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Chart based on 52 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.
2011 Kia Sorento
Engine not specified
75000 mi
US $450
Driver side door latch fails to release catch resulting in the inability to open drivers door from the outside of the vehicle
Arizon heat killed the factory battery prior to warranty expiration.
33000 mi
The push button start has a brake pedal switch that was failing and needed replacement. Intermittent, so opted not to spend money on a repair. Update: The issue seemed to fade to black. It may have been fixed in a maintenance update or something but I never directly asked for it to be fixed.
38000 mi
The Dashboard Lights were not working.
41000 mi
The Driver Side Power Window Regulator had to be replaced.
106000 mi
US $900
The Alternator was fried and needed replacement
18000 mi
intermittent refuse to start, dealer replaced brake switch
3000 mi
Recall to replace accessory ambient lighting wiring harness.
39100 mi
Light on Shifter housing out. Was disconnected somehow. Also recall on struts...they replaced all struts.
20800 mi
Difficulty shifting into PARK and out of PARK. Intermittent problem with increasing frequency.
Defective part # 938100W000 SWITCH ASSY-STOP LAMP replaced. Also called brake pedal switch to allow shifting when stopped. Warranty @ 21,000 mi.
8000 mi
AC blower not working with remote starter. Dealer stated no problem, it shouldn't. Owner replaced fuses in Remote Start module.
38000 mi
Air bag light on. Reset by dealer- came right back on, not fixed Alarm going off on it's own, then stopped arming at all. Remote start quit at same time
39700 mi
Air bag light on
44000 mi
Airbag light coming on. Bad passenger seat. Reset, not fixed. Alarm sounds on its own.
52000 mi
Alarm sounding on it's own
52000 mi
Alarm constantly sounded on its own. Dealership could duplicate but not fix.
10000 mi
Defective brake interlock switch causes pushbutton start to act intermittent
13000 mi
Dead Battery. Replaced by dealer at no cost to me.
40000 mi
Inadequate cooling
46000 mi
US $60
Defective Battery. Replaced at minimal cost
42000 mi
US $450
Wiring harness connector to fuse box was broken, disabling gear indicator and preventing car from starting. Fuse box replaced and wiring harness wiring and connector repaired. Had to be towed three times.
LCD screen for radio going bad. Dealership said "bumper-to-bumper" 5 year warranty didn't cover. "Electrical only has 2 year warranty".
75000 mi
US $600
Driver side Auto up/down button spring broke. Requires entire door to be taken apart to replace all window/mirror control buttons since it's one piece. Part cost $200 Motor that controls Air re-circulation flap failed. Got stuck & made ticking noise. Recirculating air not working. Had to take dash apart to get to it. 2 hrs labor, $100 for part.
75000 mi
Backup camera was not working (black screen). Quoted cost to replace ($380). Declined service.
75700 mi
Replaced rearview camera again (was showing black screen).
36000 mi
Rear view camera would intermittently go out. Camera was replaced. Brake sensor bad resulting in keyless ignition not working properly.
29000 mi
Car would not always start. When parking car, shifter sometimes would not allow you to put it in park.
24800 mi
replace rear camera. could not get it to start, towed, brake switch replaced.
34000 mi
Intermittently failing backup camera.
32000 mi
Auto-dimming rear view mirror always dim. Technician noticed that I had a sticker on top of the light sensor and moved it. Problem fixed.
59000 mi
US $146
Intermittent starting problems. Battery tested and replaced
2480 mi
Rear wiper motor was defective. Worked intermittantly. Replaced and is now working properly.
24180 mi
Sirius Receiver suddenly quit working. All other components of the system - Navigation etc. continued to function. I tried several times to re-activate my Sirius but was finally told it was a problem with unit. Dealer replaced it. Now OK.
59520 mi
Keyfob inoperable. Transmitter failed. New unit ordered and replaced and programmed on warranty.
69981 mi
C $312
Replaced Battery
54000 mi
The rear viewing camera was working only intermittently.
91000 mi
The battery light turned on and the vehicle started to shake. I charged the battery at home (battery 6 months old) and used the vehicle for a day without issue. The vehicle stalled in my driveway and would not start (no battery charge). Charged battery again and went to dealer (extended warranty) who although had the alternator in stock, needed 6 hours to repair the vehicle. Apparently the A/C lines run in front of the alternator. The refrigerant must be evacuated, the A/C lines removed, alternator replaced, A/C lines reattached and the A/C system evacuated and recharged.
This is a very expensive repair ($475 alternator and the rest for labor). Total repair was $1,100.
71000 mi
US $300
The stereo began shorting out about 70,000 miles. First the CD player started acting up then the entire system. For a short time I was worried that it was the fuse block itself. Just the stereo. Going to upgrade the head unit.
85000 mi
US $15
Replaced low beam halogen bulb.
32000 mi
Radio/GPS module failed.
36000 mi
dvd wasn't working
6000 mi
Air conditioning drain hose plug causing back fill into passenger compartment.
19000 mi
The traffic display on the navagation systems stopped working. Dealer diagnosed and couldn't fix the problem. Car needs to go back in for further diagnostics.
20300 mi
From a forum learned of a rest for the nav system, by sticking a pin in a tiny hole in the upper right corner of the unit. Dealer didn't have a clue. Happened a few more times, fixed with a reset each time.
11000 mi
Safety switch preventing putting car in/out of park
Also one rear tail light
brake light switch was erratic which caused difficulties getting in and out of park.
15300 mi
Engine would not start. Dealer replaced the brake sensor. Rear view camera gives distorted image when very hot.
144000 mi
Replace clock spring under warranty.
34000 mi
Brake light switch was going bad.
13000 mi
The satellite radio sometimes switched bands due to a controller malfunction.
18000 mi
battery replaced
35340 mi
Vehicle wouldn't allow movement out of Drive unless vehicle was shut off. Turns out it was related to recall on brake control sensor control. Vehicle was repaired free within half hour. No problems since.
44020 mi
Middle passenger overhead light stopped working. Diagnosed as a short in light unit. Entire light unit was replaced under warranty.
26000 mi
Could not put the car in gear. It was found to be a faulty brake switch, preventing the the system from releasing from Park.
37000 mi
Replace Brake switch
33900 mi
Push/Start button became inoperative. Switch connected to brake pedal was replaced to fix problem.
44800 mi
I inquire what was done to deal w/ nav system freezing on boot up, and am told it isn’t doing it for them, i.e. nothing has been done, even though they’ve seen it happen when I was at dealership and picking up car.
67000 mi
Nav issues never fixed. Voice recognition also got much worse after they updated the map software.
13000 mi
Transmission could not be put in park or engine started after stopping in a parking spot. Brake light switch was replaced.
58000 mi
The auto power window switch broke and I took it to the dealer for repair. Part were ordered and I am waiting to have the part installed.
11000 mi
Car would not start. Start stop button would not start the car. Was in the shop twice for this problem. Ran tests and tightened some connections.
Driver's side motor failed and was stuck in half open position
3000 mi
Head lights where not bright, recall on lights, problem solved
15000 mi
Brake switch went bad car would not start had to tow to dealership for repair, took about 4 hrs
10500 mi
drivers window quit half up, half down. Dealer diagnosed bad regulator, ordered part 1-1/2 weeks ago. Replaced today.
12000 mi
US $200
Replaced keyless start brake relay switch
22000 mi
US $100
Replace keyless start brake relay switch
25400 mi
Replaced power window switch
28000 mi
Back up camera. Only works intermittently.
29000 mi
Replaced backup camera. Also replaced battery at 29000 miles. Car less than three yrs old
15500 mi
A/C compressor became notably noisy. Sounded like a diesel truck
59280 mi
Steering Audio controls glitch. When turning wheel talk button is engaged sometimes. Hang up does not work. Volume up becomes next. Random occurrences, no pattern
3000 mi
replaced all light bulbs on the rear of the car due to some TSB
Auto lights were staying on constantly during daylight hours. Dealer replaced light sensor to address issue however issue has not been corrected i.e. this work did not solve the problem.
See our lemon odds and nada odds page to see vehicles with no repairs or vehicles with more than three repairs. To see how
frequently 2011 Kia Sorento problems occur, check out our car reliability stats.
