What 64 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Kia Stinger

On 11/13/2020 my car had 26,942 miles. I experienced my first issue with my vehicle where it lost power while driving on the freeway. My vehicle was in the shop for 17 days where they replaced the fuel pump directly affected my turbo. On 10/19/2023 my vehicle had 68,366 miles on it while driving to work when I went to accelerate from a stop sign there was no power and I literally had to drift to the side of the road. My vehicle was in the shop for seven days and it was the same issue. A few weeks after my vehicle was repaired, I received the recall notice, however at this time there was no resolution it was nearly a recall campaign. On 12/29/2023 my vehicle had 70,290 miles (not even 2000 miles since my vehicle had returned from the shop) as I was leaving work, my car begin sputtering like it was going to lose power. I made it home safely however, upon trying to start my vehicle the next morning there was a warning and a message saying not to drive my vehicle. My vehicle has been in the service center since December 30, 2023 with no resolution.

NHTSA ODI 11571761

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost motive power inadvertently. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact stated that the vehicle was stuck in second gear. The contact was able to drive to the dealer at slow speed. The dealer diagnosed that the fuel pump assembly part number: 35320-2CTB1 and bolts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11559038

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 45-50 MPH downhill and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving uphill, the vehicle decelerated and failed to exceed 35 MPH while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that he could repair the vehicle at his own expense, and he could then be reimbursed for the repair later. The failure mileage was approximately 77,600. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI 11558377

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly shuddered and displayed a "Service Vehicle Now" message. The contact smelled a gasoline odor in the interior of the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the contact might have fueled the vehicle with insufficient fuel and provided a fuel additive for additional testing. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline), and the VIN was included, but parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,000.

NHTSA ODI 11556238

My vehicle has a delay in taking off from a complete stop. The car also looses a little power while driving intermittently. There was times that the car wouldn't even go at all I had to turn off the car and restarted to be able to go. That has been happening more and more the check engine light has been on the whole time. Also the rear shock or strut went out but the part that is apart of the suspension has broke and now the vehicle scrapes the tire because it is too low

NHTSA ODI 11551952

All of a sudden while driving on the road my vehicle lost total power in the middle of an intersection. I would pres the gas pedal and got no response the vehicle would not go. I had to turn car off and try starting it again then the vehicle got power. This keeps happening not everyday but it's happening about once a week while driving. There has been times where the car wouldn't restart for about an hour I got the car off the road and stayed stranded at night till it finally got power to move it would start but it would just putter like it wasn't getting enough fuel and my engine light came on. It is telling me something is wrong with the fuel rail , high pressure fuel pump, and it is running too rich. I have a little over 62,000 miles on it . Now there is a delay in take off it has lost a lot of power and is using a lot of fuel getting poor gas milage.

NHTSA ODI 11547591

The car will lose power while accelerating and the turbo does not properly work well. Was told it was a fuel pump issue.

NHTSA ODI 11529036

I bought front and rear drilled and slotted brake rotors. I installed these on my car using the same name brand of brake pads front and rear. The fronts were perfect. The rear rotors had defective black zinc coating that caked on my brake pads. This layer of coating prevented contact between the friction surface of the rotor and friction material of the pad. I only drove the car 1/2 mile. My rear brakes would not work properly. I sent Brake Performance 14 pictures and a series of emails describing this. They shrugged it off as cosmetic. I had the remaining defective coating machined off the friction surface of the rotors. I sanded and cleaned the layer of defective coating off my brake pads. After this cleaning, the brakes worked as expected. I have installed their products on 3 vehicles using 10 rotors and 2 drums. Only these last 2 rotors had defective coating. It's concerning that they never considered the safety implications of the defective coating. The front and rear rotors were stored together in the same environment prior to install.

NHTSA ODI 11519679

Steering wheel began making noises that sounded like grinding of gears that sounded like it was coming from outside of the interior of the vehicle. The noise was heard loudly when turning the steering wheel after the car sat idle and occasionally after driving the car after several minutes of the car warming up. The noise occurred increasingly more frequent over 4 weeks. The steering also became more difficult with tension felt during turning the wheel. Eventually, the steering wheel locked completely during turning and became unable to turn the steering wheel while driving and turning the wheel. The risk of crash which put me and others at risk was narrowly avoided by stopping in the middle of an intersection multiple times while driving the car. The car was taken to the Kia dealership 3/16/23 and the problem was reproduced and confirmed by the dealer on 3/20/23 where it was inspected. When the steering wheel locked, a message related to the Lane Assist feature on the car appeared.

NHTSA ODI 11512912

Bought a CERTIFIED PREOWNED 2018 Kia Stinger from Russ Darrow Kia in Madison, WI Feb. 2021. Approx. Aug 2021 cylinder 3 on our 2018 Kia Stinger started misfiring. After replacing the spark plugs (x4 times) and coil packs, there was no improvement. We had it towed to Metro Kia of Madison because it was under Kia warranty still, and after 5-months and an engine replacement (including the long-block), we got our car back in Feb 2022. Flash forward to the end of Jan 2023, the Stinger starts driving rough. Idling harder, but no error codes are showing. After about 24hrs of very light driving because we knew something was wrong, an error code for cylinder 1 came up on my way home from work just a half mile away. When I got home, thick white smoke was billowing out of the exhaust which filled up the entire parking garage causing an environmental hazard to myself and my neighbors. So, I immediately open the garage doors and opened the windows to air everything out, and moved my car outside. I did some research online and figured I would try to replace the spark plugs and coil packs again, just to see if I could drive it to an independent shop because it is out of manufacturer warrenty by 3k miles. That didn't really help, and we ended up having it towed, again. After a week, find out they can't see anything on the top of the engine which has cause cylinder 1 to completely FAIL, and going to inspect for bottom side repair, plus labor, and whatever else is going to be close to $15k! Metro Kia basically said there was nothing they could do even though it was them who did the last repair. Russ Darrow Kia who originally sold us the vehicle also said we were screwed. We stopped work on the vehicle for now because we can't afford it and $2k in rentals. Opened a case with Kia on 2/14/23 due to the 2.0 THETA II engine recalled which Stingers are NOT included on, but haven't heard back yet. Never buying another KIA ever again because it's been nothing but PROBLEMS!

NHTSA ODI 11508029

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the residence where it was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was no recall on the vehicle for the failure. The failure mileage was 62,000.

NHTSA ODI 11500841

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary in her garage, she started to smell antifreeze and saw an oil leak underneath the vehicle and on the engine. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the timing chain pan to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the serpentine belt was loose. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer and made the mechanic aware of the diagnostic result from the independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact also stated the dealer completed NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V754000 (Electrical System) on 11/26/2019. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000.

NHTSA ODI 11448835

Adaptive front lighting system error. For the last several months, and more frequently in the last 2 weeks when the weather has been colder, the dashboard warning light for the adaptive headlights has come on -- initially intermittently, but now solid nearly every time I turn on the vehicle. Bluedriver OBDII tool tells me this is error code B2325: "Swivel module fault left short circuit or over temperature." I noticed the problem seemed to creep up and became more frequent when the temperature dropped. Others on Kia Stinger forums have reported the exact same issue: https://stingerforum.org/threads/dynamic-bending-light-failure.3820/ To me, this represents a safety problem, as the feature function is to provide Dynamic Bending (Swivelling) and Automatic Leveling (Leveling) to control headlight beam pattern with curves in the road. I have reported this problem to my local Kia dealer and to the national Kia customer service line, but neither of them seemed to have yet heard of the problem. Consumer was told by RAM truck would be brought to a RAM DEALERSHIP to have the diagnostic run!

NHTSA ODI 11447095

I took my 2018Kia Stinger into my local authorized Service Center (Nationwide Kia, Timonium MD.) on August 17,2021 to check recall # SC204 (Brake Vacuum Pump) and they determined that the recall DOES need to be performed, but they did not have the part(s) in stock to perform the recall. They had me bring the car back on September 21, 2021 after they confirmed my reason for the return visit and accepted my appointment. I dropped my car off on that morning only to get a call later that day that they did not do anything because they did not have the parts. They told me thy would follow up to complete the recall, which they never did even after my attempts to get them to do so. On November 5, 2021 I submitted a complaint with Kia Cutomer Service and they assigned case # 14469559. Since then, I have contacted Kia Customer Service approximately every 2 weeks and have only been able to get the "automated response" and no actual response. I am at the point that I must assume no one (the dealership or Kia America) will be of no help and I am certainly concerned that I have been driving my car for the last 5 months with a Brake Vacuum Pump that has been confirmed that it needs replacement. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11446153

While driving 35 mph, about 2 miles into a drive all these lights came on at once in amber or yellowish color. ABS, Traction Control, and Auto Hold. So freaking out, I stopped at a stop sign and turned the car off. Restarted the car, lights were still on then went off after clearing the stop sign by 1/2 mile. The lights stayed off till destination 25 mi away. Parked car and turned off engine. Turned car back on no lights, 2 miles into road trip, 35 mph, all the lights came on again, stayed on solid till destination about 25 mi away. Parked car, turned off engine called local dealership.

NHTSA ODI 11442644

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A USED 2018 KIA STINGER PREMIUM. I WAS NOTIFIED ONLINE THAT MY VEHICLE HAD AN OUTSTANDING RECALL, SC196A WITH A FIRE HAZARD FROM THE FUSE BOX. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH GARDEN GROVE KIA AND ASK NUMEROUS TIMES IF THE PART COULD BE ORDERED AHEAD OF TIME BEFORE I TOOK IT IN SO I DON'T HAVE TO BE INCONVENIENCED TWICE. I WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD TO LEAVE THE VEHICLE FOR 3 HOURS FOR AN INSPECTION AND THEN THE PART WOULD BE ORDERED FOR ME TO COME BACK FOR THE INSTALL. I THEN CALLED THE HUNTINGTON BEACH DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING. I HAVE CONTACTED KIA CORPORATE AND AM AWAITING AN ANSWER. THERE HAS TO BE A MORE EFFICIENT WAY OF DEALING WITH THIS RECALL. THIS SHOULD BE DONE IN A SINGLE APPOINTMENT AND IS A LIABILITY FOR ME TO HAVE TO RETURN LATER.

NHTSA ODI 11404923

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 KIA STINGER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT HAD ILLUMINATED. HE ALSO STATED THAT A BURNING ODOR WOULD EMIT FROM THE VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THE CONTACT THEN RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 20V518000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC) HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. DULLES KIA(107 CATOCTIN CIR SE, LEESBURG, VA 201750), WAS CONTACTED BY PHONE AND IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT YET AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000. VIN TOOL CONFIRMED PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

NHTSA ODI 11404253

I WAS DRIVING ON INTERSTATE GOING 70MPH WITH THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE ON AND MY SPEED SUDDENLY DROPS TO 50 ( LIKE SNAPPING YOUR FINGERS ). SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME. WHEN I STOPPED I CHECKED THE FRONT SENSORS TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS NOTHING BLOCKING IT. A COUPLE WEEKS LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED GOING ABOUT 70 ON INTERSTATE AND THE SPEED SUDDENLY DROPS TO ABOUT 50, BUT THIS TIME THE TRUCK BEHIND ME ALMOST REAR ENDED ME. BOTH TIMES WHEN THE SPEED DROPPED LIKE THAT I WAS FREAKING OUT AND TRYING TO GET MY FOOT BACK ON THE GAS AND GET MY SPEED BACK UP. A COUPLE WEEKS LATER I WAS GOING ABOUT 35 AND DID NOT HAVE THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE ON AND IT SUDDENLY STOPS AGAIN. THIS TIME THE CRASH WARNING LIGHT SHOWED UP ON THE DASHBOARD AND THE ERROR WARNING CAME UP AND SAID THE AUTONOMOUS BREAKING SYSTEM IS DISABLED. WE TOOK A PICTURE OF THE DASHBOARD. ON THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER OF THE PICTURE IT SAYS CRUISE AND SHOWS THE ERROR LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD. CRUISE WAS NOT ON SO I ASSUME IT WAS PART OF THE ERROR THAT CAME ON WITH THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS. I AM SCARED TO DEATH TO DRIVE MY CAR NOW. I HAVE 2 GRANDKIDS THAT ARE IN MY CAR 3-4 TIMES A WEEK. GOD FORBID I GET HIT AND SOMETHING HAPPENS TO MY BABIES!!! I TOOK THE CAR TO HENDRICK KIA IN CONCORD, NC SO THEY COULD SEE WHAT WAS WRONG. WHEN THEY HOOKED THE CAR UP TO THE COMPUTER NO ERROR CODES SHOWED UP. ONE OF THE GUYS HAS BEEN DRIVING MY CAR HOME AND TO WORK FOR 2 DAYS AND THE PROBLEM HAS NOT HAPPENED AGAIN. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW.

NHTSA ODI 11364717

CAR HAS NO BRAKES WHEN INITIALLY STARTING IT AND BACKING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY. THE BRAKE PEDAL IS SO HARD THAT I AM UNABLE TO DEPRESS IT. AFTER A FEW SECONDS, THE BRAKE PEDAL BEHAVES NORMALLY. THIS PROBLEM HAS RESULTED IN ME ROLLING OUT INTO THE ROAD MORE THAN ONCE. I HAVE HAD THE CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO BE ANALYZED AND FIXED THREE TIMES. ONE TIME THEY REPLACED A VACUUM LINE AND THE OTHER TWO TIMES THEY HAVE REPLACED THE VACUUM PUMP. I AM CONCERNED THAT SOMETHING ELSE IS WRONG THAT IS CAUSING A BRAKE OVERPRESSURE CONDITION THAT IS CAUSING THE BRAKE VACUUM PUMP AND THE VACUUM LINE FAILURES. THE DEALERSHIP IS TELLING ME THAT I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO PICK UP MY CAR NOW THAT THE VACUUM PUMP HAS BEEN REPLACED AGAIN. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR WITHOUT FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF WHY BRAKES AND THE VACUUM PUMP KEEPS FAILING.

NHTSA ODI 11361690

WENT TO CAR WASH TO DEGREASE ENGINE IN THE EVENING. CAR WAS PARKED IN CAR WASH BAY NOT RUNNING. SPRAYED GUNK ENGINE DEGREASER ON MOTOR AND CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE IN A FEW SECONDS UNEXPECTEDLY. CAR WAS NOT RUNNING. QUICKLY PUT FIRE OUT WITH WATER AND FUEL LEAKS AFTER CAREFUL INSPECTION AND ELECTRICAL WIRES FOUND BARE AND BURNT. NOT SURE IF THERE WAS A SHORT OR A FUEL LEAK PRESENT BEFORE USING GUNK DEGREASER BUT DID NOT EXPECT FIRE FOR DOING THIS. PREMIUM MODEL STINGER WITH 2.L T GDI ENGINE. LOVE THE CAR BUT DID NOT EXPECT THIS. :( REPAIR EXPENSIVE TO NOT REPLACE MOTOR. AROUND $13,000 AT DEALERSHIP. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11331154

WHEN BRAKING THE VEHICLE SHUDDERS WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED. THIS IS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION ALMOST EVERY TIME THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED. IT FEELS UNSAFE AND COULD BE AN ISSUE IN A PANIC BRAKING SITUATION AS THE BRAKES DON'T FEEL AS EFFECTIVE AS THEY SHOULD BE. MY VEHICLE IS RELATIVELY NEW AND NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY. MANY OTHERS WITH THIS VEHICLE ARE REPORTING THE SAME ISSUE. I HAVE REPORTED IT TO KIA AND THEY DENY THERE IS A PROBLEM. THERE REALLY SHOULD BE A RECALL TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE THAT JUST ABOUT EVERYONE WITH THIS CAR SEEMS TO BE HAVING. I BELIEVE THIS COMMON PROBLEM HAS PROBABLY LED TO ACCIDENTS AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.

NHTSA ODI 11327597

CAR CHECK ENGINE WENT ON. TOOK TO AN AUTO STORE AND WAS TOLD CYLINDER 3 WAS MISFIRING. PROCEEDED TO CHANGE PLUS MYSELF, PLUGS WERE BURNT, 1 BROKEN, VERY LITTLE IF ANY OIL IN THE CAR. TOOK TO DEALER AND THEY INFORMED BE THE ENGINE WILL NOT HOLD PRESSURE. ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. NOT 1 WARNING CAME ON. KIA WILL NOT WARRANTY AS I HAVE AN AFTERMARKET AIR FILTER.

NHTSA ODI 11318542

SAME AS REPORTED NHTSA ID NUMBER: 11202935. BODY INTEGRITY ISSUE WHEN CAR IS UNDER TORSION, AS IN A TURN UPHILL OR DOWNHILL. CAUSES MOVEMENT AROUND A-PILLAR, B-PILLAR, AND/OR DOOR WINDOW FRAME, WITH NOTICEABLE NOISE. TAKEN TO DEALER TWICE, THEY ONLY SAY THEY CANNOT REPRODUCE THE ISSUE, PLUS THEY DON'T HAVE A BODY SHOP TO DO FURTHER INVESTIGATION.

NHTSA ODI 11296905

VEHICLE BEGAN EXPERIENCING LOSS OF POWER AND ENGINE KNOCKING. THIS GRADUALLY BECAME WORSE AND WOULD SUBSTANTIALLY LOSE ALL POWER UPON TAKEOFF AT INTERSECTIONS CAUSING FOR DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING SITUATIONS. KIA REPLACED THE ENGINE BUT THE ISSUE PERSISTS AND HAS GOTTEN WORSE. THEY REFUSE TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM OR BUYBACK THE DEFECTIVE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ODI 11286356

VEHICLE SHAKES WHEN APPLYING THE BREAKS AT SPEEDS ABOVE 40MPH. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE CAR HAD ABOUT 10K MILES.

NHTSA ODI 11276966