal highway driving conditions. A failure like this could cause engine overheating and sudden breakdowns, posing a serious safety risk to drivers and passengers. Request for Investigation: Since this issue is affecting multiple Kia Sorento owners, I believe it should be investigated as a possible design flaw. If the radiator is too fragile to handle everyday road debris, Kia should issue a recall or Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) to address the defect and ensure driver safety.
Incident: Feb 2025
Crash: No Fire: No Unknown
Jan 2025 VISIBILITY The contact owns a 2025 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while his wife was driving approximately 25 MPH in the snow with the windshield wipers activated, the windshield wipers became stuck in the middle of the windshield due to snow accumulation in the area between the windshield and the hood. The contact's wife pulled over to the side of the road and noticed that the accumulated snow had turned into built-up ice, which obstructed the windshield wipers functionality. The contact's wife removed the ice in the area between the windshield and the hood and continued driving. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the windshield wiper gear shaft was damaged and the arm that originated from the windshield wiper motor was bent due to the built-up ice. The dealer determined that the windshield wipers motor assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,600.
Incident: Dec 2024
Crash: No Fire: No 1,600
Nov 2024 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES The contact leased a 2025 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle failed to increase over 20 MPH. The 20 MPH limited message was displayed. The brake pedal was hard to depress. The driver pulled over and called the salesman at the dealer, who discussed red flags. The contact turned the vehicle off and restarted. While driving 45 MPH, turning left, the brake pedal was applied, but the brakes violently pumped upwards for about nine car lengths. The vehicle eventually slowed down. The speed decreased from 40 MPH to 20 MPH, and he crashed into a Toyota Corolla stopped at the light. There was an unknown abnormal warning sound detected. There were no reported injuries, airbags, fire, or police report filed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the bumper was cracked and two unknown sensors were damaged. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, who investigated the failure and determined that the brakes and smart cruise control were working as designed. Additionally, informed  him not to utilize the cruise control in the city, read the manual, and learn the vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 65.
Incident: Oct 2024
Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed 65

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