YearsTellEspaƱol

2013 Kia Sorento

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2013 Sorento as about the typical Sorento year. 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.

1.27 per 1,000

1.2 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 143 complaints filed in the first three years, of 984 ever. 95% lower bound 1.06.

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 yearPer 1,000Complaints
20081.0832
20090.5916
20112.35281
20120.93116
20131.27143
20140.7477
20150.5863
20161.11128
20171.12120
20180.4749
20190.8183
20200.3328
20211.66130
20221.49125
20231.28112

Issues owners of the 2013 Sorento report

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Engine 500 complaints

towed15531%
knocking6212%
seized5611%
engine seized459%
campaign engine367%
new engine367%

Electrical System 116 complaints

headlight1614%
keep1311%

Structure 91 complaints

paint6976%
white3640%
paint peeling3134%
pearl2932%
pearl white2022%
white paint1719%

When it breaks

17% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 84,000 miles, from 650 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

By engine

The VIN an owner files names the engine, which places 914 of this year’s 984 complaints. Sales by engine are not published, so these are not rates and say nothing about which engine drew more complaints. What can be compared is what each engine’s owners reported.

EngineComplaintsAbout the engine or fuel systemOf those, before 30,000 miles
2.4 L58062%7% of 270
3.5 L 6-cylinder33238%34% of 93

Engines as NHTSA’s VIN decoder (vPIC) reads them from the first eleven characters of each VIN. “Turbo” is shown only where every VIN records one; the decoder leaves it blank on many turbo engines. 72 complaints are not in the table: no usable VIN, an engine vPIC could not decode, or an engine with fewer than 25 complaints.

What NHTSA did

10 investigations covering this model year, 4 of which list a recall campaign. Owners had filed 207 complaints about this component over roughly 54 months before an investigation opened.

Hyundai and Kia ABS Module Fires

Questions buyers ask about the 2013 Kia Sorento

Is 2013 a good year or a bad year for the Sorento?

For every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2013 Sorento as about the typical Sorento year. 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). The typical year is the median across its model years.

What problems does the 2013 Sorento have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Engine (500), Electrical System (116), Structure (91). The phrases they used are listed above.

Is the 2013 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: for every car sold, owners filed about as many complaints about the 2013 Sorento as about the typical Sorento year.

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.