Home · 2015 Kia Cadenza · Complaints

What 48 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Kia Cadenza

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (48)Crash / fire / injury (3)Electrical system (13)Engine (13)Visibility & wipers (7)Brakes (4)Lights (4)Body & structure (3)Steering (3)Suspension (2)Airbags (1)Backup camera & sensors (1)

3 of 48 complaints match · Body & structure · clear filters

Feb 11, 2022Body & structure

Major concern for the safety of my passengers, myself, and anyone around my vehicle if a frontal crash was to happen. This is due to the lack of seal/adhesive holding the windshield to the vehicle. Started as small puddling on the floormats in the front and has since progressed. While attempting to clean the inside of my windshield I noticed movement to find there is absolutely nothing holding the windshield to the body of the vehicle aside from the weight itself. My concern is; if an accident was to occur, there would be no way to know where my passengers (if they were to slip out from the seatbelts) or myself would go. The same goes for the windshield and the potential unknown damage or death it is capable of causing. Talked to the dealer on the phone and was told its not a common issue and surprised this site has only one complaint because if you can check any of the cadenza forums online you'll quickly see that probably most if not all of these cars will or have already had this issue. Which is very alarming due to the very low numbers per year (less than 10k) that were available to the US market. So since I purchased my car used; the great warranty they pride themselves on was no longer in affect since it gets shortened to a term of the amount of years and mileage the average person takes to pay a vehicle off and once it's no longer titled to the original owner the warranty is pretty much expired and kia is no longer responsible.

NHTSA ODI 11451480

Feb 5, 2018Body & structure

WHEN I AM DRIVING HOME JUST A MILE AWAY FROM HOME I HEARD A POP NOISE SIMILAR TO A BALLOON AND MY KIDS WITH ME AND I ASKED THEM DID THEY HAVE ANY BALLOONS WITH YOU ALL . THEY SAY NO AND HEARD THE SAME NOISE AND I WAS THINKING MAY BE THE TIRE POPPED BUT I DIDN'T FEEL ANYTHING IN MY STEERING WHEEL . THEN I STARTED HEARING WIND NOISE COMING INTO THE CAR. THEN I REALIZED THE SUNROOF MUST HAVE EXPLODED. I GOT TO MY HOUSE AND GOT OUT CHECK IT OUT FIND ITS STARTING CRACK ALL OVER THE FRONT MOON ROOF. I COULD HEAR IT'S SLOWLY CRACKING WITH SUEAKY NOISE WITH PRESSURE AND ITS LIFTING SLIGHTLY OVER ITSELF. WE ARE SAFELY CONE OUT OF THE CAR BEFORE THE GLASS CAME DOWN.I HAVE HEARD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH KIA SORENTO BUT NEVER WITH CADENZAS.NOW I SEE THE PROBLEM OF USING TEMPERED GLASS IT SEEMS VERY DANGEROUS THEY ARE VERY SHARP. I CONTACTED KIA AND THEY SAID WILL CALL BACK IN 2 DAYS AND THEY CALLED BACK BUT I COULD COULDN'T PICK UP, NO ONE ANSWER MY RETURN CALL I AM WAITING FOR 4 DAYS NOW FOR A SOLUTION TO THIS.

NHTSA ODI 11066923

Aug 16, 2016Body & structure

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 KIA CADENZA. AFTER INCLEMENT WEATHER, THE CONTACT NOTICED WATER IN THE TRUNK OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, BUT THE DETAILS OF THE DIAGNOSIS COULD NOT BE PROVIDED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.

NHTSA ODI 10896365

Working with the data? Download all 48 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2015 Kia Cadenza verdict →