Problems · by component
2006 Kia Sorento electrical system problems
53 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2006 Kia Sorento cite electrical system, 22% of all 242 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
53
22% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the electrical system
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 KIA SORENTO. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, THE CONTACT NOTICED SMOKE EMERGING FROM THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO NISSAN KIA OF MIDDLETOWN (4961 ROUTE 17M, NEW HAMPTON, NY 10958) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUSE AND ELECTRICAL BOX NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 93,000.”
“PARKED THE CAR ONE NIGHT, NEXT MORNING ONLY CLICKS, CLICKING COMING FROM FUSE BOX TOO. NEW BATTERY, BATTERY AND BRAKE LIGHT ARE ON, CAR DIES AFTER SPUTTERING. THIS IS A NEW $5,000 ENGINE WITH ONLY 20,000 MILES DUE TO A CRANKSHAFT PULLEY BREAK RUINING THE ORIGINAL ONE. NOW, IT WON'T CRANK, OBDII RETURNS CODES P0763 AND P0101 WHICH ARE SHIFT SOLENOID AND MASS AIR FLOW ELECTRICAL. THE COOLING FAN RELALY IS BURNED AS WELL AS THE FUSE BOX CIRCUIT BOARD IT GOES INTO. HAVE A MECHANIC COMING TO CHECK IT BUT NOT TOO OPTIMISTIC GIVEN THE CAR'S HISTORY. LUCKILY, I ONLY DROVE 3 MILES TO MY OTHER HOME WHEN THE SECOND TIME FOR QUITTING OCCURRED WHERE IT IS STILL, NOW I'M OUT OF A CAR AND LOTS OF OBLIGATIONS TO FULFILL AND WALKING.”
“I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE USED FROM A LOCAL DEALERSHIP BACK IN 2013.IT HAD 53000 MILES ON IT I BOUGHT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO USE IT DUE TO WHEN THE ISSUES DEVELOPED. WITHIN THREE MONTHS I HAD TO REPLACE THE PASSENGER SIDE THEN DRIVER SIDE LOW BEAM LIGHTS AND THE FRONT AND REAR TAIL LIGHTS. THIS HAS OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING. I HAD TO DO THIS ABOUT ONCE A YEAR. I RECENTLY JUNE 2016 CHANGED THE PASSENGER SIDE BULB LOW BEAM AGAIN. NOW I HAVE NOTICED I HAVE NO TAG LIGHTS. I ORDERED REPLACEMENT BULBS FROM THE DEALERSHIP AND HAD THEM INSTALLED AND THEY STILL DO NOT WORK. YET NO FUSES ARE BLOWN AND THERE IS NO SMELL OF BURNING WIRES OR MELTED WIRES ANYWHERE. *TR”
“OUR 2006 KIA SORENTO ALL THE SUDDEN WHILE DRIVING ON A VERY BUSY IN CITY HIGHWAY, STARTED SOUNDING LIKE IT KEPT TRYING TO TURN OVER AND WE PULLED OVER. WE NOTICED IT STARTED SMELLING HOT BUT WOULDN'T TURN OFF SO MY HUSBAND TRIED TAKING OFF THE BATTERY BUT COULDN'T BECAUSE IT WAS SO HOT IT BURNED HIM AND NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE. WE FINALLY GOT IT OFF SO WE TRIED TO RESTART IT BUT THE BATTERY WAS TOTALLY DEAD. THE SHOP SAID THE ENGINE IS GONE.”
“I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY IN SLUSHY SNOW AND THE BRAKE LIGHT & BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON. THE ENGINE SOUNDED ROUGH. WHEN I WENT TO PULL OF THE HIGHWAY, I HAD NO POWER STEERING.”
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 KIA SORENTO. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT AN ELECTRICAL SHORTAGE WAS CAUSING THE LOW BEAMS TO FAIL PREMATURELY. THE LOW BEAM BULBS WERE REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES, BUT THE FAILURE WAS NOT CORRECTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000.”
Showing 6 of 53 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.