What 96 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Kia K5

I was driving on [XXX] Orlando Florida on [xxx] doing approximately 70 miles an hour when a large explosion occurred out and within my car the whole car shook this happened twice within a 5 mile radius. The car was eventually brought to Kia city in Orlando, where they determined that the fuel system had failed . the valve had failed, and the fuel system tank and fuel pump had swelled and blew .This could lead to catastrophic explosion in the vehicle, and or someone catching on fire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11574622

2023 Kia K5 GT, 8300 miles. Took car for 1st oil change and dealer said front brake pads and rotors need replaced. $800. The car is driven to school and home. How is this possible? Brakes should not be worn out this fast! Does this mean every oil change appointment will be $800 to replace brakes again. Reading forums this is a common issue for this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11574573

WHEN DRIVING MY CAR WILL SEND OFF ALL DASHBOARD LIGHTS, SOUNDS. LOSE ACCELERATION. PULL OVER, RMPS FLY UP AND WON. TURN CAR OFF AND TURN BACK ON TO REGAIN ACCELERATION. ENGINE LIGHT REMAINS ON. I KNOW THERE IS A RECALL FOR THIS FOR MY EXACT CAR TYPE, BUT THE RECALL DOES NOT SHOW UP UNDER MY VIN. AFTER A PHONE CALL WITH NHTSA, I WAS TOLD TO REPORT MY VEHICLE TO THE WEBSITE. MY SAFETY AND OTHERS IS AT RISK FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. THIS CAN EASILY CAUSE A CRASH. THIS HAPPENED ONCE AT 5K MILES, DEALERSHIP SUPPOSEDLY FIXED IT. BUT IT HAPPENED AGAIN THE OTHER DAY AT 19K MILES. THERE ARE NO WARNINGS PRIOR TO MY VEHICLE GOING INTO SAFE MODE.

NHTSA ODI 11563677

The contact owns a 2023 Kia K5. The contact stated that the interior of the vehicle had an abnormal gasoline odor. The contact stated that the gasoline odor was inside and surrounding the outside of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The contact stated the vehicle was previously taken to a dealer a month prior, but the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11553391

Loss of power even hitting the gas. Sputters and does not accelerate. Had spark plugs changed thinking it will resolve the problem and it didn't. Severe safety hazard even needed to get up speed

NHTSA ODI 11547805

I noticed several internal markings like streaks on the left windshield. I presented this issue to KIA ASAP. KIA service managers examined the windshield and refused to acknowledge that it was internal, possibly due to a manufacturing defect from a containment during the manufacturing process from the windshield company. They do claim that they feel pits on the windshield, which was due to another dealership scraping the object to see if it was external or internal. KIA told me to file a claim with my auto insurance company and that it is not covered under warranty. I am concerned that the windshield integrity is compromised and a possible danger to someone hitting the windshield which could cause additional injuries from the safety glass deficiency.

NHTSA ODI 11541647

Received an oil change as part of normal service schedule on a 2023 Kia K5 vehicle purchased August of 2022 (from different dealership). 4 days after this service was conducted, the drain plug in the oil system of the vehicle fell out of my car, therefore draining my vehicle of the oil it needs to operate normally, causing the car to completely stall near my home. I had to pay out of pocket at a nearby Express Oil Change facility to have a new drain plug and oil put into car, after which I immediately brought my vehicle back to this dealership to ascertain what happened. This is the SECOND time this same exact issue has occurred with my vehicle (the first time occurring after an oil change at a different Kia dealership in Charlotte, NC), which I brought to my service advisor's attention prior to them beginning the oil change service. I expressed to this service department that I am extremely concerned there is something malfunctioning or defective within the vehicle that has caused this issue TWICE in an almost-new vehicle, and that I was now concerned there could be possible damage to my engine from this reoccurring issue. The service department at Kia Wesley Chapel did absolutely nothing to address my concerns or the issue other than replacing the drain plug (yet again). This Kia service department, and KIA overall, refuses to recognize or admit to any issue within the vehicle, and I was told to "wait and see if it happens again".

NHTSA ODI 11536967

Tire: Pirelli P Zero All Season M+S (235/45/18) Tire experienced a catastrophic failure while driving entire tire came a loose from rim leaving the car incapacitated and unable to maintain control. Luckily it was a rear tire which allowed partial control until able to safely stop the car.

NHTSA ODI 11536749

I was in a car accident on 6/30/23. I was side swiped and the front airbag deployed and exploded in my face, knocking me unconscious and leaving me with chemical burns. I had a grade 2 concussion so it's hard to remember a lot. I was taken to the hospital. And drivers and passengers from 3 other vehicles were also taken to area hospitals.

NHTSA ODI 11532035

Was driving on the highway at roughly about 70 MPH and all of a sudden heard a big explosion and found out my sunroof blew open with glass all over the back seat and inside of my car. Luckily no one was in the back seat, if there was, they would have been injured very badly.

NHTSA ODI 11530243

The car was 4 months old when I was trying to get home when all of a sudden I noticed all the engine lights started to go out. With a few minutes on the road, the car automatically shut down in the middle of the road. My head almost hit the steering wheel and I was so close to hitting another car. I tried to start the car but it wouldn't start, the engine was making a strange noise and it smelled like burning. I waited 45 minutes on the side of the road and started the car. I drove the car to Kia and the fastest the car will go was 25 miles. When I got to Kia I explained everything that had happened to the car. They did not assure me that the Kia warranty was going to pay for everything and that they were going to investigate what was wrong with the car. It was a wiring issue and was covered under warranty. I brought the car home around 6:300 p.m. m. From the Kia body shop and before I pulled out of the parking lot, I had the same problem again! The check engine light came on and the car came to a screeching halt again. I drove the car back to the body shop. I didn't tell him anything about what was wrong with the car. The car was serviced, however you should have no problem with a new 2023 car.

NHTSA ODI 11527419

I was involved in a traffic accident on May 29 2023. I was hit on the passenger side sustaining $18,000 in damages. My side air bag never went off.

NHTSA ODI 11526279

Unknown

NHTSA ODI 11517696

My sunroof exploded while driving on Lakeshore drive. I hear a loud boom and I almost crashed. I thought it was my tire or something else look up its my sunroof, I could have hit some one or hit something. It hasn't been inspected or anything as of yet it just happened at 6:30am. This is crazy because there was no warnings no cracks no anything. I ride with my sunroof cracked open every morning. so I don't understand.

NHTSA ODI 11516448

Went through automatic car wash, in neutral. The gear shifted and the car sped up, bumping the back of another car in front. No warning sound, and no auto break.

NHTSA ODI 11516253

Factory-installed tire on brand new KIA K-5 suffered catastrophic sidewall failure without contact with any foreign object after tire and vehicle was driven 151 total miles since new. Tire is Pirelli UPR18-235 PZERO All Season. ( R57-119, 029974 S2 WRZ (E4), (E3) 022958)

NHTSA ODI 11514393

This is the letter I sent to Kia: Dear Sirs, I own a 2023 Kia K5 EX that I bought new and currently has about 8500 miles on it. Today, while driving on I95 in Florida, I had my right rear tire blow out. I could tell by the feel of the car that I had a flat before the systems warned me, but that is not why I’m writing you today. While I was working my way over to the right shoulder to stop, all of the waring lights came on and the brakes stopped working. Now I want to be clear. It wasn’t a failure of the brakes themselves. It was not the anti-lock brake system. The brake pedal itself locked and would not let me apply the brakes. Again, I want to be perfectly clear here. I am now driving on a 6 lane highway at about 50 miles and hour on three tires with no working safety systems and I cannot slow down the car. Eventually, the brakes came bake on line and I was able to stop the car. However, If the traffic suddenly slowed down, as is common on South Florida, I would have had no way to avoid a collision. I do not know if this is a programmed response to a tire blow out or a major flaw in your safety systems. If it was designed that way, fire the moron who designed it and have it fixed. If it’s a flaw in the design, have it fixed. I cannot believe how dangerous a car you let me drive. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11512736

My wife was driving down the highway with her cruise control set to 75. She noticed she was only doing 71 and pushed the gas pedal manually. The rpm's increased to between 4000-5000 but there was no acceleration with the car. The car then dropped to 68 mph and would not accelerate at all. After pulling over and turning the car off and then restarting it started working ok. This seems to match the transmission recall of the 2023 Kia K5 GT-Line but this car is not currently included in that recall. This recall should be investigated and possibly expanded.

NHTSA ODI 11502507

Wheel resonance ducting separated from wheel inside of the tire. Broken pieces, threw off the balance of the wheel/tire resulting in very excessive vehicle vibration.

NHTSA ODI 11492462

MPG is lower then number provided by both dealer and manufactorer (my average 24 city 27 highway ) factoring that i rarely even use climate controls and other fuel consuming things and often turn off engine in mcdonald's drive thru lane

NHTSA ODI 11490250

Purchased a 2023 Kia K5 in August 2022 and as of Oct 2022 it has 800 miles. Four times within that period when I was either stopped or coming to a stop the acceleration excessively increased to 4 or more RPMs. I held my brake hard and put it in Neutral in which the RPMs got higher so I proceeded to Park. The first 3 times (while in traffic) it lowered the RPMs back down to normal. The 4th time (today) when stopped and shifting to Park the RPMs did not lower so while in Park, i slowly took my foot off the brake and it slowly lowered the RPMs. In all 4 instances I had the Auto Hold on. The 4th occurrence I noticed that the Auto Hold on the dash was blinking green then white so I turned it off. If this were to occur while I am driving at a high speed, I am afraid it will cause me to have a severe accident. Please investigate if this has been reported in the past and act fast before there is a fatal result.

NHTSA ODI 11488746