| Issue ID | 1123980 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10649568 |
| Manufacurer | Kia Motors America |
| Brand | KIA |
| Model | SORENTO |
| Model Year | 2012 |
| File date | 15/10/14 |
| Component | EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | The struts on my back lift gate are already worn out on a 2012 kia sorento. I had a 2007 kia sportage prior to this vehicle and never had a problem with the back struts on the lift gate. On the sportage the glass opened separately from the bottom half of the lift gate. However, this newer vehicle wore out the back lift gate struts in just over 2 years with only 35,000 miles on the vehicle. The back lift gate is not separated between the door and the glass so the entire back lift door is extremely heavy to open and hold without the struts to keep the trunk door lifted and has the potential to hurt small children or even adults who are not anticipating a sudden failure of the struts on a vehicle with such low mileage. At this point, the entire trunk area cannot be used until the problem is fixed, but repair shops want over $500 to fix a part that should not have worn out this quickly to begin with. I will attempt seek remedy from kia directly, but wanted to bring the issue up in case others are experiencing similar problems for trend analysis and potential recall. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 35000 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | APO, AE |
| VIN pattern | XXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | 0 |
| No. of fatalities | 0 |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 0 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |