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.
Went out to get in my car and come home and it wouldn't start. It would roll over but nothing. Had to call a tow truck to come tow it to a repair shop. Thought it was just the radiator with a hole in it but with further investigation into it the head gasket had blown. No worning signs that anything was wrong. The heat gauge never moved while I was driving it. No lights nothing before leaving it sit for about 30 min and coming out to a car that wouldn't start.
While driving on the freeway going 70 mph my engine started making a weird noise. At first it sounded like my car was dragging something. There were no warning lights before the engine went out. Pulled over to the side of the road, turned off the car, and checked underneath the car. Then checked underneath the hood. There was no smoke and fluids were good and everything else looked good. But as I tried restarting the car after 20 mins the engine sounded like popcorn popping. At that point I called a tow truck. The tow truck guy asked if he could check the oil. When he did he found small metal shavings in it. My car was towed to the nearest Kia dealership (which is nowhere near where I currently live). Two weeks prior to that I just serviced my car for an oil change and nothing was wrong at that time. I have always kept up with my factory maintenance and oil changes on time at the same dealership I bought it from. Never experienced any other issues with my car. When I called a Kia representative the next day they said my VIN has no recalls for the SC147. It only covered the 2011-2013 Kia Sportage 2.0L engine not the 2.4L engine that I have. My car is still under warranty. Reading through other complaints about similar issues it sounds like not only should Kia be recalling the 2.0L engine but also the 2.4L engine. Just because the 2.0L and 2.4L engines are built by two manufacturers at two different facilities doesn't mean customers with the 2.4L engine should be ignored. Kia needs to take ownership and do some investigation with the facility that built the 2.4L engine. The 2.0L and 2.4L engines are experiencing the exact same issues. I called the dealership today to get status and they said they have no eta at this time because Kia has the engine backlogged. So right now I have no idea when I will be getting my car back. This is very frustrating.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. While driving approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that there was still power to the vehicle. The contact turned the vehicle off and attempted to restart it with the ignition key. On the third attempt, the vehicle restarted, but would not accelerate forward. Summit place Kia East (44900 N gratiot ave, clinton township, Michigan 48036) was made aware of the failure and stated that there were no active recalls on the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,100.
I was on the highway going 70 mph when my car start to rattle and white smoke start coming out of the back of my car... 3 warning light popped up on my dash and my car drastically slowed crow while I was on the highway luckily I was close to an exit. I could have caused an accident!!! had the car towed back to Kia dealers..where they tell me there is nothing much they can do cuz the car is not in warranty.. was not in warranty when they sold it to me that the car needed a new engine because the engine failed... I have only had the car 2 year 80 000 millie's and it's not even paid off.... feel like I have been ripped off from Kia... don't by one of their cars!!!!! they are also saying it hard to find a engine for my car cuz they are most out of stock or on back order... no wonder all these cars are drying !!!!
Bearing wear may result in engine seizure. When taken to the dealership to find out why "check engine light" came on, this was found to be the cause although the dealership seems to have messed up something while checking the vehicle and are saying that the motor needs to be replaced.
- Camden, SC, USA
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While driving 65 mph down the highway..the Kia died..got the car to the shoulder..I had it towed to my mechanic who told me the engine had seized up..he could not believe an engine that clean and well maintained would just seize up..Kia told me to take it to the dealer..I had it towed to ferguson Kia in broken arrow Oklahoma where I bought it..they said they wanted to find out why it did that. Well the dealer said that I would need to pay for them to tear my engine apart..that Kia said it was not part of the recall..even though it did exactly what the engines did that were recalled. A used engine will cost me $5800..and that has 70,000 miles on it..and it is a Kia engine..that will probably do the same thing. I loved this car..I took excellent care of this car..I could have been killed if other cars were around when it died..I had no idea of these problems the Kia's were having..they are dangerous!
While driving my vehicle at 70mph on a straight stretch of the freeway, the car suddenly stopped accelerating, and then I was unable to use the gas or brake and the check engine light turned on. There was no warning. I coasted to the shoulder and had to have it towed to the local Kia dealer. I was told that it needs a new engine. After some research I see that there was a recall for this, but it doesn't include my VIN. It seems that many other people have had this problem and are also not part of the recall. I am really concerned about this. Luckily I have a warranty, but it doesn't cover my cost of towing or the rental car I need to get to work, so I still have a lot of unforeseen expenses. I have reached out to Kia and am awaiting their response.
My 2012 Kia Sportage LX 2.4L (109,000 miles) started making a knocking noise while driving earlier this week. I took it in for my local mechanic to examine it. They said the noise is coming from inside the engine, and it is a sign of internal engine failure. I started searching online and found all the information about the engine recall of various Kia's, but my trim is not included in the safety recall. My car is showing the same signs, and yet I cannot get it fixed. The cost of the new/used engine would be more than the total worth of the car.
Fist problem ever with car but died on me while driving to work had to pull over lost all engine function, it would crank but wouldn't start, thank god for triple a had it towed to the Kia dealership and they said they were going to do a diagnostic check on it that should take no more than a half hour and I am still waiting on a call back from them all day. Kia service sucks.
I was driving an interstate highway at 65mph when the engine quit. Luckily, I was able to move it shoulder. I had it towed to a local engine repair shop who said the engine was locked up. The car has had oil changes every 3,000 miles and all service related recommendations. There is a similar recall for engine problems on Kia's but when I called Kia corporate they said my car was not included in recall. The estimate to replace and repair is in excess of $5,000. I am planning to donate the vehicle rather than repair it. I see similar issues on this model on your website. If Kia retroactively recalls these vehicles, I request that they reimburse me the current value of the car.
I was in the road slowly because I was going to stop in a toll bridge about 10 miles and suddenly my Kia Sportage 2012 was down and a big noise I was really scared. A big hole appeared under the car and all oil scattered on the pavement. The piston broke so the engine. I'm really frustrated due to I still owe the vehicle and to fix the car the cost is $5,000 in Kia of yuma Arizona. I owe $6,000 plus $5,000 it's unfair
I had an engine failure while the car was in motion. Took it to Kia mechanic who stated there was a premature connecting rod bearing failure. Kia has a recall SC147 on engines for this reason, but is claiming that my engine does not qualify even though it is the same exact problem.
I was driving down a busy street going 60mph when my engine just died. I coasted until I was able to pull over and thankfully no accident occurred. I tried to turn the key but the car wouldn't start. It was completely dead. It was towed to our local mechanic and we were told the engine was blown and he couldn't even turn it over manually. When looking for a new engine there was not 1 in all of the us available!! he mentioned the recall regarding engine failure on certain Kia Sportages so I called the Kia dealership and told them what happened. They said my VIN # was not part of the recall and my warranty had just expired so they were not able to help me at all! I couldn't believe what they were saying and especially how terrible they treated me. My car only has 80K miles on it and this was not right. I investigated the recall and found it was for the engines failing which is exactly what happened to mine. I also found a lot more people that have been dealing with this same situation for over a year now that are unable to even purchase another engine because there are none available due to all the engines exploding and needing replacement. They too were not under the VIN recall but their engines were doing the exact same thing. Kia is definitely hiding something and I think someone needs to seriously investigate this! my family could have died and so could all of the other family's that this has happened to. My car now sits in our driveway unable to drive, unable to fix and unable to sell yet I'm still having to make payments on it. I will never buy a Kia again and I hope someone gets these lying jerks for what they've done and are continuing to do.
My 2012 Kia Sportage engine had a catastrophic failure at 141,000 miles. There was metal debris in the engine, however, I am told that my particular engine is not in the class action lawsuit covering these engine failures. However, Kia has discontinued the engine and now the replacement engine is back ordered 5-6 months. I have to speculate that there are more catastrophic engine failures out there that have not been addressed by the lawsuit. I am lodging a complaint because I believe they know there is a problem with this engine overall and they have decided that the number of complaints are too low to bother with. We were in the vehicle in commuter traffic on the freeway at the time that the engine failed...thankfully, quick thinking saved us from having a wreck and we managed to get the vehicle off the road. My Sportage had been well maintained, all oil changes and maintenance performed at the right times...there was no reason for the engine to fail. $23,000 for a car that ran for 141,000 miles...so disappointed. And they want $6500 to do the repairs and I have to wait 5-6 months because of the back ordered engine! will never buy another Kia...should have bought a Honda CRV...my sister's has 250,000 miles on it and it runs like it's new!
My 17yr old son was driving the car when it started making a noise and wouldn't accelerate.he slowed down to pull over and the steering wheel didn't want to turn. He said it was heavy. We had the car towed home and checked out by a mechanic who stated it was rod bearings. I remembered a couple years ago getting a letter from NHTSA and Kia mentioning they were investigating a problem with the engine. I looked up and it said no recalls on my car. The car has the exact same problem as the recall same year and everything. The car only has 106 thousand on it and has always received all scheduled maintenance. The mechanic said had my son kept driving the car the engine would have seized which could have caused a serious accident. My son was driving on a busy rural road with a lot of curves. We have a lot of oilfield trucks and traffic with vehicles that can't stop fast and had my son broke down on a curve or bottom of a hill he could have been seriously injured or worse. I think the recall needs to be investigated more. Kia said my vehicle was not included in the recall because my engine was manufactured in a different facility. My car has the exact problem as the recall same year model everything.
Our Kia 2012 Sportage engine failed while we were driving on interstate 95 on March 10 2018. We had never had an engine warning light come on ever until the engine seized going 65 mph. Heard a knocking sound come form the engine. Car seized without warning on the highway - had to coast to the shoulder. My VIN does not show up in the recall but has the exact same issue. Car currently at mechanic. The engine failure is the exact description of all the other engine failures. ***** called Kia and they said that our VIN did not match their recall. And too bad for us. **** we have been in a quandry about how to deal with this. We spoke to our Hyundai service advisor (we have owned a Hyundai for 10 years with no problems) and he said that we should definitely pursue this further with Kia. Do you have any advice on who to deal with on this? we have no idea where to start. I do appreciate your time and any advice you might have.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. While driving approximately 75 mph, the vehicle decelerated without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer (pat peck Kia, 10611 boney ave, D'lberville, ms 39540, 228-679-5200) where it was diagnosed that the connecting rod was faulty and the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 83,200.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. While driving at highway speeds, the engine seized without warning. The vehicle was taken to montrose Kia in sheffield (5033 detroit rd, sheffield, oh) where it was diagnosed that the engine contained metal shavings and the engine short block assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but did not assist because the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 104,000.
The vehicles engine seized while driving on the highway, certified ase mechanic verified that there was ball bearing material in the oil filter. The mechanic had told me to send it to a registered Kia dealership which I did. The vehicle year and model are being investigated however the dealership does not recognize our VIN series as it was manufactured in a different location. To my knowledge through hours of research the parts that were manufactured were not manufactured correctly causing faster wear and tear on the ball bearings and thus causing engines to seize. I have been told in the past after filing a report that my car can not be considered. The vehicle has a total of 90,000 miles and not even 1 year of use by myself before this event occurred. It is a safety violation, and that is that simple. The Kia dealership had told me they had many other vehicles of the same model year and series as mine do not fit the criteria and unfortunately the vehicles are not worth the money to repair them myself. Not only have I lost 14 thousand dollars for buying a vehicle that is faulty but I could have been killed. I thought the job of the NHTSA was to keep americans lives as safe as possible and I am truly appalled that they are in-fact not. This is not right a statistic on issues should not be at the percentage they are being allowed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Glouster, OH, USA