2025 Kia Sorento

The DCT transmission causes significant hesitation at slow speeds or starting from a stop. This often leaves the driver and it’s occupants in a vulnerable position if the car hesitates when trying to navigate through traffic. I have taken it to the dealership and they stated that nothing is wrong with it, However, in reviewing online forums, it is obviously a significant concern.

This incident started within the first 100 miles of ownership. The dealership hasn’t been able to recreate the incident. I put my 2025 Kia Sorento in the “automatic” drive position. I start driving and my transmission won’t shift gears. I looked down at my dashboard and it shows the vehicle is in “manual” drive gear 1. I look at my gear shift and it shows the vehicle is in “automatic” drive position. If I push the vehicle to its redline or approximately 5000 RPM’s the vehicle shifts and dashboard changes from “1” to “D”. In summary my transmission is malfunctioning and shifting intermittently on its own from automatic to manual drive and the gear shifter is always in the automatic shift position. This happens several times a month. I video taped the incident because the dealership didn’t believe me when I told them this keeps happening.

Today is 12/15/2025 About a month or 2 ago i was on the highway coming from South Carolina to North Carolina when the engine revved up unexpectedly without input. It has HDA2 and that was doing most of the work. The vehicle started to speed up beyond the set limit and once i hit the brakes and manually shifted i was able to regain control. Last week the vehicle made a small noise that I wasn’t sure about. I called the dealership thinking that it could be a transmission problem. When i called they didn’t seem concerned and asked me to bring it in Monday (today). I had no lights or error codes (and still don’t) on the dash and they did not recommend that I don’t drive it so i continued using the car. Last night it made a horrendous noise started revving on its own and shifting very hard ans if something was coming apart. This morning on my way to the dealership the car completely seized up at an intersection. The car has 47900 miles on it. It’s a 2025 and the transmission seems to have completely blown. Ive read online several complaints about the transmission on these vehicles and think that they may be a major concern. For a new car to have this type of issue locking up while on public roads and smoking is absolutely a hazard. My only saving grace is that it happened at an intersection and not on the highway where an accident would have been inevitable. Please look into the DCT transmission on Kia Sorentos. Particularly X-Line SX prestige models. It is a highly unsafe vehicle. Another issue that the car is having is a clicking noise on the steering column that seems to be getting much worse over time and im afraid will result in loss of steering. Im having them check it out as well. The vehicle never showed a malfunction and I’ve attached a screenshot of the app showing it in perfect health despite being undrivable. I still have no invoice and no police report was made.

Road debris under normal driving conditions caused a puncture of the inverter radiator resulting in a total loss of coolant in the inverter and battery system. Inspection of the system at a Kia dealer confirmed the problem. The first sign of concern was an error displayed on the driver screen stating, "Check drive motor cooling system". There is no mention of this error in the owner's manual for the vehicle, though I did find several online discussions surrounding similar issues and warnings. I was driving on the highway at the time, and outside temperature was just under 40 degrees F. The car continued to drive normally for roughly 15 miles while utilizing the gas engine on the highway but eventually began struggling to accelerate or brake when switching to the electrical system after moving to residential streets. There is not a means of turning off the hybrid system. I received further warnings for several various driver assist functions becoming unavailable and the car became difficult to steer. I parked in a parking lot until the car could be towed for evaluation.

There is an electronic glitch with the gear shifting system where it will randomly / sporadically not allow shifting from reverse to drive and provides the error message "gear already selected." This has happened numerous times and resolves itself after 1-2 minutes. However, the vehicle remains in the wrong gear (reverse) while waiting, creating a significant safety issue. I purchased this vehicle brand new from Kia Coughlin in Dublin, OH. After two service visits where they were unable to recreate the problem (it happens randomly / sporatically), they have not provided resolution or a way ahead. I have multiple videos of this issue taken while it was happening.

Vehicle: 2025 Kia Sorento (leased) VIN: [XXX] Mileage at failure: 11,345 Incident dates: March 23, April 27, November 28–December 1 Type: Loss of power / electrical failure / safety hazard Complaint Description: I am reporting repeated electrical failures and complete loss of power in my 2025 Kia Sorento that created unsafe situations for myself and my children. The first failure occurred on March 23, approximately 2½ weeks after leasing the vehicle. The vehicle died without warning and had to be jumped. I brought it to the Kia dealership, but service would not perform a diagnostic without an appointment and sent me home with no repair. The second failure occurred on April 27. This time the vehicle was completely dead again. Kia’s service manager retrieved the vehicle from my home, diagnosed a failed battery cell, and replaced the battery. The third failure occurred between November 28 and December 1. The vehicle was again completely inoperable. I attempted to jump the vehicle on multiple days, but it would not hold a charge. I was stranded without transportation. The interior doors and trunk would not unlock because the power locks failed, and my belongings and large business related were inaccessible. Headlights flickered like a strobe light before the vehicle lost power entirely. Kia towed the vehicle from my home on December 1. These repeated electrical failures have resulted in multiple incidents of being stranded, including with my children, and have caused loss of use of the vehicle for several days. The defect is unpredictable and creates a serious safety concern, especially because the vehicle can lose power without warning and i am unable to unlock the doors. This raises a SERIOUS safety concern when transporting children. I am requesting that NHTSA document this as a potential electrical system safety defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My vehicle has an ongoing acceleration problem that feels like the engine and transmission are not communicating correctly. There are times when the vehicle will not accelerate even though the RPMs increase. Instead of picking up speed, it feels like the engine is pulling the vehicle back. This creates hesitation and uncertainty about whether the car will respond when I press the accelerator. This happens most noticeably at lower speeds (around 30–40 mph, often near 30 mph), where the RPMs may rise on their own even if I am maintaining steady pressure on the gas pedal. It also occurs when I need to accelerate quickly — such as merging onto the freeway or joining the flow of traffic — and the vehicle feels like it resists gaining speed. Even when I press the pedal gradually and correctly, the vehicle struggles to accelerate and the engine revs without the car moving forward as it should. I reported this to the dealership. They ran diagnostics and told me no issues were detected. They also stated they cannot take action unless they can re-create the problem themselves. Because this does not happen every time, recreating it on command is very unlikely, leaving me without a solution. This is a safety concern because hesitation or failure to accelerate properly during merging or crossing traffic increases the risk of collisions. The problem remains unresolved.

My vehicle repeatedly fails to recognize the key fob even when it is in my hand or inside the vehicle. Because it is a push-button start system, proper fob communication is required for unlocking and driving. When recognition fails, the vehicle will not start and I have been stranded. During the first of these failures, I called the dealership because I was stranded and needed immediate assistance. They instructed me to remove all passengers, close the doors, and then hold the unlock button on the key fob for 10 seconds and press lock/unlock six times in sequence. They also advised me not to use the door-handle lock/unlock button and to use only the fob buttons. This temporarily restored function, but a new vehicle should not require a manual reset procedure to start and operate normally. On two separate occasions, this problem also triggered the vehicle alarm, which was extremely difficult to silence. This does not happen every time, making the vehicle unreliable. One incident occurred while transporting special-needs children and an elderly passenger, and removing them from the vehicle to perform the reset was difficult and unsafe. The dealership later ran diagnostics and found no fault codes. I also replaced the key fob battery, but the issue continues. I have seen other owners online describing the same key-recognition failures, indicating that I may not be the only person experiencing this. This is a safety concern because the vehicle can fail to start without warning, and the alarm activation increases confusion and stress. The issue remains unresolved.