2009 Kia Sorento

Name: 2009 Kia Sorento owner-filed safety complaints per 1,000 sold
Creator: YearsTell

Too few owners filed complaints about the 2009 Sorento in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others. Among the 14 Sorento years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2020 (0.33 per 1,000 sold) and the most about the 2011 (2.35).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.59 per 1,000

too few complaints to rank against its other years

Counted from 16 complaints filed in the first three years, of 55 ever. 95% lower bound 0.30.

Every Sorento model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years

This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 1.08

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	1.08	32
2009	0.59	16
2011	2.35	281
2012	0.93	116
2013	1.27	143
2014	0.74	77
2015	0.58	63
2016	1.11	128
2017	1.12	120
2018	0.47	49
2019	0.81	83
2020	0.33	28
2021	1.66	130
2022	1.49	125
2023	1.28	112

Issues owners of the 2009 Sorento report

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

40% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 44,450 miles, from 40 complaints that recorded one).

No clear early or late pattern.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 0 of which list a recall campaign.

Throttle control system vulnerabilities

Questions buyers ask about the 2009 Kia Sorento

Is 2009 a good year or a bad year for the Sorento?

What problems does the 2009 Sorento have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Air Bags (21), Electrical System (14), Power Train (9).

Is the 2009 Sorento reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Sorento years: too few owners filed complaints about the 2009 Sorento in its first three years to say whether it is a better or a worse year than the others.

Which Sorento year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2020, at 0.33 per 1,000 sold. Every Sorento year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Sorento.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.