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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2025 Kia K5

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

49

Complaints

4

Crashes

0

Fires

6

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2025 Kia K5 have filed 49 safety complaints with NHTSA between August 2024 and August 2026. The most complained-about system is the tires, named in 12 of them (24%). The typical failure was reported at 4,358 miles, the median across the 5 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 2 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (2)

STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS

25V493000 · July 28, 2025

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 K5 vehicles. The left and right rear window trim pieces may loosen and detach.
The risk
Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the C-pillar trim assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC346.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 100,063 vehicles across all model years covered

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:LIGHTING CONTROL MODULE:SOFTWARE

25V351000 · May 27, 2025

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 K5 vehicles. A software error in the Power-net Domain Controller (PDC) may cause the parking lights to flicker. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
The risk
Parking lights that fail to illuminate properly can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
The PDC software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 24, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC341.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 82,281 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 49.

TIRES 12 24%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 22%
POWER TRAIN 6 12%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6 12%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 10%
STRUCTURE 5 10%
WHEELS 5 10%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 4 8%
AIR BAGS 3 6%
ENGINE 3 6%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 4%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2025 at 23.

2024 2025 2026
2024 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.

ENGINE

3 injured · crash · towed · 2,230 miles

The contact owns a 2025 Kia K5. The contact stated that the engine made an abnormally loud sound while driving and idling. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the tensioner and the pulley were worn out and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the contact stated while driving 55 MPH six days later, the service, the battery, the low-pressure oil warning lights, and several other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel and the brakes locked, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle then

NHTSA complaint 11630533, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

I am the owner of a 2025 Kia K5 GT-Line that was recently involved in an accident. In the days prior to the crash, I experienced recurring issues including screen reboots while driving and temporary power loss. I do not remember the moment of the accident, and I am currently under medical care for head trauma. I am reporting this because I believe the vehicle may have malfunctioned in a way that contributed to the accident. Please advise if there are known issues with the 2025 K5 GT-Line, and how I can formally report this case for technical investigation.

NHTSA complaint 11671380. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

1 injured

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

NHTSA complaint 11684946, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

1 injured

The K5 - as soon as I began driving it at 0 miles, I noticed it shifted at lower speeds extremely hard. Head-jerking hard during the first drive of each day at speeds below 25mph. Once the vehicle warmed up, the problem would go away and wouldn't appear until the next day - after the vehicle cooled down completely. I thought, maybe there was a break-in period. So I drove it for about 250 total miles. At that point, I made a service call and brought it into the dealership. I left it overnight. Explained all of the symptoms. The next day, one of your service advisors test drove the vehicle. I was called and told they were unable to reproduce the problem and that I could come pick up the car.

NHTSA complaint 11691491, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES
235/45 r18 at 12,000 miles miles. I’ve noticed that the front passenger side had a slight little lump on the side wall as it reached 28,000 that ball that bigger and bigger. Had to replace the tire due to the safety concerns. Noticed that the other three tires are showing other patterns of deformities.

NHTSA complaint 11755604. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES
235/46 r 18 tires currently have 28,000 miles and I’ve already replaced one tire due to lump on side wall that started developing at 12,000 miles and on other three tires. The tread is chipping and separating from the tire on the same pattern all three tires.

NHTSA complaint 11755605. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES
The first time the collision warning lights and sounds came on when I was parked but had my engine on in the morning of 7/21/2026. The second time was when I was merging on a busy highway with cars going 65+mph... There were no cars around me, but the collision warning said crash, the sounds came on, and my brakes went into effect. I pulled off the road, and now I am terrified to drive my car. I called KIA and told them this. They sent out a tow. They had my car and told me that the computer on my car did not register any issues for both times this happened. Someone is taking my car home tonight and going on the same highway to see if it happens again.

NHTSA complaint 11752288. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I don’t see any problem

NHTSA complaint 11751032. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The turning lights keep flickering and the back trim became lose.

NHTSA complaint 11748579. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SUSPENSION
At approximately 22,000 miles, all four original-equipment Pirelli P Zero All Season tires on my 2025 Kia K5 are showing rapid and uneven tread wear that is far beyond normal for the mileage. Last week I discovered that the front driver-side tire has also developed a visible bulge/bubble in the sidewall, which indicates internal structural failure and an imminent risk of sudden blowout. There were no warning lights, no impact event, and no inflation problem before the bulge appeared. This is especially concerning because my father purchased an identical 2025 Kia K5 on the same day from the same dealer. His vehicle has significantly fewer miles, yet his front driver-side tire suddenly blew

NHTSA complaint 11747112, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia K5

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 11 1 —
2024 28 2 —
2023 104 4 —
2022 123 5 2
2021 161 6 1

Other 2025 Kia models

Carnival 121 Telluride 93 Sorento 69 Carnival Hybrid 57 EV6 53 Sportage 49 K4 44 Sorento Hybrid 39

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