10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
51,509 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2015 Kia Sportage engine problems

engine problem

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2015 Kia Sportage Owner Comments (Page 4 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #16

Jun 012016

Sportage

  • 17,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car stalls. It stalls while idling, at a light or while driving on a highway at 65 mph. Although the last is less common it has happened enough to be frightening. I purchased the car 3 years ago and it stalled upon leaving the dealership. It was in 3 time immediaately. Since then the Kia dealership in coral springs Florida has told me they find nothing wrong. Sometimes is seems to backfire before stalling and others stall quietly. It is rare fir the car to get through bumper to bumper traffic without stalling. If I idle for five or six minutes it stalls. Going around clover leaves on highways it stall. It has stalled hundred of times.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

problem #15

Oct 022019

Sportage

  • 111,000 miles
I was getting off of the interstate, approaching a stop sign on the off ramp, and my car shut off. I cranked it back up and immediately went to a mechanic. It began making a noise (only when I first pressed on the gas). The mechanic drove it and looked under the hood and quickly determined that there is a problem with the bottom end of my motor.

- Santee, SC, USA

problem #14

Jun 062019

Sportage

  • 110,000 miles
This vehicle had a serious engine problem. The car stopped and cut off at a stoplight recently. Oil light and engine light came on. The car has a problem and now has to have a replacement of the engine part that controls exhaust, camshaft position timing. That is the engine code. The problem is that the engine will not operate correctly. Mechanic suggests that the car has noise coming from the engine. The timing belt sometimes won't let engine turn over. And there is oil leaking from in front of the motor. This is a problem combined with a poor seal on motor, and the oil pan had a serious leak. Vehicle was in motion when the oil became a big problem. Going to work and had to stop and get it looked at. Driving on a country road towards work, thankfully a farmer helped me since the leak was bad.

- Lovettsville, VA, USA

problem #13

Mar 152019

Sportage

  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Engine started making knocking sound while on the highway going to houston tx and the engine stall on road. Very busy road. Fortunately coasted to side of road and no other vehicles behind. After contact Kia motors they sent wrecker service. But did not tow to nearest dealership but garage in nearest town. Mechanic had no idea why vehicle was sent to him. I had to make arrangements to tow car to my dealership. At dealership now they say engine is part of recall but I never recieved any notice to take our vehicle in. Now over a month later still no car and no answer as to when my car will be ready. And paying for rental. I guess they have to wait for fatally to do something about this issue.

- San Benito, TX, USA

problem #12

May 012019

Sportage

  • 65,000 miles
I was driving down the street at about 45 mph when something gave out on me. I was pushing on the gas and the car was not going anywhere. I wasn't sure what it was at first until I called aaa and had them check what was wrong. At first they said it was the starter because when you turn the key, the lights came on but wouldn't do anything else. I had to leave it on the side of the road overnight. That next morning I called a tow and had them take it to a nearby auto mechanic. He then told me that it was the motor that seized up on me and that it would cost me between 2 to 3K! there was a lot of oil that leaked everywhere but I had done an oil change about a month and a half prior. So I'm making this complaint because I've read about these types of situations that occurred with other people out of nowhere!

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #11

Apr 192019

Sportage

  • 64,000 miles
I purchased 2015 Kia Sportage at peak Kia in littleton Colorado July 2015 new 0 miles. On April 19,2019 I contacted Kia dealership 303-904-7800 because the car dash went completely blank, I spoke to curtis in the service department spent over an hour trying to discuss my issue, I replaced my battery, the next day I was driving the car started to lose speed, I was able to get the car to peak. The service department said they could not give me a vehicle to drive because they could not look at my car until Monday 4/22/2019. I went the dealership manager and finally was given a vehicle to drive. On 4/27/2019 the dealership wanted the loaner vehicle back and put me into a rental car, my frustration with being in a rental instead of the courtesy vehicle is that I elected rental car insurance which I am paying out of pocket due to the fact that rental car agencies will find any ding or dent and make you pay if insurance is not added. I feel like the dealership should have provided a courtesy vehicle because I had all of the required maintenance done at peak Kia, purchased an extended warranty as a consumer I did my part, the purchase of this new vehicle has not reached the 4 year mark? Kia has 10 year 100,000 mile warranty on the motor. I was informed by peak that Kia will put a refurbished engine in the car with 12,000 warranty and 1 year so I am losing my additional 30,000 mile warranty and 6 years of warranty from the original purchase. The reason that I purchased a new vehicle with 0 miles and completed suggested maintenance requirements was to eliminate mechanical issues.

- Englewood, CO, USA

problem #10

Dec 102018

Sportage

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving approximately 10 miles per hour while approaching train tracks the vehicle shut off the entire instrument panel lights came on when I tried to accelerate it wouldn't do so. I had just enough momemtium to get me over the tracks. I pulled onside the shoulder shut the car off completely. When I tried to cut on car again it shut immediately off. I sat there 10-15 mins and it cut back on. When I started driving it again it cut off again after 5 mins. This went on for almost and hour for me to get home which was only 1/4 mile away. Now when I try to cut it on it shutters and cuts off. The engine shakes uncontrollably. All of this happened on a main street.

- York, PA, USA

problem #9

May 142018

Sportage

  • 111,400 miles
Spun a rod in the engine without warning

- Sarcoxie, MO, USA

problem #8

May 092018

Sportage

  • 1,111,000 miles
While driving to work it started knocking, oil pressure & levels were fine. Then engine light came on and motor shut down.

- Sarcoxie, MO, USA

problem #7

Mar 182018

Sportage

  • 39,000 miles
The contact owned a 2015 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while the driver was driving at approximately 65 mph, there was a popping noise coming from the engine compartment. The contact then noticed smoke coming from under the hood of the vehicle as all the warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road where the engine was engulfed in flames and then exploded. The contact stated no injuries were sustained as they was able to exit the vehicle safely. The fire department was notified and extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to a towing lot and destroyed. The contact called Kia of cerritos dealership ((562) 860-2424 located at 18201 studebaker rd, cerritos, ca 90703) where the contact was informed to contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in recall and did not offer further assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000. The VIN was not available.

- Murrieta, CA, USA

problem #6

Mar 072018

Sportage

  • 20,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The 2015 Kia Sportage was in the parking lot at the medical center where my wife had a doctor appointment. She was inside approximately 10-15 minutes when an announcement was made about a red Kia in the parking lot. When she looked, it was her car & the engine compartment was engulfed in flames. The police and fire department were already on scene & the fire was extinguished. The car was a total loss.

- Corpus Christi, TX, USA

problem #5

Oct 262017

Sportage

  • 42,000 miles
Drove vehicle approx 10 minutes smelled a burning smell, thought it was the vehicle driving in next lane, about 5 minutes later while stopped at a red light light, I noticed the heavy smoke coming from engine, I exited vehicle and just 1-2 minutes engine was fully engulfed in flames.

- Santa Maria, TX, USA

problem #4

Aug 232017

Sportage

  • 43,800 miles
I was driving on the freeway at 65 mph in the slow lane when the check engine light suddenly came on, then all the service lights lit up and the car began losing power. Luckily, I was coming to an offramp and was able to make it to the end of the offramp (signal) before the car died completely. We had to push the car out of the road and around the corner to a curb as we were blocking one side of the offramp. Had I not been in the slow lane and near an offramp, the car would have died on the freeway which would have been a much more dangerous situation. Was told by Kia service dept. That the engine blew because of sludge in the oil.

- Chino, CA, USA

problem #3

Dec 012016

Sportage

  • 20,000 miles
I have an issue with my car stalling when I press the gas I can start to go and then come to a dead stop and not move this has happened when pulling on a main hwy and has happened just driveing down the road... it stalls and feels like the gears are not changing this is an everyday thing but I was told to take the eco off but has not helped. This occurs daily since I December 2016

- Winston Salem, NC, USA

problem #2

Feb 142016

Sportage

  • 19,312 miles
While entering the 290 from downtown Chicago driving at a speed of 50 miles an hour we felt a pulse and then an audible voice came over our radio with a display illuminating as well stating that there was a "possible condition with our engine control system detected and that we should schedule a full system check with the Kia dealership." This was followed by the engine light coming on and the inability to accelerate at all. With the location of the incident there was an extreme danger of collision as there was no way to safely and effectively come out of the immediate situation. Without a shoulder to pull over on we then made our way to a side street and called roadside assistance. The car was towed to our dealership and we then had to arrange our own transportation from the disabled vehicles location to a place that was open and we were able to secure transportation. Calling the service department the next morning we were met with a preliminary assessment of it being a "sensor" and then after we personally visited the dealership and explain how we did not feel safe in our vehicle they went on to say they had never heard of that problem and would look at it. I again reiterated that in a new vehicle whether it was the car itself or a faulty part I did not feel safe as I had lost control of my vehicle and in any other situation would have not had the outcome I did. Then being told that it could be a ECM they would further look into it. I stated again, no matter what the problem I was fearful of getting back into the vehicle as this was not a result due to preventative maintenance but rather a faulty part of another undiscovered issue in the car that had no warning but rather just an immediate occurrence. I stand firm in my statement that Kia should look at why this happened and not further bet on the chance that this will not reoccur and replace the vehicle in full.

- Bolingbrook, IL, USA

problem #1

Sep 202015

Sportage 4-cyl

  • 2,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Sportage. While driving at an unknown speed, all the lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle lost power steering and braking ability. The odometer also failed to illuminate. The contact observed smoke under the hood and flames appeared. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, but was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 2,000.....updated 10-27-15

- Macomb, IL, USA

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