NHTSA Complaint #11447778 — 2017 KIA SORENTO

I am the owner of the 2017 KIA Sorento, which I purchased new. When I first contacted the NHTSA, I stated within the last few months that after driving the vehicle the highway or expressway for an extended period (approximately 60 mins to 90 mins), the steering wheel would bind when turning on the road to change lanes or maintain the vehicle on the road. This binding occurs in the turning position without warning. I'm concerned the steering will lock, which will result in a bad accident. I initially took the car to the dealership (Gunther KIA), where I purchased the vehicle. The service adviser told him because the steering wheel has electronic components, the problem could occur when the battery needed replacement. I agreed to have the battery replaced; however, the binding of the steering wheel re-occurred. After the second failure, I returned the car to the dealership's service dept. At the advice of their technicians, they performed a software update on the vehicle. Unfortunately, a couple of days after the second repair, the same failure recurred for the third time. Once again, I took the car back to the dealership, where a case was filed and opened; however, the dealership could not diagnose or duplicate the failure after a few days in their possession. At one point, the master adviser (Randy Rosario) at the dealership told me that he had the same experience with his own Sorrento. And he learned to deal with it and said I should learn to deal with it because the dealership would not give me a new vehicle. I replied by stating that I didn't want a new car; I wanted my car fixed because I feared for my safety and the safety of my family and grandchildren. The adviser also mentioned that a recall should happen, but the manufacturer has never issued one. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. As a result, the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 43,490 Fortunately, during the week of January 10th, 2022, I once again called the dealers