Unclassified problem on the 2004 Kia Sorento
4 crashes 2 fires 4 injuries 10 of the 13 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
Only 8 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When unclassified problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Kia Sorento report unclassified problem at a median of 125,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 105,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
It is the 48th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 60,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 113,629 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61,829 miles | 105,975 miles | 127,000 miles | 132,981 miles | 175,458 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a crash, 2 a fire and 4 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 300 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 182; the 2004 has 13. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 kia sorento. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began to hydroplane. The vehicle turned and crashed head on with another vehicle traveling 45 MPH as well. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sent pictures of the crash and called the manufacturer, but was informed that the impact was not powerful enough to deploy the air bags. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact's wife and two others were injured. A police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 57,000. Updated 04/23/08 *bf
The side airbags on our 2004 kia sorento did not deploy in a side impact with a utility (electric) pole. Car slid from road in a sudden hail storm and slid passenger side into the pole. Speed when control of car was lost, approx 45 MPH. The impact broke the pole into 4 pieces and totaled the car. The impact was in the rear passenger side door, just infront of the right rear tire. The damage to the car went all the way to the frame. *tr
Crankshaft pulley bolt_while decelerating to make a turn, I lost my power steering and power brakes. The brake and battery indicator lights came on. Thankfully, I was not involved in a potentially serious accident. I managed to make it home the last two miles using battery to supply ignition. The 2 of the 3 belts had dislodged and the crankshaft pulley was lose to the point that it nearly detached from the crankshaft end. I am greatly disturbed that, after some research, discovered that this exact failure has been regularly documented. I purchased my unit used so I am unaware if a previous repair had been made by kia. I have not received any notification of such. This is a very serious issue. I am thankful that I was in a rural area when this failure occurred. Based upon some research findings, I hope that I do not experience balking while attempting to have this issue remedied, as others have. I have reviewed some discussion regarding a service bulletin #018 (NHTSA item number : 10009688 date of bulletin : jul 01, 2004 crankshaft pulley bolt) issued by kia concerning this failure. I will be arranging for the unit to be delivered…
Also reported on the 2004 Kia Sorento
Other engine problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Differential or transfer case failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 13 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does unclassified problem happen on the 2004 Kia Sorento?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 125,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 105,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is unclassified problem on the 2004 Kia Sorento?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed