KIA Complaints

First year of ownership rear engine needed to be replaced. The car literally stopped where I was on the road and had to be towed to dealer. It took a month to get the motor replaced. After that, my car stopped while I was leaving my house driving it out of my driveway. There were red warining lights and sounds and then it just suddenly died seconds later. It had to be towed to the dealer. They said it was fixed and that the 12v battery wasnt being charged. Then I was leaving church when my car died on me again. Same issue. Now, the third time in this vehicles 2 years of life, my car died while I was on the highway driving to work in the morning in the passing lane during rush hour. The dash went red and waring lights and sounds with a message get to safety quick check electrical system and it only gave me a few seconds the car suddenly just stopped running and I was coasting on the highway to try to get to safety. I was going 70mph in the passing lane during rush hour, I could not steer to the left to coast off the road because on my left it was just a ditch no side road to stop on, I saw in the right lane a car that was a length or so behind so I cut my wheel straight across the right lane where I coasted to a complete dead stop barely making it to the side of the road. The side of this highway was barely the width of my car so traffic flying next to me was just inches away from my drivers side door.... I called roadside assistance and had it towed to the dealer. They then told me about the recall - which I had already had it into the dealer to fix the last time it was there for this same issue. The car is 2 years old and so far I have had it stop dead in its tracks on me 4 times! I have such stress and anxiety about continuing driving this vehicle as it is completely unsafe! I almost died last week when this happened. My safety and others on the highway that day were at risk. This could have been catastrophic.

While driving from Phoenix to Tucson in midday traffic, the vehicle displayed a "Check Transmission" error message. Immediately following this warning, the vehicle experienced a significant loss of motive power while navigating a busy intersection. The car would not shift gears appropriately to maintain speed or move out of the path of traffic, which created an immediate risk of a collision. I was able to avoid an accident, but the vehicle's inability to accelerate or change gears left me stranded in a hazardous location. Component Failed: Transmission/Transmission Control Module. Safety Risk: The sudden loss of power in an intersection put me and other drivers at risk of a high-speed side-impact or rear-end collision. Warning Symptoms: The "Check Transmission" message appeared moments before the failure. Inspection Status: We have had the recall taken care of on January 25 , 2023 with 8810 miles at Peoria KIA initially. The incident happened on December 6, 2025 and the vehicle was taken to Royal KIA on December 6, 2025 for inspection.".

This car has a feature that will automatically detect the speed limit and sets the cruise control to an amount relative to it. If speed limit detected is 45, for example, it can automatically set the cruise setting to a configurable amount, say +5mph, and when detected, sets the limit to 50mph. Generally that works fine. However, near us is hwy 190 and is marked with road signs as a junction. Often times when we approach that junction the car "thinks" the speed limit has changed to 90mph and causes the cruise control setting to say, 95mph, causing immediate unexpected acceleration! This has now happened many times for me, at various intersections approaching hwy 190, in various directions.

THE CAR WAS MAKING A GRINDING SOUND, VIBRATES, SLOWS DOWN. GRINDING SOUND IS LIKE GRINDING GEARS OR A SNOWPLOW SCRAPING PAVEMENT. THE ENGINE WAS REPLACED IN APRIL BECAUSE OF RECALL. I ONLY HAVE 23765 MILES ON IT BUT ORIGINAL 5 YEAR WARRANTY EXPIRED ON 12/09/2025. THE SAME NOISE STARTED AGAIN ON 12/10/2025 AND IT WAS TOWED TO DEALER I BOUGHT FROM ON 12/10/25. The master warning light came on 12/10/25 incident and some text. There was traffic so unable to read it and light went off.

Headlights burn out within weeks to months after replacing them, overheat, flicker when driving. Has been a recurring problem since being bought in 2019.

My engine failed due to the knock sensor recall a known issue on my 2013 Kia Sportage the recall is supposed to provide a lifetime warranty but I was denied coverage because the failure happened before I was able to perform the update as I was a new owner to the car and was unaware of the recall at the time I have been going back and forth with the kia dealership for almost 8 months now 4 of those the car was at the dealership because they said I had to pay a $170 the fee for them to inspect the car to see if kia would repair it or not it which I was told I would get a full report when I finally was able to pick my car up I was told the claim was denied "due to recall not being performed" and that's literally all the paper said no report no details nothing I do t understand why I had to pay $170 for something they could have just told me because they knew the recall hadn't been completed at the time of entry and why did it take 4months of my car being there just to tell me that just for them to tell me that furthermore the recall applies to the car not just the original owner and covers all known defects and considering the engine failure was because of the defect and not normal wear and tear I'm requesting that KIA replace the engine in my vehicle in a timely manner as this failure was of no fault of my own but something that came directly from the manufacturer at time of purchase and had there vehicle not had a recall that effects the engine and the notification of a possible problem with the engine then my vehicle would not require a engine at this time.

My Kia engine was replaced under recall. The replacement engine triggered P1326 KSDS failure while I was traveling overseas, placing the vehicle in limp mode. Kia USA refuses to assist or authorize diagnosis, leaving me stranded. This is a repeat recall-related safety failure, even though there is a Kia Dealership near me.

I was at an intersection & was turning left. In the middle of the turn the car started knocking noise and vibrating and turned off in the middle of the intersection. It did not crank for several tries while I was panicking with a car full of kids in a busy intersection. When I got it to crank again it turned off again. Some good Samaritans then helped by holding traffic and pushing us out of harms way in a church parking lot. I kept trying to crank it and when it did, I tried to put it in drive and it started the violent knocking and vibrating like it was going to blow up. I had it towed later when I had gotten paid. I had it towed to Keffer Kia where they told me total engine failure at 88,000 miles. I still pay $300 monthly for the car and have 5 kids that I have to shuffle in my mother in laws 4 door car.

ICCU failed. Heard a popping sound from rear of passenger compartment, dash errors lit up, car went to limp mode

The car is frying my battery. I had a Duralast Platinum that should last approx 4 years. It killed one at 26 months. I replaced it, free of charge per the warranty, and 6 months later the brand new one is testing low again. Also, at 127k miles a flashing check engine light came on, I took it for a pre-check at a local shop and the tech identified that there was 0 oil in the reservoir. I had him change the oil just so I could get it out of there and took it into the dealership a day later. After charging me $250 for a diagnostic the dealerships response was that the cylinder walls and piston rings were damaged causing excessive oil consumption and that I need to replace my engine. $9,000 for a new engine at 127,000 miles is ridiculous. Apparently just about every other model but mine was recalled. I had to take it in for a recall last year.