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Kia · NHTSA safety record

2026 Kia K5

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

Owners have filed 13 safety complaints about the 2026 Kia K5 with the US government. Of those, 1 describes a crash, 2 people were injured and no death is recorded. One recall campaign is open against it, covering the electrical system.

The most complained-about system is the engine, named in 4 complaints, 31% of the total.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers December 2025 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

13 complaints on file

13

Complaints

1

Describe a crash

0

Mention fire

2

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
ENGINE 4 · 31%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 · 31%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 23%
LANE DEPARTURE 2 · 15%
AIR BAGS 1 · 8%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 · 8%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 · 8%
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 · 8%
TIRES 1 · 8%
0 4 8

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 13.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2026 at 12.

16 12 8 4
25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2025 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2026 Kia K5, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test 4 DR N/A AWD 4 DR N/A FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 10.7% 10.7%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A rating belongs to a tested body style and drivetrain, not to the model as a whole, which is why more than one is listed. A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

1 on file

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL

26V046000 · January 27, 2026

The defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Kia K4, 2025-2026 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, Sorento Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage PHEV, K5, EV9, Carnival, and Carnival Hybrid vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 101, "Controls and Displays" and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring System."
The risk
An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer, tire pressure, or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.
The remedy
The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 26, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC361. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 9, 2026.

Kia America, Inc. · up to 42,677 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

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

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed

I was driving my 2026 Kia K5 southbound on [XXX] at approximately 40–42 mph and proceeding straight through an intersection. I was already in the intersection when another vehicle turned directly in front of me. I did not have sufficient time to avoid the collision and struck the other vehicle with the front of my vehicle. The other driver was cited for failure to yield. The collision caused substantial frontal damage to my vehicle. The vehicle was subsequently declared a total loss by my insurance company. Despite the frontal impact, none of the airbags deployed. At the moment of impact, white smoke or dust filled the passenger compartment and I heard loud popping and buzzing-type noises

NHTSA complaint 11767890, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1 injured

My vehicle is 3 months old with only 3300 miles on it at the time this happened. I was driving on the interstate near on Saturday, January 17th, 2026. It was reasonably cold outside, and of course I had the heater on set to 70. My panoramic moonroof glass was closed, but the shade was open. My glass randomly exploded outward leaving a major hole in the glass. Glass shattered and sprinkled inside the vehicle while I was driving. After pulling over to identify what happened, I realized that the moonroof exploded outward from the vehicle.

NHTSA complaint 11711862. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

TIRES
This is the 2nd time my tire has blown out. 1st time was in Feb 2026 and now again in Sept 2026 both have been factory tires Pirrelli 235/45 R18. The 1st time was on a interstate at speeds 70 mph the 2nd time on a rural road 45 to 55 mph. Both incidents have almost caused a major accident. The dealership has made every excuse under the sun and pirreli wont even discuss the issue. I have seen multiple complaints about factory tire issues with this make and model.

NHTSA complaint 11765747. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES

15,440 miles

The contact owns a 2026 Kia K5. The contact stated that while driving 80 MPH, the front driver's side door independently unlatched and swung open. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the failure was not duplicated. The contact was informed that the door latches were being replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,440.

NHTSA complaint 11756235. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Submitted by [XXX], Authorized Representative for the owner. The vehicle has a physical defect in the ADAS forward-facing camera bracket caused by a dealer-concealed repair using industrial silicone adhesive. The bracket is now visibly sagging, causing misalignment that leads to intermittent Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) failure. Critically, the vehicle’s computer does NOT illuminate a warning light for this physical displacement ('silent failure'), posing a severe crash risk. An undisclosed aftermarket GPS tracker was also found installed, which is pending contract review. A third-party inspection report titled 'Repurchase Inspection (Silicon at Rearview Mirror)' confirms the non-OEM

NHTSA complaint 11748152, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driver awareness warning goes off frequently. There is no way to desensitize it. As a result warnings are ignored. Dealer and manufacturer says there is not way to prevent this issue.

NHTSA complaint 11739815. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
The display is shows a "Check Oil Level" error. It comes on then goes off regularly. I have verified that the oil level is OK. Took it into the dealer and he said that this is a common issue and a software fix is coming. The car only has less than 2K miles. I depend on the engine displaying error messages, but they need to be real ones. Online complaints indicate that this is a common error and there seems to be no fix.

NHTSA complaint 11730905. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Kia K5

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2025 51 2 —
2024 30 2 —
2023 107 4 —
2022 128 5 2
2021 167 6 1

Other 2026 Kia models

Sportage 27 Carnival 26 EV9 26 Carnival Hybrid 22 K4 12 Sportage Hybrid 7 Sorento 5

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Kia on this site — 181 vehicles.

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. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

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