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.
I-??m not really sure what the problem was. I feel like the car may have lost power and I lost function of the car / brakes. I-??m assuming it-??s either an engine or electrical. Warning lights came on. Prior to losing function, the vehicle felt like it was sorta puttering. I-??d give it the gas and there was a delayed, and then jerk forward. There-??s a vibration sound that happens when I go around 15-30 miles an hour. Not sure if it-??s related. It-??s being looked at on June 24. I had to turn off the car and restart to gain control.
You are driving with all windows up in Florida with the temperature outside from 70's to 90's Degrees with AC on cold and running and suddenly car displays the temperature outside -39 Degrees and the car starts blowing very hot air that fogs all windows within seconds and daughter is unable to see. Car has been taken to Kia of Leesburg, FL more than 5 times. Dealer has changed the temperature sensor and checked the wiring, but the vehicle is still doing the same. Daughter almost had 3 major accidents because of this with 3 year old in the car. Need NHTSA to investigate this and push KIA of America for resolution. Has happened multiple times and we have it on video.
The car initially had electrical and engine issues since may of 2022. The engine would fail mid drive and the car would turn of in the middle of driving and would lock up until engine would restart on its own. It stayed at the dealership for repairs until march of 2023. After many modifications and alterations and several new engines and transmission changes they returned the car to me on march of 2023 assuring me it was fixed and there would be no issues. Several weeks later while driving on the highway, the engine turned off mid drive, I lost control of the car entirely. Brakes wouldn-??t brake. Car crashed into highway median. And upon impact none of the airbags deployed. The car continuously put myself and passengers at risk at the beginning of its failing. The car of April 2023 severely injured me. I was the only passenger at the times thankfully. Since the airbag never deployed my face, chest, ribs, arm, and neck were severely injured. It-??s been almost a year and im still physically affected by the crash.
My Transmission Temp light goes on when I am in slow traffic going on an uphill road. I need to pull over and let it cool down, This has happen in Mountains in Colorado, So it is cold outside. Both times i need to get a tow due to the fact there are no places to pull over on single lane road. it takes approx. 1 hour to cool down and i can only drive 100 yards before light comes back on. I have brought to Dealership twice in last several months and they tell me there is nothing they can do about it. This is a Major safety hazard.
Car stalled when at complete stop (at lights or stop signs) The auto restart feature seems to fail. Then it progressed to stuttering while driving and unable to drive above certain speeds (more than 40 mph). Service engine light on. Code by dealer P0017.
- New Britain, CT, USA
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My vehicle appeared to restart itself (dashboard lights turned off and immediately turned back on as if the car had been started up) as I was a approaching a red stop light toward the end of a 1 hour/60 mile commute. This is the 3rd time since I've had my vehicle (purchased in October of 2020) that I've had an event like this occur while driving. Currently waiting service appointment, 2 weeks away 1st incident, within the 1st 6 months of ownership, cant remember the exact date: Vehicle appeared to restart as I turned left at a green light. 2nd incident: Vehicle appeared to restart itself whilst driving on highway (thankfully no traffic/other cars on the road at this time, but I was doing 70+mph at the time). Shortly after this incident, I called the local dealer to setup a service appointment about this issue. Service was unable to to replicate issue. They looked for whatever codes that might lead them to the source of the problem, but none found. Was told to monitor bring vehicle back in if it happened again. It's seems to look like some sort of electrical/computer glitch that causes the car to do this. It happens inconsistently (different driving conditons) and infrequently, but is a major safety issue.
3 Teenagers were able to break a window, enter the car, Start the car without use of a key, and drive the vehicle. Rear Windows breaking do not trigger anti-theft alarm. Car is able to be started with out use of the key. Car is able to be driven with out use of a key. Was able to catch the incident of film and it took only 5 minutes for it to be stolen.
MY VEHICLE HAS SHOUT OFF ON ME 4 TIMES EITHER WHILE STOPPED AT THE LIGHT/ STOP SIGN. APPROACHING A LIGHT AND OR STOP SIGN WHILE SLOWING TO STOP. IT APPEARS TO BE THAT PART OF THE SYSTEM THAT SHUTS DOWN OR OFF THE VEHICLE IN ORDER TO CONSERVE GAS IS MALFUNCTIONING THIS CLEARLY BECOMES A SAFETY RISK DEPENDING ON WHERE THE CAR IS POSITIONED AT THE TIME OF THE SHUT DOWN, SLOWING TO MAKE TURN OR STOP AT AN INTERSECTION. AT THIS TIME I WILL BE REPORTING THIS ISSUE TO THE DESALERSHIP, THE ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED BY ANYONE AT THE TIME OF THIS REPORT HERE. THERE WERE NO WARNING LAMPS ACTIVATED PRIOR TO THE VEHICLE SHUTTING OFF. At the time I did not think to copy the dates, times, mph or mileage of the vehicle but the information on the screen instructed me to put the vehicle in park to restart. this a very scary situation in traffic.
5/18/23 My car shut off with the stop/go feature and would not turn back on. Was able to start once I removed the key and tried again after a few minutes. This again happened to me once I got to a gas station resulting in the same issue today 5/19/23
When driving the vehicle the motor will randomly shut off. This is a safety hazard and has been happening more and more. I thought it was supposed to do this but only when stopped. It now is doing it while driving and I have almost been rear ended 3 times now. The car is not drivable.
My car was stolen 4 times due to KIA not installing an immobilizer into my car. My Window was broken all 4 times to get to the car and never did my car alarm sound during this time.
Two issues with my vehicle: 1. When driving and stopped at a red light, the stop/start technology will engage, turning off my engine. Upon the light turning green again, my foot comes off the brake to hit the acceleration but the entire dashboard/electrical system restarts like the car has just been turned on. It has done this mid-driving (foot on the acceleration) as well; killing the entire electrical system. No warning lights or messages appear. 2. When driving longer distances (20+ miles), sometimes the vehicle engine will not turn off. I drove a distance of about 20 miles; got to the destination, parked the car and hit the start/stop button to turn off the engine. The entire interior electrical/dash was off but when I hopped out of the vehicle, the engine was still running. I have to re-enter the vehicle and turn it back on and off just to get the engine to turn off. No warning lights or signals appear. The dealership won't fix my issues; says they can't recreate the problems but I do have video evidence that the problems exist. It has happened periodically since I purchased my vehicle, a 2021 Seltos SX, in March of 2020.
1. October 2022 started noticing when stopped for 15+ sec. electrical dash/and screen completely restart when transmission would come back on from being in off position. Happened also while releasing seat belt. 2. Horn would malfunction and go to voice command when pressed or not work at all. Very intermittent. 3. Gears not shifting smoothly, car is jolty, not accelerating well, and getting a slight grinding feeling, running rough, missing shifts or not shifting until it revs high. warning indicators have illuminated. My dealer suggested doing an "software update" which did not correct the problem and they are unresponsive otherwise. I have had vehicle in 3 times and each time they just weren't prepared or had no plan to remedy. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer and I have also take a video of the issue. It is available for inspection. Safety is a concern considering the electrical issue plus the seat belt and horn. Unsure if the electrical system is reliable during a crash and if my safety belt and airbags are effected.
ON 11/26/22 I was driving down the road my Kia Seltos showed error messages on the dashboard saying ERROR and then Power Train off, the car then shut off at 55 mph and smoke filled my cabin, I got the car pulled over and called the fire department, there was no flames just smoke and smelled like electrical. It was then after 2 weeks taken to a dealership where they inspected the car and stated the fire was in the engine and the engine needs to be replaced. After doing research on this car and the issue there were at least 4 other complaints filed with KIA AMERICA about this issue
2021 Kia Seltos ~50,000 miles. My horn doesn't work. I live in Tampa, so definitely need a horn. Also my infotainment center is trash. It works perfect about 30% of the time. The other 70%. Oh well where do I start? It will completely freeze, the screen turns black, when I get a call in, oh boy that's a showdown. It'll freeze, then I have to grab my phone, and answer it. Can't even use the BT (Bluetooth) in the car, I've used both Android Auto, and Carplay. It doesn't matter it's still terrible. It's unresponsive to touch about 90% of the time. Absolute trash. I've only had this car for a few months (I'm the second owner), and I can see why that last owners got rid of it. I've had nothing but issues out of this car. If I wasnt screwed by the dealership and payed 20k more than it was worth, I would have done traded the stupid thing in. I'm honestly thinking about trading it in to a Tesla, and just transfer all the negative equity over. Yea it'll cost an arm and a leg, but atleast I'd have something I'd like.
Today 9/7/2022 I was driving down a hill going about 55mph, when all of a sudden the car started jerking all of the warning lights on the dashboard came on (ABS, ACC, AEB, BSW, FCW, LDW, and the LKA). So essentially all the cool features. The vehicle then popped up a warning decrease speed immediately. Ever since then the car is like in a limp mode thing where it will not allow me to drive over 35mph. It continually jerks, and shakes. It stutters. Absolutely ridiculous. I haven't even had this car long enough to make the first payment. It feels like the back wheels lock up while driving, I'm not sure if they are but it feels like it. If I weren't in debt 40k on a car that's worth about half that (yes the dealership screwed me over). The guy I purchased from (mind you this is at a kia dealership) he is no help he refuses to answer me. I even called the main store to get ahold of him, and he refuses to talk. The service department refuses to help. I will NEVER buy another kia. This is my first and definitely last. At this point I honestly don't even know where to take it to get it fixed because they're the only kia dealership within about 100mi.
Let's start off with the minor stuff 1st my passenger seatbelt does not work secondly my hands free my hands free connection on my radio disconnect automatically on its own and won't let me reconnect it I bought a connected about a new phone thinking that was a problem it's not it's the car lastly lastly I Was driven down the road lost all power to my car it was all the oil in it I refilled the oil while stopping her again this time with no brakes could have caused a serious accident I took it to Kia for repairs the engine has failed
I was coming to a stop sign and I started hearing a knocking sound. My car flashed the check engine sign and then shut off with the battery and engine oil light flashing. It smelled like something was burning. I started drifting back so I had to pull the parking brake, put on my hazards and turn off my car. I tried to start it 2x without it turning over. On the third try, the car started and the lights on the dash resolved except the engine malfunction. I was unable to accelerate above 45 MPH on a busy highway and it eventually stalled out again for a second time in the middle of a highway. I was almost rear-ended twice. Same lights came on- engine oil, battery and check engine light. I turned it off and turned it back on- it reluctantly started and was shuttering the whole time. I was able to get it into a parking lot before calling KIA road side assistance. I had it towed to the nearest dealership who was supposed to look at it the next day, Di d not hear anything back until the 3rd day when I called. I was informed that they would not be able to look at it until the following week. I was able to get it towed to the dealership closest to home, where I purchased the vehicle. They looked at it and informed my that there was no oil in the engine and the the engine would need to be repaired. I never had an oil light come on until the vehicle stalled out. They are saying that because there was no oil in it, I was not keeping up with the maintenance and that it voids the warranty. So now I have to come up with $10,200 to replace the engine block. My car only had 25,516 miles on it and had 3 oil changes prior to it shutting down. The last oil change, I was informed that my car was using more oil than it should but that this was not cause for concern. I am beyond frustrated. I have been a loyal kia customer for years and am disheartened for being accused of not caring for my vehicle, despite having provided receipts from oil changes and no am without a car.
For the second time in the past month the car would not start. Appears to be due to a dead battery however the dealership has been unable to locate a problem. Looking online and it appears to be a issue that Kia is aware of but not owning up to. This is my wife's car and should she get stranded her personal safety could be at risk. The dealership did admit that there could be something like an electrical component that stays on and is causing the drain but they said it could take a long time to find it or they might never find it. The car has only 8700 miles on it. We recently saw a recall on other kias that are catching fire. Could this be a similar component that is draining our car battery?
My 2021 Kia Seltos shut off while I was driving it. This happened once in July 2021, I was at a stop sign and I attributed it to not driving it in a while and the extreme summer heat. But on January 31st, I had turned my car on, I let it -??warm up-?? and then I started to drive. To my surprise, as I was driving my car shut off. It first felt like the gas pedal was hardly working then the car began to slow down and I had no control over the acceleration or breaks. Then, the check engine light, battery light, and oil light all appeared on my dashboard and the car came to a complete stop. And all functions on the car were not functioning. Fortunately, no other cars were around and I wasn-??t injured. I was able to restart my car and drive back to a driveway with the engine sounding louder than normal and the only the check engine light on. From there, Kia towed my car to the dealership, ran a diagnostic check on the engine, checked the sparks plugs, drove it 25 miles. Since the problem didn-??t occur while they had it, I have been informed -??nothing is wrong with my car-??. I called Kia customer service and was informed that despite the similar claims on this website, no recall or issue had been formally filed for kia to take care of. I questioned what the next steps would be and as of now I am left to continue to drive a car that shut off on me.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Frankfort , KY, USA