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	7,124	13,981
Model years covered	1997–2026	2003–2026
Worst model year	2019	2012
Best model year	2025	2009
Crashes reported	701	481
Fires reported	86	653
Injuries reported	381	371
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 1 158 335 316 337 289 346 159 502 178 272 229 230 281 161 250 137 369 353 625 365 618 311 232 55 13 1

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 988 13.9%

Brakes 745 10.5%

Engine & Cooling 713 10.0%

Electrical System 623 8.7%

Other & Unspecified 608 8.5%

Windows, Mirrors & Wipers 529 7.4%

Body & Structure 449 6.3%

Acceleration & Cruise Control 447 6.3%

KIA Sorento by year

421 341 457 382 224 319 79 3 2,077 1,208 1,297 1,375 960 1,629 1,034 336 626 189 357 287 201 53 119 7

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 4,214 30.1%

Electrical System 1,380 9.9%

Other & Unspecified 1,279 9.1%

Transmission & Drivetrain 1,162 8.3%

Body & Structure 937 6.7%

Lights 864 6.2%

Airbags 719 5.1%

Brakes 703 5.0%