Kia Motors America Reviews 227

Multiple problems multiple times with getting should be simple recalls done.

Purchased a brand new 2021 now it has been probably six months arguing with Kia about my driver seat. Ripping at the seams claim it’s wear and tear shame on Kia will never purchase another one again.

I will never buy a Kia again. I was in a car accident from behind no air bags deployed which left me paralyzed.

I purchased a 2020 Kia Telluride from a dealership (Dodge) in Ohio in 2023. When I looked at the vehicle, I noticed a Candian sticker on the door frame. I really didn't give it much thought...other manufacturers have vehicles built in Japan, Mexico, etc. After purchase, which the dealership did not tell me about the Telluride being a Canadian import, I called Kia America to check on a recall. Kia America could not find the VIN in their system, and referred me back to Kia Canada. After several calls on hold for a long time, I finally talked with a customer rep that said the vehicle had to have a letter of compliance stating that any open recalls had to be performed before Kia Canada would provide a letter of compliance that Kia dealerships in America could then provide necessary recalls/repairs, etc. After getting a dealership in Missouri to provide a recall on a wiring harness issue, (that our Telluride did not have), Kia Canada did provide a letter of compliance. (When we took the Telluride in to the Missouri dealership, they could not find the VIN in their system, and jumped through some hoops to be able to enter the VIN into their dealership records. They were very nice, and helpful, and we thought all was well, and actually performed another recall requiring a software repair concerning the parking brake) Recently we received the latest recall about the driver's seat function button that needed repaired. I took the Telluride back to the dealership that had helped us in Missouri, and they ordered the necessary parts for the recall repair. After several days, the nice service manager called me and stated that Kia (America) could not provide the necessary recall parts since the vehicle was a registered Canadian vehicle. This seemed absurd to me, since all Tellurides are produced in Georgia, and that parts should be available regardless of where the vehicle was registered. Long story, next, of trying to contact Kia Canada. After several emails and several on hold phone calls, (probably a total of 2 hours of on hold over the times that i called back.), the representative said that it would need to be escalated to another department and "they"would get back to me asap. This is where I became very frustrated and tried to get the representative to help me, and although I didn't lose my temper, I was very firm, again asking for help. I never heard back from them, and decided to sell the Telluride to a GM dealership, to take it off of my hands. I lost about $6,000.00, because i could have sold it on FB Marketplace, and had a buyer, but because I couldn't get the recall parts, they backed out. (I don't blame them.) Never again will I have anythng to do with Kia.
There customer service, at least in Canada, was horrible, and the fact that Kia America couldn't somehow get the needed parts , was beyond common logic. Granted, I should have checked the Canadian registration when first purchasing the Telluride, but had no idea of what was in store, especially when it came to recalls, and the fact that the VIN couldn't be cross-referrenced. When I sold the Telluride, it was out of warranty, but if I needed warranty repairs, while still under the warranty limits, I would have been required to take the car to Canada for a warranty issue.
Warning to anyone, looking at a Kia with a Canadian sticker on the door panel.....buyer beware. I liked the features and ride, etc with the Telluride, but Kia has some real problems with customer care and their relationships between Kia America and Kia Canada.
I hardly ever write reviews, but felt that I needed to do so, if it would help anyone else, considering a Kia.

Kia will not honor the engine recall. My 2017 Souls engine blew up due to the engine recall. It been since December 2023 when the car was towed to the dealership in Alhambra California. The dealership tried to smell me a new engine while I was still under warranty and they have a engine recall. It's been almost 9 months and thousands of dollars arranging transportation when the engine blew up. Kia sucks and they told me that they won't cover the recall issue. I'm sueing Kia America for dereliction. DON'T purchase a Kia unless you want to replace it at your cost. They are not an American company and they don't care if they take advantage of Americans. BUYER BEWARE!!! My case number is16354063 and I will be glad to share my experiences with anyone who would like to avoid Kia. I will be advising the international association of firefighters union as to why no firefighters should purchase a vehicle from a company that won't stand behind their recall. DON'T PURCHASE A KIA UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE DISAPPOINTED!

I bought a new Sportage 3 months ago when it came time for my first oil change (3000 miles) I called with a 300 mile margin to make sure I got in. I called no one would answer the phone for two days. Then went to customer portal and set up an appointment (the earliest time was 20 days). Time passed I arrive and they had no clue or appointment slot for me. I'm now over the scheduled time for required initial oil change but they are unapologetic give me a time 8 days on.

On top of that now my Kia portal where I had requested an appointment won't let me in. I now see why KIa has such awful reviews. I made a mistake buying this care before reading reviews.

From the first day I left the dealer with the car, the USB kept disconnecting every time the car hit a small bump. I took the car to the dealer in Monterey and after a full day of waiting they said I should use an official cable. I was already using an official cable. I bought another official cable and the problem did not improve. I contacted another dealer in South San Francisco and asked if they had the USB part to fix it and they said they aren't allowed to tell me that but that I should bring the car in. I brought the car in and after waiting a full day for them, they reported that I needed a new USB port but they didn't have any stock. They told me that they'd contact me once they had stock. After 2 months I hadn't heard from them so I contacted them but no reply. I tried again and no reply. So I contacted Kia customer support and they said the dealer will contact me. The dealer never contacted me. So I contacted Kia customer support again telling them I was still waiting, but no reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I sent another message to Kia customer support but not reply. So I wrote a review on their Google Maps site, but still nothing. I don't know what else to do other than write this review since NO form of contact results in any information, nor any info about when the part will be in. This issue has been going on for more than *1 YEAR* without resolution!

I agree with most of the complaints, except so far crown kia in tampa bay has been good.
saying that I wouldn't give 2 cents about corporate Kia, in CA. I have written the customer service twice WITH NO RESPONCE FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE
Big mistake buying from Kia, first and last time I would have been smarter to stay with Toyota
Steve S Tampa bay

I am extremely dissatisfied with the service I received from Kia regarding my 2014 Kia Optima Hybrid, VIN KNAGM4AD4E5066215. My experience began with a series of severe issues that put my safety at risk and led to unacceptable customer service.

Initially, I brought my car in for repairs, and the service department assured me that the issues were resolved. However, just under two miles from the service center, my car broke down on the highway, creating a dangerous situation. Despite this, the service team claimed to have fixed the problem on my second visit. Yet, shortly after leaving the service center, I experienced the same breakdown issue again.

Frustrated and concerned for my safety, I returned the car to the service department for a third time. This time, I was shocked to be informed that I needed to pay $15,000 for a hybrid battery replacement. This exorbitant cost was never communicated to me beforehand, and the service staff’s response was to direct me to the sales department in an attempt to sell me a new car, rather than addressing my concerns about the service.

I reached out to Kia's customer service, who assured me that they would work on getting Kia to cover the cost of the battery replacement. However, it has now been a month since I last heard from them, and my issue remains unresolved.

This entire experience has been deeply disappointing. The safety of my vehicle was compromised, and the customer service has been inadequate. I am left feeling that Kia is not standing behind their product as they should. I will continue to escalate this issue and seek a resolution through every available channel until it is addressed properly.

They have promised new up-date for the navigation for more then 6 months, Last 3 months next week, next week and so on

Let me share my experience with Kia America. In 2022, I purchased my first car, a Kia Sportage 2023, which I absolutely adore. However, less than two years later, my car started shutting off randomly while driving. Naturally, I took it to the service department. Initially, they found no error codes and couldn't fix what they couldn't detect. Despite multiple visits to the service center, the issue remains unresolved. My car has now been at the service center for a total of 52 days. Throughout this time, I've contacted KIA headquarters several times in an effort to address my problem. Despite assurances that my case was being escalated and that I would receive a call, it has been nearly two months, and I have yet to hear back from anyone other than "Brian," who sent an initial email requesting documents they should already have on file.

I can wholeheartedly say I would NEVER recommend KIA to anyone solely based on their customer service. I should have done my homework and looked them up on the BBB where everyone has had the same complaint about how horrible they are.

My only saving grace at the moment is that hopefully I can win my Lemon Law case. Please feel free to share this post and tag KIA. Help save someone from “KIA headache”.

stay out from this brand, major Engine issues, in most of their cars, recently I had an engine seized at 105,000KM, they have refused to change the engine. service is very bad and after service is even worth, senior management are incompetent and above all Kia car is a liability and definitely not a reliable car, explore other options if you care saving money and headache.

23 Sorento multiple issues- still not resolved 1 year later. Driving down interstate with small children in the car, loaded down with fireworks for the 4th the car literally dumped all fuel and gas light came on after making a bumping noise. Called roadside assistance & a friend to come pick us all up (roadside assist gave an eta of 4am the next day this occurred at 5pm). Found out that the drive shaft rubbed holes in my gas tank, they fixed that. Then the radio and dash went completely black, no radio, no safety alerts, no speedometer, nothing. Took it back to kia and they ordered a new head unit which took almost a month, no prob they gave me a loaner. Then the brake peddle started bumping really bad and this is at around 10k miles, rotors had to be turned warranty covered it, back in a loaner. Then the safety features once again quit working, reset head unit after calling dealership and they worked a little while, now they are intermittent only work at random. At 18k now the brake is bumping again, not covered this time states it’s my fault since I obviously hit brakes hard(45 and this is the FIRST time in my life I e ever had this issue, so not likely) so Kia agrees to fix it one time a a courtesy since so many issues but won’t pay for a rental or a loaner. So this being my only vehicle I have to pay out of pocket for a rental in order to drop off this crappy car to be fixed. And I still have no safety features which I paid for the pkg to have, they have no estimate on when they can get the car in and now if it doesn’t happen then the “courtesy” will expire. DO NOT BUY KIA!!!

I wanted to lease a Kia just for 3 years, the the manager tricked me and did it for 4 years, I didn’t see it, and my wife signed, this happened at Kia in Lynn, MA.
This is my second lease and will be the last one.

My 2020 Kia Sorento’s engine died at only 37k miles. It’s been at the dealership since February (it’s now July) as we wait for a new engine. We have not been provided a loaner car or reimbursed for our rental car fees. We were forced to lease a new car for our family while still paying payments on this Sorento. We pay insurance and payments on a car we haven’t seen in 5 months.

DO NOT BUY A KIA.

Bought a preowned 2018 Kia optima. Drove it around with no issues for like 60k miles. I bought the extended warranty with the car (it wasn’t cheap). Ended up having oil consumption issues. Took it to the dealership where they made me pay 100 bucks for an oil consumption test, whatever. Drove it for 1k miles and found out it burns 1.3L of oil in 1k miles. They proceeded to tell me it’s normal, and they can do a combustion chamber cleaning, which was priced at 1k dollars. I got very upset with this because apparently the extended warranty doesn’t cover it. Do not recommend, they lost a customer forever

Have a 2019 kia soul with 85,000 miles that I bought brand new in 2019... May 18th of 2024 I was on my way to work when the oil light started flashing and my car sounded like it ate rocks, and the engine seized immediately after. Had it towed to Kia Country in Charleston, SC. Dealership does not provide loaner cars, and they only submit for a $240 max reimbursement AFTER you have a Kia diagnosis. Engine spun a rod bearing, they told me it would be two weeks before they could even look at my car. Dealership had my car for 29 days, replaced the short block assembly and upon inspection they told me I only needed new brake pads. Took my car to have brake pads replaced and ended up needing four new rotors, which was $900 dollars. I've had my car back for two weeks to the day, and had the exact same thing happen again, leading to an engine seizure. I started calling Kia country at 0900 on 7/1 when they opened asking to speak to the service manager, and was not able to get in touch with them until 1500. Kia Country refuses to have my car towed in, although I strongly feel they should as I've had my car back for 2 weeks. Now they are telling me they won't be able to look at my car until August. Customer service is awful, and accomplishes absolutely nothing.

I rated this review as a five star because that has been my previous experience with Kia over the last 16 years. But I am writing this review mainly to tell you how I feel about Kia since Covid. Covid made everything crazy and no one could get cars. And Kia had cars sitting in lots, incomplete without parts and computer chips for a very long time and then did not have the ability to get them to dealerships for a long time. That’s long discussion I won’t go into more than that But I will say this, Kia has gone downhill. Part of it is our own government, forcing such strict mileage regulations on cars that they had to shrink engines from V8 to V6’s And then down to V4’s Or turbo V4’s To get enough power. Their engines stopped holding up, and the problems with Kia engines was massive. V4’s Just weren’t cutting it. They forced customers to start putting in synthetic oil with every oil change, which is ridiculous and defeats the purpose of using synthetic oil. I would never encourage anyone to buy any kind of an engine with a V4 In it even if it’s turbo. They are louder engines and feel like the car is working harder. And then after Covid, all the chrome seemed to disappear on most of their new cars, if not all of them. They now have shiny plastic painted bumpers, grills, window trim, etc. Virtually no chrome at all just fake chrome colored plastic pieces. I suppose they did all this to hold the pricing down, but the cars aren’t close to what they used to be. I have a 2019 top-of-the-line Kia Sorrento Prestige with all the chrome and trimmings and it is absolutely beautiful and the best car I’ve ever owned. I would normally have traded the car in at 4 1/2 years for a new one but won’t do that anymore. The cars keep getting worse. As the saying goes, “they ain’t what they used to be.” And if you do some research, you’ll see that Kia has as many problems and recalls as anybody else which did not used to be the case — recalls without solutions. And it can take over a month to get a service appointment. Kia is still a very decent product, but it is so far less than what it used to be. And I am so saddened that Kia has lowered their craftsmanship and their standard, You may find a that Kia is still a decent car and does well and I wouldn’t contradict that. My wife and I have owned over ten of them. We sold her 2016 Sorento that she loved and got her a new Sportage. The v4 engine is loud and the ride is not as good. I used to think Kia had the best cars in the industry for the money. I don’t anymore. The best thing that they have got going for them is their warranty that is better than any other company except Hyundai, which is Kia’s parent company. I would have bought a new car two years ago if they had not lowered all of these standards. I hope Kia brings in new Top management with a higher standard that brings them back to the car company that they were with the quality product that they had pre Covid! If they do, I will be their customer for life!

When KIA was hacked they refused to accommodate their customers and insisted that you have a VIN number to make an appointment even though they could not input the information. Obviously, VIN numbers are not one of those numbers that customers memorize so this is an inconvenience for the customer. The message is you are reliant on us so you are just the customer and you will do it our way or there will be no appointment. Take it or leave it. That is poor customer service however you slice it.

I purchased a new 2022 Sorento SX Prestige in February 2022. After a few months, a friend was following me and after reaching out destination stated excessive exhaust fumes were emitting from my vehicle. A few weeks later my grandson was riding in the third row and complained about the fumes. Since I had a less than 2k miles on the vehicle, I contributed it to a burn in period. It is two and a half years later and the problem has gotten worse.

I took the vehicle to a dealership in West Covina, CA and they stated in order for them to conduct a diagnostic, the vehicle would have to remain on the lot for at least 3 week while they work through other scheduled diagnostics. Like other customers complained, they do not provide courtesy cars. Needless to say, when people inquire about purchasing a Kia, I warn them about poor customer service.

Keith