2004 Kia Sorento problems
The 2004 Kia Sorento has 341 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (26%) concerns engine. After that come drivetrain & axles (10%) and suspension (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 341 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 26% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 15 and 24
- Injuries and deaths
- 16 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 99,000 miles 290 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 20 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 24 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 53 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 39 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 48 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 50 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 24 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 14 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 290 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 99,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 96,000 miles (78 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 15 complaints mention a crash; 24 complaints mention a fire; 16 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 22 model years of the Kia Sorento with enough data (102 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
2004 kia sorento. Rollover. Kia says that the air bags are turned off in a roll over not when hit on the side! What good are they than? This information is not given when the kias are purchased.... Research needs to be done for how often it occurs and that there may be more rollovers than side impatcts, why they rollover soo many times, and that there are many complaints for other kias that the airbags have not deployed in crashes.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the contact's vehicle. The vehicle was flipped by the force of the impact. The front and side air bags failed to deploy. The driver sustained injuries to the back, neck, hips and eyes. The front passenger sustained a head contusion, injuries to the shoulder, hips, legs and back, in addition to internal bruising.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began to hydroplane. The vehicle turned and crashed head on with another vehicle traveling 45 MPH as well. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sent pictures of the crash and called the manufacturer, but was informed that the impact was not powerful enough to deploy the air bags. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact's wife and two others were injured. A police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 57,000.
Entering I-35 north from access road in san antonio texas. Time 08:15am (rush hour) loud bang from rear of vehicle speed immediately dropped to 20MPH, initially thought I had blown a tire. Pulled off access road to side street. Was having trouble stopping vehicle no brake pressure foot went all the way to floorboard. Checked rear tires, no visible damage to either tire (tires were new)when vehicle was purchased. Again attempted to drive vehicle, rear tires were having trouble rotating?
My son was driving this car when he heard a loud bang and lost control of vehicle while driving in a roundabout in taunton mass and nearly crashed this vehicle due to losing the ability of stabilizing it, but was able to pull off to side of road thankfully because of the speed of travel at the time, thankfully he was not on the highway or I may be telling a different story.