These help you judge whether this one is worth its price.
Loading costly problem zones ahead
Loading the EPA's yearly fuel cost
What about the price? Check the asking price on two listing sites. Buying from a dealer? Run its offer through the offer X ray.
Education, not financial or mechanical advice. Have any used car checked by a mechanic you trust before you buy.
The full record
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What owners complain about
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Seller kit
Questions for the seller, test drive checks and price points
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Walk up to the seller ready
Questions to ask the seller of a 2020 Kia Sorento, built from this year's owner complaints and recalls. What to feel, hear and look at on the test drive, with boxes to tick at the car. Honest points to raise on price, from the records and never from guesses. Copy the questions to your phone in one tap.
A ready to send offer for the seller, by text or email
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Send the seller a fair offer
Type the asking price and your own offer for the 2020 Kia Sorento, tick what you found, and get a polite message ready to text or email. Its reasons come from this year's owner complaints, recalls and crash ratings, and never from made up repair prices.
NHTSA's stars out of five, for each version it tested. Front crash stars only compare cars of about the same size and weight.
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Fuel economy
The EPA's estimates for each engine and transmission, and its own yearly fuel cost. Yours depends on how you drive and the shape the car is in.
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True cost to own
The loan, fuel, insurance and upkeep, a month and over 5 years
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What it really costs to own
What the 2020 Kia Sorento costs a month and over 5 years: the loan and its interest, fuel worked out from the EPA's figures for the version you pick, and your own insurance, registration and upkeep. A cost a mile, a link that reopens your numbers, and the breakdown copied to your phone in one tap.
Owner complaints for each model year, this one outlined. Tap a year to open it. The newest 2 are not judged yet. Bars are totals, so older years stand taller; the verdict compares every year at the same age.
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Before you buy this one
Built from this year's numbers. Whatever the data says, the car in front of you is the one that counts.
1 recall on file, 1 saying do not drive or park outside
Not every car needs every fix. Run the VIN at NHTSA to see which are still open. Repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand; ask before any work.
Equipment and accessories
Sep 19, 2022 · Recall 22V703000Park outside.NHTSA says: Away from buildings until it is fixed: a fire risk.
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Sorento, 2021-2022 Sorento Hybrid (HEV), 2022-2023 Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV), and 2017-2022 Sportage vehicles equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Kia dealership. Debris and moisture accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.
What can happen
A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
The fix
Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will inspect the vehicle, and, as necessary, replace the fuse and/or tow hitch harness module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 11, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC249.
Year verdict: Typical year: 404 complaints, the median of 8 nearby years. Each counted over its first 7 years and 10 months from January 2019; this one had 140.
The bar holds the middle half of the complaints that gave a mileage; the dark mark is the middle one. 45 complaints of 140 gave one. Owners file when something fails, so this shows when problems were reported, not how long the cars last. These cars are young, so problems at higher miles have not had time to show.
EngineCostly55,000 to 105,000 mi
Half of these 31 complaints came between about 55,000 and 105,000 miles, the middle one around 80,000.
Unverified reports, not adjusted for sales. One complaint can name several parts, so shares add up past 100%. Filed Feb 23, 2020 to Oct 24, 2026. 58% name a part that is usually costly to fix.
Owners reported 11 crashes, 12 fires, 21 injuries and 1 death in these complaints.
Engine69 · 49%Usually costly to fix
Other or unknown27 · 19%
Run the VIN at NHTSA to confirm every recall was fixed.
This year has 1 recall on file. One of them says not to drive the car, or to park it outside, until it is fixed. Recall repairs are usually free at a dealer for the brand. Ask the dealer to confirm before any work is done. Look up a VIN at NHTSA.
Ask the seller for the service records.
Look closely for any work on the engine. It is the part owners complain about most for this year.
Have a mechanic you trust inspect it before you pay.
Ask them to look hard at the engine. It is usually costly to fix.
Look at a vehicle history report.
It can show reported crashes, flood or salvage titles, and mileage that does not add up.
Worthy
0.3× a typical year
Fewer owner complaints than a typical year. Still get it inspected.
Confidence:High
Based on 140 complaints in its first 7 years and 10 months vs about 404 typical across 8 other model years.
I bought a used 2020 Kia Sorento LX 2.4L in 2022. It had 15,000 miles on it. AT 50,000 miles I noticed it was consuming oil. I have been changing the oil at 5,000 mile intervals even though the manual calls out to do it every 7,500 miles. I have records of the maintenance for every oil change done on this vehicle. I kept a log and now at 54,740 miles it is…
Filed Oct 22, 2026NHTSA complaint 117730671 of 18 owner quotes
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13 more parts, and 18 owner quotes
Every part owners name for the 2020 Kia Sorento, with their own words about what went wrong. Usually costly to fix among them: Transmission and drivetrain.
