Kia Sorento Gearbox & Transmission Problems

It kind of goes against the grain a little, but there’s a valid case for listening to your friends and mechanic and driving the car until it stops. Since your car is worth – based on average asking prices – about $10,000, you could easily overcapitalise on a new transmission.

The best advice is to have it checked over by a transmission specialist who will know what to look for based on the symptoms they see. You’re right in that a bad pothole could have damaged a drive-shaft (or a wheel, or suspension component) and the torque converter is also a candidate to produce a fault in the way the car drives. On the flip-side, you might simply find that a service and change of fluid brings the transmission back to full health. Meantime, I’m not so sure about rebuilt transmissions not carrying a warranty. Australia’s consumer law suggests that may not be the case.

It wouldn’t hurt to change the fluid, but it’s more likely to be in the valve body.

The Kia Sorento range sold in Australia is either front wheel drive or all wheel drive. Kia does not sell a rear wheel drive Sorento Down Under so your choice of the SLi, GT Line and SPORT models are front wheel drive and all wheel drive.

All of the models you list would do the job you want well, so it comes down to personal choice. Add in the Kia Sorento and you have the field pretty much covered. The Sorento generally gets the most ticks from CarsGuide reviewers.

Kia Australia is aware of the problem, which is related to how the lockup clutch works in the transmission. The lockup points are currently set at 62km/h and 80-85km/h and Kia believes this is why you find it so noticeable. Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth says: "We have reported this to Korea and have asked them to look at improvements".

We asked Kia for advice, which was "there is no overdrive as such in your car, it has just the six gears, and there is no lockout. The recommendation is that when towing you let the six-speed gearbox drive it as a full automatic and allow the gearbox to do its work. It is not recommended to use the manual mode to force gears to hold as there is a higher risk of overheating the gearbox. The exception to that rule is if the manual mode is used sensibly to help with engine braking on steep descents."