Kia EV9 Complaints
245 consumer complaints on file.
- #11660694May 13, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1. Repair History and Days Out of Service The vehicle has been at CMA Colonial Kia dealership since [insert drop-off date], totaling 49 days (and counting) out of service as of 05/13/2025. The sole but critical issue is a failed high-voltage battery, which the dealership and Kia confirmed must be fully replaced. This is the first repair attempt, but the car has remained unusable for over a month. 2. Substantial Impairment to Use, Value, and Safety The failure of the high-voltage battery in an electric vehicle renders it completely inoperable, with no capability to drive, charge, or function. This significantly impairs the use, safety, and value of the vehicle: Use: The car cannot be driven at all. Safety: Battery failure in an EV represents a major system defect with fire and high-voltage risks. Value: A brand-new EV with major battery failure has diminished resale value and buyer confidence. 3. Eligibility Under Virginia Lemon Law Under the Virginia Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act (Lemon Law): A vehicle qualifies if it is out of service for 30 or more calendar days for warranty repairs within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles. My EV9 has been out of service for 49+ days, meets mileage and time limits, and involves a major system failure. Therefore, my vehicle qualifies for relief under the statute. 4. Issues for the Arbitrator to Address The vehicle meets Virginia Lemon Law criteria due to prolonged inoperability for a substantial defect. Kia has not provided a comparable loaner or timely resolution. The vehicle poses safety concerns due to failed propulsion battery. 5. Desired Resolution I am requesting a full repurchase (buyback) of the vehicle, including: Full reimbursement of the purchase price (down payment, monthly payments made, taxes, fees). Any towing or rental expenses incurred. Cancellation of the finance agreement if applicable.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11660473May 12, 2025WHEELS, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
What happened? While driving at highway speeds (approximately 60-75 mph), the vehicle exhibits a pronounced up-and-down motion at the rear, commonly referred to as “porpoising.” This motion is especially noticeable when traversing uneven road surfaces or expansion joints. This issue compromises vehicle stability and passenger comfort, posing a potential safety risk during high-speed travel. The problem has been consistently reproducible under similar driving conditions. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a dealer or independent service center for this specific issue. No warning lights or error messages have appeared on the dashboard in relation to this problem. Component suspected: Rear suspension system (exact cause UNKNOWN). I am willing to have the vehicle inspected upon request.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11657667April 29, 2025STEERING, STRUCTURE:BODY
Steering and hand rest console vibrates above 70 mph, no resolution kia with 6 times visits to dealership
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11653706April 9, 2025Carry Handle, Shell, Base
The car seat system on this device is defective. After placing the shell back on the base and it clicking/latching in place, the shell pops off with using minimal force. The bar with the little plastic arms do not hold the car seat in place. This is extremely dangerous for the child. The arms and bar should be replaced with something that locks in place. In the photos you can see where I circled in red, shows the parts that are unattaching. And the yellow indicates the wear/friction on the plastic surface from it sliding in and out of place. It also rotates of of locked by itself without holding the rotating button. There have been several complaints on this same issue. At this point a recall needs to happen before this car seat kills a child.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11653675April 9, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My car started to not charge for more than 10mn at a time. It also showed an error message about the electrical system. I have dropped off my car at the dealership on march 3rd. No information since
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11652951April 5, 2025SUSPENSION
Since taking delivery of the vehicle I noticed the vehicle "hops around" when encountering irregularities in the road. The vehicle feels unsettled over seams, bumps, or uneven surfaces, even minor ones like raised seams or potholes. This happens both while driving straight and through corners, with the rear end feeling like it's skipping, hopping, or "porpoising." The issue is most noticeable at highway speeds.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11651501March 29, 2025SEATS
Vehicle was delivered with an active safety recall on it. The safety recall is second and third row seat mounting bolts may be missing. Recall was announced December 2024 and car was purchased/delivered on March 20th 2025
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11650900March 26, 2025STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have persistent vibration issues with Kia ev9. It is very much a risk as it causes concentration issues while driving. My tires are worn out at less than 10k. Looking at the forum and reports a lot of folks who have EV9 are facing the same issue. Is there a investigation which can be looked into as this can be a safety issue due to vibration as well tired being worn as well.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649934March 22, 2025FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicle failing to charge beyond 65% state of charge. Error message P1AA700 (warning) appearing on the dash with an electrical charging system issue. Kia Customer Care Case Number: [XXX] 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
- #11649918March 22, 2025BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
My display with my backup camera started flickering. It then turned black and I couldn't see anything anymore and it was very dangerous to back up.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649635March 21, 2025VISIBILITY/WIPER
Snow accumulates under wiper blades and then ice sticks to the wipers themselves. Big chunks of ice form on blades so that wipers do not clear snow/water off of windshield. Impossible to see while driving when this occurs in snowy conditions. Defrost setting on HVAC is not enough to melt ice so must be manually removed. No reference in user manual or from KIA on how to manage.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649387March 20, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY/WIPER
The windshield wipers could not complete full return to starting position due to wet snow. This caused a shuddering noise as the mechanism driving the wipers continued to try to complete its motion. Then an electrical burning smell emanated through the car.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649386March 20, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicles battery has somehow malfunctioned and will charge to 100% but only has ~40 miles of range. This lead to my family being almost stranded in the middle of the night without range to get home with the un expected decrease. Vehicle is currently still at the dealership and has been there for over a month. They believe they have identified a problem with the battery pack but have to send out a specialist to look at it and have been waiting for that person for over three weeks and there is still no one assigned
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649362March 19, 2025FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Starting on Feb 22, 2025, we observed that our Kia EV9 had dramatically reduced range. Normally, when charging was complete the dashboard would show well over 250 miles of range, even in cold weather. On Feb 22nd we started to see the range had dropped to around 60 miles, even when the dashboard reported the battery at 100% charge. The actual range seemed to be even worse, dropping dramatically even after a short drive around our town. By all appearances, the high voltage battery seems to be defective and is causing a safety issue because it could result in a sudden loss of power during driving or an unexpected shutdown of the vehicle. This may also be a symptom of an even more serious battery defect that could result in a battery fire. We brought the vehicle to the dealer, and they were able to reproduce the severe drop in range. No components have been replaced yet, we are still waiting to hear which parts will be replaced under warranty service. During this entire time the vehicle has given zero warnings or alerts, including no warning messages nor the check engine light.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649234March 19, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
We heard a grinding sound from rear of vehicle while driving into a park lot. Checked road and vehicle to see if there was any damage or objects hit, there were not. Shortly after driving a few miles a BMS warning was showing and we called Kia roadside assistance. They insisted on towing the car but we waited until next day so we could secure a rental. The short drive to the rental agency now gave us 4 more errors regarding “check 4WD/AWD” and the code was given as “MCU_R” to check the rear motor control units. All were listed as “P1Axxxx” errors. During this time, electronics in the car did not work well, vehicle did not want to shift into gears and acceleration was noticeably degraded. Car is at dealership being worked on now.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649183March 19, 2025FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicle range went from 320+ miles on a 100% charge to just 100 miles on 100% charge. Looks to be a bad battery cell or battery itself. No warning lights of any kind. Just super degraded range. Vehicle is new and has around 5800 miles. Dealer doesn't have techs to work on batteries, so they are having to play telephone game with Kia tech line in Korea.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649160March 19, 2025STEERING, WHEELS
Vibration at highway speeds above 65mph. Online forums make it seem like a common defect.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11649077March 18, 2025WHEELS
3 weeks after picking up our Kia EV9, I noticed a thunking sound from the passenger side front tire. When we reached home, we opened the car cover and noticed that the lug nut had come off and was rattling behind the cover. We called the dealership and the asked us to bring the car in. Since we didn't want to drive it, we bought a torque wrench and tightened it ourselves, after getting the information from the dealership on how much to tighten it. We also noticed that all the lug nuts were under torqued and the driver side lug nut was very loose. I also read multiple reports on online forums (Reddit) about new Kia EV9 wheels flying off on the highway.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11648895March 17, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Certain ADAS features have disengaged at least six times in the last year. While traveling at greater than 55 mph vehicle disengages cruise control and reports numerous warning indicators on dashboard including ADAS forward features such as collision warning and automatic braking indicators. I also noted lane management/steering also seemed to disengage when this has occurred during highway curve management. It is difficult to evaluate the full range of loss as the dashboard warnings are numerous and change over the next few minutes. It is also unsafe to secure good photographic evidence when traveling alone, though with assistance some imagery was recently captured. The sudden loss of speed and directional control assistance in multi-lane urban traffic was alarming but managed OK by alert driving. The manufacturer's dealer reported they could do nothing after one of the first occurrences. They said there were not 'codes' registered and not reports on file. The loss of systems usually cleared up within a few miles for the first instances. The most recent case persisted for several hours and several vehicle off/restart cycles. During this time the dashboard indicators suggested some failures resolved but some remained. This last case cleared over-night upon morning restart. A failure/warning was noted in the Kia Connect online app while the car still reported a problem. There were no prior indications before the sudden systems failure. All of these cases initially occurred on a section of road within about 1/2 mile of the same place. It involves a significant curve on an urban interstate interchanged. Sometimes the failures occur just before, or during, and at the end of the curve.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11648621March 16, 2025SEATS
The drivers seat rocks and shakes or wobbles while you drive. They need to change the frame to fix the issue.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0