KIA Complaints

I bought this vehicle less than 60 days ago and there is transmission hesitation, hard engagement in lower gears, Rough jerking shifting along with acceleration lag. Erracric shifting and phantom braking. I have taken it into the dealership I bought it at at they are not seeing anything. It currently is at another Kia dealership for the past two days. This vehicle is going to cause an accident that puts my safety and others at risk. There is no warning lights that come on. I have done my research and there has been other complaints from other consumers having the same issues. I do have video of in town driving but have not been on the highway

I am reporting a total of 6 failed lug bolts on the rear tires of a 2026 Kia EV9 GT-Line within 1 year of ownership. This vehicle was purchased in Aug 2025 as a new vehicle from a Kia dealership. In March 2026, vehicle was brought for it's 8000 miles service at a Kia dealership. At the time the vehicle had 9336 miles. During tire rotation, service technicians found passenger rear wheel to have a broken lug stud. From the service records, "No evidence of outside influence." This was replaced with new. Prior to this, the passenger rear tire was never serviced. On 8/7/2026, a bystander informed myself of an abnormal sound coming from my driver rear tire. The wheel center cap was removed and 3 broken lug bolts were found. The broken lug bolts were sheared off at the base of the lug nut. This tire was being held on by 2 of 5 lug bolts, representing a significant safety concern. With 2 of 5 bolts, the remaining 2 bolts are under significant stress and can break at any time potentially causing the tire to fall off of the vehicle causing loss of control, potential accident and injury or loss of life. With the discovery of the broken 3 bolts, the car was taken to a kia dealership for repair. During this service it was also noted that on the same wheel (driver rear) one of the 2 screws that hold on the rotor was broken off as well. For completeness, this tire had been serviced once before at Les Schwab tire, on 9/17/25 (1733 miles on odometer) due to a piece of metal in the tire. All lug nuts torqued to factory recommendations. On 8/27/26, the car was taken to Les Schwab for a tire rotation and balancing (18,627 miles). When the technician began removing the lug nuts from the passenger rear tire, two of the bolts broke. The car is driven only on paved roads at street and highway speeds. No accidents or damage to the car that could explain shearing of lug bolts.

Wiring harness keeps getting chewed up by rodents in engine bay. Had to have Kia fix 2 times for the parking distance sensors. Have done lots of prevention things to keep from engine bay, but attracted to this vehicle. My 2 other vehicles no problems. They are not Kias. It causes loss of driver assistance systems.

The car has stalled numerous times on the roadway while driving. The issue has been identified as an oil consumption issue. There was no low pressure warning light or other warning indicating that there is an oil pressure issue or any other early warning of an engine stall. The dealer has indicated that a complete engine replacement is required to correct the problem. Based upon research, there has been a significant amount of complaints pertaining to this issue. This same oil consumption and engine stall issue was part of a Class Action settlement by KIA, however this particular KIA model was not covered in the litigation.

VEHICLE: 2025 Kia Sorento (VIN: [XXX]) KIA CORPORATE CASE #: XXX SAFETY DEFECT DESCRIPTION: The central ccNC infotainment display screen suffers from recurring, thermal-induced flickering and complete blackouts while driving and parking. When the screen blackouts, the FMVSS 111 federally mandated Backup Camera, navigation, and critical vehicle safety displays are completely lost, posing an immediate collision and safety hazard. EXTENSIVE SERVICE & REPAIR HISTORY (2 FAILED DEALER VISITS): 1. VISIT #1 (XXX - Healey Kia, Newburgh NY): Reported intermittent display flickering and blackout. Dealer claimed unable to duplicate on quick drive and requested video proof. 2. EVIDENCE DOCUMENTATION: Clear video was captured demonstrating screen flickering and total blackout after ~20 minutes of driving, while audio continued playing. 3. VISIT #2 (XXX - Kia of Middletown, NY, Invoice #XXX at 4,951 miles): Dealer performed a 2-hour manual CCNC software update via KGIS and released the vehicle as "operating as designed." 4. FAILURE RECURRENCE (XXX): Less than 24 hours after the software update, the display experienced another complete failure and blackout while driving (captured on secondary video). CURRENT STATUS / REFUSAL TO REPAIR: Despite TWO separate dealership visits and conclusive video evidence proving the software update failed, Kia Customer Care (Case #XXX) refused to authorize a warranty Head Unit / Display Assembly replacement and instead instructed me to repeatedly surrender the vehicle for indefinite dealer visits. This is an unresolved, chronic safety defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Airbag light came on August 21, 2026. I tried several steps to troubleshoot with no resolution. I took it to the local Kia dealership for further inspection. I was terrified to drive the vehicle because of the airbag failure. I explained to the technician that I had read that there was an warranty extension for the exact clock spring failure. I met the qualification (2011-2016 /unlimited mileage) but I was required to pay $493.05 for this repair.

Beginning sometime after purchase, our 2024 Kia EV9 (VIN: [XXX]) developed a recurring failure of the multimedia display system (head unit). The screen goes completely dark after approximately 5 minutes of drive time and only restores after a full vehicle restart. This failure occurred approximately 10 to 14 times before we brought the vehicle in for service. Critically, when the multimedia screen goes dark, the rearview camera display is also rendered completely unavailable. As the rearview camera is federally mandated safety equipment under FMVSS 111, this failure left us unable to use the camera while backing up on multiple occasions, creating a serious safety hazard to pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles behind our car. The vehicle was dropped off at Grand Kia (Wheat Ridge, CO) on XXX for diagnosis. The service technician disassembled and reassembled the head unit and contacted Kia Techline for an action plan. We were told a replacement part was on order. As of the date of this complaint, the vehicle has been out of service for over six weeks with no confirmed repair timeline and minimal communication from the dealer or Kia America. This is our second significant warranty-related repair issue with this vehicle. We are filing this complaint to create a federal record of a safety defect involving the loss of federally mandated rearview camera functionality, and to request that NHTSA investigate whether this failure pattern exists across other 2024 Kia EV9 vehicles. Requested Action: Investigation of potential safety defect involving multimedia/head unit failure causing loss of rearview camera in 2024 Kia EV9 vehicles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

In XXX, my 2014 Kia Sedona suffered a catastrophic internal engine failure matching the known 3.3L Lambda V6 factory defect. The engine block threads stripped out, destroying the head gasket and causing extreme, immediate loss of radiator fluid and over-pressurization of the coolant expansion tank. A professional mechanic provided an engine replacement estimate of $16,000, which exceeded the vehicle value. To mitigate damages, the vehicle was salvaged at [XXX] on XXX. On XX, Kia America Customer Care (Case #XXX) formally issued a written denial of warranty coverage, claiming my VIN is excluded from Campaign [XXX] despite the vehicle experiencing the exact failure parameters covered under the factory extended engine warranty. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Car stalled July 14th car has been at Kia of Bowie and they are stalling g me and dont want to do the sarter recal and are asking me for $550 for a diagnostic that I should not pay for do to this safety recall ive been telling them from the start that there was a very strong gas smell coming from theoil dipstick and they have been avoiding it till yesterday now the gas has evaperated and they are asking g me to pay $550 for the leak down test.

The digital instrument panel display on the right side that shows map direction goes blank or start flickering. Audio also fails to function. When it goes blank, the rear camera also stops showing and causes difficulting in reversing the car. This happens randomly, but mostly once car has driven 10-15 mins or more and not right away. Points to some effect due to heat or vibration since the screen flickering begins once its driven a little bit.