2012 Kia Sportage — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 392 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Kia Sportage — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
20 complaints
181 complaints
392 complaints
381 complaints
124 complaints
146 complaints
134 complaints
401 complaints
164 complaints
70 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not…
KIA notified me of a KSDS recall for my engine in July 2021. I went and had the recall software installed at a KIA dealership in August 2021. On October 10, 2021, as I was driving down the freeway, my car lost power and the engine light illuminated. (Due to the installation of the KSDS software recall) Took the car to Valley KIA of Fontana. They told me that my vehicle was…
WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, WE HEARD A THUMP FROM OUR 2012 KIA SPORTAGE. WHEN WE GOT HOME, MY HUSBAND CHECKED THE ENGINE AND HE FOUND WE HAD NO OIL. WE NEVER HAD A CHECK ENGINE OR OIL LIGHT COME ON AND NEVER HAD AN OIL SPOT UNDER OUR CAR. WE TOOK IT TO OUR KIA DEALER AND WAS TOLD IT NEEDED A NEW ENGINE. AFTER READING OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE, I REALIZE WE WERE …
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Sportage. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V750000 (Engine). The contact stated there was an abnormal knocking noise detected and the vehicle went into limp mode. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed the contact that the rod bearing had failed. The vehicle…
It died when we turned it on but we didn’t think it started so we started it again and it was fine. Then 1 hour later we were driving and check engine light came on and it turned off then the car was dying. When I pulled over to let it cool down the car wouldn’t turn back on and when I checked under the hood there was oil all over the engine and the cap was there, it was smoki…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Kia Sportage, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.