Tell others about your KIA vehicle reliability experience

[Sal Collaziano]

Let's use this discussion to show prospective buyers what they have to look forward to as far as KIA's vehicle reliability. Who wants to start?

 

[CAsuKiHy]

I really want to hear about this.
What about the warranty?
Engine? Transmission? Big $$ items if break.
Compared to others?

 

[Kamauxx]

I've owned 3 Kias. I bought them all brand new. A 2012 Optima EX, an 2017 Optima SXL, and a 2018 Stinger GT1.

The only problem I have had with either was self-inflicted (I prefer not to get into specifics) and Kia still sent a tow truck, gave me a rental, and repaired it under warranty.

 

[Sweetness020603]

I love the brand, I now own my 3rd Kia in 14 years. My first being the 05 spectra5. It had like 7 miles. All my car I have bought since then were new. I heard all the horror stories out there I was scared I bought a turd based on reputation alone. I drove that car for 10 years, giving her up for the 14 Optima sx turbo drove her until the release of the 18 stinger. Which i followed from it's very first concept. The spectra had 163k miles and never left me on the side of the road, the Optima was the same way, and now my stinger. Which i love love LOVE. I am also in love with the Telluride, may be a good reason to buy an SUV. Kia has come a long way since my little spectra 5. Don't buy into the horror stories, every brand has had their issues, Kia is one of the best ones when it comes to standing behind their product. You won't regret it, if you take care of it, it will take care of you. As with any car proper care and maintenance and you have a reliable, beautiful car. Happy shopping!

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[ucinn]

I have a vast experience with Kia. Started off with an 04 Spectra, had it until a friend totalled it when someone puled in front of him. Had 75K and just routine maintenance. Didn't have another kia until our 2012 Sorento SX and then my 2013 Sorento LX, both made it to 60K before trading them in on our now owned 2016 Sorento SX-L which is up to 60K with just routine maintenance. And now my 18 Kia Stinger GT2..only 6K no problems.

My family sons, daughters, DIL's have had 3 Souls, 2 Fortes and a Niro. All have been trouble free except for 1 Forte. We are from Ohio and my son drove his Forte(67K)to Florida to see his grandparents. On his way back in georgia the engine gave out. They gave him a loaner to get home with while they replaced his engine in Georgia. When they got it done, they shipped his forte to our local dealer and he turned in his loaner there. I would call that great service and all free of charge.

 

[CAsuKiHy]

Thanks for sharing! I really hope I can get what I want/need in Telluride.

 

[waynerm002]

I came to KIA after years of owning German brands, VW Passat and Touareg, Audi A4 and BMW 535 and 535 w/M Sport Package. When the 535 (which I loved and wanted to keep forever) developed engine issues and stranded me a few times, I started to look at other brands that had a good ride/handling balance, was comfortable and reliable. Toyota and Honda didn't do it for me, Mazda had the driving goods but didn't quite click. Funny how I went in to KIA for an Optima SX and ended up with an Optima Hybrid, 3 hybrids ('12, '14 and '17) later led me to the Stinger (oh the 17 hybrid is still in the family on lowering springs, that's another story). No major issues on the hybrids, I just kept upgrading because I was chasing that luxury, quiet ride I had with the BMW, since the speed wasn't going to be there but at least the handling is good.

KIA has been listening to their customers and making running changes, sometimes yearly to address issues reported instead of waiting until the mid-cycle refresh. The first hybrid wouldn't activate the engine until the car reached 25mph and on battery, it wasn't all that quick to get there. A software update 5 or so months in, remedied that along with a tuning to the electronic power steering, made the car feel as though you got a new car, once the update was completed. While I have been changing mine a buddy of mine that bought his at the same time has his 2012 hybrid with over 130k miles on it. He said his heated steering wheel works randomly now, the front passenger seat has some issues with the adjustment, both issues was going on in warranty but he never took it in to be looked at. Bad dealer experience. Hit a pothole and broke one of the front springs at 110k miles, we replaced it with coilovers. Brakes was done at 115k if I remember correctly, other than that just regular maintenance. His hybrid does not drive like one. He is hard on that car and was surprised it held up as well as it did. He was also BMW driver and expected there would be more issues, based on past knowledge of the brand. He plans on driving it until it dies.

Me, I'm on my 2nd Stinger. Wanted to keep mine and bought out the lease, not even 5 months with the car, I wrecked it in a snowstorm. Looked at the other brands and came right back to KIA. I love their designs, the interior layout, amenities, options, ride/handling and just how great the cars have been. KIA/Hyundai design/build their own parts and warranty them for a long time because they know they will last. While the powertrain was great, they never had the looks. With the addition of Peter Schreyer, their designs got better, later Hyundai/KIA brought on a host of other designers and engineers from the European brands and just about everything they put out since 2016 nas been a marked improvement. The Sorento is as quiet and comfortable as an X5, the Cadenza is a luxury car that rivals a Lexus ES, the Optima stands above Acura's TLX (4 cylinder), the Stinger, well that beats the A5 and BMW 430. The new K900 is sized close to a S-Class or 7 Series, with similar level of luxury for E-Class or 5 Series money, oh that is 4 cylinder versions as getting a 6 cylinder version, similarly equipped, puts you above the K900's $65k top level price.

Will the Telluride be good? Yep. If there are issues, they will be minor and handled by the excellent 5 year/60k mile new car warranty and the 10 year/100k mile powertrain warranty. Only thing most of us interested in this vehicle on the Stinger side hoped for is, a RWD based AWD system and the 3.3T engine under the hood. Anyone on the fence on coming over to KIA, should really find out from owners how great the brand is and go take a few of the vehicles out for a drive. They will surprise you.

 

[G-248952]

I had a KIA Secptra/Sorento/K900 and now the Stinger. I watched the brand grow to where it is now, no issues with any of them, I just follow the maintenance schedule. It’s funny, we’re in deep freeze in my city I seen mostly the brands that people consider “reliable” broken down on the side of the road.

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[Jenny Wang]

Well I don't have a real lot to say because my Optima ownership wasn't very eventful. It went in for the usual scheduled maintenance and that was it. Customer service was fine but nothing to brag about. I didn't have any problems but my dealer was kind of old looking. But no complaints. And that's what matters. Right? I had a trouble free ownership experience.

 

[G-758022]

My first KIA. Hyundai Corporation has built a reputation for reliability and quality that even I heard of over the years, and I am not a "car guy" in any sense of the term. My mother's Elantra was always a reliable, good riding sedan. KIA lagged behind in my estimation. But the Stinger changed all of that: first of all because it is such an impossible type of car for "a Kia": that alone made me do a double-take. I kept looking the Stinger over, until I drove one and that sealed my fate. In over ten months I have zero complaints: the various flaws and even fubars that some drivers have mentioned and even described in detail have all happened to other Stingers, not mine. My car is flawless, even in the winter (no extraneous noises have manifested).

 

[G-267882]

I bought a 2012 Optima right as they started the second year of the turbo engine. I had it for seven years and overall it was a great car. It did need a new wastegate for the turbo about about 18 months, it was a common problem. Also right at seven years the oil line to the turbo started leaking a tiny bit. The dealer said it didn't fall under the 10 year warranty, I read the fine print and they were right, no hoses covered, lame. I called Kia corporate and talked to them about it as I was a bit disappointed, they ended up paying me back x4 for the repair costs, not bad! A few other minor things went wrong but overall it was one of the best cars I've ever owned over 25 years, only a few Mazdas were better (no rust for me in snow country btw).

My in-laws have a Kia as well, it has been flawless other than a minor oil leak when it was new that was fixed easily at the dealer. They are pretty happy with it.

The only real problem with Kia can be finding a good dealer, which isn't hard in a big city, but can be a problem in smaller cities sometimes, ymmv. The one by my house sucks sadly.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Bumping this discussion for input from our new members who haven't seen it...

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[dmanindfw]

No Kia experience but I have a 2012 Hyundai Sonata which is essentially the same under the skin as an Optima. It's a base GLS with the 2.4l naturally aspirated GDI engine. I have right at 91,000 miles on her. For the most part it's been a very reliable vehicle and never stranded me...until recently. I was on a trip from Fort Worth to Oklahoma when I got the dreaded (and very well known) knocking of an engine about to self destruct, rod bearing letting go. It was a very distinctive and loud knocking which progressed into knocking AND screeching, Metal on metal is NOT a good sound, especially when you know it's an engine self destructing. I limped it to the nearest gas station (about 9 miles away) since I was in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of the night. Luckily my girlfriend has AAA and we were able to get it towed to a hotel by the nearest dealer about 50 miles away. I called them in the morning and talked to the service advisor...right after I mentioned Sonata and knocking, he immediately said "Got another one!" He started going through all of the processes and said that Hyundai was taking about 2 months to get new engines out right now...this happened almost exactly 1 month ago and yes still no new engine yet. Hyundai is standing behind them and is replacing the entire engine with a new one and also gave me a loaner (a Nissan in my case). The advisor told me that it is a very widespread problem affecting most Hyundai models except for the Veloster and one of the SUVs. I think it's most widespread on the Sonatas though. When the recall first came out my local dealer told me my car didn't fall into the range of 2012-2013s that were affected but evidently that has changed over time to now include models all the way up to 2018. What is shocking is that this same Service Advisor said he used to work at a large Hyundai dealer in Dallas and at one time they had 39 cars in at one time waiting on new replacement engines to arrive. Quite surprising we aren't hearing more about this problem.

Beyond that, the only problems I've had with the car have mostly been minor and more annoying than anything. Radio occasionally decides to lock up and go unresponsive or not turn on....fuse removal and reinstall takes care of that problem. I had one strut go out around 30K miles. The worst has been the steering pull issue that they dealer never seems to admit to. I can go get it aligned and it's better but not completely fixed but within a month it goes back to pulling constantly to the right. It's pretty tiresome to drive this car on long trips as you are constantly fighting the wheel. If you let go of the wheel, you'd be in the ditch in about 3 seconds.

Believe it or not though I'm seriously thinking of trading the Sonata in for a Telluride. It is such a handsome vehicle with a great warranty that Hyundai/Kia seem to stand behind and for the money it is hard to beat the value proposition they offer. I'm still deciding between a pickup truck or an SUV. All being considered - Honda Pilot or Ridgeline, Ford Ranger, Kia Telluride, or maybe even a half ton pickup like a Titan (I had a 2004 - great vehicle), a Silverado, or an F150. I drive a lot though so a full size truck may be out.

 

[dmanindfw]

To expand on what I said above though, Honda's also aren't what they used to be. A year after I bought my Sonata, I bought my now ex wife a 2013 Honda Odyssey EX-L. She has actually had more problems with that vehicle than I have had with my Sonata. Her vehicle was $34K+ compared to my right at $20K Sonata. Door sealant coming off a week after we purchased, a bad sensor in the steering column that keeps turning on the traction control light, and poorly machined engine piston or rings (I don't remember exactly) but they had to do an engine tear-down on her V6 to replace the pistons and/or rings. She's had some other nagging problems...far from the Honda's 20 years ago that were essentially bullet proof. I have a friend still driving an early 90's Honda Prelude with 350,000 miles on it and still on original engine and transmission.

I truly believe cars have gotten a bit too advanced for their own good...too many electronics and sensors. Ever notice how many luxury brands have some of the worst reliability ratings (Lexus excluded)? Most of that is because of electrical or electronics problems. Mercedes, Audi, and BMW build fantastic engines that hold up well but the more electronics the more problems, the lower the reliability ratings. Those brands typically aren't know for being very reliable...in most cases it's not the powertrains that are problematic but all the other crap

Just my thoughts.

 

[cheeks80]

It is very reassuring to read these reviews as potential 1st time Kia buyer.

 

[Reyrey39]

I've had 2012 Sorrento, 2015 Sorrento, 2016 Soul Ev , 2017 Optima and now the 2020 Telluride. Never ever had any major issues. Only have the the Optima and Telluride now. Never left stranded. Kept up on matienece. Only issue I find is the Dealer. Only 2 within 100 mile radius. I've been super happy with Kia.

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[Aarons12]

I've owned Hyundais (an 07 santa fe and a 2010 genesis) and have no hesitation to buy from either Hyundai or Kia.