Vehicle Data Hub

2004 Kia Sorento engine problems

88 complaints about engine have been filed for the 2004 Kia Sorento, which is 26% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
88 26% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
96,000 miles 78 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
0 and 7
Injuries and deaths
1 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When engine problems show up

Engine complaints by mileage, 2004 Kia Sorento Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 96,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 2 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 2 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 5 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 22 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 12 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 11 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 10 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 7 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 5 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 2 complaints 200k+ miles: 0 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 96,000 miles
Based on 78 complaints that include mileage. 12% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles2
20k to 40k miles2
40k to 60k miles5
60k to 80k miles22
80k to 100k miles12
100k to 120k miles11
120k to 140k miles10
140k to 160k miles7
160k to 180k miles5
180k to 200k miles2
200k+ miles0

What the data shows

Of the 78 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 96,000 miles, and 12% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 7 fires, 1 injury.

What owners wrote

I purchased my car threw a local dealership aap. 8 mo. Ago it had 27,000 at the time of purchase. On 8-4-08 the vehicle had 34,000 miles. I was driving at a speed of app.40 mi. An hour when the car started smoking from the engine the smoke got thicker . I quickly pulled over into a small parking lot shut off the car + jumped out of the car with my son. In a matter of seconds the car was in flames. After that there was a hose that fell down under the car + was shooting flames from that too.

Reported at 34,000 miles, August 2008 Fire

I was driving along the interstate at aprox. 70 MPH. I heard a ticking noise and looked at the dash. No warning lights. I rolled the window up, could not hear the noise any longer and continued down the road. I rolled the window back down, the ticking got louder, all lights on the dash light up, engine stalls, and as I'm moving to the emergency lane, the temp. Gauge moves to the red. The vehicle has 155,000 miles on it so the warranty is up.

Reported at 155,000 miles, October 2010

Other problems reported for the 2004 Kia Sorento

Engine problems in other years

Engine problems across all Kia models