KIA Complaints

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she observed smoke emanating from the engine compartment, after which the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. The following day, upon starting the vehicle, the contact heard an abnormal rattling sound emanating from the engine compartment, prompting the contact to discontinue driving the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine); the VIN was included, and parts were available. However, the dealer declined to perform the recall repair, stating that the vehicle needed to be brought in before the failure for the cost of the repair to be covered by the manufacturer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.

We Reported in February of 2022 To Kia of Port Charlotte in Florida that our steering wheel was sticking so bad we had to use extraordinary effort to keep the car going straight. They told us they were unable to replicate what we experienced. Starting in February of 2025 we started to experience the same thing. We brought it [XXX] to Kia of Sebring Florida. They diagnosed that there is a sticking of the steering wheel but it is not covered because the car is 7 years old and has 59000 miles under warranty. When I checked on line there are tons of customers complaining of this same problem. Please look into this issue as it could cause accidents eventually. Thank you INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My Kia engine is blown.Kia engine rod bearing failed due to metal shavings when they made the engine. They didn't blow the shavings out.They are stating it's my fault do to lack of maintenance records they will not replace my engine. This is there loophole in the lawsuit to deny people of there claims.

My car has been stalling when coming to a stop while driving in and around town Before stalling on the oil light flickers and the sometimes after I restart it the motor makes a clattering sound and if I press down on the accelerator pedal the noise fades off and then the motor runs for a while and then flickering oil light and stalls. I have 90,000+ miles and have used amsoil full synthetic with their oil filter and change the oil religiously. I flushed the vehicle oil system with a motor flush and changed the oil and since it seems ok. I am very concerned that my vehicle should have been included in the recall as my vehicle did exactly what it sounds like what has happened with the ones recalled. I'm concerned that something inside is inferior and needs to be replaced ASAP

My husband was travelling down the highway in our car with my [XXX] in the back seat. Suddenly the motor seized up and the car started the rattle. The car came to a stop. We had the car towed to a Kia dealership and was told that the engine had seized up and would need to be replaced. I also found out about a known issue with Kia engines. I had never heard about it. We are the second owner and weren't notified that there was an issue. They are claiming that they don't have to fix the car because we hadn't had a knock sensor repaired. I don't know how we were supposed to know about it. Because it wasn't actually a recall, I couldn't even look it up. Even though the error is Kia's, they refuse to fix the car. There were no warning lights before this incident. The car was fine and then suddenly shut down on the interstate. It's a miracle, we weren't killed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Statement for NHTSA Complaint: I am filing this complaint regarding a 2025 Kia Sportage EX (VIN: [XXX] ) that I purchased, which was sold to me with a defective brake booster. This defect resulted in a complete brake failure, putting my safety and the safety of others at serious risk. When the issue occurred, I lost braking power, which could have led to a severe accident. After bringing the vehicle in for repair, it was confirmed that the brake booster was faulty. Kia of America has only offered to reimburse me for my $1,000 insurance deductible, despite selling me a defective vehicle that should never have been on the road. They have not taken full responsibility for the issue, nor have they provided an appropriate resolution. This is a major safety concern, and I am concerned that other Kia Sportage owners may be driving with the same defect, unaware of the potential danger. I urge the NHTSA to investigate this matter further and take appropriate action to ensure Kia addresses this safety hazard properly. Please let me know if you require any additional information regarding my case. Thank you. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

ICCU failed for a second time in 18 months, and the car has been waiting at the dealership for the replacement ICCU to arrive for 4 weeks - as Kia says the part is backordered. The recalls (of which they are now on their third, I believe) were supposed to have addressed this issue and prevented ICCU failure. Car was backing out of the garage on the morning of January 30th when the dashboard began showing alerts - "Stop vehicle and check power supply". Had the vehicle towed to the dealership where ICCU failure was confirmed. As mentioned, this is the SECOND time the ICCU has failed in our Kia EV6 - it was replaced once before already in July of 2023. This tells me that the issue is either far more common than the reported 1% failure rate or that there's some connection between how one uses or charges the car and the likelihood of failure. Either way, Kia doesn't seem to have any idea how to solve for it. First time our ICCU failed, the part was also backordered then and it took six weeks. How they can not have these parts readily available in the midst of an ongoing recall related to said part is truly frustrating.

Vehicle went into emergency mode while in the highway system completely locked could not drive lost power and was forced to pull over and have vehicle towed, mechanic took a look indicated new alternator was required there for we purchased new alternator and new battery car turned on and same issue happened with in 20 minutes of test driving vehicle, this happened twice and could have cost our life’s! I am extremely disappointed and frustrated I have no means to fix the vehicle we used out saving to finally replace what we though was the issue but I’ve come across many same issues from other parties who experienced the same issue. The vehicle is paid off and we need assistance in fixing this issue it appears the engine or electrical issue at this point but I am scared to get on the road we have tried charging it back on but steering wheels locks up and dies a few minutes after please help

I was driving my car as usual and it began overheating. I took it to the mechanic and they could not find a coolant leak, even though the coolant was all gone. We added more coolant and I was on my way. A few weeks later, the same thing happened. The mechanic said to take it to the dealer because they would need to run a diagnostic. I took it to the dealer and they said there were some new recalls that needed to be repaired that could fix the issue. They did the recalls, I topped off my coolant, and I was on my way. One week later, while picking up my son from school, the engine had a catastrophic failure. This was not only dangerous to me and my kids, but to those around me. The car stopped and refused to start up again mid-driving. I had it towed to the Dealer (Kia of Carson) and they rand diagnostics. A few days later they send me a quote for $10K to replace the engine as well as the muffler system - more than the current market value of the car. The car has just over 70K miles on it, and since I bought it used from Carvana, it was not under Kia's warranty. This is NOT how things should be. They should not be allowed to put vehicles that break down like this and then charge people outrageous amounts for it with no compromise whatsoever. How can the engine be worth more than the whole car? I've talked with Kia customer service and they don't care. I've spent months trying to reason with them, but to no avail. Also, upon research online, there are tens of thousands of Kia Niro (and other kia car model) owners who've had the same problem - overheating that turns into engine failure. This is a systemic problem with a fraudulent company that is destroying the lives of their customers. This experience put my family in danger and has essentially ruined my life since it happened. I hope the NHTSA can do something about this!

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing an excessive oil consumption. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was advised to complete an oil consumption test. The contact declined. The contact stated that upon driving approximately 500 miles after the oil change was performed on the vehicle, there was no oil left in the engine. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that oil was leaking onto the spark plug. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.