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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2013 Kia Sportage — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 381 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

381

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

Injuries

across all reports

Years to Avoid

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.

2010 Kia Sportage

20 complaints

2011 Kia Sportage

181 complaints

2012 Kia Sportage

392 complaints

2013 Kia Sportage

381 complaints

2014 Kia Sportage

124 complaints

2015 Kia Sportage

146 complaints

2016 Kia Sportage

134 complaints

2017 Kia Sportage AVOID

401 complaints

2018 Kia Sportage

164 complaints

2019 Kia Sportage

70 complaints

2020 Kia Sportage

162 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 301 reports

Unknown Or Other 27 reports

Service Brakes 25 reports

Electrical System 22 reports

Hydraulic 19 reports

Power Train 18 reports

Engine And Engine Cooling 14 reports

Fuel/propulsion System 7 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Power Train ODI 11445544 12/30/2021

While driving my 2013 Kia Sportage at 70 mph from Wisconsin to Duluth MN, I heard a tapping coming from the engine. Very quickly, the noise escalated to a very loud knocking. At this time, I thought my engine was going to blow up while driving. I was very frightened by this experience. Then car shut off while I was driving putting myself and those behind me at rick of an…

Engine ODI 11164086 12/30/2018

THE ENGINE HAS A LOUD KNOCKING SOUND. I TURNED ON MY VEHICLE AND WHEN I PRESSED ON THE GAS I HEARD A LOUD KNOCKING SOUND. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DILIGENT ABOUT GETTING MY REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND SERVICES FOR AND HAVE SERVICE RECORDS FOR IT SO THOUGHT THIS WAS ODD. I TOOK IT TO THE KIA DEALER AND WAS ADVISED IT NEEDED A NEW ENGINE AND WOULD COST ABOUT $7200, A LOT MORE THAN WHAT TH…

Engine ODI 11562489 12/29/2023

I have a Kia Sportage Ex 2013 and this motor vehicle has a fire and explotion in the road.

Engine And Engine Cooling ODI 11499377 12/29/2022

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormally loud knocking sound. The contact stated that the vehicle previously had the brakes, four tires, fuel injectors, and spark plugs replaced; however, the failure recurred. Additionally, the vehicle experienced rough driving. The vehicle was taken to …

Unknown Or Other ODI 10938479 12/29/2016

TIRE VALVE STEM RUSTED AND BROKE OFF WHEN I TRIED TO REMOVE CAP TO FILL WITH AIR.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2013 Kia Sportage, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2013 Kia Sportage reliable?

Owners have filed 381 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2013 Kia Sportage, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Kia Sportage years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.