NHTSA Complaint #11525350 — 2016 KIA SORENTO

I became the proud owner of a 2016 Kia Sorento, which I got from Jerry Smith KIA in Burlington, Washington, in February 2020. This car has received prompt service for every maintenance item at the dealership where I bought it. Other than the expected wear and tear, I have never experienced any unneeded problems with the car. It's driven 143,928 miles. I had no warning what so ever that there was an issue with the motor. I had the car inspected and had the regular oil changed on April 20th, 2023, and everything was fine. On April 22, 2023, I drove the Kia while out to dinner with my daughter and her friends. On the way home, however, after dropping the girls off, the car cut out and died, but I was still able to make it to the side of the road. The engine knocked like a rod and wouldn't stay turned over for more than ten seconds when I tried to start the car again. All the dash lights lit up and engine sounded like a rattle can. I had the car towed the following morning to the dealership where I have it serviced. After a week, they were able to identify the problem. It appears that the engine's bearings failed. They estimated that a replacement engine would cost $18,000. The vehicle has a negative equity of $13,000, which is too high for me to trade in. Spending that much money on it is not worthwhile. It is currently yard art in my driveway. Despite my attempts to rectify the situation, I am still left with a sense of dissatisfaction and regret over this purchase. It's a lesson learned, but one that comes at a steep cost. After doing some extensive research I have found numerous owners of the same type of vehicle have similar issues.