2002 Kia Sportage problems
The 2002 Kia Sportage has 321 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (21%) concerns fuel system. Next are engine (12%) and cooling system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 321 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 19 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 11 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 58,000 miles 209 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 43 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 33 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 33 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 26 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 28 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 24 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 10 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 209 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 58,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 65,000 miles (51 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 19 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 11 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Kia Sportage with enough data (171 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Dt: problem occured when smoke coming from under the dash. Flames shot out from under dash. No warning prior. A burning smell was coming from vehicle prior to flames. It was an electrical fire. The dealer reports it may be a problem with the ignition switch. The car was pulled, a person helped by trying to put out fire with a small fire extinguisher, then owner went inside a building and got antoher fire extinguisher. The fire was out by the time the fire dept. Arrived. The battery was disconnected.
March 30th I was involved in an accident, a lady pulled accross traffic and I had no time to stop, needless to say I slammed into her drivers side door at about 30MPH. The entire front end of my kia sprortage was damaged with about $6700 in damages and the air bags didn't deploy and myself and my passengers were in our seat belts but badly bruised and thrown about. I was informed by kia that I didn't hit the sensors ... Ok the whole front end was gone where exactly are the sensors?
Consumer was traveling about 15MPH and coming off the off ramp on the highway, another vehicle was coming towards the consumer and collided with consumer's vehicle. Upon impact, airbags did not go off. Dealership was aware of problem. One person was injured in the accident.
I have a 2002 kia sportage 4x4. Purchased in april 2004 with 3 years & 50k miles remaining on warranty. I trailered my boat to the lake and after leaving the lake the car died. Towed to an authorized kia dealer,dick hannah kia, vancouver,wa.98665 $161 tow bill! Diagnosis was water in the gas tank!! Turns out there is a evaporator charcoal canister mounted under the vehicle near the rear bumper which allowed water into the gas system. I am now faced with over $600 repair for draining the tank.
The left front rotors were defective. This was discovered during vehicle inspection. The vehicle was serviced at least twenty times for other defects. No service for the brakes. There was a short in the wiring in the shock arms, a problem with the catalytic converter, rattling in the exhaust system, license plate lights were inoperative due to rotted sockets, wheel bearings were extremely loose, pulling to the right, the right rear power window was inoperative, check engine light had come on possibly due to a…