2018 Kia Sportage

The plugs for the engine cooling fan and wiring harness were damaged from overheating. No fuses blew, plugs were melted and wiring was discolored from overheating. Estimate for repair was: Parts (cooling fan assembly, and wiring harness)- $2430.19 plus tax, Labor 8hrs @ $175.00/hr- $1400, Total cost to replace the cooling fan and wiring harness- $3830.19 plus tax. Overheating of the wiring harness poses a significant risk of a short circuit and potential engine fire. The problem was identified by the Kia dealer. No warning lamps, blown fuses, or messages warning of the problem. we smelled smoke on a couple of occasions. Unable to afford the repairs, we traded the vehicle in at a Honda dealer.

The contact owned a 2018 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that the vehicle was stolen while parked in front of her residence. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously taken to a dealer and the Anti-Theft Logic and Sticker Upgrade per NHTSA ID Number: 10233650 (Electrical System) was performed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I was driving and the radio went out along with navigation screen, then power steering went out along with headlights, tail lights. Engine was still running but would not rev up. All kinds of warning lights went off, had a harder time steering vehicle out of the Road way. Engine eventually shut off. My dealer said my starter had a continuous draw on my battery and drained it. This was on 11/10/21. They replaced the starter and the battery. Got vehicle back on 11/10. Last night 11/18/21 I was driving my vehicle again at night and the same thing happened again, no lights, no power steering, no electronics in the vehicle worked. Got someone to jump My vehicle, we let it charge from the jumper and got the vehicle started again. Drove 4 miles down the road, same thing again. Had my wife come there and we again put jumper cables on for 20 minutes, was able to drive the vehicle home, did notice this time I had a check engine light. Have scheduled an appointment with my dealer again. I feel that on a dark country road with limited areas to pull over with no headlights or tail lights or 4 way flashers I could have easily been rear ended. I did have cars pass me and blow their horn at me, did finally make it to a cross road with a street light and got off the main road. The dealer has not set an appointment yet, vehicle would be available for inspection, if needed.

Kia knowing that they are selling nothing but junk to consumers are refusing to provide ANY Assistance to customers whom pay 25+K for their trash called vechicles. Kia has recalled my vechicle 2× now for Motor and ECU problems and now my vechicle is having electrical problems and had to be towed to a dealership to be looked at. This dealership is not looking to find out where the electrician problem is coming from and when I contact Kia America they are refusing any assistance to help me get their 25K piece of trash back on the road. When is the NTHSA going to do something and hold these car companies RESPONSIBLE FOR THE JUNK THEY ARE SELLING!!!

When you turn off the car via push button the car engine won’t shut off. The computer system shuts down but the engine continues to run. I’ve taken to the dealership three times to repair and it is still an issue. Engine isn’t diesel’ing as the gas pedal still works with the car off. When this happens the vehicles computer system itself is fully off. Kia roadside won’t dispatch in this situation as they say “they aren’t mechanics”. The only thing you can do to shut the car off no matter how many times you attempt to restart is to go inside the engine compartment and pull the fuel pump fuse and starve the engine. There is no difference in engine sound between the on and off computer state, car is quiet so it could be easily missed by someone not paying attention. The car doors will not lock in this situation. Originally when this happened the car would throw tons of codes (I have it on video) now after the supposed fix (aka the computer update for the recall that was supposed to fix my issue) it no longer throws any codes. Now when the issue happens the vehicle appears to actually shut down fully except you can hear the engine not shutting down but not a single code registers. Shifter is completely locked out in this situation and will not re-engage until the engine has been choked out.

INITIALLY, I ATTEMPTED TO CRANK THE VEHICLE BY PRESSING THE STARTER BUTTON. I HEARD A CLICK AND NOTICED QUICK FLASHING LIGHTS FROM THE DASH, THEN NOTHING HAPPENED EXCEPT CLICKS, NOISES AND MINIMAL LIGHT AS IF THE BATTERY WAS DOWN. THERE WAS NOTHING ON INSIDE THE CAR TO CAUSE BATTERY FAILURE. THE BRAKE WAS HARD TO PRESS DOWN TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. THEREFORE, I OPTED TO JUMP-START THE CAR AND IT IMMEDIATELY POWERED UP. ALL OF THE LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD FLASHED ON A FEW TIMES THEN THE LETTERS AFLS APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD. THE RADIO/GPS DISPLAY CONTINUED TO FLICKER AND FLASH ON AND OFF NONSTOP AS I CONTINUED TO DRIVE. I ALLOWED THE CAR TO RUN FOR 5 MINUTES AT HOME THEN PROCEEDED TO DRIVE. AFTER DRIVING FOR 25 MINUTES ON THE HIGHWAY, I TURNED TO PARK, THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED THEN UNLOCKED IN THE PROCESS. I STOPPED TO CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT I WAS IN THE PROPER GEAR, STILL IN DISBELIEF THAT THIS STEERING WHEEL LOCKING WAS OCCURRING. I PROCEEDED TO BACK UP THE VEHICLE WHEN THE WHEEL LOCKED AGAIN. I CHECKED TO SEE IF THE CAR WAS STILL RUNNING AFTER THAT HARDER LOCK/JERK IN THE PARKING LOT. I STOPPED THE CAR, PLACED IT IN PARK WITHOUT TURNING OFF THE ENGINE TO GATHER MYSELF BECAUSE THIS WAS A VERY FRIGHTENING AND ALARMING EXPERIENCE TO SAY THE LEAST. I DIDN'T TURN OFF THE ENGINE BECAUSE I WAS UNCERTAIN IF IT WOULD RESTART CONSIDERING WHAT OCCURRED EARLIER WITH JUMP-STARTING THE CAR. I DROVE BACK HOME MAKING A CONCERTED EFFORT TO DRIVE SLOWLY ON THE STREET. I THEN ENTERED THE OPEN RAMP ONTO THE HIGHWAY. I TOOK EXTREME PRECAUTIONS AND HOPING THAT THE STEERING WHEEL WOULD NOT LOCK AGAIN WHICH MAY HAVE FURTHER CAUSED MY FAMILY AND I TO BE PLACED INTO HARM'S WAY, NOT TO MENTION THE OTHER DRIVERS TO BE IN DANGER ON THE ROAD. I HOPE THAT IMMEDIATE ATTENTION WILL BE GIVEN TO THIS MATTER TO AVOID FURTHER TERROR AND TREPIDATION, ANY INJURIES AND/OR LOSS OF LIFE.