2025 Kia Sorento problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (18) · Vehicle Speed Control (6) · Electrical System (6)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Sorento model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (3)
Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel 2026-01-26 · campaign 26V046000 · 42,677 vehicles
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Kia K4, 2025-2026 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, Sorento Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage PHEV, K5, EV9, Carnival, and Carnival Hybrid vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 101, "Controls and Displays" and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring System."
Risk: An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer, tire pressure, or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 26, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC361. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 9, 2026.
Engine And Engine Cooling:critical Fasteners 2025-08-25 · campaign 25V548000 · 30 vehicles
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 K4 and Sorento vehicles. The connecting rod bolts in the engine may have been improperly tightened, which can cause a loss of drive power.
Risk: A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the sub engine assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 12, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC349.
Electrical System:body Control Module:software 2025-01-13 · campaign 25V006000 · 74,469 vehicles
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Sorento, 2025 Sorento Hybrid, and 2025 Sorento Plug-In Hybrid vehicles. A software error in the Body Domain Control Unit (BDC) may cause a loss of low beam headlights and taillights. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
Risk: A loss of headlights and taillights can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the BDC software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 21, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC331.
Service bulletins (33)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Electrical System 2026-06-18 · OTA_ELE413_NOTES_R2 · Over The Air
release notes: over-the-air: software update for data connectivity (ele413 revision 2) - this over-the-air (ota) software update is designed to update the data connectivity unit (dcu) logic of certain 2025 - 2026my carnival, ev9, k5 and sorento vehicles. this update is designed to improve the vehicl
Electrical System 2026-05-28 · TSB_ELE422 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: infotainment system software update using update.kia.com - this bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable kia vehicles using the kia navigation updater available at update.kia.com. the software update may impr
Electrical System 2026-04-24 · OTA_ELE413_NOTES_R1 · Over The Air
release notes: over-the-air: software update for data connectivity (ele413 revision 1) - this over-the-air (ota) software update is designed to update the data connectivity unit (dcu) logic of certain 2025 - 2026my carnival, 2025 - 2026my k5 and 2025 - 2026my sorento vehicles. this update is designe
Electrical System 2026-04-14 · TSB_ELE417 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: infotainment software update procedure - this bulletin provides information on the process for downloading infotainment software updates and preparing usb for installation on applicable kia vehicles. the software downloads and usb preparation process is similar across all
Engine 2026-04-01 · TSB_ENG264 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: customer action: ecu logic improvement for dtc p2b59f0 (ca2516) - this bulletin provides information to upgrade the engine control unit (ecu) software on certain 2024–2025my vehicles equipped with 2.5 gdi or 2.5 t-gdi theta iii engines listed in the table below. affected
Electrical System 2026-03-26 · WTY042_OWNR · Warranty Program/Extension
warranty extension campaign: owner notification (wty042) - this document is the owner notification advising that kia is extending the new vehicle limited warranty coverage, to all owners, for repairs related to the horn assembly in certain 2021-2025 my sorento, 2021-2025 my sorento hybrid (hev), an
Showing the 6 most recent of 33 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-23 · Air Bags · 💥 crash“i was rear ended and my car slammed into the car in front of me and the air bags did not deploy. instead my head slammed into the steering wheel. …”
2026-10-07 · Service Brakes“bought my 2025 kia sorento brand new in november of 2025. summer of 2026 with 30,000 miles on it, all of the dash lights kept flashing at me, including the red brake light, and messages saying check esc, check abs, check driver assistance system/ happened several times but the car would still drive. the morning of august 20, i was going to leave…”
2026-10-01 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“while driving on the freeway, i was getting over into the next lane. i was half way over and there was no one in front of, next to or behind me from any direction, i was traveling an open road. the closest vehicle to me was 2 lanes over and 5 to 6 car lengths behind me, my car began to beep rapidly and immediately activated the automatic emergency …”
2026-09-22 · Air Bags · 💥 crash“knee airbags deployed in my car accident and have severe injuries on bilateral legs bruises that damage my nerves and veins. …”
2026-08-28 · Visibility/Wiper“vehicle: 2025 kia sorento (vin: [xxx]) kia corporate case #: xxx safety defect description: the central ccnc infotainment display screen suffers from recurring, thermal-induced flickering and complete blackouts while driving and parking. when the screen blackouts, the fmvss 111 federally mandated backup camera, navigation, and critical vehicle saf…”
2026-08-27 · Structure:body“about a minute into my drive, i heard an explosion. i looked back thinking something happened to my twin toddlers and saw nothing. i heard the sound of glass cracking and looked up to see the front glass of my moonroof shattered. i pulled over to safety and closed the sun cover for the moonroof before any more glass could fall into the car in fear …”
2026-08-21 · Visibility/Wiper · 56,000 mi“the contact owns a 2025 kia sorento. the contact stated that while driving approximately 75 mph, the rear windshield wiper was moving with the switch turned off. the contact turned the rear windshield wiper to high, then low, and the wiper finally turned off. the contact continued driving and the vehicle suddenly stalled, and the message press butt…”
2026-08-20 · Unknown Or Other“during highway trips the info cluster starts chiming and a coffee cup light comes on the dash saying i should consider taking a break! this happens frequently and is distracting as i need to look down from the road to access what the warning is. i'm being told now that it is not able to be disabled. it's distracting and there's no way i would ha…”
2026-08-16 · Vehicle Speed Control“the dashboard has a screen display. i couldn’t see my fuel tank information. every time i would use my turn signal a large green circle would take over the screen. followed by loss of the screen, meaning no speedometer, rpm, etc. as the problem continued the speedometer started displaying incorrect numbers. saying i was going 70 miles an hour whe…”
2026-08-02 · Power Train“the engine sputters several times in a single trip, and is available upon request. the engine sputtered and the vehicle stopped in the middle of the road as i was trying to cross 2 lanes of traffic. it has sputtered so bad, i almost rear ended the vehicle in front of me. yes, the dealership confirmed via text on 7/13/2026. the dealership confir…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.