- The 2011 Kia Sorento is the focus of a preliminary defect investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of possible transmission failure.
- NHTSA says an estimated 50,000 vehicles are involved.
- The federal agency says it has received four complaints alleging "a loss of motive power due to a transmission failure possibly related to an intermediate driveshaft problem."
WASHINGTON — The 2011 Kia Sorento is the focus of a preliminary defect investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of possible transmission failure.
"The Office of Defects Investigations has received four complaints alleging a loss of motive power due to a sudden failure of a transmission intermediate driveshaft and an additional five complaints alleging a loss of motive power due to transmission failure which could be related to an intermediate driveshaft failure," said NHTSA in its failure report summary.
An estimated 50,000 2011 Sorentos are involved in the preliminary evaluation. Such an investigation is sometimes the precursor to a recall.
NHTSA said it has received no reports of crashes, injuries or fatalities related to the investigation.
One complaint by an unidentified consumer related to the transmission in a 2011 Sorento was posted on April 8, 2011 on the NHTSA Web site:
"(I )was driving 60 mph in clear lane on highway when a very loud 'bang' was heard in engine, SUV lurched violently and engine whined noticeably," it said. "It was immediately noticeable that the engine was losing acceleration power. Vehicle did not shift or drive correctly afterwards."
NHTSA notes that Kia Motors has issued a technical service bulletin which addresses problems with a "clunk or squealing noise from the intermediate driveshaft which may be related to the failures alleged in the consumer complaints."
Kia Motors America issued the following statement after an e-mailed query by Inside Line: "Kia Motors America (KMA) has been notified by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) that the agency has initiated an investigation resulting from reports of loss of vehicle power due to transmission concerns with a few MY2011 Kia Sorento models. The company is working closely with NHTSA to address each report and will continue to cooperate until the investigation is closed.
"Kia Motors will initiate its own comprehensive internal investigation into alleged transmission concerns on MY2011 Sorento models with the goal of immediately identifying any potential problems. If a transmission issue is found, Kia Motors, in cooperation with NHTSA, will move quickly to resolve the problem."
Kia said that consumers with questions should contact their local Kia retailer or KMA Consumer Assistance Center.
Inside Line says: If you own the aforementioned 2011 Kia Sorento, be aware that a federal investigation is in the works. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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plato11 says:
11:48 AM, 04/30/2012
My wife was driving our 2011 Kia Sorrento Feb. 2012 when it went "clunk" and lost power; the engine ran as normal but no/little power from transmission. She was on a dangerous highway and damaged the car trying to back up to a safer spot. Sorento was towed, dealer kept it for three days and said they'd fixed the problem, but Kia said the body damage was our problem. Today, April 30, I was driving when it went "clunk" - engine ran but no/little power from transmission; I pulled over, shut the ignition off and restarted after a minute or so - I am home and the car is going to the dealer. This car scares me - if this happens in other circumstances I see the real possibility of a serious accident. How do I report this problem? Other than trading it (and giving the danger to someone else), what are my options? This is our second dangerous incident . . . I don't believe anyone at Kia really cares.
jgrace2 says:
10:00 AM, 03/02/2012
I bought a 2011 KIA Sorento Mach 14, 2011 and right after I bought it, I was driving about 55-60 mph and all of a sudden it felt like I ran into a brick wall and it jerked the steering wheel hard to the left. I pulled over to see if I had actually hit anything but everything was fine. When I started driving again I noticed that the transmission wasn't shifting and it had very little power. I made it to a close by gas station where I put the car back into park and shut off the engine. When I started the engine and put it back into gear, everything was fine. Well I took it to a local dealership and they kept it for a couple of days just to tell me that everything was fine. Today I was driving to work and (about 55-60 mph) and it did the exact same thing again. When I got to work I got online and discovered that this has happened to several other people. I called the dealership and they act as if its not a big deal.
Does any one have any suggestions on which direction I shoild take to get this handled.
jph291 says:
05:35 PM, 01/15/2012
I have a 2010 Sorento with 10K miles and was driving on I-95 last night. I thought someone hit me from behind because there was such a jolt. There was no car close enough to have hit me so I pulled over to see if I had hit something. There was no damage, but when I pulled back onto the highway the car was sluggish. As I continued to accelerate I noticed the car was not shifting. I pulled over again and put the shifter in the manual mode and the transmission was stuck in fourth. It could not be manually shifted into any other gear. I proceeded to drive the rest of the way home, about 15 more miles, and it remained in fourth. Once in my driveway I shifted into neutral and reverse and drive. It went into each range, but in drive it was always in fourth. This morning it was fine and I drove over 50 miles with out incident. I looked on the NHTSA website and see some recalls for the Sorento, but none for the transmission. Do you have the recall number for NHTSA?
helpmekia2011 says:
11:20 AM, 10/29/2011
I have loved my 2011 Kia Sorrento since I bought it in June 2010, however, recently it has caused great concerns. On two occasions, I went to park it and I couldnt get the gears to shift into park, I tried everything, I couldnt even back out of the parking lot I was in bc gear was stuck in drive. For ten minutes , I sat in the car with my foot on the brake, to keep the car from hitting the wall in font of me. I even tried to turn off the car and the car would not turn off. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to move the gear and put the car into park. I turned off the vehicle and went to start it, and car was fine. This exact same thing happened a week later. Again after several moments car acted normal. Two weeks later , I went to start the car in garage and nothing happened, lights came on, but nothing happened. Car didn't start for a week. It seemed like the push ignition didn't recognize the keys were near. It then all of a sudden started one day and I drove it to work for two weeks without incident. Last Monday, I went to start the car to go to work and surprise, it again does not start for the same reasons. This is very inconvenient, very concerning.
edgy2 says:
07:25 AM, 09/08/2011
Since my 2008 Ford Edge transmission failure with lurching, grinding and racing engine in July 2011, I have been researching comparable Crossovers and SUVs with the 6 speed automatic transmission , and they all are reporting the same problem! I haven't been aware that there are federal investigations for the other vehicles and although this experience does not not happen in all vehicles with this transmission, clearly the potential for failure of the 6 speed transmission exists. Although I have enjoyed my Ford Edge, I am now reluctant to drive it on trips. My local dealer replaced a sensor to correct the immediate problem, but I worry about the damage that the lurching and grinding caused underneath and internally in the drivetrain.
fishforfun says:
07:42 PM, 05/30/2011
I have a 2011 Kia Sorento with less then 2,000 miles on it. I drove it home from dealer (25 miles) and the next morning it would not start. So I had it jump started and it ran fine but NONE of the gauges worked. Had it towed the dealer "Danbury Kia" CT and I was assured that they found a bad connection behind the dash and it was fixed. Now a few weeks later same problem: on the way home from the fire house none of the gauges work and for the past week it has been reading that I am getting 60 miles on a gallon of gas!!!! This morning it was dead again and has been towed back to the dealer.
The reason I bought a new car was to make sure things like this didn't happen to me!!! I can smell lemon law in my future.
Jgalente
mwilson094 says:
04:10 PM, 04/24/2011
I bought a Kia Sorento 5 months ago and it has been in the dealerships service too much for a new vehicle. The first problem occured one week after purchasing it. The brake light came on and it ended up to be the brake calipers leaking. The rear drivers side was empty. They replaced them with another vehicle on the lot so I didnt have to wait for parts to come in. Then came the recall , I asked if the ones mine were replaced with and they said they should be fine. We shall see. One month laster I was driving 60 mph with cruise set and all of a sudden the care jerked forward and it felt like I had hit a wall, I pulled over , the guy behind me said he saw the vehicle lunge forward and wanted to know if everything was ok. All tires were fine and no lights on so I continued on my way to work. After 3 miles the car was making roaring and loud and the RPM's were very high and the speed was low. I called the dealership and took it immediately to the service department. They drove the vehicle and it did not happen for them so they were ready to have me pick it up and one of the service men took it to have it washed and it happened to them, finally the vehicle showed a code which told them it was fuel injection , they inspected , removed the code and said everything was fine. I called Kia and the customer service representative was very rude and asked what I would want them to do. I advised him I was not sure how safe the vehicle was and he didnt seem to care. Again on 04/15/2011 again the vehicle lunged forward and I called service and took the Sorento in. this time after a couple of days when they could fit the vehicle in for service , the test drive was done and very shortly later it happened to the servicemen. It had a pressure control solenoid issue and the transmission was replaced. This has been a very disappointing and I am still unsure of this vehicle. Although the service department has been very good to me the vehicle has not. If Kia was any good at customer service they would follow up on this with me but after three calls to their customer service they clearly dont care about their consumers. I hope others have better luck with their vehicles as I am waiting for the next problem. I just happened to see an article reading "2011 Kia Sorento investigated by feds for possible transmission failure."I hope noone gets hurt from this problem or anything else related to this vehicle.
brazaboy says:
09:50 PM, 04/15/2011
Get Ready, Set, Go...here comes the recalls for Kia and Hyundai, large mileage guarantee doesn't mean quality, nobody holds six-sigma quality like Honda and Toyota!!!
morey000 says:
09:57 AM, 04/13/2011
biggest problem with that vehicle... is that it's ugly
cjgt says:
09:12 AM, 04/13/2011
"Hyundai and Kia suck. Hyundai has that steering problem with the new Sonata, and the new Sorento has a transmission problem. No wonder all they do is promote that long warranty because you are going to need it big time." - hondalvr4life
lol. Yea, Honda has those "high quality" issues like for windows shattering, fuel leaks, engine stalling, oil leaks, door fires, brake issues, cracked engine blocks, bad transmissions....
Dealing with a Honda with a cracked engine block out of warranty is much better! lol