KIA Motors
Reviews and Complaints

I am leasing a KIA Sedona minivan made 2016. I bought car in 2017, Murch. Its almost 3 years and I had no complaints until recently. Car start losing power during driving. I stop at KIA Liberty in Mahwah NJ to find out what is wrong. After review I been told that my engine is sludge because I didn't change oil and according to KIAs law they can not repair car under warranty. I told them that as I remember I change oil 2 or 3 times during 2.5 year period. They request prove which I didn't have. So I took my car back and start driving to some shops which I believe can have of record of me changing an oil. Finally I got a service that had 3 records of my car being for oil change. One for 16000, one for 23000 and one for 28000. I came ti KIA with those records but warranty engine replacement was refused based on no record for car between 0 and 16000 miles. I told representative that maybe I did but can not find a service shop who perform a service. But even I forgot to change oil at first 16000 miles it couldn't damage an engine in my opinion because car was driven during summer 2017 and then 2.5 years without any problem and I was very happy with car performance. I am 72 years old and I am retired . This car is my lifesaver. I can't afford to spend $7000 to engine repair because KIA refused to warranty repair this car which in my opinion is not my fault . I don't know what made my engine sludge but I know for sure it is not my fault. I writing this letter to you hoping that you are reasonable Company and will help me to solve that problem. If you need talk to me and if you have any question you can reach me at [protected] or e-mail me at [protected]@gmail.com.
Best regards,
Vadim Ploshchansky
197 St. Nicholas Ave., Hillsdale, NJ 07642

I drive a kia sportage novus auto year 2008.
Problems:
1. For almost 2 years now my car's sport mode is not functioning, no spare part available anywhere.. I would like to buy a replacement gear knob assembly even if I have to order from korea.. For a right drive kia sportage!
2. I need to buy the original kia sportage 2008 side steps.. Mine broken! Also not available locally... Pls. Help me out!

Nawawi of shah alam, malaysia.

Hello. I bought my car Nov 2016. It has a problem around engine to oil. So service center ordered a part of it 8/3/2019. I am still waiting it. But the officer told me it will arrive 9/1/2019. Actually, they told it was supposed to arrive on 8/21/2019. They keep telling me that the part is out of country. To be honest, I could not understand why it takes too long. The service center is Matthew's Auto Kia in Binghamton in NY. The phone no is [protected]. The problem is I tried to complain this problem to Kia in person, but I called 8003334542 which is only for road service. I could not find any number for car problems. As a matter of fact, I want to know how long it takes to transfer the part from factory. I also have another car and it is easy to connect to complaing center when I have problem. However, Kia is not. Can you please verify it for me and let me know? My phone no is [protected]. Kyoungae Lee. If you need to talk with me, call me 8 to 12 in morning.

I owned a 2015 kia soul and in febuary my engine went. I went to a kia dealer in oakdale new york and they didnt say anything about kia having a problem with engine problems.in beginning of april I received a recall for this same issue and also the cadiliac converter is also a recall. Back at 90, 000 thousand miles I brought the same kia in to get the converter fixed at kia in rockville centre long island which was covered under warranty. So car had problems back then when engine went I had 121, 000 thousand miles on car. My complaint is that I had to go out and buy a new car which at the time I didnt feel ready to buy another kia. So I went out and bought a honda crv had to put down 4200.00 in cash and I still owned 3199.00 on my kia that the new dealer put into my loan. So I m looking for reibusment for all of this I feel if this would of happened a month later I wouldnt have this problem and I would be still driving a kia. I had to use my savings to get the new car.
My case number that I have been speaking to some of kia employees is [protected]
My number is [protected]
John pulos
444 broadway
Massapequa park ny 11762

I have a KIA Sportage 2012 model, recently the fuel was leaking when i pump full tank. After sending to Kia Service Centre for checking and notice that the Fuel Tank Retainer was broken. They couldn't find the spare part that fit the it. The service centre informed that KIA change the fuel tank due to the defective issue for prior 2012 model. They even inform customer and take responsible at all. This is dangerous and i can even smell the gasoline when driving the car. Why you know the issue and ever ask the existing customer to change this defective part. Now they couldn't find any retainer/cover for my Sportage 2012 model. Can you advise?

I love my kia I own two one optima and the other cadenzia. Driving today I received an error message on my radio screen., it was in korean. Not, being able to read korean, I just want to know what is the message say.

Send reply to [protected]@aol.com
Cell# [protected]
James l. Haughey

Ps
I submitted the photos of the warning ⚠️, I thought they were attached, sorry.

I bought my vehicle Nov 2017. I went to Cartown KIA certain I would leave with a vehicle. That's what their ads said. My car barely made it to the dealership. Transmission had went out completely. Being a single mom, in a place where I have no one to help me, I had to do something and quick. So I went to Cartown KIA and explained the situation, explained what I needed and my budget. The salesmen stated they had something just right for me. So they presented me with this 2012 Sorento that they stated had nothing wrong with it besides the obvious ripped up seats. I was already very distraught and the salesman said he had been trying to get rid of it. Said his wife had been driving it so it's definitely ok. The vehicle was very trashy on the inside. The financial guy was very pushy and acted very irritated while I was trying to figure out the financials. I felt rushed. I felt like this wasn't a big deal to them. It was to me. I didn't have dependable transportation. Now, i'm going to have a car payment on my already tight budget. It was a big deal. Buying a car is a big deal. After we worked out payment they cleaned the vehicle for a couple of hours. They offered me a warranty that was to be paid separate every month. I didn't realize that was my only warranty. After a couple of months I had to cancel the extra warranty because I was struggling financially. I mean, if nothing was wrong with it, I should have been ok, right? Well, my first oil change, Valvoline told me I was low on oil. Every oil change was low on oil after that. So I asked KIA about it and they did an oil analysis on it. It is burning oil. I need a new engine. Well, they started working on the process. The guy working on it was very nice. Then he came up to me and asked why I wasn't listed as the owner of the vehicle. I was clueless. Then proceeded to tell me that since I was the second owner of the vehicle I don't qualify for an engine since it wasn't a certified pre-owned vehicle. I had already had the vehicle in earlier for a recall on the knock detection system. So if my engine was knocking I would definitely qualify for a new engine. I was not aware, during all the chaos of buying this vehicle, that it was not certified pre-owned. I am led to believe that KIA knew this vehicle was burning oil and was desperate to sell it. Then here I am, a desperate female, single mom, with no help or guidance comes in there with a car that barely got there. So every since the oil analysis, I have been putting oil in my engine every weekend and stopping on long trips to replenish the oil. This is no way to live. I have to travel. My parents are in Texas, I'm in Kentucky. My son is now 4 hrs away. I have to travel to watch him compete. I don't have money to spare. I'm struggling. I should not have this extra stress. I'm a 7 yr Army veteran, single mom, not around any family or anyone who can help me. I definitely fell in to KIA's trap. They got me. I wasn't going to say anything and just deal with my mistake, but my parents wanted me to let you guys know what was going on. After leaving, the dealership, I found out both front seat headrests were broken they were just barely hanging on. Someone apparently just kept them on there as good as they could. I just figured I'd just glue them on, no big deal. I pulled a whole grocery bag of trash out from under the back seats, so their idea of cleaning and detail at the time of purchase was terrible. The more I think about it, the madder I get. It may be too late to help me, but I really don't want this happening to anyone else. Now I'm still paying on a vehicle for another 3 years not knowing if it's going to konk out on me and leave me in the same situation I was in when I ended up at KIA in the first place. I don't need this stress. But I'm going to continue to put oil in this thing for 3 more years in hopes it keeps going till its paid off. Thank you for listening. If you could help me get a new engine, that would be awesome. I'd be forever grateful. A new car would be even better. lol
Wendy Franklin
292 Preakness Dr
Lexington, KY 40516
[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com

so the other day I was driving my 2012 Kia Soul, listening to the radio when it stopped working, and a message came up and said I need a update. The radio shut off and when it came back on there is no sound, NOTHING!... everything works fine, including the back up camera but there is no sound! ... after weeks of trying to figure this out I finally got a hold of some one who told me that my Kia Radio there isnt any update for it available because the program that runs my radio is obsolete! ... there is NO DOWNLOAD for it because they no longer offer that download...that radio downloads are obsolete after 5 years... so I now have a Kia that I bought 8 months ago and the radio doesnt work. I can pay out of my pocket to install a new radio... at the price of 450 plus dollars, because I need to purchase one that works with the back up camera. So this is ridiculous that I bought a used Kia soul and the radio doesnt work and the responsibility is all on me! NEVER will I buy nor recommend a Kia again!

HELLO KIA WORLDWIDE!

I hope this e mail address is going to be read by the Korean kia motors mother company!

My name is Thomas Papathanasiou and I am a greek lawyer ( Katerini barrister association number 327, address : Agias Lavras 22, katerini city, ) that bought in January 2019 one brand new kia sportage 1.6 diesel ( 136 hp) AWD from your official dealer in Larisa city in Greece named NASIAKOPOULOS and costed 28.000 Euros.

I am an old client of HYUNDAI and KIA cars since 2004 and I have bought for my family 4 brand new cars till now ( Hyundai genz, Hyundai i20, kia ceed 1.6 diesel and at last kia sportage.) from the same car dealer in Larisa city. I personally in past ( till 2013 ) I was driving bmw cars x3 serie but after a lot of technical problems I have chosen for the reliability of your engines and because I travel more than 30.000 km per year, your cars ( till now kia ceed 1.6 diesel and that kia sportage .

Before two and a half months my Kia sportage started to appear a very strange problem that turned out to be a very dangerous one. The car 3 different times while I was accelerating from 2.000 rpm to 3000 r.p.m suddenly lost power and for this reason I took the car 2 different times in official kia motors service in Larisa.

The last time this problem appeared while I was accelerating in a two directions highway to overtake another car.

JUST BEFORE I COMPLETE THE OVERTAKING SUDDENLY I LOST POWER ( FROM 3.000 RPM FELT TO ALMOST 1.800 -2.000 R.P.M ) AND MY LIFE WAS IN GREAT DANGER BECAUSE FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD ANOTHER VEHICLE WAS APPROACHING! I was very lucky that I didn't had serious accident! Thanks god!

Immediately after this incident I took my car on 25th of june 2019 for second time in Kia motors official service in Larisa and after of many km of test drives that problem appeared also to the technicians of Kia motors in Larisa.

The technicians of Kia motors NASIAKOPOULOS made a lot of test drives to find out the problem and finally the car appeared the same problem ( the same I reported to them ) by losing power while driving.

THIS WAS REPORTED IN THEIR OFFICIAL TECHNICAL REPORT WRITTEN IN DOCUMENT BY THE TECHNICIANS IN LARISA WHO WERE TESTING MY CAR.

BUT THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE SYMPTOM OF LOSING POWER ALTHOUGH IT WAS EMPIRICALLY NOTICED BY THEM DURING TEST DRIVE ( AS I WAS TOLD BY THEM ON PHONE) IT WAS NOT RECORDED IN THE EXTERNAL TECHNICAL DATA RECORDER WHITCH WAS CONNECTED TO THE CAR BECAUSE THE MEMORY CARD WAS BROKEN (!).

FOR ME THE GOOD THING IN ALL THOSE TEST IS THAT THE PROBLEM EMPIRICALLY NOTICED BY THE KIA MOTORS TECHNICIANS IN LARISA AND THEY WROTE ABOUT IT IN THEIR TECHNICAL REPORT!

T H I S P R O V E S M Y CLAIMS ABOUT THE CAR'S PROBLEM AND PROVES THAT THE LOST OF POWER ITS NOT MY IMAGINATION AND THAT I AM NOT CRAZY!

So after all those long term tests by the technicians in Kia motors service in Larisa and although that they noticed empirically the lost of power they still couldn't find the cause of the problem and couldn' t explain it.

So kia Motors in Athens who was informed from the first minute about my car's problem sent on the 08.08.2019 two other technicians to examine my car.

On Friday 09.08.2019 noon the technician who examined my car called me on phone and he SAID TO ME THAT THEY EXAMINED MY CAR AND THEY HAVE DRIVEN IT FOR 80 KM AND THIS SYMPTON DIDNT APPEAR.

S O ( AS HE TOLD ME) THE CAR IS OK (?).

I ASKED HIM HOW HE ENSURES ME THAT THE CAR MAGICALLY IS OK WHEN THAT CAR PUT MY LIFE IN DANGER BEFORE TWO MONTHS AND THE TECHNICIANS IN LARISA WHO NOTICED THE SYMPTOM THEY SAID TO ME THAT THE CAR HAS PROBLEM AND THEY DONT TRUST IT TO GIVE IT BACK TO ME?

I ASKED HIM HOW THIS CAR IS OK WHEN NOBODY STILL KNOWS WHAT CAUSES FREQUENTLY THE LOST OF POWER AND HOW IS POSSIBLE FOR A N EXPERT TECHNICIAN, AS HE IS, TO ENSURE ME THAT THIS CAR IS SAFE WHEN IT APPEARED IN 6 MONTHS TIME 4 TIMES DANGEROUS LOST OF POWER PUTTING MY LIFE IN GREAT DANGER?

THEN HE GAVE AND THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE ANSWER THAT EVER HEARD! HE ANSWERED TO ME "YESTERDAY WE EXAMINED THE CAR AND WE HAD NO SYMPTOM DURING TESTING. ….SO KIA HELLAS FINDS THIS CAR OK." (!)

FURHERMORE WHEN I MENTIONED TO HIM PLENTY OF TIMES THAT THE TECHNICIANS IN LARISA WROTE IN THEIR REPORT THAT THEY NOTICED THE SAME PROBLEM WHILE THEY WERE TEST DRIVING MY CAR, AS I HAD NOTICED, HE WAS RUDE TELLING THAT THE SYMPTOM APPEARED TO THEM BECASUSE THEY DIDNT DRIVE WELL THE CAR THAT DAY AND THE CAR LOST POWER BECAUSE THEY MADE MISTAKE IN DRIVING.(!) .

Propably he forgot that he was talking about well experienced official kia motor technicians who they examine dozens of cars every week and they were trained by kia for their jobs!

ALSO HE SAID THAT THEY MIGHT RECORDED THE SPECIFIC PROBLEM IN THEIR TECHNICAL REPORT BECAUSE THEY H A D T O WRITE SOMETHING (AFTER TESTING THE CAR FOR SO MANY DAYS ) ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND BECAUSE I AM THEIR CLIENT ! ( LETTING ME UNSERSTAND THAT THE KIA MOTORS IN LARISA MIGHT MADE FAVOUR TO ME AND THEY MIGHT WROTE FALSE REPORT TO HELP ME WHILE I WAS ASKING NEW CAR FROM KIA HELLAS IN GREECE)!

TOTALLY INSTALTING BEHAVOUR!

I GOT FURIUS !

AFTER THAT, I COMMUNICATED BY PHONE IMMEDIATELY WITH THE CHIEF TECHNICIAN AND THE DIRECTOR OF KIA NASIAKOPOULOS IN LARISA ( NAMED PANAGIOTIS SPANOS) TELLING THEM EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED AND THEY ENSURED ME THAT THE TECHNICIANS IN LARISA DID AND DO ALWAYS THEIR JOB WITH RESPONSIBILITY AND PROFESIONALISM BEEING ALSO OFFENDED BY WHAT THE TECHNICIAN FROM KIA HELLAS MENTIONED TO ME.

SOME MINUTES LATER, THE SAME DAY, THE AFTER SALES MANAGER OF KIA HELLAS ( NAMED PERIKLIS ATHANASIOU) CALLED ME AND APOLOGIZED FOR THE TECHNICIAN'S BEHOUVOR BUT HE ALSO SAID TO ME THAT THE CAR AFTER THEIR EXAMINE SEEMS TO BE WITH NO PROBLEM IN LOSING POWER AND HE MENTIONED ANOTHER SMALL PROBLEM IN WARMING UP SYSTEM THEY HAVE FOUND.

I ASKED HIM TO TELL ME IF THEY NOTICED THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM OF LOSING POWER WHILE ACCELARATING AND HE GAVE NO ANSWER.

IN SIMPLY WORDS HE SAID IN A VERY POLITE WAY THAT MY CAR EXAMINED BY THE TECHNICIANS OF KIA HELLAS THAT DAY AND THEY FOUND NOTHING(!) ALSO HE MENTIONED THAT AT LAST THEY WILL EXAMINE SOME SAMPLE OF THE DIESEL FUEL OF MY CAR TO SEE IF IT WAS OK AND TO NOTICE IF THE DAMAGE CAUSED FROM EXTERNAL REASONS . I SAID NO PROBLEM AND I SAID THAT THE TECHNICIANS IN LARISA ONCE TESTED THE FUEL FILTERS AND THE AD BLUE SYSTEM OF MY CAR AND THEY DIDN'T NOTICED ANYTHING. BUT OK…

ALSO I MENTIONED TO HIM THAT THE LOSS OF POWER WAS NOT ROUGHNESS. THE DOWNTURN OF POWER HAPPENED IMMEDIATELY FROM 3000 RPM TO 1800 RPM. AND STEADILY REMAINED IN 1800 RPM FOR SOME SECONDS NO UPSIDE DOWN ! ITS CLEARLY ELECTRONIC PROBLEM.

Yesterday 20.08.2019 the manager of Kia Motors in Larisa city called me on phone and he told me that the results of the fuel examination showed that the problem of the loss of power couldn't be casued from the diesel i was using .So the problem wasn' t caused from the fuel.

TILL NOW FROM 25TH OF JUNE THAT MY CAR REMAINS IN SERVICE FOR 2 MONTHS TIME NO BODY CAN TELL ME WHAT IS THE PROBLEM IN THIS DANGER LOSS OF POWER AND WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM..

THEY JUST TELL ME THAT MY CAR IS OK!

ALSO the manager of kia motors in Larisa city named Panagiotis Spanos told me yesterday by phone that Kia Hellas doesn't accept to replace my problematic car FOR FREE with a new one although they didn't find the cause of the problem and they didn't fix it.
For the replacement with a nwe car THEY ASK FROM ME TO PAY EXTRA MONEY because, they claim, my problematic car ranged already 15.000 km.
I SAID THAT THE GUARRANTY OF THE CAR IS 7 YEARS OR 150.000 KM AND BECAUSE THEY CAN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM THEY HAVE THE OBLIGATION TO REPLACE THE CAR BY A NEW ONE NOT PROBLEMATIC. THIS IS THE GUARRANTY!
THEY INSISTED THAT THE KIA HELLAS DOES NOT ACCEPT REPLACEMENT WITHOUT EXTRA PAYMENT.

I DEMAND AN ANSWER FROM YOU TO MAKE CLEAR IF YOUR GUARRANTY OF 7 YEARS PROVIDES THE TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF PROBLEMATIC CARS IN CASE THAT A SERIOUS AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM OF A CAR CANNOT BE REPAIRED BY KIA
SERVICE.
YOU HAVE THE LEGAL OBLIGATION TO ANSWER.
IN CASE I WILL NOT HAVE ANSWER IN THAT QUESTION TILL 23.08 2019 I WILL MENTION THAT OFFICIALLY TO THE EUROPEAN UNION CONSUMER ASSOCIATION.

THE SITUATION IS VERY BAD FOR ME AS YOU UNDERSTAND.

KIA IN LARISA NOTICED THE PROBLEM AND KIA HELLAS CLAIMS THAT THE CAR IS OK(!)

ME AS CLIENT I KNOW ONE THING ONLY..., .THAT I LOST POWER 3 TIMES WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND THE LAST TIME I RISKED MY LIFE WHILE I WAS OVERTAKING !

MY CAR IS FROM 25THE OF JUNE (!) IN SERVICE AND NOBODY TELLS ME WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM...AND...NOW KIA HELLAS TELLS ME THAT MY CAR IS OK!

MERCY!

I FEEL LIKE LABORATORY ANIMAL WITH ALL THIS STRESSFULL AND CRAZY SITUTION!

YOU MUST GIVE AN END TO THIS COMEDY AND STOP THIS HARDSHIP THAT I LIVE NOW BY REPLACING MY CAR BY A NEW ONE WITH NO EXTRA PAYMENT! I had enough hardship, stress and insulting behavour as individual and as costumer. Enough!

I DEMAND AN ANSWER TILL 23.08.2019 TO FINISH MY ODYSSEY...

I

THOMAS A. PAPATHANASIOU

LAWYER ( KATERINI BARRISTER ACCOSIATON NUMPER :327)

AGIAS LAVRAS 22, KATERINI

T.K. 60100

TEL.[protected]

I own a 2016 Kia Sorento and in the past year there are times when the car would shake and then cut off. Of course when I would get it looked at it wouldn't do it and nothing was found. Today it shut off while I was driving on the highway and I almost got hit! I coasted to the side of the highway. I tried restarting the car when it turned back on a loud knocking sound started. I tried to go and the car started smoking under the hood and the engine light, oil light and battery light came on. I turned it off and tried to turn it back on nothing. The car won't click turn over much less turn on. None of my censors came on until after the engine started to fail. Now the engine or motor is completely blown or locked I still owe on this car And after doing research I see that over 500 people have reported the same thing but you (Kia) has still have not reported it as a recall causing people to be out a vehicle. It's going to cost thousands to fix this and from the other complaints I have read the owners fix it only for it to happen again with a new engine with in a year later! This needs to be a recall I could have died with my 4 babies in the car today this is dangerous! I need my car and I need it to be dependable I want my car fixed by your company this is a fault in manufacturing.

Dear kia,
I bought kia stinger 2018 early production(VIN:KNAE551C5J6008300). And I love the car and trying to promote it for other serious buyers . But there was a recalls on the car for wire harness, TSB SC170 file attached, and for static shift logic TSB SA341, file attached. The dealer seems doesn't respond to my request to find out and fix the problem. Hence I request you to communicate with the dealer and urge him to fix my car and provide me with a report that it is fixed .
My email
[protected]@hotmail.com
Regards, jaber

I am very disappointed in Kia's customer service in regards to an issue I had with flaking paint behind and past the licensed plate area. The district parts and service manager for the Highland Indiana store does not feel it is necessary to contact the end user when there is an issue. I have requested it several timers through the dealership and customer support to discuss the issue. There was absolutely no follow up from anyone from Kia. The original complaint was filed by me April 19th and I was assured that someone would contact me to discuss in a timely manner. I called back on June 14, June 24, July 3, July 29th and August 14. They closed the file without ever contacting me on August 2nd. It is unbelievable that on a $45, 000 dollar vehicle that they feel losing a customer for life is worth more that a $300 repair which is what they want to charge me( so you know there cost is so much less). This is a lease vehicle that I was going to purchase, but now I will never own another KIA and I will make damn sure that I all my family and friends know of the poor customer relations KIA has and the lack of integrity the company shows in supporting their warranty. Good bye Kia. Never Again.

I bought what's called a Cerrato here in Perú about 3 years ago, in the last 8 months I've had the check engine light come on. I've been to the dealerships service center and charged over $1000 for replacement parts and immediately after leaving the car had the same exact problem I had brought it in for. I've been back 3 times since then and am being told I need to change my gas. If that's all I needed to do was change my gas, why am I being charged over $1000 for this?
No my vehicle stalls every time I slow down or stop, idles very, very rough. I can't get anyone at these dealerships to actually test what's wrong and fix it but they have no problem charging me for doing nothing to fix the problem.
I've changed both O2 sensors, clean the MAF senor, changed the plugs, cleaned my fuel tank, changed the fuel filter, searched for vacuum leaks and still nothing. After nearly $2000 in parts and services I'm right back at the beginning only worse off, I had went in with just a p2096 code, now it's a P2188, P2096, P0014 and I can't keep the vehicle running. What's next toss it in the garage?