2021 Kia Sorento

This has been occurring intermittently since my 2021 Kia Sorento reached approx. 15k miles and now has 26,600 miles. There are no lights or indicators on the dash letting me know anything is wrong. When the vehicle is stopped at a traffic light or stopped in heavy traffic, the vehicle will start idling high and shaking and the engine will seize up. I am not able to steer, the brakes lock up, I cannot accelerate, all functionality is lost. The only thing I can do is put the vehicle in park (in heavy traffic) and shut the car off and wait a minute and turn it back on and it seems to reset itself. This is EXTREMELY dangerous for myself and my passengers (some of which are children) and can cause a serious accident. At no point should I ever need to be concerned with my vehicle seizing up in the middle of the road and having to park and restart my car. This has happened on several occasions already. I have taken my car to 2 separate Kia dealerships to address this problem I have been experiencing. The first dealership failed to attempt to duplicate the problem and instead informed me the firmware update the performed from a previous recall should remedy the problem. It did not. Then I recently took it to another Kia dealer in another state and explained the situation. I specifically asked them to take the vehicle for a test drive and they argued with me that my battery was low and needed to be replaced and it would not be covered under the warranty. I have been driving this vehicle for a while and it has been having this issue around 15k miles so I know it is not the battery. They totally disregarded the safely of myself and my family and only focused on making money for themselves. This is a serious safety issue with this vehicle and has continuously been swept under the rug by Kia. Even the customer service is rude and I have reported this to them and asked for an escalation to their consumer affairs dept and have received no response.

The issue appears to involve the electric oil pump and related components. My 2021 Kia Sorento had a recall for the electric oil pump that was marked “completed” in January 2023; however, the dealership only performed a software update and did not replace any mechanical components because no fault code was present at that time. Beginning around October 2025, the vehicle started experiencing drivability issues including hesitation and bogging down when accelerating from a stop. A dealership representative later stated the electric oil pump and housing likely need replacement and that the transmission may also be affected. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. This issue creates a safety risk because the vehicle frequently hesitates or bogs down when attempting to accelerate, especially when pulling into highway traffic. When pressing the accelerator, the vehicle sometimes struggles to engage and move forward, which increases the risk of a collision. I brought the vehicle to Kia of RBC and spoke with Service Advisor Justin Hawkins. At the time of inspection, the check engine light had turned off and I was told they could not diagnose or repair the issue unless the warning light was active. I was instructed to continue driving the vehicle until the light returns. During a later conversation, dealership staff indicated the electric oil pump and housing likely need replacement and that the transmission may also require replacement, but they could not confirm this without the warning light being present.

I was driving my car on [XXX] and my car suddenly lost power and when I pressed the gas pedal the RPM quickly increased but the car was hesitating between gears and not engaging. Shortly thereafter a malfunction code showed up on my car screen along with an engine warning indicator. The code was DCT P193B79. That code indicates a High Pressure Electric Oil Pump Performance issue pointing to problems with the 8WDCT; the same issue and symptoms associated with the recall bulletin for the 2021 Kia Sorento Transmission. When I brought it to Ken Gariff Kia in Phoenix Arizona they stated there is no such recall for my vehicle with this problem and that since I have 76000 miles on the car it is not covered. I feel that this repair falls squarely within the scope of the recall for the Kia transmission and would like it replaced at the manufacturers expense. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I have had many issues where my car will completely shut off after the auto start-stop function causing me to almost get into accidents with my toddlers in the vehicle. There was one incident where I was at a stop light, when the light turned green I started my car again to go and another vehicle continued to bypass me. When i halted for the other vehicle, my engine shut off again almost the cause of a horrific accident. I have had many incidents after this with the related cause of engine shutting off.

My 2021 Kia Sorento has been losing drive power, shuddering when we accelerate, hesitate when starting from a stop or parked position, and having issues accelerating at different and random speed intervals. This is a safety concern because it can cause an accident or for us and others or cause us to lose the ability to control the vehicle Everyone is also at risk if my car stops responding to me pushing the gas and it will not let me continue, increase, decrease or become entirely unresponsive could cause my entire family to die. It has been reproduced by a local service center. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. No warning lamps, messages have appeared at any time. The first symptoms started with short shuddering for a quick second or two every now and then. It has become progressively worse and is becoming unsafe for us to operate.

I am unable to open the gas tank door. The gas tank door is open and closed by pushing in the gas tank door on the right side. I have not had a problem with this until recently. The information in the owner's manual indicates to check that doors are unlocked. I have completed that step. I am almost out of gas now. I consider this a safety issue because there is no emergency release for the gas tanks and thus someone may be confronted with this issue during a long trip from home. This does not appear to be an isolated incident. At the very least, Kia should publish a service bulletin that this is a common problem and how to fix it so all of its owners do not need to navigate on their own. I am in the process of getting an appointment with dealer but there is no guarantee they will have the part and they told me the first available appointment is one week away.

As I was taking off from stop sign car dropped into lower gear jerking car and lowered speed. Did this twice almost causing an accident. Knowing something was very wrong we proceed to Dealership. SUV stalled out 3 times on the way. Third time it stalled out was in front of service writer in front of dealership.This car has been very dangerous to drive from the delivery to now. It hesitates when you give it gas at stop and vibrates as you pic k up speed. This car is very dangerous to drive. Has been in shop for a week tring to figure out the problem. I have complained to service department about this ever since I have owned the car. Thanks for any help. I know I,m not the only one with this problem. Pat McGrath.