Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Kia Sorento Transmission Problems

13»

Comments

  • wvkiaownerwvkiaowner Member Posts: 1
    I own a 2012 4 cylinder Kia Sorento. I bought it new in Nov 2011 (bought New in order to avoid car repair issues..that's a joke at this point)....had it about 8 months and was driving up a hill in Morgantown with traffic behind me and it just stopped....had to let traffic around me and then let off brake to coast back down hill until I got to a place I could pull in. Had went there to visit my son but didn't even get to visit with him because I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to get back home and was afraid I'd brake down on the way...so I left almost as soon as I got there and prayed all the way home. Took it to local dealership...TRANSMISSION ISSUES-HAD TO GET NEW ONE...they kept it over a week (dealership did give me a rental on the 2nd day)....less than 2 weeks later my husband went back to Morgantown and again same type of problems and surprise I'm in need of ANOTHER TRANSMISSION....it's been at dealership 1/2 a week and not sure when I'll get it back. What came of the issues with your Kia? Did you find out any more details to Lemon Laws in WV? Any assistance/advice you can provide would be wonderful! Thanks!
  • tblack1545tblack1545 Member Posts: 1
    Just bought a new 2014 Kia Sorento about 3 weeks ago and began having problems on the first week of having it. Feels like what jph291 is describing, riding along about 35-40mph, the engine feels sluggish, and WAMM!! When the transmission shifts, it feels like you've been hit from behind. Once it does this, the whole vehicle continues to "shudder" until you restart it.
    The problem doesn't happen every time we drive, but it happens frequent enough.
    The local Kia service department have been a blessing to deal with, doing all they can. Thus far, they have reset the "adaptive shifting" software in the computer, but nothing else. So far, they've had to reset it three(3) times already.
    Had about a week of no problems and it started again today. Taking the vehicle in the morning back to the dealership/service, letting them take a look & do what they want, then I'm leaving with a different vehicle.
    Is anyone else experiencing this problem?
  • naldridgenaldridge Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2013 Kia Sorento, that I purchased new , it now has 7,700 miles and I have been experiencing some of the same things that is mentioned here. Mine happens when I go from reverse to drive. It jerked me so hard it hurt my neck and back. I thought I ran into someone. There is a lemon law in Ohio and I plan on pursuing it. This is way to dangerous for them not to replace my vehicle. I'm pretty sure these vehicles should be recalled or I see lawsuits in their future.
  • plbjrplbjr Member Posts: 2
    Bent-my sorrento is doing the same exact thing. I am just down the road in shreveport and called the dealership. How can I get in touch with you to find out what the problem was and the dealership can identify your car so they can replicate the repair? Thanks

    booker.patrick@gmail.com
  • plbjrplbjr Member Posts: 2
    j2h,

    Did this fix your problem? I am having same exact issue.
  • texaskiatexaskia Member Posts: 1
    I have had my brand-new 2014 Kia Sorento for 6 weeks. In that time, we've had to replace the alternator (2 weeks in...with a couple hundred miles on it--car just completely shut down like you all are saying), the battery, the AC broke during a trip across four states and now the rear sensor system isn't working. We decided to buy a new car to avoid "issues" -- we have purchased three used Kias previously and never had trouble. I am a loyal consumer but this kind of thing has me thinking, "Honda" all the time. The service department has been great -- we're getting to be good friends! But Kia, you've really disappointed me and my family. I'm not sure what to make of this car debacle, but I'm pretty sure the Kia dealership will have my "new" Sorento sitting on it in a few days.
  • sprintrpssprintrps Member Posts: 62
    My 2014 Sorento EX has the same issue. I am going in this week to address the problem with the dealer. The first 1-2 gear shift in the morning has a "klunk" and at 35-40 it feels like it is "winding up" and then shifting into the next gear.
  • riker88riker88 Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2013 Kia Sorento which I purchased new, has about 11,000 miles on it. I purchased it on July 2nd, 2012.

    On 9/18/2013 While getting onto a freeway the vehicle made a strange jerking movement and I appeared to loose power. I let my foot off the gas and noticed the ECO light coming on and off, there were no other lights. I then put my foot back on the gas and it again jerked. I exited the freeway and the drove about 1 mile home with no other issues.. I thought maybe this was a one time thing.

    About an hour later I took the vehicle out and about two blocks from my house the same thing happened. The same jerking movement and loss of power acceleration, almost as if the car was in neutral. Again, the problem quickly corrected itself and I took it straight to the KIA dealership.

    The KIA techs had the car for a few hours, then I came to pick it up. They said the computer needed a program update, which they did. They could find no other error codes.

    I took the vehicle home without issue. On 9/19/2013 my wife is driving the vehicle home from work and stops at a red light before an intersection. When the light turns green she hits the gas and nothing happens. There is no power. She tried shifting from park to drive w/o success. She then puts it in park, turned the engine off and restarts the vehicle. She is able to drive the vehicle home without any further problems. It was already 5PM so she couldn't take it to the dealership. We plan on taking it in again tomorrow, 9/20/2013. Some of the people here are having similar issues, has anyone determined the cause? I will keep you updated should I learn it.
  • riker88riker88 Member Posts: 2
    They replaced the battery which was one yr old. Been driving it since and it still has not fixed the issue although it seems to happen less.
  • eosman889eosman889 Member Posts: 3
    edited October 2013
    My 2013 Sorento has about 23000 clicks and the problem i am having is the gear shifter , whenever i shift to REVERSE it makes a noticable thump, but its fine on other gears. Weirdest thing is i can only hear this thump after i have driven the car , first thing in the morning makes no thump. The only way for me to induce or replicate the sound is for me to shift the gear from Neutral to Reverse a numerous times to make the thump sound louder and louder , the first few shift is almost not noticable. When i shift from N to R about 5-7 times the noise becomes louder and i can hear a snapping sound with my doors open whenever i shift. Took it to the dealer and all they did was change the Solenoid and the sound is still there ..... the dealer had no answer to this. all they said was to drive it and see if there are any recall! What do you guys think is this or anyone of you have this gear shift noise .
  • rexpopprexpopp Member Posts: 2
    That's exactly what my 2011 sportage did. The dealership kept saying nothing was wrong with it. I traded it in before the problem was resolved.
  • kiaman5kiaman5 Member Posts: 1

    I own a 2013 Sorento V6 AWD with 13,450 miles on it. Mine started with a little jolt, now and then between 1st and 2nd gear on the 6-speed automatic. Now it happens almost all the time, but have not figured out why yet.

  • jbunton09jbunton09 Member Posts: 1
    I own a 2011 Kia Sorento 4 cylinder. It now has 51000 miles on it and will not shift into park at random times. When this happen, my parking assist and vehicle stabilization lights will come on. Luckily I have been able to put it into neutral and back up. I will then drive around a bit and it will go back into park. It goes into the shop this Friday to see what is wrong.
  • kia_crap_2013kia_crap_2013 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2013 Kia Sorento that i bought Certifieds pre-owned from the local Kia dealer, i bought it in "like new condition" they said. it had 52000 miles on it. I started having issues with it after about 2 weeks. they claimed it was a bad motor which was recalled. Negative, the car would take control and the gas pedal would accelerate with no pressure to the gas pedal. Also the car would brake without notice at random times even with no touching of the brake pedal. Bad engine the dealership said, i said no bad computer. but they said they have been in the business for years and its a bad motor. They changed the engine, and i continue to experience the same issues plus new ones. car jerks while driving, when car takes off or corners hard the car boggs down and loses power. also load klanking or popping noise in transmission. i noticed that when the car boggs down losing power at take off meaning that when at a red light and the light turns green and you take off the car boggs down losing power its caused becouse the car is trying to start off in a high gear instead of taking off in first gear like it should. The dearlership says its a shift solenoid or a shift cable, but in fact it has nothing to do with the problems im having. the issue of the bogging down taking off is an electrical issue with Transmission Control Moduel or Trans Shift Selector or Gear Select Switch all 3 of these are the same thing. Different dealers refer to the same parts as something different.
  • Stinger17Stinger17 Member Posts: 1
    medic_dan said:

    I own a 2006 Kia Sorento LX 4X4. I have been having similar problems with my transmission. When the vehicle is climbing up a hill from a stop position to a start it will upshift to 3rd gear and then will drop to first gear for no reason. At the same time I get a very big "Shift shock". I have taken it in to the dealership about 8 times. They have finally decided to do something about it after I made a big stink. The service department investigated the problem (of course it would not do it with them) and also contacted The head office. They have now installed what was described to me as a wiring kit that apparently is required to ground out some wires that cause this to happen. Fine and dandy it is covered by warranty. However when I went to pick it up the other day it would not shift out of first gear and my engine light was on. It has been with them for a week now and they still have not been able to figure out what the problem is. Not looking forward to them not being able to fix my problem

    It's the the car holding extra power, and sending it to the ecu, you need to take the leads off the battery, then get two long pieces of wire, put a piece to each battery lead terminal, makesure its long enough to hang over the front of your car, down let it touch the ground or any metal, then put your battery leads back on, with the wire still hanging over the front of car hanging towards the ground, do not let them touch, get another person to help, when you have put the leads back on with the wire still attached on both sides. Turn your ignition on for 5 to 10 seconds, then turn it off, do not start the car, then do the exact same again, for 5 to 10, seconds, then take the wires off don't leave key in ignition, whilst taking wires off hanging over car, what it does it dispurses any unused energy that goes to any software that your car hasn't used over time, not all that many people know of this, but garages will still charge big £ for things when you don't need them,
Sign In or Register to comment.