2016 Kia Sorento · symptom sheet
Paint peels or body rusts
- 70owner reports
- 71,395median miles
- $4,000median quote
- 0involved a crash
Newest report Sep 29, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026
111 of the 1,252 complaints on this car are about the structure. 70 of those describe paint.
Tick what matches of 70 reports
Paint on other Sorento years
Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
What this problem usually is
Paint complaints come in two shapes: clear coat or color peeling off the roof and hood, and rust breaking through the body. About a third of the complaints here mention the roof or hood and about a third mention rust or corrosion, and a good share of them are about who pays for the fix.
What got replaced
Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the repaint (69 reports) and the panel (37 reports).
Recalls and investigations
No recall on the structure covers the 2016 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.
What owners paid
5 of the 70 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $1,000 to $9,000.
When it happens
The middle half of failures fell between 65,000 and 94,000 miles, from the 13 reports that gave a mileage.
Is this a known problem?
The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 1 service bulletin or notice for the 2016 Kia Sorento that deal with this problem. Newest first.
Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.
PITSTOP: POWER TAIL GATE FUNCTIONALITY CONCERNS WHEN DIAGNOSING A CONCERN RELATED TO POWER TAIL GATE (PTG) FUNCTIONALITY ON 2016MY SORENTO (UMA) VEHICLES, PRODUCED PRIOR TO JANUARY 13, 2015, CLOSELY INSPECT CONNECTOR RR01 FOR EVIDENCE OF CORROSION.
What owners wrote
“The hood of the car has large amounts of paint peeling. The paint peeling has progressively worsened. The paint on the roof of the car also has a similar problem with the paint.”
Filed Nov 27, 2022
“The pearl white paint paint on the vehicle is pealing on the hood, roof and doors. It started last July and there is new places popping up all the time”
Filed Aug 27, 2022
“Paint started peeling. I thought it might have been a rock chip but it got worse in about 2 weeks.”
Filed Aug 9, 2022
“Have a 2016 Kia sorento 93000 miles it is pearl white the paint is coming off peeling off ,chipping off”
Filed Jun 23, 2022 · 93,000 miles
Should you keep driving it?
This page can't tell you that. 0 of 70 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.
File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.
Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found
Other problems on this car
- Engine failure, knocking or rod bearing 357 reports
- Engine stalls or loses power while driving 216 reports
- Check engine light or misfire 163 reports
- Burns oil or oil level rises 124 reports
- Engine overheats or leaks coolant 121 reports
- Engine rattles or ticks 55 reports
- Vehicle fire 45 reports
- Headlights too dim or fail 44 reports
- Steering sticks, feels notchy or jerks 39 reports
- Engine leaks oil 38 reports
- Rolls away in Park or will not shift out of Park 27 reports