NHTSA Complaint #11434099 — 2016 KIA SORENTO

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sorento SX. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently became overheated and he saw smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who informed the contact that the head gasket or the engine would need to be replaced. Then, the vehicle was towed to a second dealer(Matthews Kia of Cartersville 595 E Main St, Cartersville, GA 30120) who diagnosed that the engine bolts were backing out of the engine block allowing the exhaust to be released into the cooling system. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they could not assist as the vehicle was out of warranty. A case was opened and the contact was awaiting a call back from the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000. The service manager at Matthews Kia said he was replacing seven engines per week and that this was a manufacturers defect from the factory that affected early 2016 models. He also said that the defect normally occurs between 100,000 miles and 120,000 miles, just as the vehicle goes out of warranty. Consumer purchased an enhanced warranty at the time of purchase of the automobile. There were no warning lights or codes thrown when engine failed. The service manager said there was nothing consumer could do to prevent this because it is a manufacturing defect.