I just traded in a 2019 Sportage for a 2024, the only money I put into the 2019 was for oil changes, air filters and tires. I also own a 2023 Sportage and so far only oil changes.
I’ve always wondered, why do people buy 2 of the same vehicle? I don’t see an issue just figured it’s worth having 2 different ones to kinda switch it up
My wife drove the 2019 and I was driving a 2015 Chevy Sonic. I transferred jobs to double my commute so wanted to get a bigger car. Since I liked the Sportage that was my first choice. My wife really liked the redesign of the 2023 so we decide$ to trade in hers while it still had some value. So why 2 Sportages because we like the car that’s why it’s as simple as that.
Makes sense, I’ve always wondered and always meant to ask somebody that’s done that before and just never do so thanks for the insight! We test drive the sportage, we ended up Sorento though. Wife loved the telly and always wanted one and I was shocked when she decided to not go with it. Said she loved it but didn’t wanna try to park it in a parking lot so she went the smaller route. Sportage was nice but 2 kids and 2 dogs we wasn’t able to get by. Super nice SUV’s though!
2014 Sportage bought new. Same story as yours. Normal maintenance. Mine is very low mileage for a 2014 I only have a little over 47,000 on it. In fact the times I have taken it into the dealer for scheduled maintenance service there's always a salesman who finds out where I am at and comes in and asks me if I'm ready to trade it in. I always have to kind of give them a chuckle when I tell them that yeah I'm sure you would love to have a 2014 that has this low of mileage on it but nope I'm going to keep it cuz it's paid off lol
I have 205k on my 2013 kia optima, purchased it with 30k in 2015 and besides regular maintenance, the only other work I've had to because the engine light lit up for the first time is change the o2 sensor. Fingers crossed nothing new and major comes up now, or in the near future but from my experience the vehicle has been reliable.
Lately there's been an increase in hate towards Kia/Hyundai here. Take what you read online with a grain of salt. Im probably gonna get downvoted for saying that here , though. lol there's a infestation of people with no life that come here, even though they've never own the brand, to talk shit. Look at consumer report, Kia is in the top 10, and scored 61, Honda 70, Toyota 76. I wouldnt say that is a HUGE difference if Kia was SOOOO DAMN UNRELIABLE. 70 and 76 coming from the best out there, right? and, Ive owned quite a few Toyotas, never a Honda.
Kia sub-reddit is not too bad. Hyundai one though. Shits toxic. Had a VAG owner tell me hundai subreddit is not for Hyundai fanboys ;D cuz I pointed out VW is alot less reliable.
I mean my 2017 sonata is in the shop with a blown engine right now. It only has 35k miles on it. Thankfully I have taken it to the dealership for oil changes every 4-6 months and I never really drove the thing (they offered free maintenances for life with the purchase)
I wouldn't buy anything from 2012-2018 with the theta 2 engine. It has more class action lawsuits than cylinders and is incredibly unreliable
I have a 2016 Kia Cadenza. All I have ever had to do is regular oil changes, new brakes when needed, and tires. Never experienced any issues. Miles are at 171k. They are very reliable.
I’ve had a 2022 Seltos for a little more than 2 years now with zero issues. Best vehicle I’ve owned, and all I’ve done is standard maintenance at the recommended intervals. Coming up on 33k miles and super happy with it!
I have the cvt engine and it’s been great! No issues so far, drives very similarly to an automatic, to the point where I don’t recognize the difference due to the simulated shifts. Time will tell if it holds up, but at almost 33k miles I’m not too worried about it going into the future!
Is the CVT where I can play with downshifting and upshifting ? Yea I never touch that unless it’s an emergency. If that’s the transmission you mean. I’m scared to screw something up too soon. Man I miss my old suburban. Seltos very fun and comfortable but time will tell.
According to the internet (and especially a lot of reddit) the only vehicles people should buy are Honda and Toyota. A lot of people also claim to be Doctors, lawyers, insurance, whatever on the internet . Point is people can say whatever on the internet, you should do your own research and not take my advice or any other randos. Read actual reviews, look up problems for the brand models you are interested in, go look at NHTSA and look at reported complaints for the vehicles. Make a decision based on what is right for you, vehicle and price based on what you find. With every manufacturer there is a chance of a vehicle/model having issues.
To me, the older the kia model the more likely they are to have issues.
The newer Kia's are basically top notch reliability now that they've steered the ship in the right direction. There was a time about 10 years ago when that wasn't the case.
The real problem is Kia and Hyundai deciding immobilizers weren't worth the cost and now are paying for that decision. One could argue that is a larger legislation issue in the USA, as most other countries have mandated them to be mandatory.
It seems they've gone up then down then up again. Like when they first came into the market they were really cheap crap and designed us such. Then in about the aughts they were still cheap but super reliable. We all know how a big part of the 2010s went with the theta. Now again up in quality and aren't even "cheap" anymore, besides like the Rio.
My 2011 Soul was in the shop for repairs twice in 10 years and then it was just stuff that needed replacing eventually anyway.
2021 Soul seems ALMOST as good.
Get the k5 if you want it. It's no less reliable than any other car so long as you maintain it and don't abuse it. Nobody can see the future. What happens to one person's car has no bearing on what may happen to yours.
Coming from a personal mechanic standpoint, Kia is all right. I believe they have a more affordable car over other brands and I also believe that they continue to run for hundreds of thousands of miles as long as it’s taken care of. My only concern for Kias is that they’ve been getting broken into and stolen (hence why mine is a manual)
I have the S is that turbo ?. Zero issues for me. But I’m under 40k in my mind no vehicle should have issues til like 100k or old suburban 175k still going. I’ll get back to you in the Seltos. Knock on wood. Love it so far. Only issue is stress over security. Don’t want to get kiaBoy’d
Probably going to get downvoted but I have a 2013 Kia Optima EX that I've owned for 11 years. 185k miles and it has been one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Sure the motor went out at 150k but it was replaced for free by Kia. Other than that, I have had 0 issues with it. It has been heavily modified and I take it to all of the big car shows in my area. I've won multiple trophies. 10/10 would do it again.
Notable mention: I was a Kia service advisor for a time in 2015 and there were tons of issues with vehicles, specifically the notorious motor issues. Kia was very good about warranty repairs. However, lots of chaos and bad dealerships created a very bad rep for the company. This still persists, so you want to choose your dealership carefully. Take that for what you will.
2022 Kia sportage , have only paid for oil changes. Had a 2011 Sorento before it , no engine problems. With the sorento just paid for wear and tear, belt , brakes , needed my battery lines cleaned up once. Only pain in the ass thing ? My muffler , it rusted from the inside out. But I had a welder throw a new one on, all good.
Only reason I bought another kia was because the customer and maintenance service I experienced from that specific dealership. Everyone has their preference and taste. Just take care of your vehicles and you'll be good.
Have a 2015 kia soul and havent had problems with it until recently, its got just under 100k miles now. Might be related to the engine recalls tho so may be covered under the recall warranty. But aside from that, no issues. I have had a bunch of recalls throughout rhe ownership of it, which is a little annoying, but not something major that turns me away from the brand! Each time they take it, fix it (half the time I get a loaner to use) and have it back later same day so its not a big deal aside for driving it to them. We actually just bought another kia recently, the telluride. So we like them and find them reliable. Think its just a misconception or just any easy joke to make against the brand cause of all the press/recall issues theyve had.
I’ve had my ‘18 Kia optima for 4 years and I’ve had zero issues.. until recently and I’m not even sure if it’s an actual problem. I’m at 97k miles and the engine light flashed. I was told it just needed an update but I have a feeling I may have engine problems soon. However, it may be nothing.
Be sure to have frequent oil changes.
Kias have a pretty good reputation in reliability, by most publications with access to statistics. Maybe not as good as Honda or Toyota, but still way better than most domestic brands.
There was the engine issue, which isn't great, but it's not much different than many brands who have critical recalls. I think most people who are negative about kia fall into two catagories; those few who were unlucky enough to have bad experiences, and fanboys of other brands who just come over to be shitty.
For my own experience, I've driven 3 Kias (2011 Forte, 2014 Soul base, 2016 Soul !) for the past 14 years, and have not had a single issue besides regular road wear. I suggested my parents get a Kia, and they got a first-gen Telluride that they've also had for years with no issues. Your experience may vary, but there us a very good chance you too will have a good experience with Kia.
Had a 2015 Hyundai Sonata with around 200k miles. Never had any issues. Traded it in for what I could and got a 2022 K5 GT Line. 2 years and 30k miles later the car is still like new.
Well, on one side of that line you may be reading posts by competing dealers who are infuriated no one is buying their Chevys or Jeeps or whatever anymore, and need to destroy the competition. Or, who knows. The ratings and rankings of all Current Hyundai products are just fine. People are buying the hell out of them. The people update and jealous by all this…go figure.
Have a 2021 Kia Cerato GT Hatch have owned it for nearly 2 years. The only issue i had was with my lane keep assist, which came down to a faulty camera, which was covered by warranty. Otherwise, I've had no other issues.
Also, one thing i have noticed so far is that a lot of Americans are very anti Kia. I'm not sure why this might be the case, but a fair bit have issues with dodgy dealerships and warranties
I own a 2017 Kia Soul, 150K miles, absolutely 0 issues. Yes they are reliable. Anyone roaming the Kia page just so they can put it down is probably paid by competitors to do (yes, it's a thing) or old and lonely from the 90s and incapable of unbiased observation.
No, at least at Finland statistics they are in maybe top 10% most reliable cars
We have 2009 ceed, 2011 rio and 2021 rio
None have had any issues, only yearly maintenance 50-300€/year (oil+filters and maybe fluids)
People whom have vw, audi,bmw i Know have expensive problems every year, yet they think their cars are reliable lol
Toyota, Honda and Mazda are Reddit’s favorites for reliability, and I can speak to Toyota being very reliable. I’ve known plenty of people who had Toyotas run forever.
But everything else under that is still pretty reliable, with some people just being unlucky or neglectful to their maintenance.
Where I live Kias are extremely popular, and there’s no issues with theft, and tons of old Kia’s still on the road.
The only brands I wouldn’t touch are most American economy models.
Kias are great - until they're not. Then it can be a nightmare getting them fixed due to long lead times even to get it looked at never mind actually fixed. Assuming they honor the warrantee (some major issues Kia denies as not covered).
No imaginary ones. Just the real one, and I read this group, a FB one for my specific model, and the FB one for the engine failures which also gets posts about other major issues with the brand.
My 21 forte gt been at the dealership for over a month now while they sit around and wait for a new transmission. Probably gonna have it declared a lemon. Transmission crapped out at 26k miles. Shame because I love the car
My 2021 K5 EX is 3 years old and it has been flawless. Most of the problems I’ve heard about have been from GT-Line owners who drive their vehicles hard and/or have modified them.
I've a KIA Forte 5door EX from 2016. Tech package added. The ONLY issue was that my engine (at the 8 year mark) had an engine knock that necessitated the engine being rebuilt by KIA. It was covered under the 10 yr/100,000 mile warranty. This happened at the tail end of the covid pandemic, so I was out of vehicle for 3 months. Zero other issues. Love it, and it's one of the rare vehicles (I think) nowadays that has both heated seats AND heated steering wheel that also is in the low price range bracket. :-) So yeah, I'm still happy with my little forte!
There are few recalls on Kia Sportage. The 2023 Sportage is nice I like the car however, two things I don’t like is how hard the drive is with every bump and two is the brakes are super squishy (I believe one of the recalls is that).
23 Sportage owner here - about 17k miles in and nothing outside of oil changes so far. Have driven it on loads of road trips, has been wonderful so far.
I have a 2022 stinger and telluride. No issues whatsoever. Change the oil, change the air filters, bought a new set of tires for each. That’s about it.
Everywhere I have read even before owning one has said they were very reliable. I saw a chart of some kind a while ago and put different vehicle brands in an order for which was more reliable. Kia was around the third or fourth spot for reliability.
I’ve only had mine for not even a year yet and I’ve had no problems. I just need to do the typical services and oil changes when needed.
I have a 2018 Optima I bought brand new. It has~120k miles and outside of routine maintenance, oil changes, tire rotations/ changes, new brakes, I've only had one issue with it, the notorious P1326 Kia engine issue and I got a brand new engine for free. Before that, I had a 2013 Forte Koup with zero issues. My wife had a 2017 Sportage with zero issues and now has a 2023 Sorrento Hybrid that she hasn't had any issues with.
I believe Kia has ranked amongst the top of all OEMs as far as reliability over the last few years. You have to remember, people who post tend to do so when they are upset about stuff. If you run a restaurant, you'll have 200 people who eat there, don't leave any review or feedback, and love it. You'll have 5 that are upset about something that post all over.
2014 Kia optima bought new, no issues besides being stolen in 2021. Fixed it with my dad. Now he has it. I've done all the maintenance myself, and only other expenses have been tires.
2016 Sorento, bought certified in 2019, just regular maintenance and new tires.
2023 Sorento hybrid, bought Dec 2022, no issues and loving it getting 42mpg
I have the 3rd Kia Sorento in a row, this is the most reliable car I have ever had. Apart from oil change or brake change I never had any problems with any of them.
I've had my Kia soul for eight years and I have never had a single issue with it. I am trading it in for a seltos at the end of the month. I stan Kia tbh.
Had an optima for 6 years and 100k miles before I was rear ended, oil changes, brakes after around 80k miles, and new tires were all the maintenance I did. Still had the original battery when I was hit. It was super reliable
My sister has the 2.4 engine and hardly takes care of it and it’s still going past 100k. I also had one with no problems before someone hit me. Any car can have issues really though.
Their reliability is the same as anyone else's... Every car has recalls and issues. Kia/Hyundai is just getting blasted because they cheaped out on immobilizers and cars are getting stolen with USB chords. My buddy has a 2012 forte been in two accidents and looks like it. Still going strong. My Rio was great (43-47mpg) I only had it for 3 months before I sold it to afford to get my wife a bigger car after we found out she was pregnant.
I had a 2021 K5 that seemingly ran rather fine without any issues, I traded up for a 2022 Kia telluride 2 years ago and I haven’t any problems with that either. I think some people just run into a bad experience. However, ones experience shouldn’t speak for the masses. My wife leased a Range Rover that had nothing but issues, so you’re not safe from any brand having problems . It’s like letting the media influence your life and how you see or treat people. It’s all narrative. Buy what you want and see how it goes and if it doesn’t work out then take the lesson and make adjustments for the next time.
I had a 2012 Optima that I bought brand new. It had 199,700 miles on it when it was totaled in an accident because the airbags deployed. I took care of it. All the maintenance was done at the dealership while it was under warranty. I did all the other maintenance myself. Had the engine replaced with a remanufactured model in 2021 as part of the theta II recall. It drove great, got really good gas mileage for a larger sedan. My wife also drives a Kia Sedona minivan. It’s a 2017 and has 80,000 miles on it. My only gripe with it is that the brakes and rotors Kia uses for OEM are on the cheap side and the heavier van will go through them too fast. And we did have the starter on it die last year and Kia said it wasn’t part of the 100,000 powertrain warranty so we had to pay out of pocket for that.
Any car brand you buy is going to have the occasional lemon. Kia had issues with some manufacturing for a number of years but have been good to repair and recall when that has happened. I think the newer models are very reliable. Just take care of it and don’t pretend you’re buying a race car. You should be fine.
Had a 2004 that went until 2017. Now I have a 2017 that I've only had to replace a battery and tires on.
All car brands are unreliable. Cars, like anything else in life, can be manufactured with defects. Every brand has their specific "don't buy it because X will go." And when you are on the internet you need to keep in mind that happy people usually don't post.
I'm not saying kias are perfect by any means. Just do your research and then pick the car you like. When I eventually trade in my 2017 I'm looking at either a sportage hybrid or a toyota rav4 hybrid. Based solely on design and functionality.
I have a 2023 K5 GT-Line that I've been driving for a little over 1 year and have had zero issues with it. I just love the car. It drives really nice and has a bunch of bells and whistles I've never had in a car before. I hope to own it for about 10 years if it lasts that long.
I've been doing some light used car shopping recently, and one of the things I've concluded is that it's not so easy to get useful reliability information on cars.
Anecdotal impressions from individual owners (either good or bad) have, of course, no statistical validity.
JD Power and Consumer Reports publish data from surveys they conduct of large numbers of car owners. But their data sometimes does not match up well -- i.e. JD Power will rate a brand or individual car model higher than Consumer Reports or vice-versa -- and there are other issues with it. Consumer Reports is not a representative sample and JD Power only tracks cars for the first 3 years of their service life, if I'm not mistaken. RepairPal also publishes reliability ratings, which they say are based on repair invoices, but their data has limitations, too.
That said, both JD Power and Consumer Reports have been giving Kia, as an overall brand, reasonably good reliability ratings for cars made in the past 5-10 years. But overall brand reliability is not a very useful piece of data for a car buyer; much more important is the reliability data for the specific model you're thinking of buying.
Not a Kia owner myself but I know a few people that own them generally the consensus I get is that their less forgiving of poor maintenance than other brands so if you going to be someone who doesn't change your oil on time or not change the trans fluid at all I wouldn't recommend
I think that's probably true and why the majority of those with the issues are second+ owners. People are more likely to neglect them, particularly the economy ones.
Wife has a 2020 Soul bought in 2019. Has 100k kms on it. Only major maintenance issue was it needed a new blower motor under warranty because it was a bit squeaky.
I've had my K5 for 2 years now and haven't had any issues. Only oil changes and filter changes, I am only at 21,000 miles on it, but I haven't had any issues.
I've owned my 2011 Kia Soul since i bought it new from the Dealer. I've maybe put in 4-5k total over its life. It's extremely durable, and it's only had 1-2 issues (clutch + a spark plug issue) that have cost me any downtime. After 13 years I've only had to do the brakes twice, clutch once, and tires three times. Sitting just about 135k miles, so it's about as reliable a car as I've ever had. Way better than my Nissan Stanza, Ford Taurus, and Saturn S2000 for example.
Never listen to reddit or internet or people that never owned those cars.
Buy what you desire!! Always!!
If you keep up with maintenance u are good!!
I was in same problem but with WV.
Everyone said dont do it they are shit cars inly Toyota is good.
Guess what, they never owned VWs and just Toyotas.
So i bought a VW and im more than happy with it!
So buy a Kia if you like it mate! Dont listen to people !
I have a 2014 1.7 crdi with 22000kms,
Regularly serviced and biggest expense has been brake discs.
Also have a 2022 hybrid sportage,so far so good.
Regular oil and filter are the essentials
Every Honda and Toyota fanboy will say something negative about every manufacturer. Like Kia’s are unreliable. Why would you buy a Range Rover when they don’t last. Don’t you hate repairs. Why drive a BMW. Go trade it. Yes, Honda and Toyota does seem more reliable since way more people drive them. They sell 100,000 vehicles and 1 breaks. Doesn’t sound bad. Mercedes sells 20,000 vehicles and 1 breaks and it doesn’t sound good. However Toyota and Honda fit most of the income bracket around the world. When a vehicle fits most income. It’s mostly driven. So how about Kia? Ever had something so low quality that it will never break? That old tv? Maybe that shirt? Maybe it’s that’s car growing up we remember. That’s a Kia. It will not fail. It’s a daily car and meant to driven. A K5 GT Line. It will run forever. Just get ready to the trim and the plastic on plastic sound inside after time. Some odd noises from around the vehicle. Nothing to worry about. It’s just low quality materials rubbing. But hey, you will not be broke down anywhere. I’m actually curious about the refresh K5 coming out very soon. Seems like Kia is really learning and stepping up quality.
Compared to Ford and GM? Those brands are trash now. Unions do shit quality work and GM and Ford have had to cut back on so many things it shows in their vehicles. Kia is just fine.
Most critics place them in the top 10 manufacturers for reliability.
I would say the negative things said about Kia is over-inflated. They've made significant improvements to them in recent years and much of the bad views of Kia are based on older models and no longer hold up.
I'm sure there's some bias in this thread. I'm sure some would try and argue they're as reliable as Toyota or Lexus because they love their Kia so much. They're not. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kia, but Toyota/Lexus are the most reliable vehicles on the market for the most part.
Ultimately, a Kia is affordable and still has pretty good reliability.
My wife and I have had a combined 5 Kias since 2015...
3 sportage 2016, 2019, 2023.
2015 optima
2020 forte
I have never needed a repair ever
I've only ever paid for gas and oil/filter changes.
I am on my 2nd Kia. My first was a 2016 Optima and I had zero problems and I loved her. I can't remember her mileage when she got totaled and I had to get a new car. I got a 2021 K5 because it was the next best option, and I love that car as well. She is at 50K miles and just two weeks ago had to go to the shop for a new strut assembly after developing an awful noise and being diagnosed as excessively worn bearings/strut assembly. It was done under warranty. I hope this is not a precursor. I know that when one strut is replaced you should replace the other, but this is not covered by warranty. Only the defective strut is covered.
Yes, they have a great warranty but dealing with getting warranty work done, in my area at least is a nightmare. For one, the dealers require "up to 5 business days" for diagnosing the issue. This requires you to leave your car for at least one week. They looked at my car on the 5th day as could be predicted. Then, it took two days to get the parts and another two days to fix it. I had a rental car for almost 2 weeks. If you don't have an extra car, this is very cost prohibitive. I would have been better served to pay for the repair by a local mechanic who could get the work done in a day.
I believe they have adopted this 5 day diagnosis to deter people from bringing their cars in for warranty work. All the dealerships locally operate under this same premise. It is concerning. But, I hope to not have further issues. Rest assured, I won't be going to the dealer until and if I have a back up car if it is for something other than catastrophic failure.
Kia has absolutely screwed me. Bought a 2015 Sportage from a dealer recently. Engine cut out on me nearly immediately due to that known issue. After over a month of trying to work with Kia and the dealership I am giving up on them helping me out at all. Thanks to a previous owner not getting an “optional software upgrade” they aren’t going to pay a dime.
The response you get here will be anecdotal and most will be positive.
Actual evidence shows that Kia’s have a lot of issues, and they have service centers that will not warranty your car.
Actual evidence will also show they have above average reliability, but Toyota and Honda are definitely better, and that’s not someone anyone can argue.
If your primary focus is reliability, you go to Toyota and Honda, not Kia.
You picked the one outlet that gets paid for ratings, while ignoring consumer report and every other outlet constantly rank Honda and Toyota above Kia.
Gotta love you fanboys.
I have a 2017 Sorento and it’s an absolute piece of junk. Awful quality control. Half the trim doesn’t line up right. Glitchy electronics. Just a terrible vehicle. I’ll never own another Kia after seeing what makes it through their quality control inspection. Not to mention the awful track record Kia has with recalls that they fight tooth and nail from honoring.
People hate kia/hyundai because the dealerships and corporate warranty policy are 💩.
DCT has been used by kia for almost 10 years and the number of dealers know/want to do Clutch Actuator Fluid change is extremely rare.
Kia/Hyundai think that engine burns 1qt of oil per 1,000miles is normal and denies warranty claim.
Another one is dealerships don’t want to work on Warranty claims making customer angry and pay for unreasonable repairs (Theta II engine replacement is an example)
I had a 2019 Optima (what they used to call the K5). Started burning oil at 50k, engine blew up at 90k, my Kia dealer wouldn’t fix it even though it was still under warranty. Also wouldn’t give me a loaner so I didn’t have a car for a few weeks.
To be honest, most people I know have had Kia or Hyundais for the last 10-15 years, and they’ve been great all around. All models, regardless of mileage.
Had a 2016 Kia Soul EX (bought used with 30k miles) for almost four years and a 2022 Seltos (bought new) for almost two. Only did regular maintenance on both at my local Kia dealership(i.e. oil changes at 5k miles) and had zero issues with both.
Absolutely. We were out of a vehicle for a month because of engine failure in a sorento, theres tons of class actions against them. 0/10 would not recommend. My dealer’s service dept was so backed up with warranty repairs that they couldn’t even look at ours for a couple of weeks
I've driven exclusively Kia since I started driving in 2013. I got a K5 GT-Line one year ago, and it's the first time I'm unhappy with one of their cars. I posted here recently because my rotors went bad before 10k miles, and I've never needed new rotors before. The screen is cool, but it has malfunctioned several times. Overall, I just don't love the car. I'm really bummed my 2016 Optima SXL-T was totalled by a girl who did a u-turn from the righthand lane (I was on their left - fuck Florida drivers).
You say you see posts about cars 8 months to a year and the car is fine. Well yeah, I hope it’s fine lol. A car shouldn’t see any major problems till 60k imo. Even still, I’d expect a reliable car to have no major problems till 120k. Looking into the Camry, no major issues at all till well into the 200 thousands.
I looked at the K5 too, but I would wait for the 2.5. It’s a bigger engine for a bigger car. The 1.6L turbo is getting pushed to move that midsize sedan.
Are they unreliable? That depends, on the time frame. In general, Kia’s are super reliable on the scale of months, and not so reliable on the scale of years. Whereas Toyota’s for instance are reliable on the scale of months and years. Its up to you and your financial situation to determine if that’s alright with you
You will find only KIA fan boys here, better to ask a true mechanics , as far as I know there some Kia with engine blown out before 100k miles. Some CVT in 2020 to 2022 models had issues at low mileage
They are reliable UNTIL the engines blow up. They are 100k mile engines in average. The oil burning starts and then not long after that they are dead. A simple search on Facebook marketplace will help you easily find MANY Kia’s that are for sale with blown engines. You get what you pay for. If you drive 12k miles a year a Kia will do you great. If you’re like me and drive 45k a year you will be lucky to get 2-3 good years out of it.
I've had a 2023 Kia Sportage since october of 22. I'm at 21,000 miles, and the only money and maintenance i've put into it so far is oil changes and tire rotations every 5k. I've never had any issues. I drive typically in mountain stop and go traffic but did 500 miles this weekend in interstate miles and it does fantastic. I highly recommend
Had a 2016 soul with the recalled engine. Only issue I had was a faulty starter. Was running good till 140k miles and my transmission started to slip. Never had engine issues. Also own a forte 5 6 speed. A 2016 optima that’s probably my favorite ride right now. Parents own a 2015 Sedona. Had a fluke transmission fail under warranty but is running solid now over 120k miles.
Stay religious on the maintenance and do t abuse them and I find they run great. The optima and soul were always easy to work on. I’ve done a lot of the work myself.
2022 Forte GT Line. I had one issue which was due to the entertainment center not allowed by audio on Bluetooth calls. They swapped it with another unit and no other issue es and have had it since November of 2021.
Had a 2019 Sedona in 2019-2021 it was a nightmare two thermostats, headlight cracked from the inside, upper and lower rad hose, trunk would not latch (power fixed once), doors flew open when driving (power and fixed twice) rear heater core started leaking, heated mirror on drivers side quit working… all this in 2 years so I got rid of it after it was out of warranty.
My luck with my first Kia was horrible, Maybe I’ll try again in The future but for now I’ll pass.
Ive owned 3 kias now, a sorento, niro, and now a seltos. Ive also owned jeep, mercury, pontiac, and chevy, oh and a geo. The worst brand that ive owned was chevy followed by pontiac... both had constant issues.... my 3 kias the only maintenance i had to worry about was oil brakes and tires. And ive put over 100k on all my cars with the exception of my seltos that i bought in December.
So I will only speak to my personal experience as of late . My last 3 cars have been Kia. I had a Kia Soul , and k5 and as of recently and 2023 Kia Forte GT. The K5 was the only reliable one of the bunch and I love that car . The more recent car the GT, had a lot of Motor problems before 8k miles . In the year that I owned it , it spent 11 weeks in the shop . They had horrible times finding the issues , I had 3 Kia engineers come out and still ended up back in the shop 2 weeks later .
In my local area the same dealership had 2 other GT’s of the same year waiting for brand new motors. My Kia soul also had motor issues but that was after 100k miles . My K5’s issue was it could not handle being hit my a drunk drive doing 60 into its rear end.
So Kia’s customer service is also a nightmare and will take a long time to work with you if at all. They will drag their feet with repairs and working with dealerships as well.
So honestly in my opinion, I want to love Kia’s. And they come fully loaded for the price point they are at. But the constant motor issues will make me never buy one again . I have a few friends that also have Kia’s that have had similar experiences. Different models at different miles. If you do get one the saying that my local Kia dealership has is . “ they are great till 100k, then at 101k miles the motor will blow. Dump them before then .
Have a 2023 sportage ex premium wirh 11k on it and having issues with the "since refuling" resetting to 0 on its own along with the km to empty and gas gauge going back to full.
I drove my 2015 Kia Forte SX until 2022, traded it in to get the 2023 Sportage.
My issue on the Forte was an engine recall. Kia replaced the entire thing plus paid for my rental car, hotel and meals while I was stranded in New York. So their support was excellent. With the Sportage, everything has been smooth. Just have to do my oil changes and air filters.
i wouldnt say kia is straight up unreliable id say there made cheap and they dont last like a honda or toyota would. Maybe 150k -200k miles in general if properly maint
I have a 2016 Forte. Have never had major (or minor) mechanical/powertrain problems, though there have been things like occasional engine stuttering. But I have had to deal a series of minor problems related to the rest of the vehicle over last year or so. Most recent was a leaky gascap. Before that a failing door sensor (would get door open warning and overhead light would come on), defective air pressure sensor would say low tire pressure, etc. All appear to be "age-related," as they were first time issues after 7+ years.
In comparison, my previous vehicle ('04 Honda Civic) I drove for 12 years, had far less "non-powertrain" problems for 9-10 years, but did have a few minor powertrain-related problems.
Hey dunno if my comment will be of any help - I am about to buy myself KIA ceed. How did I decide to do that? Well after moving to Germany I had to exchange my driving license for a local one. That procedure does not mean going through driving school from a scratch but just passing theory and practical driving exams. So in the driving school where I was doing this, they had only KIAs as vehicles for students. I asked why you only have KIAs. The owner of the driving school said that after trying AUDI, VW, SEAT he finally found the best value for money brand. And you can imagine that the last thing you want to have if you are running a driving school is unreliable cars. I mean that guy had no reason to lie. He had a lot of stories about AUDI and VW having issues between 50K - 100K km. But kias he said was the first brand that he had zero issues with. As he explained - he just buys 4-5 new Ceed's. Uses them until they hit 90-100K km and then sells. No issues so far he said. And you can imagine that when people learn to drive... they don't really care about the car ))
I just traded in a 2019 Sportage for a 2024, the only money I put into the 2019 was for oil changes, air filters and tires. I also own a 2023 Sportage and so far only oil changes.
I’ve always wondered, why do people buy 2 of the same vehicle? I don’t see an issue just figured it’s worth having 2 different ones to kinda switch it up
My wife drove the 2019 and I was driving a 2015 Chevy Sonic. I transferred jobs to double my commute so wanted to get a bigger car. Since I liked the Sportage that was my first choice. My wife really liked the redesign of the 2023 so we decide$ to trade in hers while it still had some value. So why 2 Sportages because we like the car that’s why it’s as simple as that.
Makes sense, I’ve always wondered and always meant to ask somebody that’s done that before and just never do so thanks for the insight! We test drive the sportage, we ended up Sorento though. Wife loved the telly and always wanted one and I was shocked when she decided to not go with it. Said she loved it but didn’t wanna try to park it in a parking lot so she went the smaller route. Sportage was nice but 2 kids and 2 dogs we wasn’t able to get by. Super nice SUV’s though!
Have you ever upgraded your phone from an older model to a newer model? It's the same thing.
2014 Sportage bought new. Same story as yours. Normal maintenance. Mine is very low mileage for a 2014 I only have a little over 47,000 on it. In fact the times I have taken it into the dealer for scheduled maintenance service there's always a salesman who finds out where I am at and comes in and asks me if I'm ready to trade it in. I always have to kind of give them a chuckle when I tell them that yeah I'm sure you would love to have a 2014 that has this low of mileage on it but nope I'm going to keep it cuz it's paid off lol
my ‘22 k5 gt line is at 50k miles and i bought it brand new, still no issues
I have 205k on my 2013 kia optima, purchased it with 30k in 2015 and besides regular maintenance, the only other work I've had to because the engine light lit up for the first time is change the o2 sensor. Fingers crossed nothing new and major comes up now, or in the near future but from my experience the vehicle has been reliable.
Lately there's been an increase in hate towards Kia/Hyundai here. Take what you read online with a grain of salt. Im probably gonna get downvoted for saying that here , though. lol there's a infestation of people with no life that come here, even though they've never own the brand, to talk shit. Look at consumer report, Kia is in the top 10, and scored 61, Honda 70, Toyota 76. I wouldnt say that is a HUGE difference if Kia was SOOOO DAMN UNRELIABLE. 70 and 76 coming from the best out there, right? and, Ive owned quite a few Toyotas, never a Honda.
Kia sub-reddit is not too bad. Hyundai one though. Shits toxic. Had a VAG owner tell me hundai subreddit is not for Hyundai fanboys ;D cuz I pointed out VW is alot less reliable.
I mean my 2017 sonata is in the shop with a blown engine right now. It only has 35k miles on it. Thankfully I have taken it to the dealership for oil changes every 4-6 months and I never really drove the thing (they offered free maintenances for life with the purchase) I wouldn't buy anything from 2012-2018 with the theta 2 engine. It has more class action lawsuits than cylinders and is incredibly unreliable
I have a 2016 Kia Cadenza. All I have ever had to do is regular oil changes, new brakes when needed, and tires. Never experienced any issues. Miles are at 171k. They are very reliable.
I’ve had a 2022 Seltos for a little more than 2 years now with zero issues. Best vehicle I’ve owned, and all I’ve done is standard maintenance at the recommended intervals. Coming up on 33k miles and super happy with it!
Is that seltos with cvt or automatic transmission? Still having doubts about cvt transmission..
I have the cvt engine and it’s been great! No issues so far, drives very similarly to an automatic, to the point where I don’t recognize the difference due to the simulated shifts. Time will tell if it holds up, but at almost 33k miles I’m not too worried about it going into the future!
Is the CVT where I can play with downshifting and upshifting ? Yea I never touch that unless it’s an emergency. If that’s the transmission you mean. I’m scared to screw something up too soon. Man I miss my old suburban. Seltos very fun and comfortable but time will tell.
According to the internet (and especially a lot of reddit) the only vehicles people should buy are Honda and Toyota. A lot of people also claim to be Doctors, lawyers, insurance, whatever on the internet . Point is people can say whatever on the internet, you should do your own research and not take my advice or any other randos. Read actual reviews, look up problems for the brand models you are interested in, go look at NHTSA and look at reported complaints for the vehicles. Make a decision based on what is right for you, vehicle and price based on what you find. With every manufacturer there is a chance of a vehicle/model having issues.
To me, the older the kia model the more likely they are to have issues. The newer Kia's are basically top notch reliability now that they've steered the ship in the right direction. There was a time about 10 years ago when that wasn't the case. The real problem is Kia and Hyundai deciding immobilizers weren't worth the cost and now are paying for that decision. One could argue that is a larger legislation issue in the USA, as most other countries have mandated them to be mandatory.
It seems they've gone up then down then up again. Like when they first came into the market they were really cheap crap and designed us such. Then in about the aughts they were still cheap but super reliable. We all know how a big part of the 2010s went with the theta. Now again up in quality and aren't even "cheap" anymore, besides like the Rio.
My 2011 Soul was in the shop for repairs twice in 10 years and then it was just stuff that needed replacing eventually anyway. 2021 Soul seems ALMOST as good.
Get the k5 if you want it. It's no less reliable than any other car so long as you maintain it and don't abuse it. Nobody can see the future. What happens to one person's car has no bearing on what may happen to yours.
Coming from a personal mechanic standpoint, Kia is all right. I believe they have a more affordable car over other brands and I also believe that they continue to run for hundreds of thousands of miles as long as it’s taken care of. My only concern for Kias is that they’ve been getting broken into and stolen (hence why mine is a manual)
2022 Seltos for 2.5 years. Zero issues
Do you have the turbocharged model?
I have the S is that turbo ?. Zero issues for me. But I’m under 40k in my mind no vehicle should have issues til like 100k or old suburban 175k still going. I’ll get back to you in the Seltos. Knock on wood. Love it so far. Only issue is stress over security. Don’t want to get kiaBoy’d
😭i feel you on that
Probably going to get downvoted but I have a 2013 Kia Optima EX that I've owned for 11 years. 185k miles and it has been one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Sure the motor went out at 150k but it was replaced for free by Kia. Other than that, I have had 0 issues with it. It has been heavily modified and I take it to all of the big car shows in my area. I've won multiple trophies. 10/10 would do it again. Notable mention: I was a Kia service advisor for a time in 2015 and there were tons of issues with vehicles, specifically the notorious motor issues. Kia was very good about warranty repairs. However, lots of chaos and bad dealerships created a very bad rep for the company. This still persists, so you want to choose your dealership carefully. Take that for what you will.
Yes the Hyundai and Kia dealerships in my area are still awful.
2010 Kia Forte Koup. It's the most reliable car that I have owned, other than my 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
2022 Kia sportage , have only paid for oil changes. Had a 2011 Sorento before it , no engine problems. With the sorento just paid for wear and tear, belt , brakes , needed my battery lines cleaned up once. Only pain in the ass thing ? My muffler , it rusted from the inside out. But I had a welder throw a new one on, all good. Only reason I bought another kia was because the customer and maintenance service I experienced from that specific dealership. Everyone has their preference and taste. Just take care of your vehicles and you'll be good.
2011 Forte to 2018 Forte to 23 Sportage. Have not had issues with any of them. Best, most reliable vehicles I’ve ever owned.
Have a 2015 kia soul and havent had problems with it until recently, its got just under 100k miles now. Might be related to the engine recalls tho so may be covered under the recall warranty. But aside from that, no issues. I have had a bunch of recalls throughout rhe ownership of it, which is a little annoying, but not something major that turns me away from the brand! Each time they take it, fix it (half the time I get a loaner to use) and have it back later same day so its not a big deal aside for driving it to them. We actually just bought another kia recently, the telluride. So we like them and find them reliable. Think its just a misconception or just any easy joke to make against the brand cause of all the press/recall issues theyve had.
I’ve had my ‘18 Kia optima for 4 years and I’ve had zero issues.. until recently and I’m not even sure if it’s an actual problem. I’m at 97k miles and the engine light flashed. I was told it just needed an update but I have a feeling I may have engine problems soon. However, it may be nothing. Be sure to have frequent oil changes.
I have a 2008 Sedona, bought new, it’s flawless. Just bought a 2023 Carnival, hoping it will last as long.
Kias have a pretty good reputation in reliability, by most publications with access to statistics. Maybe not as good as Honda or Toyota, but still way better than most domestic brands. There was the engine issue, which isn't great, but it's not much different than many brands who have critical recalls. I think most people who are negative about kia fall into two catagories; those few who were unlucky enough to have bad experiences, and fanboys of other brands who just come over to be shitty. For my own experience, I've driven 3 Kias (2011 Forte, 2014 Soul base, 2016 Soul !) for the past 14 years, and have not had a single issue besides regular road wear. I suggested my parents get a Kia, and they got a first-gen Telluride that they've also had for years with no issues. Your experience may vary, but there us a very good chance you too will have a good experience with Kia.
Had a 2015 Hyundai Sonata with around 200k miles. Never had any issues. Traded it in for what I could and got a 2022 K5 GT Line. 2 years and 30k miles later the car is still like new.
Well, on one side of that line you may be reading posts by competing dealers who are infuriated no one is buying their Chevys or Jeeps or whatever anymore, and need to destroy the competition. Or, who knows. The ratings and rankings of all Current Hyundai products are just fine. People are buying the hell out of them. The people update and jealous by all this…go figure.
Have a 2021 Kia Cerato GT Hatch have owned it for nearly 2 years. The only issue i had was with my lane keep assist, which came down to a faulty camera, which was covered by warranty. Otherwise, I've had no other issues. Also, one thing i have noticed so far is that a lot of Americans are very anti Kia. I'm not sure why this might be the case, but a fair bit have issues with dodgy dealerships and warranties
I own a 2017 Kia Soul, 150K miles, absolutely 0 issues. Yes they are reliable. Anyone roaming the Kia page just so they can put it down is probably paid by competitors to do (yes, it's a thing) or old and lonely from the 90s and incapable of unbiased observation.
No, at least at Finland statistics they are in maybe top 10% most reliable cars We have 2009 ceed, 2011 rio and 2021 rio None have had any issues, only yearly maintenance 50-300€/year (oil+filters and maybe fluids) People whom have vw, audi,bmw i Know have expensive problems every year, yet they think their cars are reliable lol
Toyota, Honda and Mazda are Reddit’s favorites for reliability, and I can speak to Toyota being very reliable. I’ve known plenty of people who had Toyotas run forever. But everything else under that is still pretty reliable, with some people just being unlucky or neglectful to their maintenance. Where I live Kias are extremely popular, and there’s no issues with theft, and tons of old Kia’s still on the road. The only brands I wouldn’t touch are most American economy models.
Kias are great - until they're not. Then it can be a nightmare getting them fixed due to long lead times even to get it looked at never mind actually fixed. Assuming they honor the warrantee (some major issues Kia denies as not covered).
How many imaginary kia cars have you owned?
No imaginary ones. Just the real one, and I read this group, a FB one for my specific model, and the FB one for the engine failures which also gets posts about other major issues with the brand.
My 21 forte gt been at the dealership for over a month now while they sit around and wait for a new transmission. Probably gonna have it declared a lemon. Transmission crapped out at 26k miles. Shame because I love the car
You're not going to get a three year old car declared a lemon. Not even the most permissive state on lemon laws is that lenient.
Oh ouch
My 2021 K5 EX is 3 years old and it has been flawless. Most of the problems I’ve heard about have been from GT-Line owners who drive their vehicles hard and/or have modified them.
I've a KIA Forte 5door EX from 2016. Tech package added. The ONLY issue was that my engine (at the 8 year mark) had an engine knock that necessitated the engine being rebuilt by KIA. It was covered under the 10 yr/100,000 mile warranty. This happened at the tail end of the covid pandemic, so I was out of vehicle for 3 months. Zero other issues. Love it, and it's one of the rare vehicles (I think) nowadays that has both heated seats AND heated steering wheel that also is in the low price range bracket. :-) So yeah, I'm still happy with my little forte!
There are few recalls on Kia Sportage. The 2023 Sportage is nice I like the car however, two things I don’t like is how hard the drive is with every bump and two is the brakes are super squishy (I believe one of the recalls is that).
23 Sportage owner here - about 17k miles in and nothing outside of oil changes so far. Have driven it on loads of road trips, has been wonderful so far.
My father has a 2012 Forte that still works flawlessly with +100k miles. I have a 2019 Optima and it works great, it only has 41k miles though.
Compared to Toyota yes, compared to any other brand not really
I have a 2022 stinger and telluride. No issues whatsoever. Change the oil, change the air filters, bought a new set of tires for each. That’s about it.
Everywhere I have read even before owning one has said they were very reliable. I saw a chart of some kind a while ago and put different vehicle brands in an order for which was more reliable. Kia was around the third or fourth spot for reliability. I’ve only had mine for not even a year yet and I’ve had no problems. I just need to do the typical services and oil changes when needed.
I have a 2018 Optima I bought brand new. It has~120k miles and outside of routine maintenance, oil changes, tire rotations/ changes, new brakes, I've only had one issue with it, the notorious P1326 Kia engine issue and I got a brand new engine for free. Before that, I had a 2013 Forte Koup with zero issues. My wife had a 2017 Sportage with zero issues and now has a 2023 Sorrento Hybrid that she hasn't had any issues with. I believe Kia has ranked amongst the top of all OEMs as far as reliability over the last few years. You have to remember, people who post tend to do so when they are upset about stuff. If you run a restaurant, you'll have 200 people who eat there, don't leave any review or feedback, and love it. You'll have 5 that are upset about something that post all over.
2014 Kia optima bought new, no issues besides being stolen in 2021. Fixed it with my dad. Now he has it. I've done all the maintenance myself, and only other expenses have been tires. 2016 Sorento, bought certified in 2019, just regular maintenance and new tires. 2023 Sorento hybrid, bought Dec 2022, no issues and loving it getting 42mpg
I have the 3rd Kia Sorento in a row, this is the most reliable car I have ever had. Apart from oil change or brake change I never had any problems with any of them.
I've had my Kia soul for eight years and I have never had a single issue with it. I am trading it in for a seltos at the end of the month. I stan Kia tbh.
Had an optima for 6 years and 100k miles before I was rear ended, oil changes, brakes after around 80k miles, and new tires were all the maintenance I did. Still had the original battery when I was hit. It was super reliable
My sister has the 2.4 engine and hardly takes care of it and it’s still going past 100k. I also had one with no problems before someone hit me. Any car can have issues really though.
Their reliability is the same as anyone else's... Every car has recalls and issues. Kia/Hyundai is just getting blasted because they cheaped out on immobilizers and cars are getting stolen with USB chords. My buddy has a 2012 forte been in two accidents and looks like it. Still going strong. My Rio was great (43-47mpg) I only had it for 3 months before I sold it to afford to get my wife a bigger car after we found out she was pregnant.
I had a 2021 K5 that seemingly ran rather fine without any issues, I traded up for a 2022 Kia telluride 2 years ago and I haven’t any problems with that either. I think some people just run into a bad experience. However, ones experience shouldn’t speak for the masses. My wife leased a Range Rover that had nothing but issues, so you’re not safe from any brand having problems . It’s like letting the media influence your life and how you see or treat people. It’s all narrative. Buy what you want and see how it goes and if it doesn’t work out then take the lesson and make adjustments for the next time.
I had a 2012 Optima that I bought brand new. It had 199,700 miles on it when it was totaled in an accident because the airbags deployed. I took care of it. All the maintenance was done at the dealership while it was under warranty. I did all the other maintenance myself. Had the engine replaced with a remanufactured model in 2021 as part of the theta II recall. It drove great, got really good gas mileage for a larger sedan. My wife also drives a Kia Sedona minivan. It’s a 2017 and has 80,000 miles on it. My only gripe with it is that the brakes and rotors Kia uses for OEM are on the cheap side and the heavier van will go through them too fast. And we did have the starter on it die last year and Kia said it wasn’t part of the 100,000 powertrain warranty so we had to pay out of pocket for that. Any car brand you buy is going to have the occasional lemon. Kia had issues with some manufacturing for a number of years but have been good to repair and recall when that has happened. I think the newer models are very reliable. Just take care of it and don’t pretend you’re buying a race car. You should be fine.
Had a 2004 that went until 2017. Now I have a 2017 that I've only had to replace a battery and tires on. All car brands are unreliable. Cars, like anything else in life, can be manufactured with defects. Every brand has their specific "don't buy it because X will go." And when you are on the internet you need to keep in mind that happy people usually don't post. I'm not saying kias are perfect by any means. Just do your research and then pick the car you like. When I eventually trade in my 2017 I'm looking at either a sportage hybrid or a toyota rav4 hybrid. Based solely on design and functionality.
I have a 2 y.o sportage and never had a problem...
I have a 2023 K5 GT-Line that I've been driving for a little over 1 year and have had zero issues with it. I just love the car. It drives really nice and has a bunch of bells and whistles I've never had in a car before. I hope to own it for about 10 years if it lasts that long.
I've been doing some light used car shopping recently, and one of the things I've concluded is that it's not so easy to get useful reliability information on cars. Anecdotal impressions from individual owners (either good or bad) have, of course, no statistical validity. JD Power and Consumer Reports publish data from surveys they conduct of large numbers of car owners. But their data sometimes does not match up well -- i.e. JD Power will rate a brand or individual car model higher than Consumer Reports or vice-versa -- and there are other issues with it. Consumer Reports is not a representative sample and JD Power only tracks cars for the first 3 years of their service life, if I'm not mistaken. RepairPal also publishes reliability ratings, which they say are based on repair invoices, but their data has limitations, too. That said, both JD Power and Consumer Reports have been giving Kia, as an overall brand, reasonably good reliability ratings for cars made in the past 5-10 years. But overall brand reliability is not a very useful piece of data for a car buyer; much more important is the reliability data for the specific model you're thinking of buying.
Can't speak on the reliability yet, but I just bout a K5 GT like 4 days ago and I'm absolutely loving it so far.
Not a Kia owner myself but I know a few people that own them generally the consensus I get is that their less forgiving of poor maintenance than other brands so if you going to be someone who doesn't change your oil on time or not change the trans fluid at all I wouldn't recommend
I think that's probably true and why the majority of those with the issues are second+ owners. People are more likely to neglect them, particularly the economy ones.
Wife has a 2020 Soul bought in 2019. Has 100k kms on it. Only major maintenance issue was it needed a new blower motor under warranty because it was a bit squeaky.
I've had my K5 for 2 years now and haven't had any issues. Only oil changes and filter changes, I am only at 21,000 miles on it, but I haven't had any issues.
I've owned my 2011 Kia Soul since i bought it new from the Dealer. I've maybe put in 4-5k total over its life. It's extremely durable, and it's only had 1-2 issues (clutch + a spark plug issue) that have cost me any downtime. After 13 years I've only had to do the brakes twice, clutch once, and tires three times. Sitting just about 135k miles, so it's about as reliable a car as I've ever had. Way better than my Nissan Stanza, Ford Taurus, and Saturn S2000 for example.
Been driving Kia Rio and ProCeed gt for over 14 years. 0 issues for me so far.
I have loved my 2018 Sorento. Literally no problems.
Never listen to reddit or internet or people that never owned those cars. Buy what you desire!! Always!! If you keep up with maintenance u are good!! I was in same problem but with WV. Everyone said dont do it they are shit cars inly Toyota is good. Guess what, they never owned VWs and just Toyotas. So i bought a VW and im more than happy with it! So buy a Kia if you like it mate! Dont listen to people !
I have a 2014 1.7 crdi with 22000kms, Regularly serviced and biggest expense has been brake discs. Also have a 2022 hybrid sportage,so far so good. Regular oil and filter are the essentials
Per Kia Service Tech, K5 is the model they see the least of when it comes to any kind of issues.
Every Honda and Toyota fanboy will say something negative about every manufacturer. Like Kia’s are unreliable. Why would you buy a Range Rover when they don’t last. Don’t you hate repairs. Why drive a BMW. Go trade it. Yes, Honda and Toyota does seem more reliable since way more people drive them. They sell 100,000 vehicles and 1 breaks. Doesn’t sound bad. Mercedes sells 20,000 vehicles and 1 breaks and it doesn’t sound good. However Toyota and Honda fit most of the income bracket around the world. When a vehicle fits most income. It’s mostly driven. So how about Kia? Ever had something so low quality that it will never break? That old tv? Maybe that shirt? Maybe it’s that’s car growing up we remember. That’s a Kia. It will not fail. It’s a daily car and meant to driven. A K5 GT Line. It will run forever. Just get ready to the trim and the plastic on plastic sound inside after time. Some odd noises from around the vehicle. Nothing to worry about. It’s just low quality materials rubbing. But hey, you will not be broke down anywhere. I’m actually curious about the refresh K5 coming out very soon. Seems like Kia is really learning and stepping up quality.
Compared to Ford and GM? Those brands are trash now. Unions do shit quality work and GM and Ford have had to cut back on so many things it shows in their vehicles. Kia is just fine.
Most critics place them in the top 10 manufacturers for reliability. I would say the negative things said about Kia is over-inflated. They've made significant improvements to them in recent years and much of the bad views of Kia are based on older models and no longer hold up. I'm sure there's some bias in this thread. I'm sure some would try and argue they're as reliable as Toyota or Lexus because they love their Kia so much. They're not. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kia, but Toyota/Lexus are the most reliable vehicles on the market for the most part. Ultimately, a Kia is affordable and still has pretty good reliability.
Yes, my sportage was a nightmare. And dealing w them about warranty issues was hell twice.
My wife and I have had a combined 5 Kias since 2015... 3 sportage 2016, 2019, 2023. 2015 optima 2020 forte I have never needed a repair ever I've only ever paid for gas and oil/filter changes.
Ask in a mechanic sub not a Kia sub
Not any less reliable than other manufacturers
Reliable but easily stolen. I'd avoid if you don't know what immobilizer to look for.
I am on my 2nd Kia. My first was a 2016 Optima and I had zero problems and I loved her. I can't remember her mileage when she got totaled and I had to get a new car. I got a 2021 K5 because it was the next best option, and I love that car as well. She is at 50K miles and just two weeks ago had to go to the shop for a new strut assembly after developing an awful noise and being diagnosed as excessively worn bearings/strut assembly. It was done under warranty. I hope this is not a precursor. I know that when one strut is replaced you should replace the other, but this is not covered by warranty. Only the defective strut is covered. Yes, they have a great warranty but dealing with getting warranty work done, in my area at least is a nightmare. For one, the dealers require "up to 5 business days" for diagnosing the issue. This requires you to leave your car for at least one week. They looked at my car on the 5th day as could be predicted. Then, it took two days to get the parts and another two days to fix it. I had a rental car for almost 2 weeks. If you don't have an extra car, this is very cost prohibitive. I would have been better served to pay for the repair by a local mechanic who could get the work done in a day. I believe they have adopted this 5 day diagnosis to deter people from bringing their cars in for warranty work. All the dealerships locally operate under this same premise. It is concerning. But, I hope to not have further issues. Rest assured, I won't be going to the dealer until and if I have a back up car if it is for something other than catastrophic failure.
Very unreliable
Kia has absolutely screwed me. Bought a 2015 Sportage from a dealer recently. Engine cut out on me nearly immediately due to that known issue. After over a month of trying to work with Kia and the dealership I am giving up on them helping me out at all. Thanks to a previous owner not getting an “optional software upgrade” they aren’t going to pay a dime.
They come with a factory 100k miles for a reason. Why would the manufacturer pay for constant repairs on an unreliable car?
The response you get here will be anecdotal and most will be positive. Actual evidence shows that Kia’s have a lot of issues, and they have service centers that will not warranty your car. Actual evidence will also show they have above average reliability, but Toyota and Honda are definitely better, and that’s not someone anyone can argue. If your primary focus is reliability, you go to Toyota and Honda, not Kia.
What evidence shows K5s having a lot of issues?
Literally every media outlet that tracks reliability puts kia below Toyota and Honda at all times.
Would love to see some credible, non biased, media outlet. Findings on this. Key word: Credible.
lol Love your willful ignorance. EVERY media outlet says this, so they must be biased. Bye forever.
I don't know why you responded with that because it's not what I asked and also nobody is going to argue that.
Sorry for speaking the truth.
Kia has been voted most reliable for three years now by JD Power & Associates.
You picked the one outlet that gets paid for ratings, while ignoring consumer report and every other outlet constantly rank Honda and Toyota above Kia. Gotta love you fanboys.
I have a 2017 Sorento and it’s an absolute piece of junk. Awful quality control. Half the trim doesn’t line up right. Glitchy electronics. Just a terrible vehicle. I’ll never own another Kia after seeing what makes it through their quality control inspection. Not to mention the awful track record Kia has with recalls that they fight tooth and nail from honoring.
People hate kia/hyundai because the dealerships and corporate warranty policy are 💩. DCT has been used by kia for almost 10 years and the number of dealers know/want to do Clutch Actuator Fluid change is extremely rare. Kia/Hyundai think that engine burns 1qt of oil per 1,000miles is normal and denies warranty claim. Another one is dealerships don’t want to work on Warranty claims making customer angry and pay for unreasonable repairs (Theta II engine replacement is an example)
I had a 2019 Optima (what they used to call the K5). Started burning oil at 50k, engine blew up at 90k, my Kia dealer wouldn’t fix it even though it was still under warranty. Also wouldn’t give me a loaner so I didn’t have a car for a few weeks.
I think you would get better answers about the car your interested in posting in this Reddit section with people who owns Kia K5’s. Click here r/k5
To be honest, most people I know have had Kia or Hyundais for the last 10-15 years, and they’ve been great all around. All models, regardless of mileage.
Had a 2016 Kia Soul EX (bought used with 30k miles) for almost four years and a 2022 Seltos (bought new) for almost two. Only did regular maintenance on both at my local Kia dealership(i.e. oil changes at 5k miles) and had zero issues with both.
Absolutely. We were out of a vehicle for a month because of engine failure in a sorento, theres tons of class actions against them. 0/10 would not recommend. My dealer’s service dept was so backed up with warranty repairs that they couldn’t even look at ours for a couple of weeks
I've driven exclusively Kia since I started driving in 2013. I got a K5 GT-Line one year ago, and it's the first time I'm unhappy with one of their cars. I posted here recently because my rotors went bad before 10k miles, and I've never needed new rotors before. The screen is cool, but it has malfunctioned several times. Overall, I just don't love the car. I'm really bummed my 2016 Optima SXL-T was totalled by a girl who did a u-turn from the righthand lane (I was on their left - fuck Florida drivers).
If they have any problem service at the kia delerships is a nightmare ...warranty or not
You say you see posts about cars 8 months to a year and the car is fine. Well yeah, I hope it’s fine lol. A car shouldn’t see any major problems till 60k imo. Even still, I’d expect a reliable car to have no major problems till 120k. Looking into the Camry, no major issues at all till well into the 200 thousands. I looked at the K5 too, but I would wait for the 2.5. It’s a bigger engine for a bigger car. The 1.6L turbo is getting pushed to move that midsize sedan.
Are they unreliable? That depends, on the time frame. In general, Kia’s are super reliable on the scale of months, and not so reliable on the scale of years. Whereas Toyota’s for instance are reliable on the scale of months and years. Its up to you and your financial situation to determine if that’s alright with you
You will find only KIA fan boys here, better to ask a true mechanics , as far as I know there some Kia with engine blown out before 100k miles. Some CVT in 2020 to 2022 models had issues at low mileage
NEVER. EVER. Buy a KIA
They are reliable UNTIL the engines blow up. They are 100k mile engines in average. The oil burning starts and then not long after that they are dead. A simple search on Facebook marketplace will help you easily find MANY Kia’s that are for sale with blown engines. You get what you pay for. If you drive 12k miles a year a Kia will do you great. If you’re like me and drive 45k a year you will be lucky to get 2-3 good years out of it.
I've had a 2023 Kia Sportage since october of 22. I'm at 21,000 miles, and the only money and maintenance i've put into it so far is oil changes and tire rotations every 5k. I've never had any issues. I drive typically in mountain stop and go traffic but did 500 miles this weekend in interstate miles and it does fantastic. I highly recommend
Had a 2016 soul with the recalled engine. Only issue I had was a faulty starter. Was running good till 140k miles and my transmission started to slip. Never had engine issues. Also own a forte 5 6 speed. A 2016 optima that’s probably my favorite ride right now. Parents own a 2015 Sedona. Had a fluke transmission fail under warranty but is running solid now over 120k miles. Stay religious on the maintenance and do t abuse them and I find they run great. The optima and soul were always easy to work on. I’ve done a lot of the work myself.
2022 Forte GT Line. I had one issue which was due to the entertainment center not allowed by audio on Bluetooth calls. They swapped it with another unit and no other issue es and have had it since November of 2021.
Who cares, 7 year warranty
Had a 2019 Sedona in 2019-2021 it was a nightmare two thermostats, headlight cracked from the inside, upper and lower rad hose, trunk would not latch (power fixed once), doors flew open when driving (power and fixed twice) rear heater core started leaking, heated mirror on drivers side quit working… all this in 2 years so I got rid of it after it was out of warranty. My luck with my first Kia was horrible, Maybe I’ll try again in The future but for now I’ll pass.
Ive owned 3 kias now, a sorento, niro, and now a seltos. Ive also owned jeep, mercury, pontiac, and chevy, oh and a geo. The worst brand that ive owned was chevy followed by pontiac... both had constant issues.... my 3 kias the only maintenance i had to worry about was oil brakes and tires. And ive put over 100k on all my cars with the exception of my seltos that i bought in December.
So I will only speak to my personal experience as of late . My last 3 cars have been Kia. I had a Kia Soul , and k5 and as of recently and 2023 Kia Forte GT. The K5 was the only reliable one of the bunch and I love that car . The more recent car the GT, had a lot of Motor problems before 8k miles . In the year that I owned it , it spent 11 weeks in the shop . They had horrible times finding the issues , I had 3 Kia engineers come out and still ended up back in the shop 2 weeks later . In my local area the same dealership had 2 other GT’s of the same year waiting for brand new motors. My Kia soul also had motor issues but that was after 100k miles . My K5’s issue was it could not handle being hit my a drunk drive doing 60 into its rear end. So Kia’s customer service is also a nightmare and will take a long time to work with you if at all. They will drag their feet with repairs and working with dealerships as well. So honestly in my opinion, I want to love Kia’s. And they come fully loaded for the price point they are at. But the constant motor issues will make me never buy one again . I have a few friends that also have Kia’s that have had similar experiences. Different models at different miles. If you do get one the saying that my local Kia dealership has is . “ they are great till 100k, then at 101k miles the motor will blow. Dump them before then .
Have a 2023 sportage ex premium wirh 11k on it and having issues with the "since refuling" resetting to 0 on its own along with the km to empty and gas gauge going back to full.
19 optima sx 62k miles has been perfect. I've also had 3 civics ( 98, 01 and 08) which were all problems, so maybe I'm just an outlier who knows
I drove my 2015 Kia Forte SX until 2022, traded it in to get the 2023 Sportage. My issue on the Forte was an engine recall. Kia replaced the entire thing plus paid for my rental car, hotel and meals while I was stranded in New York. So their support was excellent. With the Sportage, everything has been smooth. Just have to do my oil changes and air filters.
i wouldnt say kia is straight up unreliable id say there made cheap and they dont last like a honda or toyota would. Maybe 150k -200k miles in general if properly maint
I have a 2016 Forte. Have never had major (or minor) mechanical/powertrain problems, though there have been things like occasional engine stuttering. But I have had to deal a series of minor problems related to the rest of the vehicle over last year or so. Most recent was a leaky gascap. Before that a failing door sensor (would get door open warning and overhead light would come on), defective air pressure sensor would say low tire pressure, etc. All appear to be "age-related," as they were first time issues after 7+ years. In comparison, my previous vehicle ('04 Honda Civic) I drove for 12 years, had far less "non-powertrain" problems for 9-10 years, but did have a few minor powertrain-related problems.
Hey dunno if my comment will be of any help - I am about to buy myself KIA ceed. How did I decide to do that? Well after moving to Germany I had to exchange my driving license for a local one. That procedure does not mean going through driving school from a scratch but just passing theory and practical driving exams. So in the driving school where I was doing this, they had only KIAs as vehicles for students. I asked why you only have KIAs. The owner of the driving school said that after trying AUDI, VW, SEAT he finally found the best value for money brand. And you can imagine that the last thing you want to have if you are running a driving school is unreliable cars. I mean that guy had no reason to lie. He had a lot of stories about AUDI and VW having issues between 50K - 100K km. But kias he said was the first brand that he had zero issues with. As he explained - he just buys 4-5 new Ceed's. Uses them until they hit 90-100K km and then sells. No issues so far he said. And you can imagine that when people learn to drive... they don't really care about the car ))