KIA Motors
reviews and complaints

I became the proud owner of a 2016 Kia Sorento, which I got from Jerry Smith KIA in Burlington, Washington, in February 2020. This car has received prompt service for every maintenance item at the dealership where I bought it. Other than the expected wear and tear, I have never experienced any unneeded problems with the car. It's driven 144,250 miles. I had no warning what so ever that there was an issue with the motor.

I had the car inspected and had the regular oil changed on April 20th, 2023, and everything was fine. On April 22, 2023, I drove the Kia while out to dinner with my daughter and her friends. On the way home, however, after dropping the girls off, the car cut out and died, but I was still able to make it to the side of the road. The engine knocked like a rod and wouldn't stay turned over for more than ten seconds when I tried to start the car again. All the dash lights lit up and engine sounded like a rattle can.

I had the car towed the following morning to the dealership where I have it serviced. After a week, they were able to identify the problem. It appears that the engine's bearings failed. They estimated that a replacement engine would cost $18,000. The vehicle has a negative equity of $13,000, which is too high for me to trade in. Spending that much money on it is not worthwhile. It is currently yard art in my driveway. Despite my attempts to rectify the situation, I am still left with a sense of dissatisfaction and regret over this purchase. It's a lesson learned, but one that comes at a steep cost.

My Kia was stolen in August 2022, as a result of the Tik Tok Challenge. Kia has a defect with my ignition and computer system. My Kia was stolen a second time, just recently and is currently in the Auto Shop, AGAIN! I am filing an official complaint, for reimbursements, of my insurance deductibles, loss of work, etc. I also want my Kia recalled and Kia to resolve this issue so my Kia cannot get stolen again, with a USB Cable. My vehicle has no resale value and my insurance has already increased, since the first theft in August 2022. I want reimbursement for all expenses, let alone the stress that put me in the hospital, being a victim, not only once, but twice! I'm now stuck with my Kia, nobody wants to buy it!

I was driving my 2023 Kia Seltos LX and all of the sudden it started to overheat and AC stopped working. I tow it to Kia dealership and they told me that a small rock or object hit the radiator. It was hard for me to believe that radiator got hit from the front. So, I went to dealership and looked at it when it was up on the lift. The service advisor inform me that it was not warranty work and I need it to pay $1,400 for a new radiator plus labor.

The first thing I noticed that on the bottom of the front near the radiator the car has like 2 to 3 small holes. I have not idea why Kia decided to put those holes in front of the car. This holes should be cover so radiator can not be exposed to anything.

Even thought the holes are there, it's hard for me to believe that an object or rock went through there to damage radiator. I think my car came with a bad radiator and I should be reimburse by Kia

When I arrived at work today 5/17/2023, I noticed that the clearcoat was pealing off of my driver's side mirror, on my 2020 KIA Sportage. Upon inspecting passenger side mirror I found the same problem. These were not small flakes, but the entire surface of the mirror was peeling off. There was no gradual wear, and no damage had been done to either mirror. This was just a complete failure of the paint.

Love my car, 2014 KIA Sorento. The weekend of April 29th, all of a sudden the paint is chipping away in large pieces on both sides of the pillars, same exact location on both sides. No impact, accident or anything. Took it to my local dealer, out of warranty of course (had a 2 year on the paint?, odd?) and NO RECALLS! Took it over to the KIA body shop and have a 1400.00 estimate to fix it. I have read endless our on line and it seems to be a thing for many 2014 KIA Sorento owners. The paint did not adhere to the primer.

2015 my daughter bought a KIA Forte brand new. 2018 Ibought it from her and paid off the remaining loan balance. every year at registration renewal time i had a oil change and filter replaced and any other products needed. March 15, 2023 I had my oil changed and filter at Jiffy lube where the did the emmisions test for N.C State inspection. 3 weeks later the engine started skipping at stop signs. Took it to grease monkey where the said it was my exaust coil and they replaced it. drove it a mile and still skipped and took it back to them. they called me the next day and said I had a blown engine. Ihad it towed to Coastal Kia in Wilmington N.C where they came to the same conclusion that it needs a new engine. My car only has 88,000 miles and had new oils inspections and all, how can this happen.

My husband brought our car to Northlake Kia 3626 Northlake Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33403 on 2/19/2023 for an oil change and for them to fix the air conditioning on the car. My husband has left messages on since 2/15 constantly with no response except to say there is no update. I call the Customer Service for Corporate on May 3, 2023 at [protected]. Case number is [protected]. I was told they would give me a response by May 8th. They did not. I recalled the Customer Service center on May 9th and was told that the dealership is still diagnosing the car. I was then told to contact the BB Auto Line.

i have an engine that is no longer running over 25 mph. I have had nothing but problems with my kia since i bought it, including and not limited to replacing the CAt, Converter and muffler system. The run around I get at the KIA service dept. is "if its not diagnosed here at KIA there is nothing we can do about it."

I have a mechanic (small business) that i prefer to use. for the last 5 years i have asked for the replacement engine. now, they have had my vehicle since WEdnesday last week, and they only have ONE master tech . What if this tech doesnt evaluate it the same as my mechanic? I do not pay for diagnostics at my mechanic , but KIA screws me every time. plug in a machine and read the results costs like 200.00. Now if it is still under the extended warranty of engines. I would like it replaced. I do not want to have to wait 2 weeks to "SEE" if will be fixed... this is irritating...

I was told if I complete the recall my auto start would no long work. And they will not repair. As a senior with issues I rely on it in bad weather. This was installed when I received car from Kia. They said if I do not complete they would report to my insurance and it would be canceled. After 3 1/2 hours I was told by service manager if I want kia may supply lock bar for steering wheel. but did not say how to obtain. After 4 1/2 hours for spring service I left not a satisfied customer.

Please advise

Carolann

I leased a 2021 KIA Seltos SX from KIA Capital Expressway and after short 13K miles the reverse gear failed to work stranding me at night at the grocery store parking lot. I had to call my wife to pick me up and used a towing service to get the SUV back into our driveway. The next day I made appointment to have it towed into KIA Service where I leased it but they refused to offer me a loaner to get around to my work and child school daily. After a week they discovered the reverse gear had broken and authorized me a loaner for a few days while they repaired the transmission. A few short months later the transmission overheating light came on after just a short drive, I had to pull over and let it cool down for a couple hours to be able to safely drive it again. Then this repeated with my family out of town heading out on vacation, again pulled over and had to let it cool a couple hours. Upon return I called service and made appointment, they service team took a day or two and suddenly called saying it was not the transmission but the dual-clutch that was overheating and there was nothing they could do to fix it, they recommended I not drive in heavy traffic and always allow a couple car lengths in front of me so I would not be in touch and go traffic which overheats the clutch. That was all they did was tell me to stay away from heavy traffic. I found that impossible answer and tried to get them to give me a new vehicle and reimburse me for the lost time and tows and basically requested they have KIA HQ put out a recall and repair like every car company I have leased or purchased over my 67yrs of life, never had a service dept abandon me like this ever. The car continues to overheat now 6 months at end of my lease contract I went back in to try to get discount or some relief for leasing me a lemon, the sales and finance manager decided to reduce the trade in value of the Seltos by $3,000 due to the service issue of the transmission saying they dont want to have it on their lot due to the issue will pass on to someone new. As I complained to the service manager he went on to tell me that it was only me having issue and he sold one to his neice who has no problem, essentially degrading me as a liar or some low life for complaining that the car they leased me has been bad since I rode it off their lot, what a pitiful excuse for a service manager to say such stuff. Today I went out on the KIA Complaint board and to may dismay I see others complaining about the exact issue with the exact model car (2021 Seltos SX Turbo, top of the KIA SEltos line). I tried to call back to the service manager and sales/finance manager to inform them that several other complaints of the exact transmission failures and it was not just me complaining, but no one would come to phone to help me. This same complaint board shows only a small percentage of service issues are resolved, clearly KIA has issues and their service depts are making their clients feel like they are responsible for the defective transmissions. This is corruption and it is not acceptbale to me!

Kia 2019 Forte LXS IVT purchased on 3/17/22, Internal bubbles are appearing within the AV radio screen. Brought my car into the KIA dealership located in Branford, CT 06405. And have attached the message from the service mgr who states he submitted a claim for a replacement which was denied. Having this issue on a 2019 car is unacceptable. I would like to have this issue fixed/AV replaced. My email address is [protected]@aol.com and cel#[protected].

I bought a new Telluride today and just got a call that they say I bought the wrong one and need to bring them an additional $7,000.00 or bring it back. If this is true and I have to pay that or take it back I’m going public on this everywhere I can. This is not how you do business. This is the only vehicle we ever discussed and they sent me videos of only this car. They say the one I bought is a white one which cannot be true as my wife hates white cars.

Bought brand new in 2016, serviced and oil changes at Kia dealer its entire life. Last oil change December 2022. No issues reported from Kia. While driving noticed car was overheating. Didn’t want to drive so had tech come to my house. Diagnosed blown head gasket. Drove to service repair shop for second opinion., blown head gasket. Lost car for 3 weeks while being repaired and bought a new Kia Sportage because I needed a car to drive. Kia should reimburse me for the costs of the blown head gasket or a rebate on the purchase of a new Kia Sportage.

Lost complete power while driving vehicle on several occasions. All Dashboard warning lights come each time. Took vehicle to Kia service, but technician was unable to duplicate issue and charged $150.00 for diagnostic test. Service technician did replace High Voltage fuse and later hybrid battery and though this would have solved the issue. Do not feel vehicle is safe to drive.

I have been in contact with over 3 months with kia in vero beach,fl, manager named demetrie .I paid on 10/15/2022 a kia optima from janette,in vero beach,fl. I paid $32,000 cash! Im a loyal customer of kia for know 15 years. I spoke 2 months ago with manager named,demetrie,regarding issuing me a $800.00 refund check from kia. It has been over 2 months,and i still have not received my $800 refund check from kia,for the leather i paid for ! Im not happy! Please rectify this situation asap! i want my money back as promised by demetrie! This is consumer fraud! If i do not receive my refund check of $800.00 asap, i will be making a police report,and contacting all legal and governmental agency's that u abide and are regulated by! I prefer to drive to kia, and personally pick up my check.

For the past 3 years I have been taking my 2013 kia optima since my headlights are dangerous low. I assumed they are just pointed down but the dealership states that they have raised them as much as they can. They suggested that I buy led highlights. I have almost got in a bad wreck because the headlights are very dim. I can't drive my car at night anymore because of my headlights.

Boomer kia has my record about my headlights.

- Truck was towed in on 2/23/2023 due to flashing lights on

dashboard/shut/off. - The tech rep Robert Sparks said the problem was bad battery. Battery was replaced.

- 28 Feb 2023, the same issue occurred. This time the service rep Mr. Sparks told us it was the alternator. The rep stated that it was the alternator and that it had to be replaced. The rep informed us that we needed to tell the company that replaced our alternator that it was defected. We informed the rep that they were the one that replaced the alternator. It had been replaced by KIA motor three times in the pasted 4 years. I called to speak with the service manager concerning my vehicle and was told that Mr. RT Ives replaced Mr. Sparks as the Tech Rep and called stating that the problem was the alternator assembly cable was corroded and the part needed to be replaced and ordered. The truck has been in the shop for about 4 weeks.

- The next day the new rep Mr. Ives called to say that now the problem was the Alternator assembly cable and that they needed to drop the exhaust system to replace the cable and that would cost me $400.00 more dollars.

- We continued to contact the rep to find out the status of our vehicle with no response until the cable had been replaced. Once the cable had been replaced, RT Ives asked if we wanted to replace the starter (the starter worked when we dropped the truck off) we said NO! He then stated that the truck didn't start and needs a new starter. The starter was replaced ready to go. I was very disappointed with the service and the non-assistance in my plight. MY VEHICLE WAS IN THE SHOP FOR FORTY-SEVEN DAYS (47) and we had to make other arrangements and financial ways to get to work. Which was an inconvenience to say the least. During this time at no point did the KIA dealership offer the loaner car and would not let us used the10 % Military discount because they had discount us 10 % already. We end up paying $1,842.90 for all the repairs. THAT IS UNSATISFACTORY. IF THE CABLE ASSEMBLY PROBLEM WAS DISCOVERED IN THE BEGINNING IT WOULD SAVED US ALOT OF MONEY. ALSO, I DISCOVERED A TECHNICIAN TOOL UNDER THE HOOD WHEN WE OPENED THE HOOD TO CHECK FLUIDS LEVELS. BAD PROFESSIONALISM AND BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE !

Our Kia Sorento 2014 has been having paint issues. They paint has been coming off in several places and it seems like it will continue peeling off. It’s very frustrating since what we payed for the vehicle doesn’t match the quality of the paint. I will never buy a Kia again and when they ask about my experience with my my Kia I always said to them not to get a Kia.

I purchased a 2016 brand new Kia Optima in October of 2016. After approximately 2 1/2 years the engine blows. I had no idea what I was going to do for a vehicle as I was borrowing from family members to get back and forth to work. No recall was sent out regarding the engine failures they were having so I didn't know to take it to the dealership. When I called and told them what had happened, they said, "oh yeah, there's a recall on the engines, bring it in and we'll diagnose it". I took it in and sure enough they had to replace it. I had to wait 2 months because they were on back order with the manufacturer. When the engine was replaced we were told that there was a lifetime warranty on the replacement engine.

There are 130,000 miles on the replacement engine, and it has been burning oil like crazy for months now. I have called the dealership and Kia Support and they tell me that whoever told me there was a lifetime warranty was completely incorrect, the only warranty on the replacement engine "for my specific car" is the rod bearing. So, now not only is my car burning oil, it is now also leaking oil from the head gasket.

I currently work at a car dealership and my entire service department has stated that my car should not be burning this much oil or leaking oil. The engine only has 130,000 miles on it. The oil changes and regular maintenance is always done.