KIA Complaints

Put vehicle in park while waiting at a gas station. It won't come out of park. Managed to get it to the pump, and used a screwdriver to bypass the shift lock control, and was able to drive home. With the bypass enabled, it puts my family at risk while driving. The car can shift without the brake being applied. I looked this problem up and it is extremely common with Kia Sorento (the BCM fails, and it's not an affordable fix).

The engine appears to be consuming an abnormal amount of oil. There are no visible leaks or external damage, and the vehicle has not yet stalled or failed, but oil levels drop rapidly between oil changes. The engine is available for inspection upon request Driving with low or empty oil levels risks sudden engine failure while in motion, which could lead to loss of power, stalling in traffic, or even a crash. The oil warning light came on and went off at regular intervals unexpectedly during driving this week, which prompted me to get it to my mechanic asap to avoid potential engine damage or failure. They performed an oil change (even though I had done it there for this same car only 2133 miles ago NOT YET. I have contacted the dealership and have been advised to monitor the oil level or potentially conduct an oil consumption test. I have not yet received a formal diagnostic or confirmation from Kia or a third party. Yes the vehicle was formally inspected by Gettel Kia of Bradenton on 14th Street for an engine stalling issue... Have experienced a stall only once since then Yes. The oil warning light turned on (and off several times in 1 minute intervals) for the first time around 132011 miles. Upon the mechanic checking the dipstick, the oil level was significantly below minimum. No check engine light appeared. An oil change was performed only 2133 miles since the last one. Additional Notes: I have discovered multiple similar reports from other 2016–2020 Kia Optima owners via online forums such as Reddit and Kia owner groups, suggesting this may be a widespread issue related to the GDI engine design. These cases often go unresolved until engine damage occurs. I am requesting: A formal oil consumption test A full engine inspection Repair or replacement if the issue is confirmed Consideration for goodwill or warranty extension due to potential manufacturing defect I am maintaining oil top-off records and would be happy to provide them

I was riding on the highway at about 65 mph and then the check engine light came on, the car slowed down and lost power. Now when I take off I have to barely mash the gas to pick up speed, if I mash the gas pedal hard it barely moves and it loses speed and power going up a hill. I took the car to two different part store and had a reader hooked up and it said the power powertrain control module needs a reprogramming.

I am reporting a safety concern with the KIA K5 Advance Driving Assistance Systems. The concern is the Driver Attention Warning (DAW) being a distraction to the driver due to consistent dinging and flashing light of the "taking a break" that according to manual could go off every 4 minutes, however, in my experience it can go off every 3 minutes (see attached documentation), which is excessive. The frequency that the light goes off has led me to be distracted and nearly hitting the car in front of me because I am looking down at the light. I'm at the point; I am afraid to drive the car because I don't know when this light will go off. According to the manual it can go off 4 minutes into a drive. When reviewing the manual, it fails to tell you what exactly is causes the light to go off and how long you are supposed to be taking a break for. I have taken it to the dealership three times, and they tell me it is working property. I have asked if the light can be shut off, but they tell me it cannot be shut off even though it says in the manual it can be. I have also worked with KIA corporate, and they tell me the newer KIAs it cannot be shut off. The older models also had attention level gauge that could show the driver where their attention level is, but this was removed. In conclusion, this "take a break light" is a major distraction to driver that cannot be shut off that could lead the driver taking their eyes off the road multiple times in a driver that can cause an accident.

The check engine and oil pressure light will start to flash when starting to brake. While this is happening the car starts to shake, stall, and you struggle to accelerate. This has happened multiple times and the last time was in the middle of an intersection. KIA dealership did not fix the issue the two times I took it to the shop. The third time in they did some test and said it was an oil consumption issue and the piston rings in the SUV have failed and the car needed a new engine. This car is a 2020 Telluride with 78,759 miles on it. This issued started well before the 78,759 miles. Oil consumption has been a major issue with other KIA models and they have not seemed to fix this issue with the telluride. I believe they have replaced engines at an extremely high rate and now they are denying engine replacement under their warranty and stating piston ring damage is not covered under the warranty due to high oil consumption. You guys have issued a recall on 2021-2023 Seltos and Soul models for piston ring failure and now they do not want to start replacing tellurides. There is a Facebook page out there labeled KIA telluride issues with oil consumption being a big issue in the comments. KIA stating they will not cover the engine replacement is not only wrong is it a safety issue. I truly believe they know this is a serious issue and have not done anything to correct it. This vehicle is still under warranty and I am still in contact with the dealership to fix this issue.

2019 Kia Niro DCT engaged REVERSE during manual 1?2 upshift attempt in Sport Mode, causing violent reversal. Resets with ignition cycle. Smell of burnt clutch present. Happend at 41,000mi, then 73,000mi then again today at 154,584. Believe it may be a faulty range selector, corrupted tcu logic, or both. **Canadian Recall R238 (May 2022)** for DCT clutch actuators

express my concern regarding a persistent and unresolved defect in the 12-volt battery of my 2022 Kia Niro, which I purchased from Hanlees Kia in 2022. In 2023, I brought my vehicle back to Hanlees Kia due to the battery dying prematurely. At that time, the dealership informed me of a battery jump start button on the dashboard. It was later revealed to me by Kia service in Stockton—after the vehicle was held for over two weeks—that the issue originates from the 12-volt battery located under the driver’s seat, which is defective. Despite this discovery, I was told by the dealership that even though the battery is defective that I should have brought the vehicle in earlier—specifically before 2025—to qualify for any warranty or replacement coverage. This is simply not true, as I did bring the car in promptly when I noticed the battery issues in 2023, but unfortunately, this did not result in a satisfactory resolution. Further, I am not alone in facing this issue. Several Kia Niro owners in have shared similar experiences on social media platforms, including Facebook. These owners have reported the same battery problems during their warranty period and were repeatedly told by dealerships that the cause of the issue was unknown, leaving them frustrated and without a solution. It is concerning that Kia engineers appear to have been aware of this defect for some time, as evidenced by the installation of the dashboard battery bypass button. This workaround indicates that Kia has acknowledged the problem internally but has not adequately addressed it for customers under warranty. As a loyal Kia customer, I respectfully request a full investigation and resolution of this battery defect issue, including an official acknowledgment of the defect and a replacement or repair under warranty. The inconvenience, safety concerns, and ongoing costs caused by this defect are unacceptable for a vehicle of this quality and price point. Thank you

On 6-9-25, for the second time in the 10 weeks that I have owned my new 2025 KIA Carnival it has failed to accelerate beyond 30 MPH after pulling away from a traffic light. The vehicle displayed a warning that The Speed Limit Was 30 MPH and would not accelerate beyond that speed. The speed limit was not 30 MPH. I was able to pull onto a side street and take a photo of the warning, I took the vehicle and the photo to Boniface-Hiers KIA on 6-10-25. The dealership was not able to determine the problem but thought it could have some connection with the cruise control system. Once again I was lucky not to be rear ended by the car behind me.

My Kia has a feature called "Downhill Brake Control". The manual states it will control the downhill speed of the car without using the brake or gas. I have used this on hills near my house and when I get down the hill to a flat-ish area, I manually turn the control off. Most times it works fine. Sometimes, the car bucks and then comes to a complete stop or close to it. I feel this is a safety issue as if someone is behind me, they may not realize it's the car stopping suddenly and ram in to me. I have asked the dealer about it, they've said it's working as designed. Kia USA doesn't care after 2 letters to them. This is my last attempt to get Kia to look in to this issue. For now, I just don't use the stupid button

Horn malfunctioned, a known issue recognized by Kia on these models. Visited an authorized Kia repair center in Maryland on June 14, 2025. The repair center indicated that the necessary parts (96611-K0030 and 96619-T6000) are not available in Maryland or surrounding states, and backorder delays are at least four to six weeks. The vehicle is meanwhile not road safe due to the lack of a horn.