2016 Kia Sportage: owner complaints and recalls

Owners have filed 130 complaints about the 2016 Kia Sportage and NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns. The most-reported system is engine, named in 58 of them.

130
Complaints
2
Recalls
8
Crash reports
5
Fire reports
8
Injuries
96.9
Severity index

Severity index 96.9 - High. It weights crashes, fires, injuries and fatalities per 100 complaints, so a vehicle attracting serious reports scores above one attracting many trivial ones (how this is calculated).

Middle half of all tracked vehiclesThis vehicle: 96.9p25 35p75 96cleanestworst
Where the 2016 Kia Sportage sits against the quartiles of every vehicle we track.

Among the 140 2016 vehicles we track with at least 40 complaints on file, the 2016 Kia Sportage ranks 34 of 140 by severity, where 1 is the worst. Its severity is higher than 76% of its model-year peers. See the full 2016 ranking.

What actually fails

EngineEngine: 58 complaints (44.6%)58 45%Service BrakesService Brakes: 38 complaints (29.2%)38 29%HydraulicHydraulic: 31 complaints (23.8%)31 24%Unknown Or OtherUnknown Or Other: 18 complaints (13.8%)18 14%Electrical SystemElectrical System: 17 complaints (13.1%)17 13%Fuel/Propulsion SystemFuel/Propulsion System: 9 complaints (6.9%)9 7%Power TrainPower Train: 8 complaints (6.2%)8 6%Vehicle Speed ControlVehicle Speed Control: 6 complaints (4.6%)6 5%
Systems named in complaints. One complaint can name several, so shares overlap.
ComponentComplaintsShare of complaints citing it
ENGINE5844.6%
SERVICE BRAKES3829.2%
HYDRAULIC3123.8%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER1813.8%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM1713.1%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM96.9%
POWER TRAIN86.2%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL64.6%

Complaints filed per year

028562016: 22017: 72018: 42019: 162020: 42021: 72022: 562023: 112024: 102025: 82026: 5 (partial year)161718192021225623242526
Complaints filed per calendar year, not model year. The hatched bar is the current year and is still incomplete.
YearComplaints
20162
20177
20184
201916
20204
20217
202256
202311
202410
20258
2026 (year to date)5
Complaint volume is declining, consistent with a defect that was addressed by recall or that affected early builds.

Recall campaigns

CampaignReportedComponentSummary
18V90700019/12/2018FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGSKia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2011-2017 Optima, 2012-2017 Sorento and 2011-2018 Sportage vehicles that previously received an engine replacement under recall number 17V-224, warranty, or the Knock Sensor Detection System (KSDS) Product Improvement Campaign. The h
22V05100002/02/2022SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULEKia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2018 K900 and 2014-2016 Sportage vehicles. The Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (HECU) module could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire.
Source. US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration public complaint and recall APIs (api.nhtsa.gov), retrieved 2026-07-25. Complaints are unverified consumer reports; volume is influenced by how many units were sold and how long the vehicle has been on the road. Not affiliated with NHTSA or any manufacturer.