2012 Kia Sportage problems
The 2012 Kia Sportage has 454 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (73%) concerns engine. Next are electrical system (7%) and drivetrain & axles (5%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 454 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 73% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 10 and 25
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 97,000 miles 362 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 | 31 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 18 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 48 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 83 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 91 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 45 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 23 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Of the 362 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 97,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 100,000 miles (277 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 10 complaints mention a crash; 25 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 15th most-complained-about out of 30 model years of the Kia Sportage with enough data (87 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Brake pedal grip padding falls off, leaving a slippery surface and a fallen grip padding blocking brake pedal. While driving in freeway at 65 MPH. Driver lost control of vehicle, swerving into two toll lanes & crashing into several rubber dividers. After this incident the brake pedal grip padding has continued to fall off while driving the vehicle. Kia dealership & service department denied a manufacturing defect in tghe vehicle without even inspecting the vehicle.
I was exiting the highway onto a median divided street that runs east/west. I was stopped at the light, in a double turn lane, once the light turned green I proceeded to turn west going about 5 MPH, immediately I was hit by a woman to the left of me in the parallel turn lane in my front driver side quarter panel. Her car hit at nearly a 90 degree angle with enough impact to rock the sportage, it buckled the hood and knocked off several of the grill panels.
I was driving down the road when the engine siezed up and died on me. I was traveling at 60 MPH when it died on me and luckily there was a shoulder to pull off of the highway so that I could get out of harms way in the heavy traffic.
Knocking noise coming from engine, have taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic as well as kia dealership service department both diagnosed the problem as needed a new engine ($5000-7,000). This vehicle 73,000 miles, oil changed at every 5000 miles. There is no explanation or reasonable cause of engine failure except for manufacturing. Only had the 1 1/2 years. Dealership told us only option is to buy a new car from.