Problems · by component
2011 Kia Sorento steering problems
53 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2011 Kia Sorento cite steering, 3% of all 1,520 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
53
3% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the steering
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“1-The front air bag sensor will nor register if a person is sitting in the sear, no matter the weight. 2-The modem keeps direction the vehicle to steer right. No matter how many alignments and parts are replaced, the ECM will not correct itself 3-KIA dealers will only repair the problem if the customer pays $$$$$$$$”
“3/11/24 The first thing I noticed was that my cruise control shut off with a couple of jerks to my vehicle. Then a few minutes later, I lost all steering, put in it park. There was smoke coming from under the hood, but not fire. It is sitting at my house still. A couple of months or so ago, when I received the letter of the recall, I called the dealership I bought my vehicle from and inquired about it. I was told that the part was not available but when it does, I will receive another letter. Also wanted to note, that right before I made that call, my engine light came on the day before that. Today, I called the same dealership to let them know what happened yesterday and they told me there was a cost for a tow truck to come get my vehicle. I was given a phone number to Kia, to which I called and started some kind of process. But it stopped when she told me it was going to be over $200 for a tow truck to come get my vehicle. I am not able to pay that nor feel as if I should due to Kia knowing about the recall and danger of same. Right when I lost steering and a red lamp popped up. I immediately parked it.”
“Brakes feel softer, rear brake burnt smell, replaced brakes one month ago. Headlight and taillight bulbs replaced several times in last 3 months due to blinking blowing replaced and starts over again. Screen will not turn on until car has run for 45 minutes. Cannot use back until screen turns on. Leaving car parked until I can get brake system fixed. Noticed brake light on dash and car with swerve light on dash. Too scared to drive until at least brakes are fixed. Reached out to dealership. No part available for recall which most likely is failing my brakes”
“I was driving my car to work when my check engine light came on and starting flashing. I made it to work just unable to go over 30MPH because it felt like it was in fail safe mode. That afternoon I spoke with KIA Affairs and the lady advise me to go to autozone and get it diagnosed after work. Well after work I went to go to autozone and barely made it half a mile before it felt like it was going to die. so i turned to go back to turn around to back to work in the parking lot next door. When I turned it felt like i had no control over where my car was going like i had no traction control even though i did not hit any patches of ice.”
“While driving, the front end of the car made a thud sound and vibrated, the lights on the panel came on, the engine light, battery light, key light, and the steering wheel locked up. This happened 3 times in a week. If we had been going faster it could have caused an accident because of car suddenly slowing down and loss of steering. After turning off and then back on it worked again but never know when it could happen again. Yes my car is available upon request. No codes come up when our mechanic diagnosed it, hasn't been to a Kia dealership yet, can't get in until Nov. 6. Refer to article "2011 Kia Sorrento's problems with sudden surging and engine stalls led to 7 investigations, 6 recalls." My mechanic referred us to this article as he thinks our car has a related problem. This problem happened without any warning.”
“ON DECEMBER 2, 2020 MY KIA SORENTO STARTED MAKING A KNOCKING NOISE. NO ENGINE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON. I WENT TO GO HEAD HOME FROM WORK ON THE INTERSTATE AND I HEARD A CLANK WHILE I WAS DRIVING MY BRAKES LOCKED IN TRAFFIC THEN ALL THE LIGHTS ON MY DASH CAME ON AND MY ENGINE SHUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC. MY CAR WOULD NOT TURN BACK ON AND I HAD TO CALL MY INSURANCE COMPANY GEICO TO HAVE MY CAR TOWED HOME. VERY SCARY AND VERY DANGEROUS. IT STILL DOESN'T NOT TURN ON WHATSO EVER. I HAVE VIDEOS BUT NOT IN THE RIGHT FORMAT TO OPEN.”
Showing 6 of 53 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.