KIA Complaints

While driving at low speeds, the vehicle would stall, no engine lights or warnings would appear on the dashboard. After turning it off and back on, it would run but stall again shortly later. An unfamiliar foul odor appeared from the dipstick as I checked the oil. Car only has 60k miles on it. Engine is throwing codes for cylinder 1, cylinder 2 and crankshaft.

I don’t know why, but I keep losing oil somewhere. I do my oil changes on time regularly and they said it’s burning oil fast and that that’s an issue with all Kia.

The vehicle(2025 Kia Carnival HEV) is brand new, just over one month old. We parked it in the garage, and after just 4 days of not driving, the battery was totally dead. We were not able to start the van. The battery was 4.5v when measured with a digital volt meter.

I brought my vehicle in for the open recall as my engine seized: Manufacturer Safety Recall issued NHTSA: #21V259 Recall: #SC209A SC209A ECM UPDATE (PISTON-RING NOISE) Kia is refusing the repairs and has not completed the recall, which includes the following remedy: KIA WILL INSPECT AND IF NECESSARY REPLACE THE ENGINE AT NO COST TO YOU. IF IT HAS NOT BEEN DONE ALREADY, KIA WILL INSPECT AND, IF NECESSARY REPLACE THE ENGINE THE ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE INSPECTION IS APPROXIMATELY 1-2 HOURS. IF ENGINE REPLACEMENT IS NECESSARY, THE ESTIMATED TIME REQUIRED IS 8 HOURS OR MORE. IN ADDITION, KIA WILL INSTALL THE PISTON-RING NOISE SENSING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FOR THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT IN THE VEHICLE THAT WILL ALERT THE DRIVER OF POTENTIAL DAMAGE TO THE PISTON OIL RINGS. THE ESTIMATED TIME TO INSTALL THE SOFTWARE WILL BE APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR. THE SOFTWARE SHOULD BE INSTALLED WIETHER OR NOT YOUR VEHICLE'S ENGINE WAS ALREADY INSPECTED AND/OR REPLACED UNDER THE ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN NOTIFICATION. IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD THE ENGINE INSPECTED, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY CONTACT AN AUTHORIZED KIA DEALER TO ARRANGE TO HAVE BOTH THE RECALL AND THE PISTON RING NOISE SENSING SYSTEM SOFTWARE INSTALLED AT NO COST TO YOU. The car has been at the dealership for over 1 month with no resolution.

My steering column will make a clicking sound, and the steering wheel and column will vibrate excessively.

The engine is burning through oil. I have already had the car checked for an oil leak. It is the engine. It's a 2020 however it does not have high mileage for the year that it is.

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while at a stop light, smoke was present from the vents inside the cabin. Later, while attempting to park more smoke was coming from under the hood and the neighbor also witnessed flames coming from the front of the vehicle. No further information was available. The contact indicated that the fire self extinguished and no fire department was contacted. The cause of the fire was not determined and the vehicle was not yet towed away. The manufacturer and local dealer were not contacted. The contact was informed that the VIN was included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced that same failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 218,000.

On 12/30/2024 my wife was returning home when all of the instrument lights went out. She stopped to make attemps to get the lights to come on but nothing worked. She had to drive home with no instruments for speed, directions, service, etc. When she got home ( very upset ) she only wanted to know why e new car with only 1400 miles would have this problem. I checked all the obvious cause for this condition but I could not find anything obviuos such as blown fuse, etc. Searching on line I found this was a common problem and people said a temporary fix was to disconnect the battery and retighten. This did work for the time but soon it did the same thing on New Years Eve and after supper we had to drive home with no dash lights. On 01/04/2025 the lights were out and error messages kept appearing. On 01/06/2025 I called the dealer service because of the safety problem and asked to speak to the manager and I have still not heard from him. My wife now refuses to drive the car and I understand why.

January 9, 2025 I bought a new 2017 KIA Sportage from Bob Bell KIA-Glen Burnie July of 2017. All oil changes have been performed up-to-date and regularly as advised. When Bob Bell-Glen Burnie no longer serviced KIA, I started taking my vehicle to KIA-Eastern Avenue (Baltimore). The oil consumption issue started during the time I was taking my vehicle to KIA-Eastern Avenue for services. Throughout this entire process, I received mixed messages from KIA-Eastern Avenue, JBA KIA-Glen Burnie, and Johnson KIA-Annapolis about how often to change the oil. Depending on which Advisor at each dealership I spoke with – one would say change the oil every three thousand miles another would say every five thousand miles. As of late, one of the Advisors (Johnson KIA-Annapolis) even told me over the phone that I should change the oil every 2500 miles as that is what he does for his car – thankfully, I happen to be a customer that knows better than that. Unfortunately, his poor advice reminds me of the poor customer service dealing with KIA-Eastern Avenue, which is why I chose to deal no longer with them and take my vehicle to Johnson KIA-Annapolis with the hopes of getting better service. Advisor was kind enough to verify my information in Johnson KIA’s system and had to make a couple of corrections - one being my name misspelled and the other being someone entered into the system that I was not the original owner of my car when in fact I bought it off the Bob Bell KIA-Glen Burnie lot, brand new. In September of 2023, after my car went limp on the highway due to a knock engine sensor, I had my car towed to Johnson KIA-Annapolis (see Invoice XXX). They performed a BCT and decided that my car was one that did not fit the requirements for a new engine. I filed a Thet INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Kia Sportage 2021- The service department at the dealership ran basic inspection of fault codes and found fault in system for knock sensor and camshaft b position sensor. These codes have relation to engine failure or possible timing chain failure. My safety was put at risk as I was driving down the highway and my car would not go over 40 miles per hour and cars were serving from hitting me from behind. Then my check engine light came on and started flashing. This information on my vehicle was looked at the dealership I purchased my vehicle, and they do not have the software/special tools to repair/replace timing components and vehicle was towed to Kia dealership. There was no warning lamps or symptoms that warned me before it happened. Once it wouldn’t go over 40 mph (wouldn’t accelerate) and my car light came on and blinking I pulled over.