Kia K5 Complaints

479 consumer complaints on file.

#11690019September 26, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I am submitting an update regarding my 2023 Kia K5 (VIN: [XXX] ). •On July 25, 2025, I delivered the vehicle to my dealership for recall-related fuel tank issues. •As of today (61 days later), the vehicle remains out of service and undrivable. •The dealership opened a Kia Techline case, confirming they are unable to repair the fuel tank issue and that it is a safety hazard. •Kia North America has not provided any resolution, despite repeated contacts and escalation of my case (Kia Claim #25408405). •I have incurred significant financial hardship, including paying the monthly car loan, maintaining minimum insurance, and paying for out-of-pocket rental expenses while Kia holds my vehicle. •I also contacted Kia Finance, and they confirmed my hardship notes are documented in their system. This situation is ongoing, with no repair performed, no reimbursement, and no safe solution provided. The recall remains unresolved, and the vehicle is unavailable for use. I request that NHTSA take immediate action to ensure Kia complies with its recall obligations and consumer safety requirements. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689946September 26, 2025
POWER TRAIN
While driving at about 70 MPH the right rear tire locked up temporarily causing loss of control of the vehicle. Luckily there were not other cars around as the car was in 3 lanes prior to coming to a complete stop. If this happened in traffic it could have caused a significant accident. There were no warning lamps on dash before or after the incident. After inspecting vehicle on side of road I could not see any issues. Drove about 15 yards and heard a grinding noise. Vehicle was towed to dealership. Dealership has inspected vehicle and advised it was caused by a failed awd coupler. The repair will be covered by warranty.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689273September 23, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, SEATS
The car has a sudden loss of power but doesn't shut off. The drivers eat doesn't move towards or back and the back seat popped up for no reason whatsoever. We have taken it to the dealership and they say its not a recall but its doing the same things that others in the same year and model are doing. Why isn't this one on the list . Its paid off and haven't been able to drive it for a year now . Wasted money getting it towed to dealership and back . Ridiculous!!!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688406September 19, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I took my car because of fuel recall, due to multiple vehicles having their gas tank expanding or exploding. Even after they completed the recall on my vehicle I still had my gas tank expand. I took my vehicle to the Kia Frisco dealership and they took my vehicle advising they had to buy it back from me. Once they had the vehicle after close to a month they stated that my vehicle was repairable even after stating that several of these models had gas tanks expanding and exploding. I do not feel safe getting into this vehicle after the repair and I want to report it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11687669September 16, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER
My 2025 Kia K5 with less than 10k miles on it is experiencing intermittent windshield wiper failure. Starting over two months ago, my windshield wipers would fail in the sense they would not turn on while it is raining and/or would not activate when I use the sprayer function leaving residue and obstructing my view in both scenarios. This is a critical safety issue that has been documented on video, however the dealership/Kia are not being forthcoming in fixing the issue. My car has been in the shop over a week at Mark Kia and there is still not a remedy for the issue. They claim to not being able to reproduce the issue and will not do further diagnostics until it happens. The car is leased and I do not feel safe driving it knowing there is a chance my wipers can fail intermittently (as they have while it has been raining) so I'm filing this complaint.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11687606September 16, 2025
TIRES
Tire size: P 235/45 R 18 While I was driving home from work my steering started feeling a little shaky. My commute is 6.5 miles. I thought it felt a little weird about 2-3 miles in and I called my boyfriend to meet me when I got home because I could tell something was off, but my tire pressure was fine. When I was about .5 miles from our home, the shaking became audible and violent so I got scared and pulled off. I called again for help while I was parked and walked around to see if there was anything weird and I could not see anything. About 3-4 minutes later while I was sitting in my car waiting, my tire exploded. It shook my car and was so loud that people ran out of the building I was in front of to see what happened. At this point, I had a tire indicator come up saying something was wrong. When I walked around my car again, I saw in one of my tires the cords came out and split in middle of the tread causing separation, and the tire still had air in it. It also scratched my paint around the tire. When I had help come, we put my spare on and got it home, and we took it to a tire dealer the following morning. They all were shocked at how new the tire was and what happened. Everyone is so glad I was parked when it happened and upon research, this is a common occurrence with this brand and type of tire anywhere with 1000-10000 miles on it. My vehicle is less than 6800 mi and the specialists even said the tire had basically no wear and was faulty. On top of that, Pirelli warranty essentially refused to process anything and the dealer that THEY told us they would work with, Pirelli kept hanging up on them. They would not give me a name, let me speak to a supervisor, or give me a call back number should the call “disconnect” again. The dealer was able to comp the tire through their management, but even then, the issue of the faulty tire remains, and based on what I felt, I don’t want someone to get hurt having this happen to them while their car is in motion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11686982September 12, 2025
TIRES
The contact owns a 2025 Kia K5. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warning light illuminated. The contact's daughter took the vehicle to a specialty tire shop, and it was determined that the front driver’s side tire had two bubbles. One bubble was located on the top, and one bubble was on the front side. The tire was replaced. The tire manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the vehicle manufacturer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 2,500.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685580September 7, 2025
AIR BAGS, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
the vehicle failed the fuel tank Inspection recall.I have a tech line case open :Case number 25408405 . It has been 46 days since the vehicle has been at the dealership waiting for information from Kia USA . I have been still told to pay for car note that I am financing through Kia itself as well as rental because the dealership doesn’t have any loaners .
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685517September 6, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, SEATS
I was driving down the highway and my car made a loud bang noise. It would not accelerate over 50 mph no matter how hard I pressed the accelerator. Took to dealership and they told me I needed a new battery and charged me $365. Drove it and still won’t go over 50 mph. They kept it for a week and said it had a faulty valve that caused pressure to make the gas tank expand, pushing up back seat. Said it wasn’t a recall and would cost me $3600 to fix. Told me it was too dangerous to drive. Did research and saw that this was discovered over 2 years ago but I was never told. Now they say I have too many miles on my car to fix it. The gas fumes inside the car are intolerable and it still won’t go over 50.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685406September 5, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I started the purchase process of a Kia in 2022 of July. The car was built with a faulty fuel tank and no recalls were made on the vehicle. June 27,2025 I was driving on the freeway when my car started to not accelerate my fuel tank ejected into my backseat and I was forced to jump out of my car on the freeway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11684946September 4, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Transmission has extremely hard shifting if vehicle sits for more than 24 hours. After the vehicle is parked, inside garage, or outside, the first drive of the day has an extremely hard shift of the transmission on the first shifting of the day. The shift it so hard, it jerks the entire car and jolts me in my seat. The remainder of the drive and day, the hard shifting does not occur. Took the vehicle into dealership where purchased at 1000 miles and left it with them for 2 full days. Unsurprisingly, they said they were, "Unable to reproduce". The next day, the vehicle had the exact same problem. I have close to 3000 miles on the vehicle and the transmission continues to do the exact same thing every time I drive it. It is terrible for a brand new car. It doesn't matter which "Drive mode" the vehicle is in. The dealership also tried to reset the ECM. But no luck. My neck and back have been sore from the hard shift events too.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11684579September 2, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Gas tank expanding causing gas to drip from than tank onto the floor potentially causing a fire hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11684264September 1, 2025
ENGINE
At 2500 miles when checking my oil I discovered flakes of metal on the dipstick. I immediately changed the oil and in doing so found a massive amounts of metal in the filter housing. I took it to the dealer along with pictures and told them on startup the engine was noisy and sounded like it was low on oil, noisy on acceleration and would exabit an engine knock at times when hot. They didn't investigate it at all. Being an auto tech all my life, I know that metal flakes are a sigh of a damaged bearing and by the sound, a conrod bearing. I'm afraid to take it anywhere other than local commutes. This sounds like the same thing as the K4 Tuscan issue in my professional opinion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11684111August 30, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint chipping on driver’s side door
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683738August 28, 2025
TIRES:SIDEWALL
234/45/R18 - 94V bubble developed on exterior of front, passenger side tire AND the interior of back, passenger side tire within a year of purchasing vehicle new with this tire installed. The tire had to be replaced immediately to avoid a tire blowout.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683515August 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VISIBILITY/WIPER
Kia dealership has confirmed that the components of the vehicle's multi-fuse (located under the hood) for the AC/HVAC system have started to burn and are melting part of the fuse panel due to excessive current draw and excessive heat. Due to this, the vehicle's HVAC (both heat and a/c) does not function. A vehicle's HVAC functions help to: 1) Defrost/defog vehicle's windows during rainy and humid days, 2) maintains a vehicle's air quality, 3) cools the vehicle's interior on hot and humid days, 4) assists in preventing mold and bacteria growth via dehumidification, 5) assists in keeping the cabin cool and dry to prevent driver fatigue and promote driver focus. Other than the inoperability of the HVAC system, no other signs or symptoms were present prior to the issue. I initially though this issue would be covered under Kia's HVAC Blower technical bulletin/warranty (WTY037) however the dealership has advised that the WTY037 only applies if the fuse is blown, not melted. This slight difference in melting vs. blowing should be an issue as the effect of the issue is the same, but components melting seems to be slightly more serious, but is not covered. Also, melting components, to me, could lead to fire hazards.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682972August 25, 2025
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE, FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY
The contact owns a 2022 Kia K5. The contact stated that while driving at 43 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormally loud booming sound. The contact's daughter, who was occupying a rear seat, screamed out because the rear seats had suddenly risen. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and inspected the vehicle. The check engine and the low fuel warning lights were illuminated. The contact's wife met the contact and picked up the children. The contact stated that upon resuming driving, the vehicle was jerking violently, and the fuel gauge level lowered significantly. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with an EVAP system failure. The vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the fuel tank had expanded. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered to repurchase the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682417August 22, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
HVAC is not working at all, not even blowing hot air. I've been told it could be a wiring issue or have to change my blower and resistor. KIA has told me they could not help because my car is over the 60,000 mile warranty. However, my car is 70,000 miles and about 4 years old. It has had other recall issues and just trying to be helped.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682404August 22, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
At the beginning at the year I had to change my starter because my car would leave me stranded on the street, at a stop light or any time my car would stop. I was once in the car with my little brother and in the middle of the street it would not start again and left us stranded. Others around me had to help me push the car to the side of the road that way I wouldn't be rear ended. Now, I'm having other issues such as HVAC were my cars AC does not turn on. It doesn't even blow hot air. Some mechanics have told me it's probably my blower and resistor and other that it's a wiring issue. My car is only 4 years old and should not be having so many issues. I have tried reaching out to Kia but always get sent to voicemail or have told I would be charged for it to just be seen. If anyone could help me with my car that would be greatly appreciated.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682352August 22, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
All my lights on my dash keep lighting up for no reason. When I bought my car it did it and premier Kia said they fixed it but it keeps happening. We pay too much money for cars to act like this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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