Owners have filed 10 complaints
about the 2025 KIA Sportage Phev with NHTSA between 2025 and 2026.
The largest single group is the driver assist & collision avoidance.
Across this model's run it ranks 2 of 3 worst.
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew
an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous
ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
The dashed ring is 50 — the national norm. Further out is worse.
Complaint volume — 28
Against the median year of the KIA Sportage Phev. 50 means typical for this
model; 100 means roughly double.
Severity — 100
30% of these complaints
involved a crash, fire, injury or death, against a national rate of
9.7%.
Early failure — not reported
Too few complaints recorded a mileage to measure this.
How 2025 compares with every other KIA Sportage Phev
Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade:
A
B
C
D
F
ungraded
What breaks on a 2025 KIA Sportage Phev
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance
660.0%
3 crashes, 0 fires
Wheels
110.0%
Fuel & Propulsion
110.0%
Acceleration & Cruise Control
110.0%
Transmission & Drivetrain
110.0%
When owners complained
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing
out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single
owner can see from inside their own car.
Jun 2025peak 3Jul 2026
Complaints that involved harm
Reports where the owner recorded a crash, a fire, an injury or a death.
Yonkers, NYCrash
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Yonkers, NYCrash
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The most recent complaints
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
Yonkers, NYCrash
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Yonkers, NYCrash
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it. Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved
NHTSA complaint #11750845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
San Jose, CA
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
on saturday [XXX] while driving on the highway my car lost propulsion and started slowing down even after i was pressing on the acceleration/gas pedal all the way. It happened 3 times within an hour's time frame the car refused to speed up and would stop driving. I was in immediate risk as well as the drivers behind me since i was on the highway and my vehicle immediately slowed down and came to a stop. The dealer asked me to not drive in an eco mode after i took it to the service station at winn kia fremont, they ran diagnostics. This happened in san jose California INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11741831 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Tallahassee, FL
POWER TRAIN
While driving the vehicle at 55 mph, it suddenly lost the ability to accelerate even when I pressed down on the accelerator. The RPMs went up to 4 or 5 but I could not go over 30-35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to move into a left turn lane to get away from the flow of traffic and avoid an accident. A semi-truck was behind us when I was unable to accelerate. We had to have the vehicle towed to a local dealership in the area. I had been driving the vehicle for about 2 hours when this occurred. The service department at the dealer was able to recreate the issue. My vehicle has been out of service and remains at the dealership. They told me that a new transmission would be installed due to loss of transmission fluid. They had a difficult time identifying the issue because there were no warning lights or codes registered.
NHTSA complaint #11718936 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Tallahassee, FL
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
While driving the vehicle at 55 mph, it suddenly lost the ability to accelerate even when I pressed down on the accelerator. The RPMs went up to 4 or 5 but I could not go over 30-35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to move into a left turn lane to get away from the flow of traffic and avoid an accident. A semi-truck was behind us when I was unable to accelerate. We had to have the vehicle towed to a local dealership in the area. I had been driving the vehicle for about 2 hours when this occurred. The service department at the dealer was able to recreate the issue. My vehicle has been out of service and remains at the dealership. They told me that a new transmission would be installed due to loss of transmission fluid. They had a difficult time identifying the issue because there were no warning lights or codes registered.
NHTSA complaint #11718936 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Scotts Valley, CA
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
I’m the owner of a 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV and I’m experiencing a critical software bug: the car does not retain my custom driver assistance settings. Specifically, I have a bike rack installed on the rear hitch. I disable automatic rear emergency braking to avoid false stops when reversing, but the setting resets every time I turn off the vehicle. This leads to the car emergency braking unnecessarily — the car will suddenly brake when trying to reverse out of a parking space. This is not a dealer-specific issue — it’s affecting other 2025 Sportage models as well. I’d like to know: Has Kia acknowledged this issue or issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB)? Is a software update being developed to allow driver-assist settings to persist through vehicle restarts?
NHTSA complaint #11674644 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Hemet, CA
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
This only happens on the freeway but happens every time on the freeway. When using adapted cruise control and you hit the brake, when you reengage the cruise the LKA comes on and the steering wheel begins to assist. I do not want the lane assist to ever be engaged. I turned it off in the system settings. I believe it is a safety issue for drivers who are not aware that this will happen to them while driving and might cause a driver to jerk the wheel when they feel it the steering wheel move in their hands. I know it is going to happen but I am sometimes still startled by it. Besides being what I consised a safety issue, it [XXX] to have to hit the button to delete the LKA each time it happens, which, on a freeway with traffic, can be often. Otherwise, I love my Kia... [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11670092 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Hemet, CA
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
This only happens on the freeway but happens every time on the freeway. When using adapted cruise control and you hit the brake, when you reengage the cruise the LKA comes on and the steering wheel begins to assist. I do not want the lane assist to ever be engaged. I turned it off in the system settings. I believe it is a safety issue for drivers who are not aware that this will happen to them while driving and might cause a driver to jerk the wheel when they feel it the steering wheel move in their hands. I know it is going to happen but I am sometimes still startled by it. Besides being what I consised a safety issue, it [XXX] to have to hit the button to delete the LKA each time it happens, which, on a freeway with traffic, can be often. Otherwise, I love my Kia... [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11670092 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Milwaukie, OR
WHEELS
On [XXX] I took ownership of the described brand new vehicle from Kia of Portland OR,(12miles on the odometer) and insisted twice to sales management that the vehicle is prep'ed with a full fuel tank, fully charged battery and that tires are set to OE spec. The following 2 days the area experienced a head wave of near 100oF. During the following week, we noticed instability with the vehicle driving. Upon verification of the tires pressure with a digital pressure gauge on 6/12/25 at 8am to my disbelieve I discovered that both left side tires (Michelin PRIMACY TOUR A/S 235/55/R19) where at 50.3/50.4 PSI while the right side tires where set correctly at 35.4 PSI. After conversation with Michelin these tires may have exceeded during the heat wave the max allowed operating pressure of 51 PSI making them unsafe for driving. I immediately contacted the dealership Maintenance manager who confirmed that on their digital record the vehicle, as part of Kia standard procedure, was transported and arrived with all 4 tires above 50PSI and that the maintenance team, despite been warned, they forgot to reduce the tire pressure to OE spec of 35PSI on the left tires before allowing the vehicle to be operated on Oregon highways/streets. I requested Kia to send a technician to inspect and adjust the tires but the Maintenance manager refused. Thus I had to gradually release the pressure to match the right side tires and OE spec (35PSI). After the adjustment of the right side tires the vehicle did not exhibited more stability issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11668513 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.