KIA Complaints

The contact owned a 2017 Kia Sorento. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed an abnormal fuel odor, and there was white smoke coming from underneath the hood. The contact was able to safely pull into a driveway, and the contact noticed flames coming out of the hood. The contact stated that the fire caused property damage to the driveway, including debris and burn marks. The entire vehicle was engulfed in fire and deemed destroyed. The fire department extinguished the fire. A fire department incident report was filed. The police arrived at the scene, assisted in directing traffic, but did not file a report. The contact further stated that while attempting to exit the vehicle, the contact's mother fell on the ground. No medical treatment was sought, and no injuries directly related to the vehicle fire were reported. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

Jan 2026 I was driving into my workplace that is an inclined driveway. Released pressure from gas pedal and telluride began accelerating despite release of gas pedal. I ended up going through the building and lots of damage to both vehicle and building. After it was repaired there were two more instances this happened once while in a parking lot and at a slow speed. Vehicle has been at dealership since March and is in an active case due to kia saying they found nothing wrong with it although it is unsafe to drive

I had pickup my vehicle from the dealership where it had been since the 29th of May due to a previous incident exactly the same as what occurred this time. The vehicle had been returned to me as the service department could find nothing wrong from the May 29th incident. On my way home from the dealership, the vehicle started the same as on May 29th. When accelerating from a stoplight, I lost all propulsion. After about 60 seconds the vehicle recovered and I turned to go back to the dealership. At the aforementioned intersection (crossing over I35) it again lost propulsion, only this time for a longer period of time. I was in heavy traffic and the car behind me was honking even though I had my hazard warning flashers operating! I made it to the dealership where the service manager agreed to do a ride along. We were about to the end of the ride along when the vehicle lost propulsion power. It wasn’t as severe and recovered quickly. The service manager said he had noticed the brake pedal move at the time I accelerated. His theory was that the brake being applied at the same time as the acceleration cause the computer to get confused and it’s reaction was to remove propulsion. No offer was given to take the vehicle back for further testing. I dropped the service manager off and proceeded to return home, being cognizant of my foot placement and insuring it was well away from the brake when accelerating. KIA Care has so far refused to get involved. While I recognize braking at the time of acceleration is counterproductive, it should not cause a catastrophic propulsion failure. Plus the system sets no flags that it had this event! I have tried recreating this failure by using my left foot on the brake while accelerating with my right. This doesn’t recreate the problem so it must be a timing issue. I do not know if this issue is unique to my vehicle or is shared with other hybrids! If KIA Care refuses to investiga, the lemon law might have to be invoked!

I had a engine replaced 1600 miles ago delarsship advised it was ok to drive gave me a vechicle back with abs light tracation control light on along with a exuast leak

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Soul. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine). The contact stated that while her husband was driving at 20 MPH, the Check Engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle could not be restarted. The vehicle was pushed to the residence, then towed to a dealer, who stated that the failure was related to the active recall, although the diagnosis was unclear. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 134,700.

The car is available for inspection upon request. Safety was put at risk due to the cars potential to break down, or catch fire, due to high volumes of oil consumption and leakage from the piston rings. This was part of a recall campaign (#SC336 PISTON OIL RING), where we had two authorized Kia dealers inspect and claim the car "passed" their test. Recently, we had a catastrophic engine failure due to the piston rings, where we feel the fix was insufficient given the failure point (piston rings). There were no warnings or symptoms prior to failure, when driving at a low speed the car stalled and the oil pressure warning light came on briefly. After that, we parked the car immediately and had it towed for inspection. Our concern is the fix was allegedly implemented in July 2025, but there is no note in our maintenance record that the fix was even implemented.

The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V331000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was take to O'Reilly's to be diagnosed. The DTC: P1326; was retrieved. The contact attempted to start the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to start. The contact researched online and found NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V543000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V543000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the dealer refused to repair the vehicle because the vehicle was not currently registered and additional repairs were needed before a recall repair could be performed. The vehicle was being towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 137,000.

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Carnival. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the driver’s side roof molding ejected from the vehicle. The contact immediately stopped the vehicle but was unable to locate the molding. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V025000 (STRUCTURE). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 77,000.

I own a new 2026 KIA Sportage Hybrid VIN: [XXX] Odometer reading 1,200 miles On XXX while accelerating at freeway speeds the vehicle suddenly lost power and went into “reduced power mode” which slows the vehicle to a near stop. A Check engine light came on and two messages appeared. One message read:” Follow-up check required 1” and the other read: ”There may be a problem with the engine management system. If the warning light remains on please contact your nearest service center or designated maintenance center as soon as possible.” I immediately took the vehicle to a KIA dealership and they said they replaced an oil pressure sensor that they believed caused the problem. Odometer reading 2,450 miles On XXX while accelerating at freeway speeds the vehicle suddenly lost power and went into “reduced power mode” The same warning messages that appeared during the first power loss incident appeared again. After turning the vehicle off and on a few times the messages disappeared and I was able to drive it again. The vehicle is currently in a second KIA dealership for diagnosis and repairs. Both of these incidents occurred when I was passing tractor trailers on the freeway and had just pulled in front of them after passing. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I had the car for just 2 years and it's giving me a lot of problems the car smells like gas it has a gas leak the breaks don't work and the electrical system don't work properly