Vehicle Data Hub

2011 Kia Sorento engine problems

322 complaints about engine have been filed for the 2011 Kia Sorento, which is 15% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
322 16% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
99,000 miles 224 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
8 and 44
Injuries and deaths
9 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When engine problems show up

Engine complaints by mileage, 2011 Kia Sorento Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 99,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 32 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 20 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 20 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 17 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 23 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 34 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 31 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 20 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 8 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 6 complaints 200k+ miles: 13 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 99,000 miles
Based on 224 complaints that include mileage. 32% 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 miles32
20k to 40k miles20
40k to 60k miles20
60k to 80k miles17
80k to 100k miles23
100k to 120k miles34
120k to 140k miles31
140k to 160k miles20
160k to 180k miles8
180k to 200k miles6
200k+ miles13

What the data shows

Of the 224 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 99,000 miles, and 32% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 8 crashes, 44 fires, 9 injuries.

What owners wrote

Driving down hwy. O in orrick mo with two other passengers my daughter 15 and my granddaughter 5. Around 5pm saturday hune 2nd a smell of smoke came through front vents. As I started to pull over a swoosh sound came from the car and flames shot out of the hood of the car. Then from under the dash inside. Through the car in park and open the door. Ran to get my granddaughter out of her car seat and a third passenger my daughter got out of the backseat as well. With in minutes the car was totally in flames.

Reported at 80,000 miles, June 2019 FireInjury

We have taken our 2011 kia sorento to mulitple dealerships to get fixed. All say the engine is shot. There is a seal inside the engine that is making the vehicle not work. There is multiple recalls for other years of the kia sorento but not ours. The mechanics say that this year and make has had multiple issues with the engine. I am wondering when this year will be recalled for engine issues? When I start the 2011 kia is spudders and blows smoke out the muffler.

Reported at 96,000 miles, January 2017

Other problems reported for the 2011 Kia Sorento

Engine problems in other years

Engine problems across all Kia models