Back up camera sometimes flips sides, so that obstacles on the right side of the car are shown on the left side of the camera screen. Sometimes the camera doesn't work at all.
2021 Kia Rio
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Rio years →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: 0 of 15 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.
- Steering. Review the 4 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 2 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
15 reportsSteering Gear Assembly completely broke at 81,000 miles. My daughter was backing up in a busy street at 5pm and lost 100 percent of steering control. Lucking cars dodged her and she didn’t get hurt or worse.
Placed car in park got out to open a gate. Car took off forward even when shifter was in Park Position and almost ran a child over.
Center Console Display blank (screen black) upon startup unable to see cameras and backing up affected creating safety concern.
seatbelts in rear are inoperable/anti theft not working. Kia dealership told me that its not their issue about the anti theft. I have been told on 3 separate occasions that my seatbelts have been ordered but they haven’t!!!! No one is following up with me, when I call I get told “until they can get in contact with the dealership…
Read full complaint
seatbelts in rear are inoperable/anti theft not working. Kia dealership told me that its not their issue about the anti theft. I have been told on 3 separate occasions that my seatbelts have been ordered but they haven’t!!!! No one is following up with me, when I call I get told “until they can get in contact with the dealership Kia the corporate company cannot do anything” have 2 kids Kia the dealership as well as the corporate company knows about this and no one is doing anything!! NO ONE CARES
At speeds over 20 miles per hours there is a “flapping” noise that sounds like a bag or piece of paper that is blowing in the wind. Although I don’t know were the noise originates, I can hear it clearly from the driver’s side b-pillar. It is incredibly annoying and greatly diminishes what is otherwise a solid entry, level vehi…
Read full complaint
At speeds over 20 miles per hours there is a “flapping” noise that sounds like a bag or piece of paper that is blowing in the wind. Although I don’t know were the noise originates, I can hear it clearly from the driver’s side b-pillar. It is incredibly annoying and greatly diminishes what is otherwise a solid entry, level vehicle.
On 3/19/23, as I was driving on a dry, straight, two lane road at the posted speed of 40mph, the car began to try to steer into oncoming traffic. I had to exert moderate force to keep the car in my lane. This continued continuously for about 1/2 mile. No low tire pressure indicator lights were illuminated, however the lane assis…
Read full complaint
On 3/19/23, as I was driving on a dry, straight, two lane road at the posted speed of 40mph, the car began to try to steer into oncoming traffic. I had to exert moderate force to keep the car in my lane. This continued continuously for about 1/2 mile. No low tire pressure indicator lights were illuminated, however the lane assist icon was on and green, indicating normal operation. Just as I was going to turn down a side street to check the tires manually, the steering returned to normal. However, the lane assist icon was now white, and as I drove the remaining approximately 2 miles home, the icon would change from white to green every 20 seconds or so. The car now operates normally. We took the car to the dealer today to be checked and they reported they could not replicate the issue. Attached is their report.
The contol post for lights, turn signal, and high beams is too sensitive. To control the lights, you twist the top of lever. To turn on turn signals, you flip the lever up or down. To turn on brights, the lever goes forward. To turn of lights, the lever is pulled back. The issue..... If you have brights on, when you pull lev…
Read full complaint
The contol post for lights, turn signal, and high beams is too sensitive. To control the lights, you twist the top of lever. To turn on turn signals, you flip the lever up or down. To turn on brights, the lever goes forward. To turn of lights, the lever is pulled back. The issue..... If you have brights on, when you pull lever back to dim lights, the top automatically twists to shut off the headlights entirely. DANGEROUS DANGEROUS DANGEROUS. My husband doesn't have this problem, but he has longer fingers and his fingers hit the lever more at the base where nothing twists. I have shorter women's fingers and they can't reach all the way down the lever. I have since adjusted how I dim the brights by reacing under the lever, (close to steering column), to pull the lever back. This is very uncomfortable and tends to cause me to make the turn signal come on, which could cause its own traffic accident. My remedy would be to make the headlights twist in the opposite direction for on off, or make the switch for headlights have a little more resistance.
Having been complaining about a noise from under the front right tire, I was initially told it was a little piece of plastic and that got cut off. I was still hear the scraping and squealing and I kept check the from right tire because I thought that's where it was coming from. I mentioned this to every mechanic at kia and was t…
Read full complaint
Having been complaining about a noise from under the front right tire, I was initially told it was a little piece of plastic and that got cut off. I was still hear the scraping and squealing and I kept check the from right tire because I thought that's where it was coming from. I mentioned this to every mechanic at kia and was told "that's just how 2021s sound". Finally after months of complaining the noise got louder and you could hear it was clearly something in steering. They schedules an appointment for Dec 7th on Mon Nov 28th. Said it was safe to drive when that night while working I was turning a corner, I heard a loud spring noise, the tire and wheel jerked. It was snowing, so the car slide, only sliding into the curb. The front right break seemed to be locked and when you turn the steering wheel makes even more noise. Haven't been told the issue, but I'm certain it is not safe and definitely shouldn't be on the streets until it's fixed.
I had driven my wife to her school about 5 miles and headed back to my work another 5 miles when i tried to accelerate pass car I lost almost all power barely making it up a slight hill I kept going trying to make it to my house barely going 10 miles an hour. I thought the transmission had let go cause while I had the gas ped…
Read full complaint
I had driven my wife to her school about 5 miles and headed back to my work another 5 miles when i tried to accelerate pass car I lost almost all power barely making it up a slight hill I kept going trying to make it to my house barely going 10 miles an hour. I thought the transmission had let go cause while I had the gas peddle floored i went at best 10-15 miles an hour I eventually parked the car I knew it would never make it up another slight hill. It was rowed to a nearby dealer where they could find no problem telling me it was just some bad gas. This sounds like what I read about today with a couple of other models of Kia.
Official recalls
222V304000 · Steering:column
May 5, 2022
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Rio and Forte vehicles. A bolt in the steering column may not be secured properly, which can cause the steering column to detach from the steering rack and result in a loss of steering control.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Loss of steering control can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will tighten the lower steering column u-joint retention bolt, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 27, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall SC235.
21V936000 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic:foundation Components:master Cylinder
Dec 1, 2021
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Rio vehicles. The brake master cylinder may have been manufactured with sharp edges that can damage the inner oil seal, resulting in reduced braking performance.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Reduced braking performance can cause longer brake pedal travel or extend the distance required to stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the brake master cylinder, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 11, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall SC223.
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
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
Illustration