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What 10 owners told NHTSA about the 2025 Kia Seltos

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 (10)Crash / fire / injury (1)Electrical system (3)Lights (3)Driver assistance (2)Body & structure (1)Brakes (1)Engine (1)Lane Departure (1)Steering (1)

3 of 10 complaints match · Electrical system · clear filters

Jan 21, 2026Electrical system

Instrument cluster does not turn on upon ignition, when in cold weather. this has been a repeating incident, first of which started only 2 months after the purchase. even after 7 separate incidents, and handful dealer visits, car was deemed "okay" because they could not replicate the issue. employees at the dealership have taken pictures and videos but have yet to find a solution to fix this issue, and they further "ask" that if the incident happens again, drive as is so they can see the issue. this is a serious safety issue since nothing is visible including speedometer, rev meter and gas tank indicator, etc. the most recent incident will be dated on the report, but i will attache multiple pictures from different dates as i can recall and recollect.

NHTSA ODI 11712544

Feb 15, 2025Electrical systemLights

Car delivered [XXX] since then we have had 3 incidents of the dash control lights going out along with the head lights going dim making it very dangerous to drive in the dark. Car had about 1200 miles on it when it started and it had 1823 miles on it when they had a appointment for me to get the car in. We are going on a 3 week trip south at the end of march and based on my experience with the Saltos, the dash lights go out and the head lights either go out or go very dim. How do I know, I had a 2023 Seltos that had the same problem, answer from Ganley Kia, could not duplicate, another Kia I owned when I lived in Georgia, Dash llights and head lights went out in the mountains in the dark. Dealer replaced this car INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11642950

Jan 9, 2025Electrical system

The main instrument cluster will not illuminate on initial start ups. The screen will not illuminate on it's own, a vehicle restart is required after a extended period of driving/engine running. Speedometer, tachometer and fuel gauge are not visible. It is a recurring problem. The vehicle was taken to the dealership and the service department said it is a known problem with the Seltos and other models. They said Kia hasn't identified the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11635043

Working with the data? Download all 10 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 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 2025 Kia Seltos verdict →