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What 1,515 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Kia Sorento
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
26 of 1,515 complaints match · Electrical system · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters · page 2 of 2
Mar 13, 2015Electrical systemEngineFire
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 KIA SORENTO. WHILE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH, THERE WAS A LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. ALSO, THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT SMOKE EMITTED FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. UPON PULLING THE VEHICLE OVER, IT WAS FURTHER NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WAS ON FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT A ROD FRACTURED INTO THE ENGINE AFFECTING THE OTHER COMPONENTS CAUSED A FIRE. ALSO, THE MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THAT THE PISTONS MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED BUT FURTHER EXTENSIVE DIAGNOSIS WAS REQUIRED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 10V388000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 102,000.
NHTSA ODI 10694186
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Working with the data? Download all 1,515 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2011 Kia Sorento verdict →