CSR

Kia · NHTSA safety record

2024 Kia Sportage

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

66

Complaints

7

Crashes

0

Fires

9

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2024 Kia Sportage have filed 66 safety complaints with NHTSA between October 2023 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the electrical system, named in 12 of them (18%). The typical failure was reported at 20,600 miles, the median across the 6 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (3)

TRAILER HITCHES

25V874000 · December 17, 2025

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Sportage Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) and 2024-2025 Sportage vehicles equipped with a 4.2" screen and a Genuine Kia tow hitch harness accessory. Due to a software error, the instrument panel screen may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 101, "Controls and Displays."
The risk
An instrument panel screen that fails to display critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the tow hitch harness control module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 13, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC359. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning December 31, 2025.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 5,046 vehicles across all model years covered

STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM

24V422000 · June 7, 2024

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2024 Kia Sportage vehicles. The circuit board in the motor-driven power steering assembly may short circuit, resulting in a loss of power steering assist.
The risk
A loss of power steering assist can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the motor-driven power steering electric power pack, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 19, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC319.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 1,075 vehicles across all model years covered

STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS

24V025000 · January 18, 2024

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2024 Sportage and 2022-2024 Carnival vehicles. The roof molding may loosen and detach.
The risk
A detached roof molding can create a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect the roof molding and replace or secure it as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 15, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC292.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 101,049 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 66.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 20 30%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 18%
ENGINE 9 14%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 7 11%
SERVICE BRAKES 6 9%
STRUCTURE 6 9%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 6 9%
STEERING 4 6%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 6%
VISIBILITY 4 6%
AIR BAGS 3 5%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 5%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2025 at 33.

2023 2025 2026
2023 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST

5 injured · crash · towed

hello , my mom was driving . she had all the lane driving assist systems on. the driving assist , lane assist, forward collision assist, lane keeping assist, & cruise control. it had started to rain my mom tried to move over to the middle lane the steer wheel would not let her it pulled her back as if someone was on the side of her but it wasnt it then started driving by itself. the car started malfunctioning , it toke control my mom tried to get a hold of the wheel but the power assit would not let her. it then turned by itself and drove straight into a mountain. we hit it head on with no warning. we then flipped 5 times and landed upside down. the door and windows did not work we were

NHTSA complaint 11678633, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION

2 injured · crash · towed

The ECU malfunctioned and the passenger side airbag didn’t go off and should have. There were error codes and I told KIA service department about it but they weren’t to concerned and said they would look at it at my first service appointment

NHTSA complaint 11642932. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES

2 injured · crash · towed

The car emergency brake component was faculty and kicked in at an inappropriate time. When the emergency brake occurs you are unable to move the car at all. Being unable to move put myself and my passenger seater at risk for bring hit to which we were. The vehicle was not inspected due to Kia Corporate office not answering the phone.

NHTSA complaint 11687004. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

crash · towed · 22,500 miles

The contact owned a 2024 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at 77 MPH, the vehicle was involved in a front-impact crash with a large-sized deer. The air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that two minor children were seated in the rear seat. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was administered. A police report was filed. The vehicle was condemned as a total loss by the insurance company. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 22,500.

NHTSA complaint 11581139. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I’ve had to replace my front windshield twice every year due to it cracking straight down the middle.

NHTSA complaint 11752458. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
On Tuesday, July 14th I started my vehicle around 6:30 am and started to drive. Once I was driving, I had multiple warning lights on my dash showing and my power steering failed on me. I stopped the vehicle, put it in park and turned it off. I restarted the car and still had the various warning lights and no power steering. The car was driving fine with no warning lights at 4:50 am that morning and again at 6:15 am that morning. I managed to drive the 2 miles home at a low rate of speed with no power steering since there were not many cars out. I called the Kia dealership and contacted a tow truck to take the vehicle in. The tow truck driver saw the warning lights as well and had to

NHTSA complaint 11751657, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
•12,000 Miles: Front rotors required complete replacement. •21,000 Miles: Front rotors failed and required replacement a second time. •28,000 Miles: Front seat cushion required repair due to material separation. •34,000 Miles: Front rotors failed and required replacement a third time. •51,000 Miles: Front rotors failed and required replacement a fourth time. •51,000 Miles: Complete transmission replacement required due to severe shifting difficulties.

NHTSA complaint 11748096. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

18,700 miles

The contact owns a 2024 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds, or while the vehicle was parked, the engine intermittently hesitated and the vehicle almost shut off. The contact stated that the START/STOP button was depressed to shut off the vehicle; however, the button became inoperable. The vehicle was turned off and restarted to resume normal operation. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 18,700.

NHTSA complaint 11744708. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof exploded while driving. No rocks or anything hit it. Glass is pointing upward.

NHTSA complaint 11735579. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof on the vehicle shattered without being struck by projectile or road debris. The area where we were driving had no other cars near us at the time of the incident. There was no sound of something hitting then shattering, it just exploded. Examination of the sunroof did not reveal any points of impact, research done online has shown multiple other Kia Sportage owners with the same issue. Spontaneous shattering of the panoramic sunroof.

NHTSA complaint 11734569. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia Sportage

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 25 1
2025 49 1
2023 185 6
2022 45 1
2021 49 2
2020 159 2
2019 69 2
2018 162 3
2017 398 4
2016 130 2
2015 146 2
2014 122 3
2013 380 3
2012 392 5
2011 181 6
2010 20 2 1

Other 2024 Kia models

Every Kia on this site — 176 vehicles, 208 recall campaigns and 1 open investigation .

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst