What 130 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid

I was driving 2 minutes away from my house and all of the sudden every warning light on the dashboard came on, billowing smoke started coming through the vents. I immediately pulled in a random driveway, as I was turning I. I heard a loud pop. I shut the car off immediately, jumped out. As I looked at the front of my car, flames were coming from the bottom front. I ran up to the house, the man of the house came out with a fire extinguisher. He put out the flames underneath, asked me to pop the hood, I did so and he put out the flames underneath the hood. As I was waiting for a tow truck, I seen a shiny object at the bottom of the vehicle, I pulled it out. It was a wrist pin from the engine. I also noticed a ton of fluids poured out in the man’s driveway. I had the vehicle towed home and contacted Kia and my insurance company. My case was escalated to Kia corporate and Elizabeth Barooni contacted me. She promised to tow my vehicle to the dealership of my choice, get me a rental car, pay any out of cost expenses and repair the vehicle. The vehicle only had 75,000 miles on it. After all her promises, she never contacted me again. I have tried to contact her and a Kia number called me, I answered they hung up on me. I called the number back and it was James Hope, an employee who works at Kia America Corporation. They have not returned my call since around Christmas. I also contacted GEICO, my insurance company, they sent out a adjuster, they denied my claim. They stated that all of this was caused by mechanical failure, they put on the claim that Kia is known for these issues and they will not cover it. I still remain without a vehicle and Kia Corporate has completely ignored me after making promises to help.

NHTSA ODI 11711529

To Whom It May Concern, I had a horrible experience with my 2020 Kia Sorento and I can't seem to get anyone to respond to me. This very upsetting. My VIN number is [XXX] , my vehicle only had 75,000 miles on it. I kept up with all maintenance, oil changes, checking oil on a regular basis, checking all fluids, including antifreeze, brake fluid as well. I was driving on a clear day, no snow, no rain, no traffic, country road. I was going about 35 MPH and all of the sudden every light that I could possibly think of came on my dashboard, within 30 seconds of that I heard a very loud pop and smoke barreled in through my vents. Obviously the smoke made it a struggle to breathe and definitely is not good for mine or my children lungs. I immediately pulled into the first driveway I seen. This took 5 seconds from the loud pop and the smoke through the vents, actually not even 5 seconds. I jump out of my car and see a fire under my hood. I immediately run up to the house of the driveway I pulled in. Fortunately, the man of the home, seen what was happening, ran to his garage, got a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. I look under the car. I seen something very shiny lying on the ground, right under where the fire was. It was piston cylinder piece This explains the pop, the fire and nearly every fluid that was in my car now on the ground. Oil, antifreeze and brake fluid were all now spilled in this man's driveway. I called Kia and reported the incident, they stated there were no recalls on my vehicle, according to the VIN number. They also stated the year 2020 did not have recalls, like the years leading up to 2019, stopping at 2020 and then resuming at 2021. Elizabeth from Kia America Corp made promises she didn’t keep by stating they would tow my car to Kia dealership and give me a rental. She promised to make it right and was caught lying, she never contacted the dealership. Elizabeth’s phone number [XXX] . Please help me, my kids and I need a vehicle. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11710268

As I was driving down the street it sound like I ran over something but it was actually my engine failing, then caught on fire. I was able to pull over and used water bottles to let out the fire. My vehicle had to be towed to the repair shop because the engine wasn't able to restart.

NHTSA ODI 11648006

The engine light consistently comes on and off. When you go to diagnose problem it would read- because the engine light would stay on. Two mechanics looked at it, and are saying it’s a failing fuel pump. And it’s not working correctly. The car just shut off and stopped working while exiting a busy freeway. Just cut off in the middle of the exit/road.

NHTSA ODI 11600830

The vehicle was not even 3.5 years old, it had been serviced in February 2023 and there was no warning before the fire began. The vehicle stopped accelerating and I immediately pulled over. The fire began as soon as I stopped the car and the vehicle was engulfed within minutes. My daughter and I were in the car. We barely escaped before the vehicle was on fire. I did not have a vehicle hitch on the vehicle and this was unrelated to the vehicle recall notice that I received several weeks after my incident.

NHTSA ODI 11542902