2023 Kia Sorento Phev

Routine

Owners filed 8 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the unknown or other. It has been recalled 2 times.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Unknown or Other2
000
Wheels1
000
Vehicle Speed Control1
000
Steering1
000
Power Train1
000
Engine1
000
Electrical System1
000

2 safety recalls

Part 573 reports
Back Over Prevention › Sensing System › Camera23V610000
Filed Aug 31, 2023144,979 vehiclesKia America, Inc.

Defect. Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2022-2023 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, and Sorento Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) vehicles. The mounting clips for the rearview camera may break, which can cause the rearview camera image not to appear properly on the display. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Risk. A rearview camera that does not properly display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy. Dealers will inspect and replace the rearview camera housing, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC280.

Trailer Hitches22V703000Park outside
Filed Sep 19, 202270,887 vehiclesKia America, Inc.

Defect. Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Sorento, 2021-2022 Sorento Hybrid (HEV), 2022-2023 Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV), and 2017-2022 Sportage vehicles equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Kia dealership. Debris and moisture accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.

Risk. A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy. Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will inspect the vehicle, and, as necessary, replace the fuse and/or tow hitch harness module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 11, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC249.

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System
Filed Dec 3, 2025NY

While driving my 2023 Sorento plug-in hybrid a msg appeared that Charging Stopped Check Cable. When you stop the car and try to drive it will not go into any gear, msg says Shifting Conditions Not Met and Unplug Vehicle to Start and the wheels are locked up (E-brake) and needs a tow truck with dollies in order to load. This happened in the middle of the Highway and it’s happened FOUR times. By the time the dealer looks at it, the problem has cleared and does not show any codes. It’s not easy to reproduce since it just happens sometimes with the warning and sometimes no warning. The dealer tells me nothing is wrong with the car yet someone could get killed by being rear ended. I’ve tried for 4 months to get a Kia Field Tech out to diagnose but just keep getting lip service from Kia Customer “I don’t “ Care. I feel the car is to dangerous to drive and have refused to pick up from dealer until they fix it.

Engine
Filed Dec 21, 2024PA

When trying to accelerate from a standing stop, there is a one or two second delay, once the accelerator pedal is depressed, before the car moves. Extremely dangerous when pulling out into traffic. I had it back to the dealership to address this problem but they found nothing wrong. I guarantee you , the problem continues to exist.

Power Train
Filed Dec 11, 2024PA

1. First incident occurred on 10/29/24. My wife pulled into driveway and placed car into Park. When she shifted to reverse, the transmission didn't respond and the car revved to a very high RPM when she took foot off of brake, no foot on gas. Unable to shift it to go forward or backward. She then turned car off, back on, and was able to reverse it. This situation occurred numerous times. 2. Sometimes, after this happened, she'd place it into drive, and the vehicle would only crawl (<5 mph) forward and not accelerate, though gas pedal was touching the floor of car. She'd place it back into Park (in traffic!), shut it off, then restart it. 3. Sometimes she would place it into Reverse, the dashboard would show it in R, and the vehicle would be silent and non-reactive (no back-up beep). 4. She would place it into drive, the engine would do nothing for a few seconds, and suddenly drop into gear with a loud thud. 11/11/24 took car to KIA, they said nothing was wrong. 5. On 11/29/24, she placed the car into Park, loaded passengers, and tried to place the car into reverse and NOTHING happened. The vehicle would not move forward or backward. The dashboard indicated that it was in D, the gear shift dial indicated it was in D, but nothing happened. Car was then turned off in Drive. Drive indicator ("D") was lit up on dash, gear shift dial had "D" still illuminated too. Tried to restart, dash said to put car into Park to start. Car would not go into Park. When flatbed tow truck arrived (

Wheels
Filed Jun 24, 2024CO

The wheels provided with the new vehicle are not the correct wheels for the car. On page 639 of the owners manual: "2023 Sorento PHEV OM 10.pdf" Section 9 "Specifications, Consumer information and Reporting safety defects", page 6. The paragraph with title Tires and Wheels, has two tables; "For hybrid vehicle" and "For plug-in hybrid vehicle". The new vehicle was delivered with tires: P235 55R19 101H (listed in the table for hybrid vehicle) The manufacturer specifies P235/55R19 105V for the PHEV. On this same page there is a CAUTION paragraph: "when replacing tires, use the same size originally supplied with the vehicle. Using tires of a different size can damage the related parts of make it work irregullarly." I asked the dealer, Grand Kia of Thornton Colorado, about this. They said that these are the correct tires. I talked to the salesman, who said he called several dealers who agree that the hybrid tires are the same for the PHEV. I opened a case with Kia Care (Case # XXX) who sent me to the dealer to inspect and document the tires. Peak Kia of Colorado Springs points to a section of the manual "Tires and Wheels"; where there is an example of how to read a tire, using P235/55R19 101H as the example. They said this is the evidence that I have the correct tire! Kia said the dealer determines if action is required. the dealer ignores the "Specifications" part of the Owners Manual, which I referred and sent copies to them. I am concerned that the vehicle may have adverse resu

Steering
Filed Feb 16, 202450,000 milesNY

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, there was an abnormal squeaking sound coming from the steering column. Additionally, the steering wheel felt tight while turning in either direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

Vehicle Speed Control
Filed Aug 28, 2023NJ

We were driving on the highway at about 65 MPH. Without warning, the vehicle suddenly started to struggle and slowed to about 40 MPH. We were able to safely pull over, but we were in an acceleration lane merging onto another highway and didn't feel safe due to the sudden deceleration. This is a plug-in hybrid. We have driven at 65+ MPH on long rides before, and this was the first time that we noticed that the battery had completely drained. We expect that when the battery is drained that the car would function like a normal hybrid and continue to function in a safe manner. The car's cluster displayed a message along the lines of "Maintaining hybrid mode," although it isn't clear if the speed-limiting behavior was an expected consequence of that. After being pulled over for a bit, the battery level recuperated enough that we attempted to resume driving on side roads. Battery level varied from red to blue (normal) and then back to red, but thankfully the battery didn't fully deplete again and we were able to return home safely. We're waiting on an appointment with a dealership to have the car checked out. It was last serviced 3 days prior to the incident (first oil change, filters changed, etc).

Unknown or Other
Filed Aug 3, 2023AZ

Yesterday I was driving and I heard an explosion above my head. I smelled smoke and heard glass rattling. I was shocked but held it together to cross 3 lanes of traffic on the freeway and safely get onto the break down area. I got out of the car, went to the passenger side and looked on top of the car. The glass on the sunroof was exploded upward and metal was sticking upward as well. I took pictures and then got into my car, got back on the freeway until the next exit where I exited the freeway and made my way to the dealership where I had purchased the vehicle in 5/2023. I got there as service department was opening, I took more pictures as the lighting was different. The took my car, said I would hear something back in the next 1-3 days. They said they had to file paperwork with Kia USA to get approval to make repairs as well as to reimburse a rental car. The service person told me that this was second time he had seen this occur in the 2 years he had worked with Courtesy Kia. The other time it was a Telluride versus a Sorrento PHEV like mine.

Unknown or Other
Filed Nov 17, 2022NV

I was sold a new car with open recall. The recall was announced on September 21, 2022 and the vehicle was sold to me as new on October 12, 2022 without any disclosure regarding the recall. Vehicle sold as new not used.

8 of 8 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2022
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20260100Routine
202511300Routine
20242000Routine
2023 — this page8200Routine
202222500Routine

Compare every Sorento Phev year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.

Most recent recall on file: Aug 31, 2023. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.