Vehicle in motion highway speeds flat surface suddenly turned off towed to dealer -- catastrophic engine failure engine needs to be replaced

- Morrisville, NC, USA

I was driving the vehicle on an interstate when I suddenly heard a popping sound and the battery and oil lights came on simultaneously. Then the engine shut off entirely. I was able to glide to the end of the exit ramp before the car came to a stop and I couldn't restart the engine.

- Seattle, WA, USA

I was driving in the middle of a busy highway when my car all the sudden lost all power. I luckily was able to get to the side of the road. The car however would turn over. Electric worked but engine make loud noise. I had to have it towed back home, 2 hours away, to have a dealership take a look at it. The bearing wore from the engine completely locked up the engine. Found out vehicle has recall on some 2012 Sportage but not mine will cost $5000 to fix

- Manteca, CA, USA

Vehicle began to suddenly make knocking noises while driving on the highway. Driver was able to make it short distance home before engine completely seized. Towed to Kia dealership who confirmed the engine had seized (pistons became completely stuck and unable to move). Service manager said only fix is to replace the motor,

- Athens, GA, USA

I was driving down the road when the engine siezed up and died on me. I was traveling at 60 mph when it died on me and luckily there was a shoulder to pull off of the highway so that I could get out of harms way in the heavy traffic.

- Beaver Falls, PA, USA

I purchased a 2012 Kia Sportage for my daughter four months ago. Last week she was driving late at night on the freeway and she heard a loud bang, lost power and was able to coast over to the side of the road. The car filled up with smoke as all the oil had drained out and the hot engine was burning it. I had to have it towed to the nearest Kia dealership. They determined that the piston had gone through then engine block. They told me that I should have to only pay $119 dollars to pull the head gasket and Kia should cover the cost of a new engine. After pulling the gasket they told me the blown engine was no fault of Kia and since the car had not been serviced there the dealership would not pay to fix it. After many hours of research I learned that the same model and same year the engines I have has been involved in a recall. The only difference between the two engines is they come out of different manufacturing facilities. This makes absolutely no sense since the engines are having the exact same issues. I absolutely do not have $6800 to pay for a used engine which has more miles on it then the one that was blown. Not to mention it takes the value down considerably. We would live in constant fear that the engine would blow again putting my daughter in danger. I have gotten one message from the escalation department. I have tried to call back repeatedly, with no return call. This experience and treatment by a company that supposedly prides themselves on their customer service is deplorable. Update. I received a call on 4/16/2018 from a Kia consumer complaint representative. We talked extensively about the situation. He assured me he would be working on a solution and told me he would call me within 5 business days. As of 4/27/2018 still no call. I would have called him sooner but I just got out of surgery a few days ago.

- Naples, FL, USA

Car engine seized up while driving in town. Have auto at mechanic who has broke down motor said engine bearing was bad, the bearing was spun causing the engine to seize while driving down the road

- Benton, IL, USA

Engine fell apart on expressway going 70mph

- Chicago, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. While driving 65 mph, the engine seized without warning. An independent mechanic diagnosed that the engine seized. Doug smith Kia in american fork, Utah was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The failure mileage was 66,000.

- Spanish Fork, UT, USA

Check engine light came on. Mechanic tested and got code- P0017 which is unknown trouble code. The mechanic said there was a recall on this motor in other vehicles due to engine seizing up with this code. Two days after that the car is not driveable. When I went out to start the car it took awhile to turn over and won't start. The car has new battery and alternator was tested and is good. I was lucky and wasn't driving when engine seized up. Car only has 104,000 miles on it.

- Boyertown, PA, USA

After attempting to remote start my car parked in the lot, I went outside to a car that didn't realize it could start and yet it continued to try. I stopped it and tried the key, and the car lights worked but the car was quiet, and would not turn over. I had it towed to Kia dealer, and after two days they said it was the timing chain, guides, and tensions $1,116, plus tax.....after a week they said you have 16 of your 32 valves damaged $2,500, plus tax. Apparently my 2012 Kia Sportage 2.4L mpi theta II 64,000 mileage, is not part of the recall. I bought the car as a second owner so the warranty ran out at 60,000 for second owners. Kia corporate, customer service says "no goodwill", which means they can't help me. I like many still have a car loan for the vehicle that has been sitting for 2 weeks at the dealership.

- Long Branch, NJ, USA

Driving at 50 mph down highway, hear 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.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. While driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had to coast the vehicle on a hill because it was unable to be driven. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for inspection and diagnostic testing. The dealer (butler Kia, 4950 crater lake ave, medford, or 97504, (541) 776-3088) stated that the vehicle was excluded from a manufacturer recall for the engine assembly. The contact was uncertain if the vehicle would be repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 51,000.

- Yreka, CA, USA

Driving down the road and vehicle shut off on its own, engine started making a loud noise in the engine area, metal shavings were found in my oil. This happened on a state highway near my home.

- Munnsville, NY, USA

Was driving down the road at about 20-25 mph when the engine died without warning. After having it towed to a local shop, they determined there was an internal "catastrophic" engine failure. Had the car towed to the dealer where it was purchased, lee johnson Kia in kirkland, wa. They confirmed the first diagnosis of catastrophic engine failure. It appears the engine starved itself of oil and exactly matches all of the symptoms described in the current Kia "theta II" engine recall campaign. The dealer agrees that it should be covered under the recall but Kia refuses to cover it. We have been without this vehicle since late May 2017. It has been sitting at the dealer ever since. Kia's reasoning for not covering the engine replacement was that the engine did not originate from the assembly factory outlined in the recall. However, just as Kia assumed the previous Hyundai recall didn't impact them (as noted in your currently open investigation), I believe they continue to underestimate the broader impact of this manufacturing defect across all of their assembly factories. This leaves customers like me to foot the bill and replace the defective engine with a used, also likely defective engine, to the cost of ~$7,000. This is unacceptable and unsafe. We count our blessing this didn't happen while on the freeway, as the outcome could have been deadly.

- Bonney Lake, WA, USA

As I pulled out of my driveway and began accelerating, my car began making a loud knocking noise in the front end. After pulling over and verifying the noise was coming from the motor, I took the car to my mechanic. He pulled the oil filter and cut it open. Confirming there were metal shavings in the oil filter. After calling our local Kia dealership, they confirmed there was a recall for the 2012 Kia Sportages, but continued to tell me my VIN was not included in said recall. (I purchase my car used, after a one year lease, so the warranty was void for me.) I am confused as to why my issue was "verified" to be the same issue as the recall, but my engine (2.4 L vs. 2.0 L) was not included"!?!"! something is not right. Now I am stuck with money remaining on my loan and a very large paperweight. (approximate mileage at the time of issue 79,000)

- Pendleton, OR, USA

Engine seized. Moves while in park moves forward in reverse. Driving engine stalled pulled over car died. Then would not engage but still moved as described. Had happened a few months ago after transmission replace. Then the igniter switch needed replacement.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Vehicle is equipped with 2.4L mpi engine, 140,000 kilometers, meticulously maintained with regular oil changes with premium synthetic oil and filters, spark plug change, etc. Engine always made some light knocking sound but assumed it was the injectors, no lights or errors ever came on and service techs never said anything and forums mentioned noisy injectors so assumed it was normal. A few days ago I was on my home ascending a regular hill in the residential area when an unusually loud knocking noise began and engine began to struggle. It was late at night, and 5 minutes away from home so I was hoping I could at least make it home to bed and get it towed to the shop in the morning but as I approached the top of the hill the engine completely shut down causing abrupt deceleration and the vehicle began to roll back down in reverse quite rapidly and was very difficult to slow it to a safe stop since the brakes stiffen up without vacuum from the running engine on top of being startled from the event and slightly panicking from the surprise. Luckily enough it was at night and there was no traffic or pedestrians behind or near me but still was frightening enough. I was able to barely control the speed of the car down the hill in reverse with no power steering and brakes stiffened up and the emergency brake was not strong enough at that incline. I was able to move the car off the main street to a side street and attempted to start the vehicle several times hoping it was either a fuel problem or electrical. With no avail, I called tow company, waited for an hour in the cold at midnight, nothing worked, just clicking, towed it to the dealership and took a cab home. Got news from dealer that engine was infact seized and quote to replace engine is $8500 plus labor.

- Burnaby, Bc, Canada, WA, USA

Car is a 2012 Kia Sportage. 82,000 miles 5 yrs old. First instance. Car was moving around 2 mph through drive thru when the car stalled. Engine light came on at that time. Was able to restart. Took to dealership. Said the engine was dirty but could not find problem. 1 week later while exiting freeway around 20mph. Car shut off while still in motion but coming to a stop. Again engine light came on. Car turned over was able to restart. Happened again while approaching stop. Shut down before coming to complete stop. Had car towed to dealership. Found sluge build up and metal shavings in engine. Dealership now stating complete engine failure. Have extended warranty and will not cover engine due to "maintence" issue. Will cover replacement parts only. Mechanic stated issue will most likely not be resolved with part replacement wants oil change records.

- Ventura, CA, USA

Left work and onto highway in rush hour doing around 20 mph. Within a mile of work, oil light came on and the engine seized. Had to push car off road in large city construction zone of only two lanes with no shoulder lanes available. The vehicle had gotten regular and proper oil changes using synthetic oil. After the event, checking the oil, there was oil still on the dipstick. This is a vehicle that has been involved in a recent recall, and yet, for some reason the claim is my car/engine is not involved. I see many others reporting the same thing with Kia engines from this timeframe being given a similar song and dance. The original recall was expanded. I would say it should be expanded again. I was fortunate with it being rush hour that I was not going full highway speed. The engine had 150,000 miles on it, but it was due to averaging almost 27,000 a year in mostly highway miles.

- Racine, WI, USA