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2018 Kia Stinger

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

30 reports with mileage · 37 unknown

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.

  • Engine. Review the 22 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 →
  • Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 10 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 reports5 fire reports1 injury reports

What owners actually said

67 reports
77,600 miles · Dec 4, 2023
Fuel System, Gasoline

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 45-50 MPH downhill and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. Additionally,…

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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while driving 45-50 MPH downhill and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving uphill, the vehicle decelerated and failed to exceed 35 MPH while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that he could repair the vehicle at his own expense, and he could then be reimbursed for the repair later. The failure mileage was approximately 77,600. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI #11558377

49,000 miles · Nov 21, 2023
Fuel System, Gasoline

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly shuddered and displayed a "Service Vehicle Now" message. The contact smelled a gasoline odor in the interior of the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, …

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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly shuddered and displayed a "Service Vehicle Now" message. The contact smelled a gasoline odor in the interior of the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that the contact might have fueled the vehicle with insufficient fuel and provided a fuel additive for additional testing. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V634000 (Fuel System, Gasoline), and the VIN was included, but parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,000.

NHTSA ODI #11556238

Mileage unknown · Oct 26, 2023
Fuel/propulsion SystemPower TrainSuspension

My vehicle has a delay in taking off from a complete stop. The car also looses a little power while driving intermittently. There was times that the car wouldn't even go at all I had to turn off the car and restarted to be able to go. That has been happening more and more the check engine light has been on the whole time. Also t…

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My vehicle has a delay in taking off from a complete stop. The car also looses a little power while driving intermittently. There was times that the car wouldn't even go at all I had to turn off the car and restarted to be able to go. That has been happening more and more the check engine light has been on the whole time. Also the rear shock or strut went out but the part that is apart of the suspension has broke and now the vehicle scrapes the tire because it is too low

NHTSA ODI #11551952

Mileage unknown · Oct 1, 2023
Fuel/propulsion SystemPower TrainVehicle Speed Control

All of a sudden while driving on the road my vehicle lost total power in the middle of an intersection. I would pres the gas pedal and got no response the vehicle would not go. I had to turn car off and try starting it again then the vehicle got power. This keeps happening not everyday but it's happening about once a week while …

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All of a sudden while driving on the road my vehicle lost total power in the middle of an intersection. I would pres the gas pedal and got no response the vehicle would not go. I had to turn car off and try starting it again then the vehicle got power. This keeps happening not everyday but it's happening about once a week while driving. There has been times where the car wouldn't restart for about an hour I got the car off the road and stayed stranded at night till it finally got power to move it would start but it would just putter like it wasn't getting enough fuel and my engine light came on. It is telling me something is wrong with the fuel rail , high pressure fuel pump, and it is running too rich. I have a little over 62,000 miles on it . Now there is a delay in take off it has lost a lot of power and is using a lot of fuel getting poor gas milage.

NHTSA ODI #11547591

Mileage unknown · Jun 27, 2023
Engine

The car will lose power while accelerating and the turbo does not properly work well. Was told it was a fuel pump issue.

NHTSA ODI #11529036

Mileage unknown · Apr 30, 2023
Service Brakes, Hydraulic

I bought front and rear drilled and slotted brake rotors. I installed these on my car using the same name brand of brake pads front and rear. The fronts were perfect. The rear rotors had defective black zinc coating that caked on my brake pads. This layer of coating prevented contact between the friction surface of the rotor and…

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I bought front and rear drilled and slotted brake rotors. I installed these on my car using the same name brand of brake pads front and rear. The fronts were perfect. The rear rotors had defective black zinc coating that caked on my brake pads. This layer of coating prevented contact between the friction surface of the rotor and friction material of the pad. I only drove the car 1/2 mile. My rear brakes would not work properly. I sent Brake Performance 14 pictures and a series of emails describing this. They shrugged it off as cosmetic. I had the remaining defective coating machined off the friction surface of the rotors. I sanded and cleaned the layer of defective coating off my brake pads. After this cleaning, the brakes worked as expected. I have installed their products on 3 vehicles using 10 rotors and 2 drums. Only these last 2 rotors had defective coating. It's concerning that they never considered the safety implications of the defective coating. The front and rear rotors were stored together in the same environment prior to install.

NHTSA ODI #11519679

Mileage unknown · Mar 20, 2023
Steering

Steering wheel began making noises that sounded like grinding of gears that sounded like it was coming from outside of the interior of the vehicle. The noise was heard loudly when turning the steering wheel after the car sat idle and occasionally after driving the car after several minutes of the car warming up. The noise occurr…

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Steering wheel began making noises that sounded like grinding of gears that sounded like it was coming from outside of the interior of the vehicle. The noise was heard loudly when turning the steering wheel after the car sat idle and occasionally after driving the car after several minutes of the car warming up. The noise occurred increasingly more frequent over 4 weeks. The steering also became more difficult with tension felt during turning the wheel. Eventually, the steering wheel locked completely during turning and became unable to turn the steering wheel while driving and turning the wheel. The risk of crash which put me and others at risk was narrowly avoided by stopping in the middle of an intersection multiple times while driving the car. The car was taken to the Kia dealership 3/16/23 and the problem was reproduced and confirmed by the dealer on 3/20/23 where it was inspected. When the steering wheel locked, a message related to the Lane Assist feature on the car appeared.

NHTSA ODI #11512912

Mileage unknown · Feb 18, 2023
EnginePower Train

Bought a CERTIFIED PREOWNED 2018 Kia Stinger from Russ Darrow Kia in Madison, WI Feb. 2021. Approx. Aug 2021 cylinder 3 on our 2018 Kia Stinger started misfiring. After replacing the spark plugs (x4 times) and coil packs, there was no improvement. We had it towed to Metro Kia of Madison because it was under Kia warranty still,…

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Bought a CERTIFIED PREOWNED 2018 Kia Stinger from Russ Darrow Kia in Madison, WI Feb. 2021. Approx. Aug 2021 cylinder 3 on our 2018 Kia Stinger started misfiring. After replacing the spark plugs (x4 times) and coil packs, there was no improvement. We had it towed to Metro Kia of Madison because it was under Kia warranty still, and after 5-months and an engine replacement (including the long-block), we got our car back in Feb 2022. Flash forward to the end of Jan 2023, the Stinger starts driving rough. Idling harder, but no error codes are showing. After about 24hrs of very light driving because we knew something was wrong, an error code for cylinder 1 came up on my way home from work just a half mile away. When I got home, thick white smoke was billowing out of the exhaust which filled up the entire parking garage causing an environmental hazard to myself and my neighbors. So, I immediately open the garage doors and opened the windows to air everything out, and moved my car outside. I did some research online and figured I would try to replace the spark plugs and coil packs again, just to see if I could drive it to an independent shop because it is out of manufacturer warrenty by 3k miles. That didn't really help, and we ended up having it towed, again. After a week, find out they can't see anything on the top of the engine which has cause cylinder 1 to completely FAIL, and going to inspect for bottom side repair, plus labor, and whatever else is going to be close to $15k! Metro Kia basically said there was nothing they could do even though it was them who did the last repair. Russ Darrow Kia who originally sold us the vehicle also said we were screwed. We stopped work on the vehicle for now because we can't afford it and $2k in rentals. Opened a case with Kia on 2/14/23 due to the 2.0 THETA II engine recalled which Stingers are NOT included on, but haven't heard back yet. Never buying another KIA ever again because it's been nothing but PROBLEMS!

NHTSA ODI #11508029

62,000 miles · Jan 9, 2023
Fuel System, Gasoline

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the residence where it was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The v…

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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the residence where it was diagnosed by an independent mechanic. The contact was informed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was no recall on the vehicle for the failure. The failure mileage was 62,000.

NHTSA ODI #11500841

22,000 miles · Jan 25, 2022
Engine

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary in her garage, she started to smell antifreeze and saw an oil leak underneath the vehicle and on the engine. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the timing chain pan to be replaced. The vehic…

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The contact owns a 2018 Kia Stinger. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary in her garage, she started to smell antifreeze and saw an oil leak underneath the vehicle and on the engine. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the timing chain pan to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the serpentine belt was loose. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer and made the mechanic aware of the diagnostic result from the independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact also stated the dealer completed NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V754000 (Electrical System) on 11/26/2019. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000.

NHTSA ODI #11448835

Official recalls

4

24V169000 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:gasoline:turbo/supercharger:hoses/plumbing

Mar 1, 2024

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2019-2020 K900, and 2018-2023 Stinger vehicles equipped with a 3.3-liter turbo gasoline direct injection engine. The left turbocharger oil feed pipe and hose assembly may deteriorate and leak oil.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An oil leak in the presence of hot engine components can increase the risk of an engine compartment fire while driving.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the left turbocharger oil feed pipe and hose assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 26, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC300.

23V634000 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump

Sep 13, 2023

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Stinger vehicles. The fuel control valve plunger may stick inside the high pressure fuel pump, causing over-pressurization and loss of drive power.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will update the engine control unit software, inspect, and replace the fuel pump as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 18, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC281.

20V518000 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip:control Unit/module

Aug 27, 2020

Kia Motors America (Kia) recalled certain 2019 Stinger vehicles equipped with 3.3L T-GDI engines on August 27, 2020. On December 30, 2020, Kia expanded the recall population and added certain 2018-2021 Stinger vehicles. While driving, an engine compartment fire may occur in the area where the Anti-lock Brake Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (HECU) is located.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An engine compartment fire can increase the risk of injury or crash.

Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will install a new fuse kit in the electrical junction box, free of charge. Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures as a precaution until the recall repair is complete. The recall began November 30, 2020. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC196.

18V754000 · Electrical System:wiring:front Underhood

Oct 25, 2018

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2018 Kia Stinger vehicles. The front wiring harness located in the engine and passenger compartment may get damaged from contacting a burr on the left fender body panel.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: The damaged wiring harness may short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the wiring harness for damage. If no damage is found, a cover will be installed. If damage is found, the wiring harness will be replaced and a cover will be installed, free of charge. The recall began December 20, 2018. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall SC170.

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.