NHTSA Complaint #11221711 — 2013 KIA SORENTO

MY SORENTO WAS MAKING A NOISE IN AUG 2018. I TOOK MY SORENTO TO KIA. KIA STATED THE NOISE WAS A LOW ENGINE BEARING NOISE ON START AND RECOMMENDED ENGINE REPLACEMENT AT MY COST. THE CAR AT THIS TIME HAD 117,090 MILES, WHICH JUST PUT IT OUT OF WARRANTY. FAST FORWARD TO JUNE 2019. WE WERE DRIVING MY SORENTO ON A HIGHWAY GOING A SPEED OF 55-60 MPH, WHEN MY ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING AND 3 CHILDREN AND MYSELF BARELY MADE IT OFF THE ROAD (THIS COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE IF I WAS PULLING OUT INTO FAST MOVING TRAFFIC). THE CAR SAT FOR 30 MINS AND RESTARTED, BUT MADE A FUNNY NOISE. IT TOOK US 2 HOURS TO GET TOW TRUCK TO COME ON THE SIDE OF THE BUSY HIGHWAY TO GET OUR CAR AND US MOVED TO SAFETY. THEY FINALLY ARRIVED AND THE CAR WAS TOWED ON A WED NIGHT TO THE SAME KIA THAT WORKED ON IT IN 2017 AND A NOTE WAS LEFT WITH MY KEYS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED INCLUDING THE NOISE. THE NEXT MORNING (THURS) I CALLED AND SPOKE TO THE SERVICE MANAGER AT KIA AND REPEATED THE NOISE AND ISSUES THAT BROUGHT MY CAR INTO THEM. HE CALLED ME BACK STATED HE LET THE CAR RUN FOR 1.5 HOURS, CHECKED THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, AND ALL THE FLUIDS. THE CAR DIDN'T SPUTTER OR STALL OUT. ON FRI THEY RAN DIAGNOSTICS ON THE CAR. THEN THEY TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE TO SEE IF THEY COULD REPLICATE THE NOISE. THE CAR DID NOT MAKE IT FAR FROM KIA BEFORE THE CONNECTING ROD BLEW 2 HOLES THROUGH THE ENGINE AND LANDED ON THE RADIATOR. ALL FLUIDS WERE LOST PER SERVICE MANAGER AT KIA. HE STATED THAT THEY DID NOT HEAR THE KNOCKING OF THE ROD PRIOR TO HIT HAPPENING WHEN THE TECHNICIAN TOOK IT ON A TEST DRIVE. NO PAPERWORK HAS BEEN SHARED REGARDING THE CURRENT STATE OF MY CAR.