Other fuel system problem on the 2011 Kia Sorento
2 fires 3 injuries 5 of the 11 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.
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Kia Sorento report other fuel system problem at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 38th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 135,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 129,695 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
50% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,805 miles | 12,000 miles | 56,858 miles | 117,500 miles | 132,500 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, 2 a fire and 3 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.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 14 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2022, at a median of 28 miles, and latest on the 2018 at 170,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 32; the 2011 has 11. 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.
This problem occurs intermittently about once per month. When entering traffic at an intersection following a complete stop, the car begins to move momentarily when the accelerator is depressed. It then loses power or coasts for approximately 2-3 seconds before power is resumed. During the time period of coasting, the vehicle is in the line of traffic and subject to being involved in an accident. This is a very unsafe situation. The vehicle has been taken back to the dealership at least 6 times for correction of the problem. Since the check engine light does not come on and no computer error codes are recorded, the dealer is unable to determine the exact cause and refuses to "throw a part at it". The problem has been reported to kia customer service with no suggestion as to what may be failing. Kia is either unable or unwilling to share information about similar problems that may be recorded in their database. Their only response is to take the car back to the dealer to see if they can duplicate the problem. *tr
When coming to a stop at a light or stop sign, usually on a slight downhill slope, the vehicle engine dies completely. It usually happens after the vehicle has be driven for 10-15 minutes, parked for 10-15 minutes then driven again for ten minutes. Once it dies I am able to start it up right away. It is a push start "key" and the car dies after I apply the brakes and am very near to a complete stop. This has happened within a few months of purchase and occurs randomly, every few months. It has happened six to ten times since I purchased the car. I have brought it into the dealer at least three times and the computer comes back with no codes. They can't replicate it and do not know what to fix. Today, the dealer installed a monitor for me to use for two weeks to see if it happens and we can capture the info in real time. Kia manufacturer customer service was abominable. I am trying to get a field technician to look at it and communicate with the dealer. *tr
When starting vehicle, engine revs up & won't stop until vehicle is turned off. This happens intermittently & has continued to be a problem for the last 3 years. I have reported this problem several times to my kia dealership where all regular maintenance has been serviced since I purchased this vehicle in 2010. They state they have noted this problem but since it doesn't happen all the time, nothing has been done. *tr
Also reported on the 2011 Kia Sorento
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other electrical problem
Door latch or handle failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 11 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 other fuel system problem happen on the 2011 Kia Sorento?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2011 Kia Sorento?
11 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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