RoadVitals

2020 Kia Sorento Driver assistance Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Driver assistance reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
10
Latest Jul 12, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
8%
of 131 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
2
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
2

What this page shows

Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2020 Kia Sorento submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 10 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming driver-assistance

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

AirbagsDriver assistanceElectrical
Filed Jul 12, 2026

Driving on highway at 65, traction control light, airbag light, parking light, bcw warning, all came in at the same time. I was able to pull off to the side and re start engine to clear the lights. As soon as I got up to 40 lights one by one flickered on until up to highway speed and then all flickered and dash dings. Two independent shops ran diagnostics and noted that only battery was dead. Replaced battery and the lights came back immediately.

NHTSA ID
11749809
Incident
Jul 12, 2026
Driver assistanceElectrical
Filed Jul 14, 2025

My 2020 Kia Sorento engine light came on and not able to accelerate more than 40 mph. The code when I went to an auto repair shop says knock signal range/ performance. I had it reset by the mechanic and the engine light still on. The engine is also eating through oil very fast. We have to fill the car with oil frequently in between oil changes.

NHTSA ID
11673429
Incident
Jul 13, 2025
Driver assistanceEngine
Filed Jun 10, 2025

The Kia was using to much oil, the engine light came on and it’s the cam shaft sensor…just got it replace but still doing the same thing as the RPM’s is fluctuating …

NHTSA ID
11666174
Incident
Jun 6, 2025
Driver assistance
Filed Mar 12, 2025

I was at a stop sign waiting for my turn to go and I got hit from behind

NHTSA ID
11647848
Incident
Mar 12, 2025
Driver assistance
Filed Dec 20, 2024

All of the adas not working. The wheel sensor right rear quit working and causes all the advanced safety systems to quit working. Had the left rear sensor to go out this year. I am [XXX] and do not feel safe driving without these safety systems working. No urgency to fix the issue. Vehicle under Warranty with 48980 miles. Have a January 7 appointment at Kia Hilton Head and a Feb 7 at Kia of Savannah. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID
11631807
Incident
Dec 20, 2024
Driver assistance
Filed Jun 22, 2024

I was on the freeway and I needed to accelerate to get over and I pushed on the gas and the car would not accelerate at all I could not get the vehicle to speed up it was stuck at 40 I had gotten the gas pedal to the ground and no acceleration the RPM were jumping up but the miles per hour were not so I I tried to let it drop down in speed and then tried to accelerate again and at that point I could not get the vehicle over 60 I pulled over turned off the vehicle waited and then restarted it and tried to continue on to the freeway and the car would not go over 60 miles per hour. I had my car towed to DCH Kia of Temecula where they had my vehicle over 2 weeks and proceeded to say they couldn’t find any errors or codes to see what was wrong with it and said it was intermittent and had me pick up my car I picked up my car and when I went to get on the freeway once again with my daughter in the car and vehicles behind me I went to accelerate to get on the freeway and the vehicle would not pick up I could not get my car to go over 40 miles per hour once again and I had a car behind me almost hit me and start honking at me with my kid in the car I had to pull off the freeway because I was causing traffic to back up my car wouldn’t accelerate and it had to be towed back that Monday to the dealership they continue to have the vehicle for another 2 weeks and said they hooked it up to a a flight recorder and drove it and no one could find and thing wrong with it so I picked it up after 2 trips to the dealership and 1 month with out my car and no one can I find anything wrong with it yet I google it and there are multiple recalls on other 2020 Kia sorentos that have acceleration problems but the Kia dealership told me they never heard of this. I once again had it happen at 80 miles per hour tonight and it got stuck this is very unsafe and can cause a catastrophic accident.

NHTSA ID
11595839
Incident
May 16, 2024
Driver assistance
Filed Feb 20, 2023
Crash reported

The forward collision warning system went off and instantly brought my vehicle to a stop in the middle of the interstate and traffic, causing me to be rear-ended. I was at least one car length if not more behind the person ahead of me.

NHTSA ID
11508164
Incident
Feb 15, 2023
Driver assistance
Filed Feb 6, 2023
Crash reported2 injuries reported

Made a right turn wasn't going over 20mph wheel locked system went dead hit a parked car and my car flipped don't know why

NHTSA ID
11505858
Incident
Feb 3, 2023
Driver assistancePowertrain (other)
Filed Feb 23, 2022

Here’s the deal, what I would is for the dealership to accept a fair trade of equal monthly payments on a new Kia Sorento 2022. So here’s the deal I have a 2020 Kia Sorento LX looking to do a even trade for a 2022 Kia Sorento, same monthly payments of 540. I’ve filed a complaint with corporate about a issue I’ve had with my current kia which it has had a issue running around 4k rpm in sport mode and won’t drop down below normal ranges until in smart mode when I brought it in for its routine maintenance they said that the transmission was just catching up to the speed? Well on February 11th my wife was driving my car and the car experienced a issue were the engine was loud and car was slow an couldn’t get above 60mph. My cars drive SyncUP got this error code Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction (PRNDLInput) (P0705), took it into kia east the next day, they claimed everything was safe and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it after having 3 techs look at it. On February 13th on Alabama highway going 70mph my blind spot collision warning came on, car made a clunking noise from the transmission, felt like we got hit, went from 70mph to 30mph. Completely unsafe, had to restart the car an seems to run normal for now but I do not feel safe in this car anymore. The same issue I got the second time was the same code that I got the first time, I have reached out on social media to see if others have had this issue since kia should have started a investigation to determine the root cause of this issue an have had another person step forward with the same experience. This is completely unacceptable and unsafe to have to second guess a vehicle that I was ensured would be completely safe after having it looked at. I’ve already contacted corporate about the issue, they are looking into it now. I have yet to hear back from the kia general manager, they are offering to trade the car in but yet have more negative equity on the car, how about a fair trade.

NHTSA ID
11453616
Incident
Feb 13, 2022
Driver assistance
Filed Jan 11, 2021

VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED AUG 2020. AS OF JAN 10, 2021 "CHECK BLIND SPOT COLLISION WARNING (BCW) SYSTEM" LIGHT CAME ON ABOUT 6 TIMES. IF THE LIGHT COMES ON WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE FEELS LIKE IT DOWNSHIFTS. LIGHT HAS ALSO COME ON WHILE WAITING FOR A RED LIGHT. THE BCW SYSTEM WAS TURNED OFF THE LAST TWO TIMES THE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. THE LAST TIME IT CAME ON WAS JAN 10, 2021 AT APPROXIMATELY 10:45PM. I WAS DRIVING ON A CITY STREET. THE BCW SYSTEM WAS TURNED OFF & THERE WERE NO VEHICLES NEXT TO ME. THE TRANSMISSION AGAIN FELT LIKE IT DOWNSHIFTED. I HAVE ATTACHED A PICTURE OF THE WARNING LIGHT THAT CAME ON ON JAN 4, 2021.

NHTSA ID
11387446
Incident
Jan 10, 2021
Mileage
8,550 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .