Sunroof failure or glass breakage on the 2016 Kia Sorento
When sunroof failure or glass breakage gets reported
Owners of the 2016 Kia Sorento report sunroof failure or glass breakage at a median of 30,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles, from 16 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 14th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 79,550 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.
56% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,450 miles | 30,000 miles | 30,500 miles | 42,400 miles | 90,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $700–$4,500 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 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2015 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 2012 carries the most reports, with 34; the 2016 has 27. 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.
The vehicle was being driven straight on a 4 lane road at slow speeds due to traffic. The rear pane of the panoramic sunroof imploded without being struck by any object. Luckily the shade was closed up to the front pane of glass which prevented the glass from showering the occupants.
[xxx] 2016 kia sorento (VIN # [xxx]) sunroof exploded while on interstate 55 northbound in jackson, ms on 10-21-15 at approx. 8:30pm cst with no traffic or obstructions or overheads. Our mileage at the time was less than 200 miles. [xxx] was driving and I was the front passenger. The roof was closed as was the cloth shield (which probably save our life). The explosion was violent like an m-80 going off. We collected some of the glass shards (which shattered into little sharp pieces which would have probably killed us) and chunks of glass on top of the shield. At the time, we were about 900 miles from home and found a tool store, purchased duct tape and taped the remaining moon roof (see pictures) to get us on the road home. Luckily, there was no rain on our remaining journey. I contacted our dealership gerald kia naperville where they requested we file a consumer complaint with kia corporate (case #[xxx]) where they denied any issues related to their panoramic sun roof (though there are noted suits, articles, television interviews and of course NHTSA investigations…
Defective lower balljoints caused a rough ride. Noticed 'clanking' sound from front wheels when parking vehicle. Sunroof malfunction caused the sunroof to not fully close and often times, remain open. Dealer initially claimed that dry track channels with debris was the main cause however, there is a defect with the manufacturing/design of the product.
Also reported on the 2016 Kia Sorento
Other engine problem
Excessive oil consumption
Other body or interior problem
Head gasket failure
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 27 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 sunroof failure or glass breakage happen on the 2016 Kia Sorento?
Across 16 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 30,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 40,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is sunroof failure or glass breakage on the 2016 Kia Sorento?
27 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.9 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