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.
The tow hitch can apparently start a fire. I can not afford to rent a car & must use mine as I am disabled & have a mother with dementia, so I need my vehicle. Kia still has not resolved this issue. This recall has been open since September, 10 MONTHS! This is the THIRD recall for this vehicle, one has a current lawsuit.
The plugs for the engine cooling fan and wiring harness were damaged from overheating. No fuses blew, plugs were melted and wiring was discolored from overheating. Estimate for repair was: Parts (cooling fan assembly, and wiring harness)- $2430.19 plus tax, Labor 8hrs @ $175/hr- $1400, Total cost to replace the cooling fan and wiring harness- $3830.19 plus tax. Overheating of the wiring harness poses a significant risk of a short circuit and potential engine fire. The problem was identified by the Kia dealer. No warning lamps, blown fuses, or messages warning of the problem. we smelled smoke on a couple of occasions. Unable to afford the repairs, we traded the vehicle in at a Honda dealer.
The contact owned a 2018 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that the vehicle was stolen while parked in front of her residence. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously taken to a dealer and the Anti-Theft Logic and Sticker Upgrade per NHTSA ID Number: 10233650 (Electrical System) was performed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
I was driving and the radio went out along with navigation screen, then power steering went out along with headlights, tail lights. Engine was still running but would not rev up. All kinds of warning lights went off, had a harder time steering vehicle out of the Road way. Engine eventually shut off. My dealer said my starter had a continuous draw on my battery and drained it. This was on 11/10/21. They replaced the starter and the battery. Got vehicle back on 11/10. Last night 11/18/21 I was driving my vehicle again at night and the same thing happened again, no lights, no power steering, no electronics in the vehicle worked. Got someone to jump My vehicle, we let it charge from the jumper and got the vehicle started again. Drove 4 miles down the road, same thing again. Had my wife come there and we again put jumper cables on for 20 minutes, was able to drive the vehicle home, did notice this time I had a check engine light. Have scheduled an appointment with my dealer again. I feel that on a dark country road with limited areas to pull over with no headlights or tail lights or 4 way flashers I could have easily been rear ended. I did have cars pass me and blow their horn at me, did finally make it to a cross road with a street light and got off the main road. The dealer has not set an appointment yet, vehicle would be available for inspection, if needed.
Kia knowing that they are selling nothing but junk to consumers are refusing to provide ANY Assistance to customers whom pay 25+K for their trash called vechicles. Kia has recalled my vechicle 2× now for Motor and ECU problems and now my vechicle is having electrical problems and had to be towed to a dealership to be looked at. This dealership is not looking to find out where the electrician problem is coming from and when I contact Kia America they are refusing any assistance to help me get their 25K piece of trash back on the road. When is the NTHSA going to do something and hold these car companies RESPONSIBLE FOR THE JUNK THEY ARE SELLING!!!
When you turn off the car via push button the car engine won-??t shut off. The computer system shuts down but the engine continues to run. I-??ve taken to the dealership three times to repair and it is still an issue. Engine isn-??t diesel-??ing as the gas pedal still works with the car off. When this happens the vehicles computer system itself is fully off. Kia roadside won-??t dispatch in this situation as they say -??they aren-??t mechanics-??. The only thing you can do to shut the car off no matter how many times you attempt to restart is to go inside the engine compartment and pull the fuel pump fuse and starve the engine. There is no difference in engine sound between the on and off computer state, car is quiet so it could be easily missed by someone not paying attention. The car doors will not lock in this situation. Originally when this happened the car would throw tons of codes (I have it on video) now after the supposed fix (aka the computer update for the recall that was supposed to fix my issue) it no longer throws any codes. Now when the issue happens the vehicle appears to actually shut down fully except you can hear the engine not shutting down but not a single code registers. Shifter is completely locked out in this situation and will not re-engage until the engine has been choked out.
Initially, I attempted to crank the vehicle by pressing the starter button. I heard a click and noticed quick flashing lights from the dash, then nothing happened except clicks, noises and minimal light as if the battery was down. There was nothing on inside the car to cause battery failure. The brake was hard to press down to restart the vehicle. Therefore, I opted to jump-start the car and it immediately powered up. All of the lights on the dashboard flashed on a few times then the letters afls appeared on the dashboard. The radio/gps display continued to flicker and flash on and off nonstop as I continued to drive. I allowed the car to run for 5 minutes at home then proceeded to drive. After driving for 25 minutes on the highway, I turned to park, the steering wheel locked then unlocked in the process. I stopped to check to make sure that I was in the proper gear, still in disbelief that this steering wheel locking was occurring. I proceeded to back up the vehicle when the wheel locked again. I checked to see if the car was still running after that harder lock/jerk in the parking lot. I stopped the car, placed it in park without turning off the engine to gather myself because this was a very frightening and alarming experience to say the least. I didn't turn off the engine because I was uncertain if it would restart considering what occurred earlier with jump-starting the car. I drove back home making a concerted effort to drive slowly on the street. I then entered the open ramp onto the highway. I took extreme precautions and hoping that the steering wheel would not lock again which may have further caused my family and I to be placed into harm's way, not to mention the other drivers to be in danger on the road. I hope that immediate attention will be given to this matter to avoid further terror and trepidation, any injuries and/or loss of life.
According to Kia which they posted at their website, electrical circuit within hecu may experience excessive current, thereby increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire.took the car to dealer, had no parts, as of 4/12/21 no Kia dealer has this part. Called Kia, they supposedly going to ship parts end of April. They have no concern about public safety, despite I told them I can rent a car but you have to pay for it, that declined. Question is, why they haven't informed public and send the hecu parts to their dealers sooner? taking risk to drive a car which has potential to cut fire seems not safe and displays Kia negligence.
While driving at low speed the engine cuts off.also while trying to start the engine nothing happens.totally dead, no warning ligths come on.have battery check, no problem found, jump start every thing seems to be normal.this happen in several occasions.
My 2018 Kia sport age at about 26,000 miles would not start. This problem started in September of 2019. I thought it might be the battery. However, Kia dealership testing it shows the battery is perfect. Now I'm at 34,000 miles and my car hass to be jumped to start it about six times a week. I have had my battery tested several times. I keep being told the battery's fine. At first it would just go click click click but wouldn't start. Now it's completely dead no noise clicking when I try to start it. The check engine light comes on and then goes off. This is frustrating that I bought for the first time in my life a brand new car drove it off the lot with 11 miles and I have the most unreliable vehicle I've ever had in my lifetime. Whenever I go somewhere I have to make sure I have an electrical outlet so that I can plug my jumper box into just in case. I have missed appointments because of this, I have missed work because of this. I'm ready to leave it at the dealership and let the finance company have it. Clearly there is something wrong with this car and nobody can seem to figure it out. Something is drawing power or the alternator is not working like it's supposed to and possible frayed wire or something there. The car is completely stock and there have been no changes made to this vehicle since it was purchased. And I have maintained all the routine maintenance that should be done on a car. Someone needs to help me figure out why I have a brand new vehicle that won't start and that is unreliable.
Addendum # 2 from original complaint and response through senator marco rubio office. 1st addendum dated August 9 2019. Husband arrived at courtesy Kia and as expected, no loaner vehicle. Finally I reached the sales manager and explained how disgusting it would be for a disabled man who is paying for a defective car and promised a loaner to have to call uber. He agreed to loan one under "test drive" guise. Friday 9,2019 heard nothing about our car. We called at 4:30. Fernando stated that they had it in back and did not know what was wrong with it. Saturday 10,2019..1:45, jenny the service advisor called and stated that our car was ready " we put a ksds wiring harness". no further explanation. Not even via email. The service ticket on states...engine noise pass, put wiring harness jumper. I looked at the protocol on NHTSA site. It states clearly. The car must be hooked up to internet everyday and a 21 step procedure to check for engine noise. On the service ticket, mileage was identical in and out. How do you really test a car without driving it. This was a rush job on their part... employees pretending to not know about this massive defect. The 26 page document attached speaks volumes. We asked for a photo of the wiring harness that was damaged. They refused, they also stated that it is being sent back to the manufacturer. Meanwhile...two disabled persons get to drive in fear, live in fear and pay for a defective engine/car and was scammed by citrus Kia, Kia motors, Kia America. Attorneys general, states attorneys, senators, please hold Kia accountable. Please make them actually show up in front of congress ♿ plant city....per the document. Everyday doesn't mean, day and half.
All of the lights on my dashboard come on and when this happens it's generally night time. I can't drive my car with the headlights on because if I cut them on my car won't move and my rear view camera will not work. The first time this happened it was 05/18/2019. I was driving in the evening hours to pick my son up from work I noticed that the car started to slow down as I had my foot on the accelerator, I pulled the car to the side before it stopped and turned everything off. I waited a few minutes cut it back on and every light on the dashboard was on. I couldn't move my car I cut the headline off and it proceeded to move. However at that time of night I need lights. The next morning I took the car to berwyn Kia in berwyn Illinois and was told that a software update was needed, took 30 minutes and I was gone. A week or two later I was right back with exact same issue and was told it was a harness problem and hey would get it fixed. My car was here for a month. I picked my car up and 07/03/2019 it happened again and I have video footage for each incident. I called Kia customer service and spoke with them and I am now being the car back again on 07/17/2019 because all of the issues have happened again!!
Vehicle suddenly decelerated to 20 mph on one way highway in a passing zone. Problem then diagnosed as engine failure. 5 weeks later, with vehicle still out of service, diagnosed instead as wiring harness problem. Wiring harness replaced. Brand new car, 11 months old, 5,925 miles, serviced with first oil change 5 days before problem occurred. Kia roadside assistance had no regard for my safety on the side of a dangerous freeway and had to be resolved two hours later with aaa service towing. Still no reimbursement from Kia.
High pitched whirring sound lasting 10 to 15 seconds when car is parked a day or more after driving. Has happened 4 times we have heard it. Vehicle has 1200 miles on it. Occurs intermittently. It sounds to me like starter motor running.
- Sun City Center, FL, USA
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- Bartlett, TN, USA