Toyota Highlander vs KIA Sorento

Both cars' complete complaint records, side by side.

Read the totals carefully. NHTSA publishes no sales figures, so the car that sold more collects more complaints regardless of quality. The rows worth weighing are the proportions — the share of complaints that involved harm, and which part dominates.

Measure	Toyota Highlander	KIA Sorento
Complaints on file	7,196	14,049
Model years covered	1997–2026	2003–2026
Worst model year	2021	2012
Best model year	2025	2009
Crashes reported	704	481
Fires reported	88	655
Injuries reported	384	372
Deaths reported	10	11
Most complained-about part	Transmission & Drivetrain	Engine & Cooling
Share of complaints involving harm	16.5%	10.8%

Toyota Highlander by year

1 1 158 335 316 337 289 348 159 502 178 272 229 230 282 162 254 138 371 357 633 372 638 320 238 59 13 4

97 98 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,021 14.2%

Brakes 753 10.5%

Engine & Cooling 718 10.0%

Electrical System 627 8.7%

Other & Unspecified 615 8.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 531 7.4%

Body & Structure 453 6.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 447 6.2%

KIA Sorento by year

421 341 457 382 224 319 79 3 2,077 1,209 1,298 1,380 965 1,635 1,040 340 632 191 367 290 208 57 126 8

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded

What breaks

Engine & Cooling 4,231 30.1%

Electrical System 1,391 9.9%

Other & Unspecified 1,284 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,172 8.3%

Body & Structure 940 6.7%

Lights 865 6.2%

Airbags 721 5.1%

Brakes 706 5.0%