2025 Kia Sorento Lemon Law Buyback in North Carolina
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
RockPoint Law resolved a lemon law claim for the owner of a 2025 Kia Sorento bought new in North Carolina. Warning lights kept filling the dashboard, and at one point the engine would not shut off. After three repair visits and 52 days out of service, Kia repurchased the SUV for a total of $66,107.
The vehicle and its defects
Our client bought this 2025 Kia Sorento new in February 2025, when the odometer read 15 miles. It was back at the dealer by 2,428 miles. The trouble was mostly electrical, though braking and engine components were pulled into the repairs.
Every warning light on the dash would come on at once. Later the SUV began refusing to shut down. The electronics would go dark while the engine kept running, and the diagnostic screen in the radio showed as unavailable.
| Vehicle | 2025 Kia Sorento |
|---|---|
| State | North Carolina |
| Purchase | Bought new, February 2025 |
| Repair visits | 3 |
| Mileage at first repair | 2,428 |
| Days out of service | 52 |
| Resolution | Buyback, settled June 2026 |
| Total | $66,107 |
The repair record
The service history shows three repair visits between July and October 2025, adding up to 52 days out of service. Since no repair orders have been provided, this information comes from the service history that has been documented.
- July 18-August 12, 2025
All of the dashboard lights were on. Technicians confirmed it and found several stored history codes for lost communication on the CAN networks. They performed variant coding on the CCU, and the codes cleared and stayed off through a test drive. On the manufacturer techline's advice, they also replaced the HECU module.
- September 5-26, 2025
Less than a month later, multiple dashboard lights were lit again. Technicians verified the problem. Field tech and techline support both pointed to the PCM, and the dealer replaced it.
- October 20-23, 2025
The owner now reported that the Sorento intermittently would not turn off, with the electronics shutting down while the engine kept running. Technicians verified it and performed a dealer-mode network reset and factory reset under a technical service bulletin. The service history closes the visit on October 23, 2025, but the owner reports the dealer kept the car after every dash light came on again, and that the main computer and brake sensors have been replaced without curing the problem.
North Carolina Lemon Law - New Motor Vehicles Warranties Act and federal warranty law
North Carolina's New Motor Vehicles Warranties Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-351 to §20-351.10) applies to new vehicles bought or leased in the state for personal, family or household purposes. The defect has to appear within 24 months or 24,000 miles of delivery, whichever is earlier, and this one first sent the Sorento in at 2,428 miles, about five months after purchase. The statute has two major tests. One counts four repair attempts on the same defect. The other asks whether the vehicle was out of service for 20 business days in any 12-month period. This record showed three repair visits and 52 days out of service, which is the kind of record the out-of-service test looks at. North Carolina also calls for written notice to the manufacturer by certified mail, sends owners through a manufacturer's arbitration program when that program meets FTC rules, and lets a court award attorney fees when a manufacturer unreasonably refuses to resolve a claim. The remedy is a replacement or a refund, less a reasonable offset for use.
Alongside the state statute, the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.) gives owners a separate warranty claim against a manufacturer that cannot fix a covered defect. Under that federal law, a successful owner may be allowed to recover attorney fees.
- Statute
- North Carolina Lemon Law - New Motor Vehicles Warranties Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-351 to §20-351.10
- Repair test
- 4 repair attempts for the same defect, or 20 cumulative business days during any 12-month period out of service
- Time limit
- Not set by the lemon law itself (the defect must occur within 24 months or 24,000 miles from original delivery, whichever is earlier)
- Federal law
- Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2301 et seq.
More on North Carolina: how to file a lemon law claim in North Carolina.
How RockPoint built the claim
The service history did most of the work. It showed the same failure, a dashboard full of warning lights, coming back after the HECU module was replaced, and the PCM was replaced next. The owner reports the lights came on again after that. It also showed 52 days in the shop between July and October 2025 on an SUV with 3,239 miles on it.
The October visit added a new symptom, an engine that would not shut off, along with the owner's report that repairs were still not finished. Taken together, this record described a new Sorento that hadn't been fixed after three visits to the dealership.
The outcome
Kia agreed to repurchase the Sorento, and the matter settled in June 2026. The total value of the resolution was $66,107 ($66,107.25 exactly). That figure covered the payoff of the vehicle loan, the amount paid to the owner and attorney fees.
Questions about this case
The statute looks for four attempts to repair the same defect. A vehicle can also qualify if it spends 20 or more business days out of service within a 12-month period. This Sorento had three repair visits and 52 days out of service.
The lemon law does not set its own filing deadline. It does require that the defect occur within 24 months or 24,000 miles of original delivery, whichever comes earlier. Owners are also expected to give the manufacturer written notice by certified mail.
When the manufacturer offers an arbitration program that complies with FTC rules, a North Carolina owner has to use it. This Sorento claim ended in a Kia buyback in June 2026.
Kia bought the vehicle back in a settlement with a total value of $66,107. That total paid off the loan and covered the payment to the owner and attorney fees.
It can. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a federal law covering written warranties on consumer products, and it may allow an owner who wins to recover attorney fees.
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