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2021 Kia Rio

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: 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.

2 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports

What owners actually said

15 reports
Mileage unknown · Dec 28, 2025
Unknown Or Other

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.

NHTSA ODI #11707375

Mileage unknown · May 14, 2025
Steering

Steering 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.

NHTSA ODI #11660866

Mileage unknown · Nov 14, 2023
Power TrainUnknown Or Other

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.

NHTSA ODI #11555136

Mileage unknown · Aug 24, 2023
Back Over PreventionElectrical System

Center Console Display blank (screen black) upon startup unable to see cameras and backing up affected creating safety concern.

NHTSA ODI #11540589

Mileage unknown · May 2, 2023
Seat BeltsUnknown Or Other

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…

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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

NHTSA ODI #11520150

Mileage unknown · Mar 26, 2023
Unknown Or Other

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11513877

Mileage unknown · Mar 20, 2023
Lane DepartureSteering

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11512905

Mileage unknown · Jan 7, 2023
Unknown Or Other

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11500633

Mileage unknown · Nov 30, 2022
Service BrakesSteeringCrash

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11495434

Mileage unknown · Oct 29, 2022
Power Train

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…

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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.

NHTSA ODI #11491460

Official recalls

2

22V304000 · 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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.