FaultScore

2025 KIA Sorento driver assist problems

15 of the 119 complaints about the 2025 KIA Sorento are about the driver-assist systems — 13% of everything reported for this model year.

F

15

Complaints

5

Crashes

0

Fires

5

Injuries

Exactly what failed

Adaptive Cruise Control 4 26.7%
Automatic Emergency Braking 4 26.7%
Warnings 3 20.0%
Warnings 2 13.3%
Blind Spot Detection 1 6.7%
Warning 1 6.7%

Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance across every KIA Sorento year

2014 11 6.0%
2016 17 9.3%
2017 16 8.8%
2018 14 7.7%
2019 43 23.6%
2020 10 5.5%
2021 14 7.7%
2022 14 7.7%
2023 28 15.4%
2025 15 8.2%

What owners said

Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.

Pinellas Park, FL 1 injured

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

I was stopped at a red light. The light turned green, the vehicle in front of me was easily 4 car lengths ahead at this point into the intersection, I then slowly began to accelerate, my car gave me a false collision warning even though there was no car or hazard in front of me, then I brake checked me (initiated my brakes and slammed on them). This could’ve easily caused the car behind me to hit me and fortunately it didn’t. It did however cause me whiplash, very dangerous. I’ve since turned collision warning off all together

NHTSA complaint #11744310 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Pinellas Park, FL 1 injured

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS

I was stopped at a red light. The light turned green, the vehicle in front of me was easily 4 car lengths ahead at this point into the intersection, I then slowly began to accelerate, my car gave me a false collision warning even though there was no car or hazard in front of me, then I brake checked me (initiated my brakes and slammed on them). This could’ve easily caused the car behind me to hit me and fortunately it didn’t. It did however cause me whiplash, very dangerous. I’ve since turned collision warning off all together

NHTSA complaint #11744310 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Elburn, IL

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

I purchased this vehicle from McGrath Kia in [XXX] . The fuel line recall kept me from picking up the car the day of purchase as was indented and stated. This was deception because they knew about the recall even know they waited for me to sign the contract before telling me. This was verified by another sales person at Kia. The current problem is electrical with the 12 volt battery discharging to zero at unusual and times with no particular reason such as lights or anything in the vehicle turned in the on position or running. The service coordinator told me the solution is to un hook the battery terminal when stopped. That is wildly unacceptable to have myself and family risk injury due to Kia's faulty electronics on a newly manufactured vehicle. This added risk of using the kia Sorento makes it unsafe. Multiple visits to the dealership resulted in nothing. They did not want me to bring the car in twice as they don't have a solution. This is becoming more frequent and the McGrath is openly stating I'm over 12 months time for lemon law and ill have to pay to fix my new car. Which has the "lifetime" warranty. Im stuck with a new car that's unsafe to drive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11735178 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Elburn, IL

LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION

I purchased this vehicle from McGrath Kia in [XXX] . The fuel line recall kept me from picking up the car the day of purchase as was indented and stated. This was deception because they knew about the recall even know they waited for me to sign the contract before telling me. This was verified by another sales person at Kia. The current problem is electrical with the 12 volt battery discharging to zero at unusual and times with no particular reason such as lights or anything in the vehicle turned in the on position or running. The service coordinator told me the solution is to un hook the battery terminal when stopped. That is wildly unacceptable to have myself and family risk injury due to Kia's faulty electronics on a newly manufactured vehicle. This added risk of using the kia Sorento makes it unsafe. Multiple visits to the dealership resulted in nothing. They did not want me to bring the car in twice as they don't have a solution. This is becoming more frequent and the McGrath is openly stating I'm over 12 months time for lemon law and ill have to pay to fix my new car. Which has the "lifetime" warranty. Im stuck with a new car that's unsafe to drive. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint #11735178 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Oak Ridge, MO Crash

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS

Driving 40 mph coming around a bend. There was a car stopped about to rear off to the left and when coming up around the turn I saw and tried to stop. I was about two car lengths behind the car when I pressed the brake down and I pushed it all the way down and nothing happened. It was grinding and shaky when pressing it down. Not tight or anything. I feel like I normally would have that tension right away to be able to stop. There was no warning or anything and the car always has warnings when something is close.

NHTSA complaint #11723989 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Oak Ridge, MO Crash

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

Driving 40 mph coming around a bend. There was a car stopped about to rear off to the left and when coming up around the turn I saw and tried to stop. I was about two car lengths behind the car when I pressed the brake down and I pushed it all the way down and nothing happened. It was grinding and shaky when pressing it down. Not tight or anything. I feel like I normally would have that tension right away to be able to stop. There was no warning or anything and the car always has warnings when something is close.

NHTSA complaint #11723989 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Staten Island, NY Crash 1 injured

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

My wife was slowly pulling into a parking spot at kohls and the car lunged like the gas pedal was pressed all the way down and hit parking pole in spot . I googled to see if this was an issue reports and found information on this not actual recall but reports on this issue . Kia has done nothing with this case

NHTSA complaint #11717627 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Staten Island, NY Crash 1 injured

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

My wife was slowly pulling into a parking spot at kohls and the car lunged like the gas pedal was pressed all the way down and hit parking pole in spot . I googled to see if this was an issue reports and found information on this not actual recall but reports on this issue . Kia has done nothing with this case

NHTSA complaint #11717627 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Dekalb Junction, NY

LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING

Driver attention warning light coming on frequently for no reason, is distracting for driver and will cause and accident, today we almost hit a horse and buggy

NHTSA complaint #11711028 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Sherwood, AR Crash 1 injured

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

Hit a deer going 80, airbags did not deploy and car did not attempt to brake

NHTSA complaint #11709732 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Big Spring, TX

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

While operating the vehicle and utilizing the cruise control, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and the Antilock Braking System (ABS) warning lights turn on. These lights will remain on until the vehicle is turned off and a new drive begins. They only activate during the use of cruise control and at times it has caused the brake pedal to become extremely tough to press. This is a concern if maintaining cruise control and an emergency braking situation arises, the brake may not engage it is designed to do and cause a vehicle accident.

NHTSA complaint #11693681 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Lawrence, KS

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

It feels like the engine is starting to cut out and as soon as that happens, the electronics in the car seem to start fighting each other. They adaptive steering and the lane assist it feels like they don’t work together anymore and I’m always fighting it or it won’t stay in the right lane and the car jerks from line to line. If I turned the lane assist off then it drives OK but the engine still is doing something funny.

NHTSA complaint #11676436 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Wilmington, NC

BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS

On numerous occasions during extreme ambient hot temperatures, one of the body sensors keeps malfunctioning giving me an error message about the front parking sensor malfunction. I have reported this to my local dealership on a number of occasions, but as soon as I place the vehicle in park the message clears. The error has shown up on a history report with they connect a scanner to the OBD port but have yet to rectify this issue. Started before I hit 15k miles and is randomly generated.

NHTSA complaint #11670140 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Dekalb Junction, NY

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS

Driver Attn Warning randomly goes off frequently for no reason, this malfunction involves the front camera causing this frequent warning for no reason. This faulty issue gives the driver the sense that it should be ignored as it goes off for no reason, this makes this safety system null and void. It is equivalent to the blind spot warning going off so that the driver ignores it over time leading to them pulling in front of a car in there blind spot. The dealer and manufacturer know about this issue but refuse to do anything to fix it, the dealer says it's in the software of the car and they can't change it and Kia refers me back to the dealer, it's a frustrating run around for the customer. No it has not been inspected by insurance or police. The driver attention warning feature with a coffee cup began flashing a warning as soon as we pulled it off the lot

NHTSA complaint #11659855 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Toms River, NJ

BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS

Was turning right onto the road when the steering locked up and every safety warning light came on. My car literally stopped moving in the middle of the road. I wasn't literally right down the road from my house so thankfully I was able to get the car back to my house. The steering felt worse than not having power steering. I called and the dealership Matt Blac KIA of Toms River, and they had my car towed to the dealership around 10 am on April 4th. Around 4pm I was told they still had no idea what was wrong with my car, and to come pick up a loaner car. On April 5th at 4:42 pm I received a text stating the wiring harness wasn't secured properly and rubbed the steering shaft, and they had to contact Kia to see how to proceed. April 11th was told the part arrived and hopefully sometime next week I would get my vehicle. As of right now I still don't have my vehicle and have no idea of when I will get it back. My main concern is that this was a serious oversight on the assembly of this car, and could have had very different results if I was not in my neighborhood and was on a busier road.

NHTSA complaint #11656233 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

Other 2025 KIA Sorento problems

← Full 2025 KIA Sorento report