Disclaimer: Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kia Motor Company. For informational purposes only. Full Disclaimer

Issues with Kia Sorento ELECTRICAL SYSTEM by Years

The Kia Sorento had plenty of problems with various aspects of ELECTRICAL SYSTEM as 595 complaints were lodged, most of which revolve around INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL. Models of 2011, 2014, 2012 appear to be the most susceptible to problems with ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Browse Kia Sorento ELECTRICAL SYSTEM problems by years

2019 4 2018 2 2017 13 2016 19 2015 17 2014 73 2013 69 2012 71 2011 168 2009 6 2008 16 2007 16 2006 51 2005 47 2004 28 2003 29

Do Kia Sorento models have ELECTRICAL SYSTEM problems?

Below you may see the ELECTRICAL SYSTEM components and the number of complaints they received.

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL 13 WIRING 6 12V/24V/48V BATTERY 5 IGNITION 3 ALTERNATOR/GENERATOR/REGULATOR 2 SWITCH 2 HORN 2 SOLENOID 1 INTEGRATED TRAILER BRAKE CONTROL 1

Worst Kia Sorento Problems

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2012 Kia Sorento June 30, 2018 Victims: 5 Mileage: 65000 miles

I was driving a 2012 kia sorento with three other passengers and our family dog. i see smoke coming from back of my car thought it was the car passin...

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2011 Kia Sorento May 1, 2015 Victims: 3 Mileage: 98000 miles

2011 kia sorento airbag light came on out the blue. took to dealership was advised either defective passanger airbag or the sensor for passenger seat....

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2005 Kia Sorento December 24, 2005 Victims: 2 Mileage: 18300 miles

We had issues from the beginning with a fire in the center console of our pre-owned kia. then we noticed the light for the passenger side air bags wa...

Recently reported ELECTRICAL SYSTEM problems on Kia Sorento

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2013 Kia Sorento

On 02/04/2020 drove vehicle for about 15 minutes and when i parked the vehicle, put the automatic transmission shifter in park, turned off the engine and attempted to remove the key. the key was still in ignition and couldn't get key to release. had to restart the vehicle, took shifter out of park and then put back into park, straightened steering wheel and turn off vehicle and was able to remove ignition key. this has happened over 15 or more times since owning vehicle and i have asked local dealer who performs routine maintenance to check for problem in the past and they cannot find anything wrong.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2016 Kia Sorento

My wife and i had just been home for an hour after a 20 min in town drive. something had made me look out side of our second story apartment and i asked my wife is your car running? the entire rear end was engulfed in blue smoke. she said no! so then began panic mode! i ran downstairs to the smell of electric fire. so i instantly when to my pickup truck grabbed a pair of pliers ran back to my wife's kia and unplugged both positive and negative battery connections from the terminals which instantly stopped the smoke. i grabbed my flashlight (it was dusk) and crawled underneath the rear bumper to see what was happening. a little black box tucked behind the bumper between the spare and the bumper. looked like a junction box of wire had melted and almost caught on fire. what if we where not around? the car would be a total loss.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2014 Kia Sorento

Doors just started not unlocking or locking with fob or by door panel and the back up alarm beeps non stop as soon as you put it in reverse, all sensors are clean.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2014 Kia Sorento

Today i was driving to my parents house on a long straight away highway (55mph speed limit). i began passing another vehicle and as soon as i got around him my check engine light, oil light, and battery light came on. i promptly pulled over on the side of the road and shut the car off. i checked oil level, which was fine. no obvious over heating, smoke, or leaks. i decided to turn the car back on to see if the lights were still there but the car wouldn't start. it was completely dead aside from one tiny crank noise then nothing. luckily someone stopped and we got the car started by jumping it. went to the local parts store and my battery, starter, and alternator all checked out ok. no further lights or issues the rest of the day. not sure what happened but i'm scared to drive it long distance now. never had an issue with this car before this.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2019 Kia Sorento

Days previous to event was getting warning alerts on different problems. called dealership when warning alerts continued happening. on day of event was driving on major route, when power steering became difficult as i pulled over the entire car shut down. no lights, no braking, no hazard lights to engage all systems down.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2013 Kia Sorento

I was driving on the interstate and at 70 mph i had sudden power failure and the the engine completely died. after about 30 minutes it started up just long enough to go a half a mile and it did the same thing. 10 hrs later it started up again and we were able to have a diagnostic reading done which showed nothing. the battery and alternator were tested and are both working completely fine. later on it ran fine for about an hour and then suddenly did the same thing again.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2014 Kia Sorento

My headlights continue to blow out every few weeks, no matter what kind of bulb i use. last night while on a very dark and rainy road, both headlights went out forcing me to drive with my hazards with my children in the car. very dangerous. apparently, this isn't an isolated incident.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2015 Kia Sorento

My 2015 kia sorento ignition went out and i had to have it towed into the dealership and cost me right at $500 for a new ignition. making me leave with two keys, my original key will only operated the door and then new key operates only the ignition. my factory fob is no longer a part of the working ignition. i am seriously unhappy and find this hard to believe being that my kia has less that 88k miles on it.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2015 Kia Sorento

The low beam bulbs keep burning out in the front headlights. i've replaced them four times in the last year. i took the vehicle to a dealership to see if they could diagnose what was wrong with it. the looked at it and they told me that they found a burnt harness in the lamp assembly and that the whole headlamp assembly would need replaced at an estimated $1100.

The ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2016 Kia Sorento

Unable to move shifter from park without using the manual shift lock override. kia dealer inspected issue. advises that there is no signal being sent from the bcm (body control module) to the shifter and that i will need a new bcm at a cost of $1,050. car is only 4 years old with under 70,000 miles. replacement part and labor are apparently not covered under warranty. car has been kept in excellent shape with routine maintenance and has never been in an accident. not being able to shift from park when pressure is applied to the brake is a safety issue and should not be acceptable. kia should be held responsible for replacing that part. i have read numerous online forums that mention this is happening to many other users. i believe this is due to a faulty of subpar part being used in the original build and that kia knows they were cutting corners. please look into this and make these manufacturers responsible!!! consumers should not be paying over $30,000 for a car that has major issues 4 years later. my parking/emergency brake does not work either. this is an ongoing issue that will not resolve without ...