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The Kia Sorento is prone to catastrophic engine failure, according to a class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey.
Plaintiffs allege in the Kia Sorento class action lawsuit that Kia Motors knowingly concealed that its 2002-2009 Sorento crossovers were manufactured with a defective engine part called the crank sprocket. This alleged engine defect leads to a catastrophic chain of events that starts with severe heat buildup, the release of debris, and then leads to loss of steering control, engine failure and the potential for a hazardous accident, according to the class action lawsuit.
“Not only did Kia actively conceal the material fact that this particular component is defectively designed (and requires costly repairs to fix), but it also did not reveal that the existence of this defect would diminish the intrinsic resale value of the vehicle,” plaintiffs say in the Kia Sorento class action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs allege Kia has known about the Sorento engine defect for years, as evidenced by numerous online complaints, but has withheld this information from consumers while making numerous statements about the quality and reliability of the Sorento. As a result, Kia’s “scheme of false and misleading advertising and marketing” has caused tens of thousands of consumers to purchase a Sorento over another vehicle without the alleged defect.
When Sorento owners with vehicles still under warranty sought repairs related to the engine defect, Kia only temporarily repaired the damaged parts or replaced them with similarly defective components, the class action lawsuit continues.
Furthermore, the class action lawsuit accuses Kia of profiting from the alleged Sorento engine defect by performing unnecessary replacements, computer reprogramming and software updates despite knowing the true cause of the problem.
The Kia Sorento class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a nationwide class of consumers that purchased or leased the first generation Sorento. It is seeking damages, injunctive relief – including a recall to repair the alleged defect – and more for alleged breach of warranties, breach of contract, negligence and violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
The Kia Sorento Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit case is Robinson et al v. Kia Motors America Inc. et al., Case No. 13-cv-00006 U.S. district Court for the District of New Jersey.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Law Office of Schmuel Klein PC.
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
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247 thoughts onKia Sorento Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit
Please go to http://www.safercar.gov or https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml and file a complaint with the NHTSA. The more people who complain the better. Also, there is contact information for the attorneys further back in this thread. ***NO ONE will contact you! YOU MUST take action yourself! Please do this. We must get this into the news and we must get as many people as possible into the class action. Kia cannot be allowed to get away with this.
My sister bought a new 2013 fully loaded with all the bells and whistles including the famous 10 years waranty and the vehicle had about a little over 30,000 miles on it when the engine just blew apart on her. She had it towed to the nearest kia dealership where they checked it out for her and the engine did blow up and they are not going to warranty it beacuse of what the said they found while looking at the motor. They were asking my sister to produce maintainence records as far as oil changes and unfortuneitly we have always done are own oil changes at the house my dad wouldn’t pay anyone to do that since I was a teenager and it wasn’t anything for us to just stop in the parts store buy the oil and filter and change it . We never thought about saving the recipients bad mistake they will not warranty the engine they want us to prove the maintenance was done. If we had the money I would hire an attorney my ather co signed for my sister so both of them will be liable for paying off a car that they can not even drive. My sister is a widow with two little children an my father is a disabled veteran way to represent America Kia ! Scum I would never buy a Kia !
I have a 2005 kia sorento that shut off as I was driving coming off of I 95. Lucky I was able to drift to the side but I was still stuck in the middle the off ramp with cars coming at me. Just got it back from the shop and one of things they had to replace is crank sensor. Very interested in this lawsuit
I have a 2012 Kia Sorento 4-cylinder AWD LX that has approximately 42,000 miles (still under warranty) last Friday I sent a rod through the bottom of my engine block while driving down a highway during morning rush hour. I was luckily not hurt or killed because I recognized that something was failing in my motor and was attempting to get off the highway. Kia has been extremely difficult to deal with on the repair and I still do not know how or when I will have my vehicle back. Obviously they have not fixed the defect or made a bigger problem with their engines. The dealer had confirmed that I had all of the required maintenance done under the warranty requirement and they are telling me they are going to put a rebuilt engine in my vehicle and the warranty doesn’t roll back for the failed part. I am highly disappointed with Kia motors and how they treat their customers.
UPDATE: I still do not have my vehicle back yet. They have replaced the short block assembly once already back on March 28. The dealership had called me and told me to pick up the vehicle and later that day. I received a call back stating they heard a noise and they were on the phone with the engineer and I would not be able to get me vehicle until the following week. It is now one month from the initial incident and I still have no idea what Kia is doing to fix or replace my vehicle.
I just had my Kia shut off in the middle of the road while driving 40 mph. I barely made it off the road because steering and everything shut down. I had it towed home, where we looked at it and the belt is shredded again. The second time in about 9 months I already put thousands in it for leaving me sit a week after I bought it . The belts broke and it overheated leaving me stranded. Sick of it!! I love the car but this is too much to handle! Do they think we are freakin made of money to keep fixing these cars?
Took my 2008 Sorento 54,000 miles in for maintenance and told them about the knocking sound and they said they couldn’t hear it! What do I need to do to sign up for the lawsuit?
I currently own a 2006 Kia Sorento.I bought mine from a Kia dealership and am only the 2nd owner of this car. The carfax showed no issues with this car and that all maintenance was up to date. Out of the blue on Thursday after taking my kid to school my car shut down on me while I was doing 35. I had to fight to get the car off the road cause the power steering shut down. When it shut down the check engine light came home. Once I was safely off the road I threw it in park and turned everything that was running off. I was able to recrank the car and make it safely home. I called Kia and was told to bring it in. The tech diagnosed it as water in the tank..aka bad gas. So he added a product called Sledgehammer and told me not to get gas from there anymore. On Friday I was at O ‘Reily Auto Parts getting a battery for the car. Once they were done I tried to crank the car and it was shaking horribly and then it cut off. I tried to crank it up 3 more times before I got it to stay cranked. The last time it fired up it backfired under the hood. My engine light was now on, so I walked back in and ask the person who put my battery in about it. He came out and checked the computer with the code reader. It was showing a code for the O2 sensor and something about the cam position. He told me it could be related to the bad gas issue and that I should drive the car til all this gas was out of the car. I came home and cut the car off. Something said try to crank it so I tried and was met with the same issue again. The 3rd time i tried to crank the car it refused to crank. I called the tech that worked on my car and he ask me to turn the key to the off position and back to the position where the lights come on the dash 5x. i did so and tried to crank it but it did the same thing..shuddered and cut right back off. The tech got a rollback in route to get my car. Today (Saturday) I called and was told that the camshaft sensor needed to be replaced. I ask if it was related to the bad gas and was told it was possible. I decided to google the issue and i found this article. I am now worried that this is the issue with my car.
On 8-9-12 my Sorento was in the shop for the following repairs: AC Compressor and Tune up with lead to the following parts being used: Timing-Belt, Idler Pulley, Tensioner Pulley, Auto Tensioner, 3V-Ribbed belts, Oil Seal-Camsha, PCV Valve, PCV hose, Coolant Pump Assembly, Spark Plug Assembly, Thermostat Assembly, 3 Gaskets, Antifreeze, Coolant Flush, Gear Oil. The warranty paid $605.74 and I was left owing $2163.57.
I will be calling Kia on Monday to inquire about this issue and see if it is related to this article. i will also be calling about the lawsuit. Here I thought I had found a wonderful one owner car and now I am wondering if the previous owner did not get rid of the car due to issue I have yet to run into.
I have an 05 that just lost the HB and all drive belts stoped turning. WHERE DO I SIGN UP. I had no luck talking to Kia
Please, please sign me up for this lawsuit. What do I need to sign? I have a 2006 Kia Sorento with only 50000 original miles (I bought it new) and I am having this same problem.
I am so pissed off at Kia Motors. Our 2006 Kia Sorento has only 53,300 miles on it. This suv is hardly driven and more than half of these miles are ALL FREEWAY!
The crank sensor and cam sensor has and timing belt are all be replaced as I am typing this. The cost is over $900.00 dollars. We called the dealership in sherman oaks and wanted to charge us$2400.00.
The dealership said to us it is NOT under warranty. We bought a 2013 Kia Soul too if anything else goes wrong with either one of the cars I’m NEVER buying another Kia. I will let everyone know how these cars are not only UNSAFE but JUNK!
PISSED off mislead customer!