NHTSA Complaint #11182712 — 2017 KIA SORENTO

PURCHASED NEW IN 2018, THE 2017 SORENTO AWD VEHICLES STEERING FROM THE SHOWROOM FLOOR WAS FINE. AFTER ROUGHLY 1000 MILES, THE STEERING HANGS AS I'M DRIVING INTO A 12:00 POSITION. AS SPEEDS INCREASE ON HIGHWAY, THE LEVEL OF EFFORT TO PULL THE STEERING WHEEL PAST THIS LOCKING POSITION INCREASES SOMEWHAT. ALSO AT HIGHWAYS SPEEDS THE CAR WANDERS ALL OVER THE ROAD REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF ROAD SURFACE. UNDERSTANDABLY GROOVED CONCRETE PAVEMENT CAN CAN THIS TO SOME DEGREE BUT THE SORENTO DOES IT EVEN ON FLAT SMOOTH, BRAND NEW BLACKTOP ROADS. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS YOU HAVE TO PULL THE STEERING WHEEL STRONGLY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE ROAD AND THEN IT UNLOCKS SO TO SPEAK AND OVER STEERS THE CAR IN THE INTENDED DIRECTION. I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING TO TRY TO CORRECT THE ISSUE. 1). TURNED OFF STEERING WHEEL CENTERING FUNCTION IN THE VEHICLE SOFTWARE. 2). UNDER INFLATED THE TIRES APPROX 5 LBS. 3). OVER INFLATED THE TIRES BY 2-3 POUNDS. 4). CHANGED STEERING WHEEL TILT ANGLE. I AM VERY AFRAID OF THIS VEHICLE NOW. PARTICULARLY WHEN MY GRANDKIDS ARE IN IT. WE BOUGHT THIS 3RD ROW SEATED CAR FOR THEM. WHEN MY WIFE IS DRIVING THE CAR ALONE I'M PARTICULARLY CONCERNED SHE MAY HAVE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT! THIS AUTOMOBILE WAS NOT AN INEXPENSIVE MODEL. I CAN'T AFFORD TO TAKE A HUGE LOSS SELLING THE CAR BECAUSE THIS INFORMATION IS WIDELY DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE INTERNET AND NO ONE IS LIKELY TO BUY IT ANYWAY. PLEASE, HELP US ON THIS ISSUE. I LOVE THE CAR IN GENERAL BUT I'VE OWNED OLD JUNKERS THAT STEERED BETTER AND THIS START AT ONLY 1000 MILES. IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT THERE WILL BE SERIOUS ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THESE ISSUES. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO POST OUR CONVERENS HERE