KIA Complaints

My Kia Sportage was stolen, however a couple of years ago I had the Kia Anti Theft Logic software updated on the car. I’ve been told that although it does not prevent anyone from breaking in, they should not have been able to move the car. Prior to this, the engine is running on 3 cylinders instead of 4 which has caused major issues with the car burning oil rapidly.

Rcall SC176 I have tried multiple times to schedule the required recall repair for my Kia, but my local dealer has not responded to phone calls or emails. I cannot travel to another state to complete this recall. Kia has not provided a reasonable option to complete the safety repair. I am requesting assistance to get this recall completed safely and locally, and at no cost.

Engine Seized After Kia Recall Repairs – Safety Defect Recurrence I own a Kia vehicle (VIN: [XXX] ) with a rebuilt title. Kia performed engine recall work on my vehicle at Fowler Kia in Longmont, Colorado. The service advisor stated the recall was to “protect the engine from seizing.” After driving around 18,000 miles since the recall service, the engine seized suddenly while operating. Kia Customer Affairs has denied warranty coverage because of the salvage title, but this does not change the fact that the defect is safety-related and persisted after recall work. This creates a serious safety concern because: The engine failure happened without warning, Kia performed the recall on this exact safety defect, And now they are denying any further responsibility. I request that NHTSA investigate Kia’s handling of safety recalls on vehicles with rebuilt titles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

One night I started my car and my screen on my Kia seltos had a bunch of gibberish on the screen and then I went to power off the radio and tried to power back on and screen wouldn’t turn on and one usb won’t work. Tried to hard reset and check fuses and still no luck. I keep reading a bunch of people saying how they had same issues as I did on my radio . My friend is sales guy at car dealer and he told me not first time a radio on a Kia took a poop. So how comes there is no recall yet on this part of the car. It’s crappy because warranty on radio is only up to 36,000 . And my car I have only had for 3 years almost and I have 50,000 miles on it now . After disconnecting the battery and plugging back in like the dealer told me to do and now I have a loading symbol behind my wheel on the dash

While driving the vehicle and applying the brakes the vehicle shifted to one side of the road. There was an accident 03/2024 after having the brake control arm serviced. The braking system failed. There was a recall on the front control arm 2016. The vehicle was totaled and was salvaged due to damages to the vehicle. The brake inspection failed. Today the braking system has has no control even after the master cylinder was repaired. The vehicle is currently sitting at a service station without being serviced for at least 2 months. Kia needs to be responsible and refund for the arm control repair and other related part failures. The electrical system does not work for the windshield wipers or the air conditioner or sliding doors.

The engine has absorbed an insane amount of oil the last several weeks, and this week it burned 1/2 quart of oil in four days- it was fully filled to 1 quart monday and by Friday of the same week was halfway gone. Otherwise it has worked well. Other Kia souls in the area are selling for much more money even if they have the same or more miles on them, but because mine needs an engine rebuild due to piston ring issues, it is worth much less than it should be. And there are no available recalls even though this is a known issue for Kia souls.

While driving on the highway under normal weather conditions and at the speed limit at approx 50 MPH a loud explosion like a gun shot was heard through the car. The sound of broken glass and wind could be heard; however, there was no collision or object that struck the vehicle in any way. Glass began dropping through the sun shade area and upon pulling over and further inspection the sunroof appears to have exploded outward as all the glass was bent in an upward direction. The vehicle is currently awaiting assessment at the dealership. There was no warning of any kind. It was just a spontaneous explosion. It is my understanding that this has been a problem in some vehicles and many different manufacturers and other companies have recalled their cars however Kia has not.

A rear seatbelt indicator in the dashboard is broken, and it persistently indicates that (a) a passenger is in a rear seat; and (b) the passenger's seatbelt is fastened. This occurs even if a passenger is not in the seat and the passenger's seatbelt is not fastened. It is unclear whether this is strictly an electronic error in the dashboard, or if the seatbelt itself does not function appropriately. Kia has unsuccessfully tried to fix it twice, and the service department reproduced the problem by simply turning on the vehicle and seeing the persistent light. The local Kia service department says they are not trained to fix many EV problems, so corporate has to be involved, but corporate has not provided material assistance. Corporate has been informed in writing several times of the issue, including that this is a material safety issue, particularly since the vehicle is marketed toward families where a seatbelt indicator may be relied upon by drivers, and it's unclear whether this is strictly an electronics issue or a seatbelt functionality issue. Corporate acknowledged receipt of communications in which they were asked if this has been reported to the NHTSA, and they ignored both requests.

On October 16, 2025 my car lost ability to accelerate while driving on highway. Just as the car was losing motive power the engine light came on. Car was then towed to a mechanic. After looking at the car the mechanic reported that the engine had seized and I would need a new engine. The mechanic was able to get the engine moving. The week before I had put oil in the car as I noticed it was going through oil faster.

I noticed my car jerking from a stopped position a few months back it wasn’t consistent but it happened I figured it was just a powerful motor however last on October 7th I was driving down the street to go to the dealership and my car lost power I had to pull over my son was panicking he’s just little and I sat there and luckily it started after a few minutes and I went to the dealership and they blew me off saying it has electrical issues. WELL I went to Oreillys and they tested my battery it was good but only getting 10 % charge to it which he said was odd so he said to try and drive it some and come back he wlll see where it’s at. I did that and he said oh wow you’re back up to 100%! Well that was the 7th now last night I’m driving around Tallmadge ave and BOOM everything lit up I lost power steering my lights shut off completely and it was close to midnight! It was insane I am luckily a very good driver because I almost went right off the road!