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2025 Kia K5

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Limited comparison data

There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.

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How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 5 of 51 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Tires. Review the 14 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 11 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 6 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

4 crash reports0 fire reports4 injury reports

Power Train complaints

6 reports
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Mileage unknown · Jun 8, 2026
Power Train

On startup, the engine took about an extra second to fire. The starter cranked noticeably longer than normal before the car turned on. Shortly after, I pulled out and turned onto a street. When I pressed the accelerator, there was no response at all. No rev increase and no acceleration. The car would not pick up speed. I switc…

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On startup, the engine took about an extra second to fire. The starter cranked noticeably longer than normal before the car turned on. Shortly after, I pulled out and turned onto a street. When I pressed the accelerator, there was no response at all. No rev increase and no acceleration. The car would not pick up speed. I switched to manual shift mode to try to force a gear change. When I changed gears, it took a couple of seconds to respond each time, much slower than normal. I managed to coast/limp to a nearby gas station. I shut the car off and restarted it, and the problem cleared completely. The car has driven normally since.

NHTSA ODI #11742700

Mileage unknown · May 14, 2026
Power Train

There is a hard shift after the car has been parked. Bought the car with 6 miles on it, now has 35,000. This issue is not new, we have had it into 2 different dealerships, and neither "were able to duplicate the issue". It is increasingly getting worse so it will be going back to the shop yet again.

NHTSA ODI #11737766

Mileage unknown · Oct 5, 2025
Power TrainInjury

The K5 - as soon as I began driving it at 0 miles, I noticed it shifted at lower speeds extremely hard. Head-jerking hard during the first drive of each day at speeds below 25mph. Once the vehicle warmed up, the problem would go away and wouldn't appear until the next day - after the vehicle cooled down completely. I thought, ma…

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The K5 - as soon as I began driving it at 0 miles, I noticed it shifted at lower speeds extremely hard. Head-jerking hard during the first drive of each day at speeds below 25mph. Once the vehicle warmed up, the problem would go away and wouldn't appear until the next day - after the vehicle cooled down completely. I thought, maybe there was a break-in period. So I drove it for about 250 total miles. At that point, I made a service call and brought it into the dealership. I left it overnight. Explained all of the symptoms. The next day, one of your service advisors test drove the vehicle. I was called and told they were unable to reproduce the problem and that I could come pick up the car. I was told by your service advisor that the problem "could be rats or rodents in my garage". I was greatly taken back by that suggestion because I live in an upscale neighborhood, with a highly secured finished garage and have never had any rodent problems. I mentioned that to the service advisor, and she said "You'd be surprised how many people tell us they don't and we find out they had a rodent in their garage". I couldn't believe I was having a conversation of such sorts. I laughed it off and took the vehicle home, quite disgusted that it was suggested that this hard shifting might be "My problem because of rodents". I explained this to [XXX] that evening and couldn't believe that was even brought up given the situation. The very next day, the vehicle did the same thing at about 20 to 25 mph, and extremely hard, head-jerking shift on the first drive of the day. I have now driven the vehicle 3000 miles since new. I have tried driving in several different driving "modes". I've tried, Sport, My Drive, and others, but it doesn't seem to help. Every time I get in my car at O'hare after flying a trip, I look forward to driving a brand new car home, but left extremely disappointed when I drive away from the employee lot only to have an extremely hard, head-jerking shift for the first INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM O

NHTSA ODI #11691491

Mileage unknown · Sep 4, 2025
Power TrainInjury

Transmission has extremely hard shifting if vehicle sits for more than 24 hours. After the vehicle is parked, inside garage, or outside, the first drive of the day has an extremely hard shift of the transmission on the first shifting of the day. The shift it so hard, it jerks the entire car and jolts me in my seat. The remainder…

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Transmission has extremely hard shifting if vehicle sits for more than 24 hours. After the vehicle is parked, inside garage, or outside, the first drive of the day has an extremely hard shift of the transmission on the first shifting of the day. The shift it so hard, it jerks the entire car and jolts me in my seat. The remainder of the drive and day, the hard shifting does not occur. Took the vehicle into dealership where purchased at 1000 miles and left it with them for 2 full days. Unsurprisingly, they said they were, "Unable to reproduce". The next day, the vehicle had the exact same problem. I have close to 3000 miles on the vehicle and the transmission continues to do the exact same thing every time I drive it. It is terrible for a brand new car. It doesn't matter which "Drive mode" the vehicle is in. The dealership also tried to reset the ECM. But no luck. My neck and back have been sore from the hard shift events too.

NHTSA ODI #11684946

Mileage unknown · Mar 12, 2025
Power Train

I had plenty of time to pull onto a perpendicular street. While accelerating the car would not shift to next gear. It hit about 4.2 rpm and still did not shift. I was almost hit!!!! After pulIing over to safety, I ensured it was not in manual mode. Started driving again and It wouldn’t go more than like 20 mph. I pulled over a s…

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I had plenty of time to pull onto a perpendicular street. While accelerating the car would not shift to next gear. It hit about 4.2 rpm and still did not shift. I was almost hit!!!! After pulIing over to safety, I ensured it was not in manual mode. Started driving again and It wouldn’t go more than like 20 mph. I pulled over a second time and shut it off. Started it up again and it worked fine. 603 miles on this car. Kia is not interested in quality it seems.

NHTSA ODI #11647987

Mileage unknown · Dec 17, 2024
Electrical SystemPower Train

While cruising at approximately 40 mph on a surface street, the car lost all power, completely shutting down. After rolling for two seconds it turned back on.

NHTSA ODI #11631165

Official recalls

2

25V493000 · Structure:body:roof And Pillars; Structure:exterior Trim

Jul 28, 2025

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 K5 vehicles. The left and right rear window trim pieces may loosen and detach.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the C-pillar trim assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC346.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Structure:exterior Trim

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 K5 vehicles. The left and right rear window trim pieces may loosen and detach.

Consequence: Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the C-pillar trim assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC346.

Structure:body:roof And Pillars

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 K5 vehicles. The left and right rear window trim pieces may loosen and detach.

Consequence: Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard for other vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the C-pillar trim assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 19, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC346.

25V351000 · Exterior Lighting:lighting Control Module:software

May 27, 2025

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 K5 vehicles. A software error in the Power-net Domain Controller (PDC) may cause the parking lights to flicker. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Parking lights that fail to illuminate properly can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: The PDC software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air (OTA) update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 24, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC341.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.