This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving down the road, the car started sputtering and smoking. There were no warning lights on the dash, or irregular readings. My son pulled over and flames were coming from underneath the vehicle. Upon immediate inspection, there was an oil trail in the road behind the vehicle and pieces of the rod and oil pan. They said it looked like the engine threw a rod, damaging the oil pan, and causing the fire. We are still awaiting an independent inspection and solution from Kia, but they-??re taking their time. Thankfully my son was able to exit the vehicle quickly and safely.
My car was at a stop sign. Upon accelerating after the stop, the engine stopped working without any warning. There were no warning indicators that there was a problem prior to the car ceasing to work. Itook the car to my usual mechanic and he indicated that the engine would need to be replaced. In his assessment, at only 68,800 miles, the engine should not have been an issue. The car has been at a local dealership for a week now, and I am waiting to hear their assessment of this situation. The car stopped directly in the middle of an intersection, and prior to this we were on the a highway. This would have been a much more significant issue had it stopped in the middle of the highway. Additionally as there were no warning lights prior to the issue, a driver would have no indication that there is a problem.
Our Kia Sedona had the cooling fan harness negative Cable melt and caused making our engine overheat. When we took our vehicle to get serviced they told us that the cooling fan harness melted and then it's a common problem with kias. They fixed the pigtail cooling fan harness but are cooling fan does not turn on anymore and they said that it is now an electrical issue and this was from a Kia dealership in Dodge City Kansas. They recently did a recall on sliding doors because they weren't shutting all the way and it worked for exactly one day after the recall and now it's back to not shutting and making a really loud noise when it attempts to shut. When this happens we can't lock our doors because the doors won't lock when doors open and we have to constantly shut off our interior lights so that they don't stay on because the doors don't shut. We've notified the Kia dealership that have done our recall on it and told them that it didn't fix it but they refuse to make it right. We only have 106,000 MI I've got a new cooling fan resistor and put it in and a new pigtail harness and put it in but the cooling fan is still not turning on the low speed and the air conditioner doesn't work either. Our engine constantly smells very hot but it doesn't indicate that it's overheating. We haven't had this vehicle for very long and because of all the problems we've had with it are considering on getting another vehicle and we're considering a carnival but are afraid to because of the way Kia handles their issues.
While driving engine started making a rattling noise and then died. Checked and there was no oil. No warning lights came on at all. No oil light, no check engine light; nothing. Van only has 96,000 miles. Service is performed regularly on van. Was 2 hours away from home and had to have vehicle towed. After researching I found that the 3.3 liter engines on some Kias are failing due to oil starvation caused by the oil light sensor not coming on. Kia has addressed this issue in some of their other vehicles but have yet to add the Sedonas to the engine recall. Now I-??m stuck with a vehicle that more than likely needs a new engine and a company that will not take responsibility for their failure to include the Sedonas in the engine recall.
- Arab, AL, USA
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The engine oil leaking for any anywhere, first look like transmission fluid leaking, but clear it didn't find any leaking, and check engine oil tank didn't find any leaking, find from recall have same problem but not my Vin number, and in my car didn't show warning light.
Was driving down the highway on a road trip and the Sedona developed an engine rattle. Pulled over into the nearest gas station to inspect. I checked the oil and the oil was 3 quarts low -- even though my vehicle received regular oil changes/maintenance! I filled up but the damage was too far gone; motor had a clanking noise and would not stay started. Had vehicle towed to my dealership where it still is awaiting a motor swap. Dealership confirmed engine damage and recommended the full swap. It's been 3 weeks. Kia has no open recall for this even though a growing number of Sedona owners are experienced the same issues.
We have a 2016 Kia Sedona, bought in 2017 as a Kia certified. We have had several recalls since our ownership. For the last 2-3 years we have driven it sparingly. We took it to the Kia dealership for regular oil change at 97,000 + miles. There was no mention of any major engine concerns. We again took it in to the Kia dealership, for a spare tire cable issue at 99,186 miles again no mention of engine issues. The Kia dealership performed a multipoint inspection, and repaired a turn signal issue, and suggested some other maintenance items, that would need attention soon, brakes ect. At 102,866, we took the vehicle to a repair shop, we have used before, for an oil change. We were informed that someone had put stop leak in the coolant system. They said we should take it to the dealership for a head gasket issue. We took it to another full service shop, where, they didn't detect a coolant leak. We did notice coolant was running low, but none was spotted on the ground. We took it back to the previous repair shop, where they informed us of a possible blowned head gasket, but couldn't confirm, because of oil all over the under carriage, through all of this there were no warning signal or lights, until the temp gage moved towards high and the oil light flickered a couple of times. We were told that the engine was probably shot. The vehicle is again at the Kia dealership. No resolve yet. We now understand that that Kia has recalled quite a number of their vehicles for simular engine issues. We got a recall for a leaking oil switch, which we informed the dealership of. Are the Kia Sedona's on the recall list?
I was driving the car and noticed a smell. I looked down and saw the the temperature gauge was in the red zone but there were no dashboard lights or any sounds to let me know there was a problem. I pulled over and called AAA. They took the car to a AAA repair shop. The repair shop called me and said the head gasket was blown and that the car needed a new engine as the cost to repair would be even more money.
My 2016 Kia Sedona has only 79900 miles on it, yet needs an engine replacement. It is experiencing the EXACT same issues as the other kia engines that have been recalled/replaced by kia, yet they will not help fix it, because "there are no problems with my engine, but there are with the other kia engines" A vehicle should not need a new engine at 79000 miles. There were zero warnings to this. No check engine lights. No oil lights. Nothing. In fact there are still no lights, even after having this problem diagnosed at the dealer. If my engine fails in the middle of the road, I am putting myself, my 4 children, my husband, and anyone else on the road at risk. This should not be happening at such low mileage, especially with no warning lights. The dealer confirms I need a new engine. Other auto shops claim kia should cover this repair because this engine is defective.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sedona. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made abnormally loud rattling sounds with black smoke coming from the engine. Additionally, there was oil leaking onto the ground while driving. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the engine. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000.
Our engine on the 2016 kia sedona died and has left us stranded 3 hours from home. There was no engine/oil light warning. We have low mileage (but the light that indicates mileage also failed so we are guessing that we have between 50,000 and 60,000 miles.) We are not home but according to our phone records we definitely had oil changed in December 2021 and the oil filter is very clean. Since the pandemic we have put very few miles on the car and also did not accept many receipts for fear of contamination but we know for sure that about the oil change in December. We need the car towed to a kia dealer and we want assurances that they will replace it as part of the warranty-??we have coverage for 10 years and 100,000 miles-??but we can-??t get a hold of anyone from corporate. We were on hold for an hour and a half yesterday and nobody picked up. Since they have had so many engine problems/recalls with vehicles from that year we felt it was necessary to report this to you to add the Sedona to the list. And-??we need assurances that they will replace the engine as part of the warranty although at this point they should just replace the vehicle since I-??m told they don-??t make engines anymore for the Sedona. We owe $11,000 on the car so we need something done asap. Thank you. The consumer is requesting reimbursement for rentals as the vehicle has been at the dealership for 5 months awaiting repairs. The contact is still seeking reimbursement for rentals and the repairs needed. There has been no remedy given by the manufacturer.
The vehicle while driving and accelerating at any given time stops accelerating even when you are pressing the accelerator all the way in. Usually occurs when I am on highways or normal roads. No check engine light or indication of failure has come up to retrieve a code and be able to diagnose the issue. I took the car to the KIA dealer service center near me, but they weren't able to fix anything, because no code came up for the issue. The not responding to acceleration has occurred multiple times for a while (Aprox. 4-5 times over the last 6 months). I am concerned as it may seem the engine is trying to stall or stop working in the middle of the road. The safety of my family and others driving behind me can be at risk because if it stops responding to the acceleration, I may need to pull to the side or may not have sufficient time to do so, causing an accident. I communicated with Kia, and they open a case report, but they advised me to submit a report to this agency.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sedona. The contact stated while sitting in the vehicle, there was smoke coming from under the hood. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the hose was ruptured and the radiator failed. Additionally, the contact stated that the engine needed to be repaired. The radiator was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,900.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sedona. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH there was raddling noise and then flames. The check engine light came on. The engine immediately caught on fire. The contact was able to pull over safely and exit the vehicle quickly with her son the passenger. The police arrived on the scene first and informed the fire department that the flames had deteriorated automatically; therefore the fire department did not arrive. Unknown if a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to several dealers; however, the last dealer diagnosed the failure to be hole blown engine. There were no major injuries or medical reports. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure was 73,000.
I was driving down the road and my van made a horrible noise and stopped moving. I was able to coast to a right turn lane to get out of traffic where I realized all of the oil was on the ground under my van. After towing it to the dealer they confirmed that a rod went through the oil pan for no apparent reason. They confirmed that there was oil in the van as it was all over the engine. The check engine light never came on and the van was running perfectly fine until this happened.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Sedona. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and was then towed the following day to the dealer. The contact was informed by the mechanic that gasoline was leaking into the and mixing with the engine oil. Additionally, the plastic piece around the timing belt was cracked. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
While driving I smelled a burning odor. Then my heat started blowing cold air. I immediately went to a car shop and when they opened the hood, there was white smoke. After getting 3 separate opinions, all agreed that the engine was fried and needs to be replaced. There were no warning signs, lights, etc... and this could have been a very dangerous situation if I had driven it much further because the engine could have seized up (with my 4 young kids in the car), or even possibly caught fire.
Oil sending unit failed after 100k miles. Had it not been a quick trip, I could have easily ran it dry and stalled the motor. No warning was given. There are many reports of this happening with other models and years of Kia V6's.
My husband took the car for an oil change and the mechanic said he heard a noise in the engine. They did the oil change and advised to have it checked out. On the way home, while driving, the car stalled, thankfully in the neighborhood and not on the highway. An issue with the battery or oil change were suspected. We had the car towed to Kia who confirmed that there was no issue with the oil change, the location used for the oil change had done everything correctly. Also, the battery was good. They said the engine seized but could not say why, that we would have to pay them $900 to take the engine apart to find the issue. After research, the very same issues are found with several other Kia and Hyundai models, for example, Kia Sorento. I would like to report this, as it is extremely dangerous to stall in traffic. Also, we still owe $8,000 on the car, we bough it used in February 2020. The car has 118k miles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lemoore, CA, USA