2016 Kia Sorento: Problems & Reliability

YEAR TO AVOID

The 2016 Kia Sorento has 0 NHTSA owner complaints, 272 manufacturer service bulletins, and 0 recall campaigns on federal record. Among the 12 Kia Sorento model years with federal records, it ranks 1st by combined complaint and bulletin volume — one of the years to avoid.

Sources: NHTSA complaints (ODI), manufacturer service bulletins, recall campaigns, CarWhere verified buyer prices · Updated 2026-11-05 · By CarWhere Research · Methodology

0

NHTSA complaints

272

Service bulletins

0

Recall campaigns

—

Avg. buyer-paid

How the 2016 compares to adjacent years

Model yearComplaintsBulletinsRecallsAvg. buyer-paid
201502010—
2016 (this page)02720—
201702390—

Counts are raw federal filings, not adjusted for sales volume. Prices are averages of CarWhere verified buyer transactions (shown when 3+ deals exist for the year). Full year-by-year table: Kia Sorento years to avoid.

Pricing Intelligence

Know what to pay for the right 2016 Kia Sorento — then negotiate it

Years-to-avoid tells you which year. Search live listings to see the target price and what verified buyers actually paid for it.

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FAQ

Is the 2016 Kia Sorento reliable?

The 2016 Kia Sorento has 0 NHTSA owner complaints, 272 manufacturer service bulletins, and 0 recall campaigns on federal record. Among the 12 Kia Sorento model years with federal records, it ranks 1st by combined complaint and bulletin volume — one of the years to avoid. Counts are raw federal filings, not adjusted for sales volume.

What are the most common problems with the 2016 Kia Sorento?

Owner complaints for the 2016 Kia Sorento are not concentrated in a single component area; see the model-wide problem summary on the Kia Sorento years-to-avoid page.

Does the 2016 Kia Sorento have recalls?

No open recall campaigns are on federal record for the 2016 Kia Sorento in this dataset — but always run the VIN, because recall status is VIN-specific and repairs may be outstanding on the exact car you're looking at.

Is the 2016 Kia Sorento a good year to buy?

The 2016 is one of the Kia Sorento years to avoid by complaint and bulletin volume — the 2025 and 2024 model years show cleaner records. If the price reflects the risk and the specific car checks out by VIN, informed buyers still do fine; just don't pay clean-year money for it.

How do I check a specific 2016 Kia Sorento before buying?

Decode the VIN free at carwhere.com/tools/vin-decoder to confirm the build, then run the $9.99 CarWhere Full VIN Report for the exact VIN — recall, complaint, and service-bulletin record for this model year, the original window sticker where the manufacturer publishes one, and a market price check from verified buyers. One-time purchase, no subscription.

All Kia Sorento model years