2018 Kia Sorento

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the vehicle lost all power while depressing the accelerator pedal without warning. The contact also stated that white smoke began to emit from underneath the hood of the vehicle. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the contact saw flames coming from underneath the vehicle as oil began to leak from the vehicle. The flames eventually dissipated and authorities were not called to the scene. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed initially to the contact's home and later to the dealer. Once in the dealer's possession, the contact was informed that there was a hole in the engine block which had led to engine failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but had yet to offer any assistance. The vehicle remained in the possession of the dealer and had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.

The vehicle started knocking. We took it to Kia and they share saying we needed an upgrade part that is on a safety”notice” and not a recall. It’s to prevent engine failure. They refuse to put in the part because they said the engine is already failing. They said we need to pay 6k. The best part is that we took the vehicle in last year (2023) for the hitch and the anti theft upgrade and KIA didn’t tell us about this feel part. Why wouldn’t we get the free upgrade on the engine???? They are not telling consumers and it doesn’t come up when you search by VIN.

Me and my wife were traveling north on [XXX], left lane, 18 wheeler in right lane, cars directly behind us, 70 mph, when there was an abrupt thud, and slight skid, then lost all power from the engine. There were no warning indicators at the time. When the engine failed, we almost hit the tractor next to us. Looking in the mirror to try to determine what to do, as steering was hard to perform, there was a large cloud of black and blue smoke, the car behind us being covered in smoke and most likely oil too. The car behind us aggressively braked and ducked in behind the 18 wheeler just before a rear impact would have occurred. We finally got to safety on the side of the road as the traffic stacked up behind us was able to reduce speed in time. I had my car towed to the KIA dealership in Springfield, MO. One interesting point, the wrecker operator said that unfortunately a big part of his business was hauling KIAs. We almost died. Upon review of social media, I see there are literally thousands of KIAs placing families in danger. Why hasn’t Mr. Budegedge acted on it. After experiencing this, it’s likely there will be deaths. My car had 120,000 miles on the engine. KIA said it was my problem as they met their warranty obligation at 100,000 miles. There are so many incidents, even with 6 cyl engines. Customers need to be warned. At least they can be prepared for the failure when it happens. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The passenger side headlight has been reinstalled 8 times. The dealership has replaced it and we have replaced it several times. The light goes out constantly and is costing me a fortune to replace as well as possible traffic tickets. The headlights turn off also when in automatic mode. Please recall this vehicle and have this safety and expensive issue fixed. This issue has been going on several months now. The dealership does not provide a permanent solution. This is a defect.

The passenger airbag light remains on even when someone is sitting in it. Also the airbag on the front passenger side has made my dashboard split open. Which if it fully comes open can make the airbag full explode causing harm to the person in the front seat and potentially causing an accident due to a premature expulsion of the airbag.

The exterior paint of the vehicle is peeling off to the point where the metal of the car is visible. The vehicle has the Special White Pearl SWP paint code, and it is peeling off in different areas all across the vehicle. Also, the dash has cracked, in both the driver and passenger's side. The use of those foil accordions to protect the dash has been in use since purchased back in 2018, but it still cracked.

My lights keep going out as I`m driving at night time so i can not go any where at night time I was almost hit head on this the second time this happened when I called Kia 3 times now the dealer i purchased it at they keep giving me a run around I have the extended warranty also electrical warranty which i paid extra for they still want to tell me these things aren`t covered.My vehicale has not had any of the software updates. I have tried calling a Kia dealer closer to my home I get told i have to go were i purchased my Kia