NHTSA Complaint #10525696 — 2008 KIA SORENTO

I WAS DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE WITH A SPEED LIMIT OF 65 MPH WHEN WITH NO WARNING THE "CHECK ENGINE" AND "ESC OFF" LIGHTS CAME ON SIMULTANEOUSLY. AT THE SAME TIME, THE ENGINE LOST POWER, CAUSING MY VEHICLE TO SUDDENLY DECELERATE AND ALMOST CAUSING A COLLISION BOTH WITH THE CAR BEHIND ME AND WITH THE CARS MERGING OVER FROM AN ENTRANCE RAMP. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY MAINTAIN CONTROL OF MY CAR AND PUT ON MY HAZARD LIGHTS TO WARN OTHER DRIVERS OF MY MUCH SLOWER SPEED. EVEN DEPRESSING THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, I WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE ABOVE 55 MPH, AND MY SPEED GOING UP HILLS WAS SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWER. ONCE I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY REACH A SHOULDER WITH COMFORTABLE CLEARANCE, I PULLED OVER AND STOPPED THE CAR FOR A FEW MINUTES. I RESTARTED THE CAR, BOTH LIGHTS REMAINED ON, AND I SIMILARLY WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE THE CAR APPROPRIATELY, ESPECIALLY FROM A STOP. I LIMPED ALONG WITH MY HAZARD LIGHTS FOR THE LAST FEW MILES TO WORK WHERE I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN RESEARCHING THIS ISSUE ONLY TO FIND THAT THIS IS FAR FROM AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. IN FACT, THIS PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE PERVASIVE IN KIAS OF SIMILAR MODEL YEAR. THERE ARE SCORES OF KIA OWNERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR SERIES OF EVENTS. THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED LOSS OF POWER WITH ABSOLUTELY NO WARNING IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS IN ANY SITUATION, BUT ESPECIALLY SO ON THE INTERSTATE WHEN SPEED LIMITS ARE SO HIGH. I WAS SO LUCKY THAT THE DRIVERS AROUND ME AND I WERE ABLE TO AVOID AN INJURY-CAUSING CRASH. THIS ISSUE NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED SWIFTLY AND THOROUGHLY. AGAIN, A SIMPLE SEARCH OF THIS VERY WEBSITE AS WELL AS OTHER ONLINE CAR FORUMS REVEALS A PROBLEM SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT SHOULD WARRANT A RECALL BY KIA. *TR