KIA Complaints

The front axels are leaking and the transmission is lagging/jerking while accelerating.

I was driving my Sorento SXL on a highway, at approximately 50 mph. With no warning, the engine began to run rough. The check engine light immediately began flashing. I was able to drive the car approximately three more miles to an auto service center. The engine ran very rough the entire time, wanting to stall when slowing down. The mechanic determined that my car’s oil reservoir was 4 quarts low, yet no engine oil light ever illuminated on the dashboard. It holds 6.2 quarts, and had only 2.2 quarts in it. Again, there was no illuminated light whatsoever telling me my car was dangerously low on oil. Because of this low oil condition, one of my timing chains skipped, and the cam rotated approximately 62° out of center. That’s what caused it to run rough. It appears my only options now are to have the engine apart, and hope no real damage was done, or replace it entirely. The engine for my car has been discontinued, with seemingly no suitable replacement from Kia. This could have been completely avoided if my car had alerted me to a low oil condition sometime before. This is very dangerous and it seems it is a common ailment among some Kia cars like mine. A low oil light would have informed me immediately that my car was in need of oil, a critical fluid for proper and safe operation. If I were towing a trailer when this happened, or on a winding stretch of road in snow or ice, this could have been catastrophic.

The multimedia screen is delaminating. The screen ends not working making all functions in it inaccesible. Dealer only provides solution if the vehicle has less than 3 years or 36000 miles. The manufacturer only claims to its warranty terms. The screen starts delamination and evolves day by day.

I have had nothing but issues with my Kia since I purchased it May 30th, 2023. It's continually stalling, completely looses power, sometimes won't operate at all. My Kia is very unsafe and completely unreliable. I had to have it towed to the dealership before my first payment was even due. My Kia has has to be taken to the dealership a total of 5 times and still nothing has been resolved, other than oil change, diagnostic testing, spark plugs replacement, "fuel system service", HECU fuse installed. As of today's date (June 19th, 2025) I still owe close to $12,000 on it. This is utterly ridiculous and needs to be resolved asap. It has been continual issues from May 30th, 2023 through current date (June 19th, 2025). In 15 months I have only been able to drive it 4,876 miles. That's how unreliable it is. I need help getting these issues resolved asap.

I have a certified pre owned 2020 Kia SOUL. It has roughly 29,000 miles on it. I have had 2 instances where the check engine light starts blinking with no warning and i have had to have the car towed. I have documentation that I keep up with oil changes. Each time it was towed, there was no oil. I have no quantitative evidence to predict when the light will come on. The oil is burning off somewhere and was told to bring it to dealership. The code that the diagnostic showed was P1327. The oil was replaced and the light reset and I made an appt at KIA North Dealership for a diagnostic inspection. Unfortunately since the light was off and the oil was full, I was told they couldnt help me with the issue and I need to drive carefully for the light to come back on. I said that seems unsafe but they claim its the only way to diagnose the issue, which also costs 175$. I have been driving my car minimally as I am petrified I am going to break down and be in a dangerous area or on the highway. This seems like complete disregard for their customer and the publics welfare. I called KIA again after months of driving minimally to ask if there was any alternative as I feel like this should not be occurring with a car that is certified and "backed" bye KIA. The 5yr 60k warranty ends tomorrow 6/20/2025. The extended warranty is supposed to be until 3/21/2030 or 100k. I am not happy with the lack of empathy or their poor advisement. Also, I asked if I would be provided with a loaner car or reimbursed if the car will need work for an extended period. I was told their dealership has minimal loaners and if they don't have one, they dont have one. I asked if I would be reimbursed for the rental or rideshare apps I would need to use to get to work etc and was told there is no guarantee. I am disgusted with this whole situation. This whole policy seems dangerous and also reckless. The car was paid off, so now I am basically stuck with a car that I cant drive far.

I am writing to report an incident with my 2016 Kia Sedona, which experienced a sudden engine failure. The failure was diagnosed with engine codes P0014 and P0018, indicating camshaft timing and crankshaft correlation issues, consistent with internal engine failure and symptoms related to the known Theta II engine defect with Kia’s of that year, including metal debris and timing issues. For many of these Kia’s the warranty was extended to 120,000 miles. My incident took place at 120,600 miles. I have maintained this vehicle responsibly, and this issue occurred with little to no warning. Though I understand the mileage technically exceeds the warranty limit, the proximity to the cutoff and the nature of the failure suggest that the defect likely developed well before the warranty threshold. I contacted Kia to request goodwill coverage for an engine replacement or the associated repairs. I believe that other customers in similar situations have received assistance under goodwill policies, especially for issues tied to known manufacturer defects, unfortunately Kia declined to open a case on my behalf.

I have replaced the Engine Splash on my Kia K5 twice and need to get it replaced again. This item is poorly made and it was replaced the two times from Kia at over $500. This seems to be a problem with many of the 2022 Kia K5's. It's almost like it disintegrates when it rains. This is a very expensive repair here are the dates of repairs 02/2023, 04/2024 and the date of the incident that is still needing to be repaired 03/2025.

As I was driving on the interstate, a small pebble hit the corner of my windshield (lower left corner on the driver side). It made a small chip that has quickly turned into a 3" crack. Upon inspection by a windshield repair company, it has been deemed unrepairable and the entire windshield must be replaced due to the location of the incident. I also have a small chip directly in the driver's line of sight in the windshield from the pebble as well. KIA Motors has a known issue on previous year (2020-2023) models of the Telluride, in which the windshields of these models chipped and cracked unusually easy (sometimes without anything even impacting it), clearly causing a safety issue. There was a class action lawsuit for many states. I now have to file a claim with my car insurance company to have it replaced, which will negatively impact all my future insurance rates.

AC system is interminably stops working for hours or days then starts working again. Have taken to dealer but every time I get it there unit starts working and they say they can’t check it if it’s working. This has been going on for over a month.

Bought my Kia k4 2025 in February at DTLA Kia and the experience has been [XXX]. The first day driving I went up near dodgers stadium , immediately had a burnt smell. I disregarded it thinking maybe its fresh paint burning , WRONG. Till this day 4 months later my tail pipe throws a musty smell. Issue number 2 , the hesitant gas pedal. Who knows what it is maybe fuel system , transmission but daily and I mean DAILY my accelaration is poor,jerky, struggling and overall doesn't work. It has its good mornings but once I'm on the road for more than 10 minutes its back to the struggle. I've had my K4 serviced twice at Dtla service, they never once test drove the car because I was tracking the GPS almost all day for the three days they had it. Once I got my car back it tooks about 45 minutes the service advisor Jeffery Montoya was so lost on where my car was, I had to ask and ask and ask finally the guys who are out front welcoming you helped me and brought my car. That was my decision to never go back to DTLA service. Next took it to Van Nuys Kia waited to weeks from my appointment because they are moving. Finally they kept it for three days they still werent able to diagnose the issue and repair it. Modesto the advisor there said " we can't duplicate the issue''. Some how they made me pay $82 because they supposedly found plastic bags stuck to my exhuast. [XXX] I even told him I don't want it cleaned and he said oh well you authorized the diag so you have to. He reported that info to kia Corp which got my case closed and said the car works fine. NO it does not work fine. Never going. Now today [XXX] I was parking arriving somewhere the k4 said engine off shift to P while ringing the alarm from the dash. I have it on film. Second driving down [XXX] and boom car engine shuts off while car are behind me. I had to shift to p then turn the car off. Turned it back on while getting honked at and that was that. $700 a month for a lack of urgency to help me. Boo Kia. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION