Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||||
| TSB-045(REV 1) | 11/01/2012 | 10050640 | Kia: information regarding installing an inhibitor switch bracket on inhibitor switch due to an uneven engagement when shifting gears or a no start condition in power train control module (pcm). models 2011-2012 sorento. | 02/04/2013 | |
| TSB-101 | 06/01/2011 | 10041078 | Ready | 09/19/2011 | |
| TSB-101 | 06/01/2011 | 10041078 | Kia motors: 2011-2012 sorento. malfunction light is on with stored trouble codes. *rm | 09/19/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 02/05/2013 | 20000 | ||
| My wife parked car in driveway and open garage door to take trash out to curb. she left the car idling and in park. my driveway has slight incline. it took her about 3 to 5 minutes to bring trash to curb. while approaching the kia sorento she noticed it started rolling down the driveway. panicking she tried to reach in and kill the engine. she was hit by door and knocked her onto the drivers floor with her feet outside the car. she tried pressing the brake pedal with no luck slowing down the car. as she got to the end of the driveway the cars speed had increased enough where she couldn't hold on any longer. she was thrown from the car into the street. take one step back now. when she pulled into the driveway she put the car in park allowing her to get out of the car. when i got there afterwards no one had touched the car yet and the car was in neutral. the sorento had to slip out of park and into neutral. reasoning is because 1) if left in any gear other than park door wouldn't of unlocked. 2) if left in gear the car wouldn't of stayed in one place in the driveway hill for 3 to 5 minutes before staring to roll. trying to see if anyone else has had their kia sorento slip from park into neutral! please let me know if you have. | |||
| 11/15/2011 | 18000 | 1 | |
| I own a 2012 4 cylinder kia sorento. i bought it new in nov 2011. had it about 8 months and was driving up a hill with traffic behind me and it just stopped....had to let traffic around me and then let off brake to coast back down hill until i got to a place i could pull in. took it to local dealership...transmission issues-had to get new one...dealership kept it over a week.less than 2 weeks later my husband was driving up a hill and again same type of problems and was told by dealership i needed another transmission....it's been at dealership 1/2 a week and not sure when i'll get it back. *tr | |||
| 02/02/2012 | 10100 | 1 | |
| I own a two-wheel-drive model 2012 kia sorento with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and automatic transmissions. it has loss of power due to a sudden failure of the transmission; automatic transmission does not change gears and has a whirring/whining noise. the transmission shifts correctly between 1st and 2nd gear. shifting into 3 the rmps begin to increase beyond normal limits and shifting into 4th is so delayed the transmission seems to be failing. at 35 mph, the rpm's ramp up to 4500 and continues to climb. by 45 mph it can be as high as 6500 rpms. the sustainable rpms in this vehicle are continuously 3500 to 4500 rpms and is quite loud. i have taken it to my local kia dealer 4 times. on two occasions, they kept it for more than a week and always tell me that this is how the vehicle is designed and there is nothing wrong with it. the 4th time it was in the shop, another 2012 sorento was brought in for the same problem. twice this issue has nearly caused a wreck when i was pulling out from a stop sign, pressing the accelerator, and not having the power to get past 35 mph; pushing the rpms to 4500+. traveling up small grades is difficult at best let alone traveling steeper hills/crests and grades. i fear this will cause great damage to the transmission and engine or worse, cause a fatal crash with me and my children. other vehicles have been taken to my local dealer for the same issue and i am certain others are having this same issue. please review this issue. thank you. *tr | |||
| 02/02/2012 | 10100 | ||
| I own a two-wheel-drive model 2012 kia sorento with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and automatic transmissions. it has loss of power due to a sudden failure of the transmission; automatic transmission does not change gears and has a whirring/whining noise. the transmission shifts correctly between 1st and 2nd gear. shifting into 3 the rmps begin to increase beyond normal limits and shifting into 4th is so delayed the transmission seems to be failing. at 35 mph, the rpm's ramp up to 4500 and continues to climb. by 45 mph it can be as high as 6500 rpms. the sustainable rpms in this vehicle are continously 3500 to 4500 rpms and is quite loud. i have taken it to my local kia dealer 4 times. on two occasions, they kept it for more than a week and always tell me that this is how the vehicle is designed and there is nothing wrong with it. the 4th time it was in the shop, another 2012 sorento was brought in for the same problem. twice this issue has nearly caused a wreck when i was pulling out from a stop sign, pressing the accelerator, and not having the power to get past 35 mph; pushing the rpms to 4500+. traveling up small grades is difficult at best let alone traveling steeper hills/crests and grades. i fear this will cause great damage to the transmission and engine or worse, cause a fatal crash with me and my children. other vehicles have been taken to my local dealer for the same issue and i am certain others are having this same issue. please review this issue. thank you. | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 6000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. the contact was driving 45 mph when the vehicle would no longer accelerate. the contact was able to restart the vehicle and took it to the dealer for diagnosis. the dealer could not diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was contact and stated that if the dealer was unable to diagnose a failure then they would not be able to provide any assistance to the contact. the failure mileage was 6,000 and the current mileage was 96,000. kmj | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 6000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. the contact stated while driving 45 mph when the vehicle shift gear and the vehicle would not accelerate. she was able to pull over on the side of the road where she was able to start the vehicle again. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. the dealer could not find the failure. the manufacturer was contact they stated if the dealer could not find a diagnosis there was not they could do. the failure mileage was 6,000 and the current mileage was 96,000.jp | |||
| 09/03/2011 | 233 | ||
| The 2012 kia sorento lx awd was purchased new with 233 miles on it. the vehicle's automatic transmission regularly hesitates to up-shift during smooth acceleration while under normal driving conditions (flat roads, cruising speeds), causing the engine to hang in the 3500+ rpm range. when the car has finished accelerating and has reached cruising speed, my foot backs off the accelerator pedal and it still does not up-shift or even coast. instead, the vehicle drastically decelerates as the engine rpms drop because the transmission remains in the same gear when my foot leaves the accelerator, rather than up-shifting to the next gear. i have driven countless automatic transmission vehicles over the years and have never experienced this phenomenon prior to owning this vehicle. i don | |||
| 12/07/2011 | |||
| I have a 2012 kia sorento. bought with 114 miles on it. i have the automatic transmission, ex awd model w/power shifting. i noticed after driving my car shortly after purchasing that the car would not shift when it should. rpms would reach up to 4000 and the car still would not shift. i have to manual shift the car into the next gear since my automatic transmission has trouble. if i wanted a standard transmission - i would have purchased one. | |||
| 12/13/2011 | 4500 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked in a residential driveway with the engine off when it rolled backward and crashed into a neighboring home. the contact stated that before shutting the vehicle off, he was unable to shift into park and shut off the vehicle while in drive. the vehicle was destroyed. the police were called and a report was filed and available. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 4,500. | |||
| 12/13/2011 | 4500 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia sorento. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked in a residential driveway with the engine off when it rolled backward and crashed into a neighboring home. the contact stated that before shutting the vehicle off, he was unable to shift into park and shut off the vehicle while in drive. the vehicle was destroyed. the police were called and a report was filed and available. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 4,500. kmj | |||
| 08/15/2011 | 1500 | ||
| 2012 kia sorento v-6 awd vehicle surges either forward or reverse during start up as if its partially in gear. once started it seems to be fine and drives normally. the issue was sporadic at first but is now occuring on a daily basis. the dealership was first contacted on 8/27/11. the vehicle was then taken in on 9/6/11 but was not fixed as the dealership was having computer related issues. i have not been successful in getting a response from the dealer since then! 9/28/11 | |||
| 06/01/2011 | 100 | ||
| The problem i am having is intermittent. when i push the start button sometimes the car the lunges backwards while the car is still in park it only does this when i am starting the car. it also makes an audible noise at the same time it is buck jumping. i have taken it to the dealer several times an on the first visit they heard the noise and figured it was the starter. they put in a new starter and i am still having this problem. the transmission also seems to slip during city driving but it is very subtle. now after about the fifth time being in the shop every time they say they can't reproduce my description of the problem to make a diagnosis so they can't fix it. however, they have already heard the problem because they put in a new starter and told me if the problem persists to bring it back. on one of the visits they rewired the electrical parts to see if it was an electrical problem and it was not. i am afraid that one of these days the car is actually going to move out of park and hit something. every time i push the start button i hold my breath and go stiff because when it acts up the whole car jumps backwards as if it is trying to shift itself in reverse and the noise was described as the starter is hitting the flywheel or some other terminology i can't recall. i always pick my car up from them without it being repaired because they continue to say they were unable to reproduce the problem, but how is it that as soon as the same day of picking my car up or within the next few days my car starts jumping when i push the start button. the dealership has kept my car a full week on more than one visit and the mechanic has put as many as 85 miles on it starting it frequently and you guessed it - has not been able to reproduce the problem!!!!! somebody is not forthcoming with the truth. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 02/02/2012 | 10100 | 1 | |
| I own a two-wheel-drive model 2012 kia sorento with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and automatic transmissions. it has loss of power due to a sudden failure of the transmission; automatic transmission does not change gears and has a whirring/whining noise. the transmission shifts correctly between 1st and 2nd gear. shifting into 3 the rmps begin to increase beyond normal limits and shifting into 4th is so delayed the transmission seems to be failing. at 35 mph, the rpm's ramp up to 4500 and continues to climb. by 45 mph it can be as high as 6500 rpms. the sustainable rpms in this vehicle are continuously 3500 to 4500 rpms and is quite loud. i have taken it to my local kia dealer 4 times. on two occasions, they kept it for more than a week and always tell me that this is how the vehicle is designed and there is nothing wrong with it. the 4th time it was in the shop, another 2012 sorento was brought in for the same problem. twice this issue has nearly caused a wreck when i was pulling out from a stop sign, pressing the accelerator, and not having the power to get past 35 mph; pushing the rpms to 4500+. traveling up small grades is difficult at best let alone traveling steeper hills/crests and grades. i fear this will cause great damage to the transmission and engine or worse, cause a fatal crash with me and my children. other vehicles have been taken to my local dealer for the same issue and i am certain others are having this same issue. please review this issue. thank you. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 08/26/2011 | 125 | ||
| I was starting off from stop sign and felt and heard a lound thud from the engine area. immediately the 2012 sorento lost power and would not shift. it would continue to move at about 5 mph. the engine did not stop. i stopped the vehicle and restarted but with the same symptoms. being very close to the dealer, i took it in. the sales dept has agreed to find another vehicle and replace this one. i'm not so sure... | |||