2017 KIA SORENTO Steering Problems

My name is [XXX] I am a [XXX] widow, and I am also a 100% Disabled (Combat Wounded, Purple Heart receipient) Marine Corps veteran. I purchased my 2017 Kia Sorento brand new from Lion County Kia in State College Pennsylvania. After a couple of years, I noticed while driving on several random trips, that my Kia's steering felt like it had stopped working, and I had to fight to keep my Kia centered in my lane. I took it to Lion County Kia, and complained about this issue, while my Kia was still under warranty. The Lion Country Kia Service Tech. claimed that they could not find the issue with my steering (Becasue there was no "Alert Light" in my Kia's computer. A few years later corporate Kia acknowledged there is an issue with the power steering assist motor and sent a document stating that this part will be warranty...

I was driving our 2017 Kia Sorento 2.4 liter, on I-94 in Detroit, MI when suddenly, the vehicle would not go over 50 mph when the engine suddenly lost power on Friday 11/28/2025 ..We towed the vehicle to the Auto Repair Shop a few days later. On Tuesday 12/9/2025 the Auto Repair shop contacted us and said that their was plenty of oil in the vehicle but Cylinder 3 misfired and there is a loss of engine compression. Auto shop says cylinder 3 failed and now only 3 cylinders are now working on the 2017 Kia Sorento now mileage is now 94, 971 miles. I have not taken it to the dealer yet because even though there was a class action lawsuit, the Auto Repair shop has informed us, as well as other information online, that the dealer will sometimes try to avoid replacing the engine. I did contact the...

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel in either direction, the steering wheel was sticking and notchy while attempting to return the steering wheel to center. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed that the power steering motor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 21,083.

Sticking steering wheel at speeds around 60 mph on slight turns been happening over a year took it to dealer said they couldn’t get it to do it.

The steering is sticky. When on the highway you have to keep correcting the steering because the wheel seems to be sticking then moving. As a result you can not just go straight down the road but have to keep putting in steering corrections!!!!! This needs to be addressed! This is an ongoing problem , not just on one date.

Car shut off and the radio kept going on and off red light on dash board and steering was hard

Steering sticks and makes it difficult to stay straight. Have to use extreme effort to keep it in the lane. Complained to Kia in 2022 and dealer saw problem with the rack mounted motor driven power assembly but that it was within their specs. They did a software update on the eps and said system now operating as designed. The miles were 35,774 at that time. Started having same issues in february of 2025. Dealer is saying it needs a new steering column, but now out of warranty. Miles were 59,436.

Steering is sticky when making SLIGHT correction. Happens every time I drive. The speed does not matter. Happens at all speeds.

We Reported in February of 2022 To Kia of Port Charlotte in Florida that our steering wheel was sticking so bad we had to use extraordinary effort to keep the car going straight. They told us they were unable to replicate what we experienced. Starting in February of 2025 we started to experience the same thing. We brought it [XXX] to Kia of Sebring Florida. They diagnosed that there is a sticking of the steering wheel but it is not covered because the car is 7 years old and has 59000 miles under warranty. When I checked on line there are tons of customers complaining of this same problem. Please look into this issue as it could cause accidents eventually. Thank you INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Steering MDPS Unit malfunction causing loss of power assisted steering. Visible steering light on dash. Vehicle was inspected at a Kia dealer confirming issue with MDPS unit. Kia shop stated that this was an issue with the 2016-2020 Kia Sorento models and most fell under the recall umbrella but this specific 2017 Kia Sorento is not on the VIN checked list for a steering recall for the MDPS Unit failure. Kia stated that the repair would cost out of pocket at $3500 for the same issue others with the same problem Kia is replacing under recall warranty. The MDPS Unit failed while driving causing issues with being able to steer.

The steering seems to stick, hard to explain but when you are driving on the highway feels like the steering wheel is going to stop working.

Steering is sticky while driving at highway speeds. Starts mild and increases stickiness over time. Has gotten worse over the years.

While driving a red wheel icon with exclamation mark appeared on the dash. This caused for my car steering wheel to become increasingly hard to maneuver and drive while on the highway driving about 60mph.

Car was burning oil rapidly. While driving heard loud noises, shaking, smoke started coming through vents and car turned off. Kia is stating that there are many recalls on vehicle, but the only recall I received is for a tow hitch. I don't have a tow hitch. Very dangerous if I was going somewhere with a higher speed limit. Kia dealership is saying corporation won't offer extended warranty due to recalls not being completed. Again the only recall is for a tow hitch. Kia dealership has quoted me over $10000 to fix a vehicle that is suffering from known manufacturer failures.

The power steering system has randomly gone out. This occurs at random times when I’m driving. Once I was backing out of somewhere and the power steering light came in, while I was in the middle of the street blocking both sides. I had to turn my car off and restart it. I am put at risk because of my inability to turn at random times. This puts others at risk too when I can’t turn/ move my steering wheel properly. I’ve been desperately trying to get my car looked at but I keep getting the run around that they can’t check what the codes are on the car because the lights on the dash turn on and off. There were no warning signs. The car is managed well and kept up with. This started randomly when driving and turning into a parking lot, causing me to almost hit cars...

Steering motor and controller failed at 53000 km . The steering light and traction control came on and no power assist to the steering in any way . It requires considerable force to turn the steering wheel. Took it to a certified KIA dealer and was told the steering motor and controller needs to be replaced. KIA CANADA refused to fix this issue insisting that the warranty is for 5years or 100,000 km.(bought brand new ,single owner) I do understand the business part and I will take my business elsewhere in the future. Consumers should be aware that such a critical part of their vehicle can fail with no warnings whatsoever. Imagine driving on the highway and your steering fails....

The steering wheel/ column gets stuck like sticky as other call it, other owners have the problem my car is new 2017 Kia sorento just with 69k miles on it and turning the wheel gets hard where the point I put force I over turn and my car turns to much close to hitting other cars I don’t drive it because the wheel/column sticks to much and it gets worse and worse when I drive it Time to time it needs to become a recall because other sorento owners are having the problem

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel momentarily became stuck while turning or attempting to switch lanes. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering column was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 132,000.

The steering wheel sticks and has to be forced out of the stuck position. Not a safe situation if it gets worse. If it sticks for good I could be driving into the ditch or into the path of an oncoming car. I hear the steering column has to be replaced. It has been doing his for the last year.

Steering wheel has a sticky feeling, especially on the highway traveling at faster speeds. The wheel gets stuck in certain positions and then over exerts when you turn the wheel back. Overall, the steering wheel feels unstable.

The steering has at times become sticky for lack of s better term. Turning the wheel, even slightly, feels hard to turn and then will release and cause slight over-correcting. It feels like something is preventing the steering column from turning and then it will let go and turn freely. When this happens it will happen repeatedly on the same outing and is not just a one time occurrence.

When driving my Kia the steering wheel is sticking. At first it was just ever now and then. But now it it’s happening everyday. There is a recall for 2018 models doing the same thing. I pretty sure this is the same part and should be covered under the recall.

For the last few weeksI have been experiencing problems with the steering wheel feeling like it's sticking while driving. It might happen on a straight roadway, but its mostly noticeable on curves, like rounabouts. I can hold the steering wheel around a slight curve and if I need to move it to the right slightly to keep in line with the curve then it jerks a little to get out of that position. I'll take it to the dealer for other recalls and I hope they'll take care of this as well...

For months now I have been experiencing problems with the steering wheel feeling like it's sticking while driving. It can happen on a straight roadway, but mostly notice it on curves, especially a long stretch of road. I can hold the steering wheel around a slight curve and if I need to move it to the right slightly to keep in line with the curve then it jerks a little to get out of that position. It happens every time whether moving the steering wheel left or right. Last time it happened I said I wasn't going to drive the car anymore because it's unsafe. It got stuck around a curve and took more tug on the steering wheel to get it to move the tires in the direction I needed. There's so many other complaints online about this very problem from other Kia owners around the 2017 models. I've...

continuous issues with "sticky" or "notchy" steering. Steering is not smooth and almost caused several accidents.

Steering wheel sticking when driving. Kia replaced the steering column assy-steering and the gear and linkage assy. Steering is some better but still the sticking

I have a 2017 Kia Sorento in which the steering has been feeling sticky. It feels like the steering has been getting stuck and hard to turn at times. I’m scared that one day it will get stuck and I can’t undue the stickiness at all. It’s very scary and unsafe to drive. I had contacted a Kia dealership to get this problem looked at because I feel this vehicle is dangerous and I have a young child that I drive back and forth in this vehicle. I even contacted Kia consumer services on plenty of occasions and they were no help.

I was driving on a highway where maximum speed limit was 65miles. Suddenly my car stalled and restarted again and post that i had a warning for Check AEB, auto hold was disabled and Traction control was enabled. For a brief moment, i lost steering which may be a result of the stall but then i regained steering. This has happened 4 times in the last 6 months. I stopped the car by the road, turned off the engine and restarted the car. The dashboard still showed the same warnings. I again turned off the car, opened my drivers side door and closed it and then restarted the car. The warning signs went off and then there were no issues post that.

My Kia I purchased had 39,000 miles and it has a steering problem which I wasn’t 100% aware of. Today it is at Kia where they stated they’re gonna have to replace the steering column did not give me a price but this is a safety issue, and I want to recall done on this issue For the steering column. How can you help me?

Kia Sorento are being stolen like crazy. I took my Sorento to Russ Darrow Wauwatosa to get the anti-theft software updated. When I got there, the supervisor told me that 80% of cars on which the update was applied ended up having the steering wheel have all buttons on it not working. This scared me and I ended up not getting the software for my Sorento. Why would Kia fix one problem and create 10 other ones? Or did the car dealer's supervisor lie to me? Thanks, Ahmed.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that an unknown steering part needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became firm. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

I was driving at approximately 35mph when my vehicle loss power and the steering wheel locked and gas pedal did not work almost causing me to be rear ended. I put my hazard lights on and started my vehicle back up and tried to continue driving but my vehicle delayed in acceleration and has now continued to delay ever since that incident. I have parked my vehicle and have not moved it due to the danger.

While driving at highway speeds, steering is notchy and sticky. Steering is hard to control and it is difficult to drive straight. Overcorrection is a result and the car is unsafe to drive. The dealership drove the car and felt the same steering issue. They updated the software, but that didn't help. In fact, the sticky, notchy steering seems worse. The steering problem has been ongoing for about 5 years, and there has never been any warnings or messages from the car's electronics.

This is a continuing problem. The steering “Notches” when driving down straight and curves as well. I’ve had the vehicle into dealerships 4 times since 2019. The vehicles warning never came on. ECU’s been updated with the revisions of group CHA, Number 084., and the problem goes away for awhile, however, it’s back again in January 2023. There was extension for the MDPS issued on January 7, 2022 to 15yrs/150,000 miles, but it says the the warning has to come on. This is not right, I believe now something needs to be replaced. My Sorento now has over 70,000 miles. Do we with same problem have to hit something and possibly kill an innocent person or ourselves.

The steering wheel seems to get stuck with prolonged straightforward driving such as highway trips. When attempting to make slight correction in steering the steering wheel seems to stick requiring increased force to move the steering wheel which results in over correction. Power steering malfunction, it is available for inspection upon request. Potential steering problem resulting in crash. No. Problem described to dealer service center, no problems found upon routine service screening. No.

The steering is "Sticky" or feels like it gets stuck in a "Notch" while driving down the road. It is most noticeable at highway speeds and happens every trip to town. When the steering sticks is causes an overcorrection. This overcorrection is getting worse with time. I have yet to take it to the shop for inspection. No warning lamps or codes are currently present.

Steering has a sticky or notchy feel. When going around bends/curves the vehicle proceeds to turn without the need of hands on the wheel. Steering feels like you have to break it out of place, which leads to oversteering out of lane. The issue is constant . Vehicle is not only putting myself at risk, but other drivers if not able to turn or avoid traffic. Problem has been reproduced and confirmed by dealer. Dealer advised to replace entire steering column which is about $2,600. There are no warning lights but issue was noticed after first buying the vehicle. Vehicle has no history of accidents nor indications of damage.

Steering is sticky, it holds then releases.

I was picking up my daughter from school. I drove there a considerable distance. I parked because I got there early. Once it was time to get my daughter I put my car in reverse and it made a loud clanking sound and the wheel became hard to maneuver. As soon as it made the sound a steering wheel with an exclamation point red light came on. I looked it up on Google and found that there was a technical bulletin issued for my year car regarding the MDPS/EPS system extending the warranty to 15 years on 01/05/2022-01/07/2022. When I took my vehicle to Kia of Hollywood service center in Hollywood FL, they were able to reproduce the problem. However after looking at the bulletin and parts covered under that particular bulletin, they told me that the issue that is causing the noise was not covered by that technical bulletin...

When steering the vehicle at speeds between 40 and 70 mph the steering will feel sticky or get a notch feel to it. When making minor adjustments to the wheel to keep the vehicle going straight there will be resistance, then when enough force has been applied it will move. This sudden movement of the wheel causes the vehicle to over steer on the direction the steering wheel was being moved. This can result in an overcompensation the other direction. Although these are small movements the driving experience is unsettling for the driver, and for others around. The dealership is aware of the issue, confirmed it, and applied a software fix to the vehicle per KIA TSB 060 Rev 5. This has made the issue intermittent at best, instead of correcting it. Upon my second visit the dealership they reset the vehicle computer and I believe applied the software again....

I reported earlier that my steering became "sticky" at highway speeds. Now, the problem is occurring at lower speeds. Today it began at 35 mph. Was just driving down the country road from my house and the steering started to stick.

At highway speeds, the steering appears to "stick." Think of it as as a flat spot on a wheel. That's what it feels like. The higher the speed, the more it sticks. Using cruise control makes it worse. This sticking causes overcorrection. Had a bit of an issue going through a construction zone over the Nueces River in Corpus Christi, TX. I have researched this issue, and you do have complaints. I am scheduling service for the car next week. I do have a notice from Kia on steering issues. A type of extended warranty for steering. The "sticky steering" issue has no warning lights/lamps.

The steering wheel sticks, which causes over correction.

While driving the steering wheel gets stuck in the direction you turned it. This is especially true when steering in a curve. I have to constantly make minor adjustments while negotiating a curve. I have to constantly pull cw and ccw because it sticks after each adjustment. I ask the dealer to look at it during an oil change and the attendant told me they didn't have enough service people because of COVID. I called several months later and the service person said it has motorized steering assist and that is the way it is. If you are going around a curve close to the center line it would be very easy for the power assist steering to make you cross into oncoming traffic I noticed it after buying the car and kept putting off having it looked at. I've had heart surgery and covid came along with lock-downs and...

I purchased a new 2017 Kia Sorento LX AWD and have been having an issue with the steering for a few years. When attempting to keep the car traveling straight at highway speeds, there is a need to force the wheel. This results in overcompensation in steering and can be dangerous. I have seen this issue described as Notchy and Sticky steering. Initially in an effort to correct the problem I had the tires rotated and an alignment done however this did not make a difference. The issue seems to only occur if driving 50 MPH or higher and traveling in a straight direction.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel seized upon depression of the accelerator pedal without warning. The contact stated that the failure did not occur while turning the steering wheel but rather while driving straight. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on three separate occasions and was recently informed that the failure was normal vehicle operation. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 59,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering assist intermittently. The vehicle was still drivable during the failure. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering assist and seized without warning. The contact was able to safely guide the vehicle off the roadway. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that there was a mechanical defect in the steering assembly and had to be addressed by a dealer. The contact drove the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the battery and a faulty ball joint replaced. The dealer stated that the failure was not due to the steering. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

The electronic steering "sticks" and makes it necessary to force the steering wheel to make driving corrections. This in turns causes an oversteer situation and a safety issue. The vehicle is difficult to keep lane control. New tires, alignment, and a TSB software upgrade by Kia service did nothing to correct the problem. Kia determined (15 Feb 2022) the vehicle needed the electronic steering column replaced. The Kia service rep stated my factory and extented warranty will not cover the cost of repairs. The problem has been intermittent for over 2 years and getting worse. My research indicates many owners having the same issue with this vehicle.