2017 Kia Sorento
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 804 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 6th highest complaint count among 23 Sorento model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 13 involved a crash and 32 involved a fire. 17 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Trailer hitchesPark outsideSep 19, 2022
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.
A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
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.
Campaign 22V703000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, hoses, lines/piping, and fittingsDec 19, 2018
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Optima, 2012-2017 Sorento and 2011-2018 Sportage vehicles that previously received an engine replacement under recall number 17V-224, warranty, or the Knock Sensor Detection System (KSDS) Product Improvement Campaign. The high pressure fuel pipe that connects to the fuel pump outlet may have been damaged, misaligned or improperly torqued during the engine replacement procedure, possibly causing a fuel leak.
A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
Kia has notified owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the fuel pipe, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 17, 2019. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC172.
Campaign 18V907000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engineSep 21, 2017
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017 Sorento vehicles equipped with 3.3L engines. The engine crankshaft may have been improperly heat treated and may fail.
If the crankshaft fails, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash. A failed crankshaft also increases the risk of a fire.
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the crankshaft, and, as necessary, replace the engine sub assembly, free of charge. The recall began November 6, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC153.
Campaign 17V586000 on NHTSA.gov
Trailer hitchesNov 30, 2016
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Sorento vehicles manufactured October 27, 2014, to August 25, 2016, and 2017 Sportage vehicles manufactured December 10, 2015, to August 26, 2016. The affected vehicles are equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness that, due to a malfunction of the tow hitch module, may result in the trailer brake lights being constantly illuminated. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, " Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
If the trailer brake lights stay illuminated while being used, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the trailer tow hitch harness, free of charge. The recall began January 18, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC142.
Campaign 16V862000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: exterior lighting
125 reports, newest first. Show all
Exterior lighting, Jun 19, 2024
While driving after dark with the auto lights engaged, my headlights suddenly turned off. When I turned the knob on the light switch they came back on and I continued to drive. A short while down the road this happened again. At this point I turned the auto lights off and just ran them in manual on mode. No further incident with them in manual. This has now happened on several occasions.
Exterior lighting, Jun 10, 2024
1) The headlights will turn off while driving when the headlight switch is "automatic." 2) The headlights and taillights will illuminate after leaving and locking the vehicle leading to a completely drained battery.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Engine, Feb 13, 2024
The vehicle just lost power at 75mph on [XXX] heading home to Princeton, ME, started vibrating really bad misfiring then we pulled over the Kia Sorento stalled. Then would not start back up. It’s been using over a quart a week since we got it from the dealership in Bangor, Maine. We got it towed home our mechanic looked at it and noticed oil on the plugs and said we probably need a new engine. Low beam light keep coming off and on so thinking it’s something electrical. Time to time the transmission take a min to shift the engine rpms stay up n takes a few extra seconds to shift. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Exterior lighting, Jan 6, 2024
My headlights, when set to ‘auto’ randomly turn off. Very scary and dangerous at night! Also, illegal. I can get them to come back on by turning the lights off and on multiple times from the left stalk. But can’t believe Kia hasn’t addressed this.
Exterior lighting, Dec 13, 2023
Headlights intermittently turn off when set to the "auto" setting while the vehicle is in use. I received a warranty notification from Kia for the issue and attempted to have it fixed through a Kia dealership. Kia dealership did not have the part to fix it and does not know when they will have the part. This issue first started happening in October 2023. Visit to the dealership was November 22, 2023. Issue is still not resolved.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Nov 27, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at night, the headlights became inoperable. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the cause of the failure could not be duplicated. The contact later received Kia Extended Warranty notification for a multi-function switch assembly failure. The local dealer and a second dealer, Kia Mall of Georgia (4180 Buford Dr, Buford, GA 30519) were contacted but informed the contact that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown.
Exterior lighting, Nov 1, 2023
The headlights randomly turn on and off while driving and with the switch set to “Auto”. This also occurs when the vehicle is shutdown with no key in the ignition and with no one in the vehicle. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Having the headlights turn off when driving at night presents a risk of the driver not being able to see the road and for other drivers to not see the vehicle. These risk may lead to an accident causing great harm to life and property, including death. The vehicle is currently with the dealer for diagnosis. There are no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. This problem began in the spring of 2023 with less than 60,000 miles on the vehicle.
Exterior lighting, Oct 30, 2023
Sporadically during night driving the headlights will go out. Headlights set to AUTO each time. Most recently while turning right. Had not used right turn signal.
Exterior lighting, Oct 12, 2023
While driving at night, headlights turn off.
Exterior lighting, Sep 27, 2023
Headlights switch set in Auto position. Headlights turned on spontaneously, two different times while auto was off and locked. This resulted in battery being drained and auto would not start. This has not happened since switch was set to Off position.
Exterior lighting, Sep 25, 2023
I have had my lights to go off at night while driving.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Sep 9, 2023
Headlights turned off on 3 occasions in the last 2 weeks. first i was driving on an unlit section of a residential thoroughfare, dark night and suddenly, while both hands on steering wheel, not having had any interaction with dashboard/radio controls, smooth section of roads (no obvious bumps) the lights turned off. I immediately fiddled with the steering column mounted light control switch, which did not give me an immediate relief, flipped it to highbeams and they worked. 2nd and 3rd time (yesterday 9/8/23) while on semi lit highway they again shocked me by turning off, i again toggled the light switch, this time highbeam flip did not work, i was doing 65 on a 70 and having lights turn off, with no reason, scary. 80,000 miles. i have had the light switch in automode.
Exterior lighting, Sep 8, 2023
1. During nighttime driving, the headlights suddenly go off. Headlights are on auto and it happens randomly. The first time it happened was in August 2023 and then on 09/08/2023 twice during night driving. 2. It's very risky to be in the dark on a rural road. I really worry for my family's safety. 3. I could not reproduce the issue, nor have I taken it to a technician or dealer yet. 4. Not inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others. 5. There was no warning on the dash prior to that happening.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Other or unspecified, Aug 16, 2023
The vehicle headlights intermittently turn off while driving the vehicle.
Exterior lighting, Jul 29, 2023
On many occasions while driving at night (happens almost every night when we are driving), the headlights turn off on their own. This is when the headlights are set to "auto". This is a very dangerous situation - especially when driving on poorly lit roads. When it happens, I can get the lights to come back on by switching from "auto" to "off" and back to "auto". Drivers should not need to do this. Apparently a lot of people with my (or similar) year Kia Sorentos have experienced this issue based on online postings.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Jul 11, 2023
Regularly the head light’s randomly turn off as well as the tail lights and break lights. This is absolutely terrifying! It has been happening for over a year and know one can fix it. This is a huge problem across 2017 & 2018 Sorrentos. There are multiple forms for it as well as mechanic discussion groups trying to solve the problem. This NEEDS to be a recall and fixed immediately before some gets hurt or worse!
Exterior lighting, Jun 12, 2023
The vehicle turns the headlights on while the engine is off, parked, and no occupants in the car and no keys in the ignition. I have experienced this multiple times. There are many other reports of this on the Internet as well. The multi switch was in the Auto position. I started the car, then turned it off, removed the keys, locked the doors and the lights went off. I checked on it later and the headlights had come back on (with the tail lights) while parked in my driveway. I then searched on the Web for others having this issue and there are many with this same year and model. This could run down the battery repeatedly, and also it is unknown if it is an electrical/fire hazard because something is clearly still activated after the car has been turned off.
Exterior lighting, Service brakes, Fuel/propulsion system, Jun 11, 2023
The shift release has been replaced for 2017 kia sorento but now it is traffic light switch causing one of my car problems. In gas I spend 40 dollars a day for less than 110 miles of driving even with an full synthetic oil change just done is problem two. The speedometer is off by 3 to 5 I have had bmv and officers do their test on vehicle along with the head and tail lights being replaced every 6 to 8 weeks what am I to so with a vehicle that I am still paying on.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Jun 9, 2023
When I am driving the lights will shut off even when they are on auto. I have to pull over and turn the knob back and forth till they come back on. Sometimes they turn off when I use my blinker. The lights will also stay turned on even when the car is turned off and doors are locked.
Exterior lighting, Jun 8, 2023
Headlights in auto mode will randomly go off while driving without any change in ambient light. Dangerous on unlit roads.
Exterior lighting, May 26, 2023
While driving at night on dark road 50 mph with lights on auto. Lights went out completely. Had to make hard stop and turn lights to on position.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Other or unspecified, May 10, 2023
Lights will just turn off while driving and and the blinkers will not work. The horn will not work either. It happens all the time it doesn’t matter if it’s day time or night time.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Apr 20, 2023
Headlights shout off at night while vehicle is in motion. I have reported this issue to the manufacturer/dealership and was advised that vehicle needed to be brought in when issue is happening. Dealership is closed at night when issue occurs. No warning messages when lights shut off and first occurred 8/2021.
Exterior lighting, Mar 20, 2023
When traveling when it is dark, the head lights will suddenly turn off. The indicator on the dash shows that the switch has been changed to parking lights. If you turn the switch on and off the lights will come back on. This has happened on approx 10 occasions. I documented the time and date of one of the incidents below.
Exterior lighting, Mar 4, 2023
Tonight (3/4/23) while driving in the dark my headlights turned off while driving 45 mph. This is the 2nd time this has happened. It happened last October as well. I turn on my brights, turn them off again and the headlights are working normally again. Both times that this happened, I was driving with the lights in auto mode.