2023 Kia Sorento
This year drew an ordinary 152 complaints for a Kia Sorento — the model's median is 242. What they were about is the unusual part: 7.2% of them mention message, against 1.1% across the model's other years.
Generation 4 of the Kia Sorento, which began in 2021. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 152 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 242 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 24.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- message — 7.2% of this year's complaints, against 1.1% across the model's other years (6.8×). Owners wrote it as: message, displayed.
- error — 7.9% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the model's other years (4.3×). Owners wrote it as: error, roadway, check hybrid.
- nearly — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the model's other years (4.8×). Owners wrote it as: nearly, duplicated.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
the engine START/STOP feature was malfunctioning. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the engine START/STOP system caused the vehicle to restart, and then to stall, nearly causing a crash. The battery warning light was illuminated and the message…
while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle independently decelerated with the transmission error warning light illuminated. The contact was able to push the vehicle to the side of the roadway. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repair…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 23V579000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 23V610000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 25V649000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Sorento was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2023 Kia Sorento? What happened to yours?
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