Problems · NHTSA complaints
2008 Kia Rondo problems
Owners filed 97 complaints about the 2008 Kia Rondo with NHTSA between Aug 2008 and Nov 2023. The most-cited component is air bags (18).
Complaints
97
Filed with NHTSA
Crashes
14
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
11
People reported injured
Deaths
0
Reported to NHTSA
Complaints by component
One complaint can cite several components
- Air bags18
- Fuel/propulsion system16
- Structure11
- Vehicle speed control11
- Engine11
- Suspension10
- Steering8
- Electrical system6
- Fuel system, gasoline6
- Power train6
- Equipment5
- Engine and engine cooling5
- Service brakes4
- Exterior lighting4
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API · synced Oct 30, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
When complaints were filed
Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
2
7
7
7
11
10
13
12
7
3
6
7
3
0
0
2
View as table
| Model year | Complaints filed per calendar year |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 7 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 13 |
| 2015 | 12 |
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 |
Mileage at failure isn’t a structured field in NHTSA complaint data, so we don’t chart it. Some owners mention it in their reports below.
Top problems in owners’ words
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
Air bags
18 reports8 crashes1 related recall
“TAKATA RECALL-THE AIRBAGS ARE NOT WORKING FOR PASSENGER. THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS DO NOT WORK FOR THE WINDOWS. AND ONE MORE THING. THE HANDLES TO OPEN THE DOORS ARE MADE OF PLASTIC AND EASILY BREAK, SO YOU CAN NO LONGER OPEN THE DOORS.”
Fuel/propulsion system
16 reports
“MY VEHICLE REVES UP HIGH WHEN I START IT AND WHEN I'M ON THE HIGHWAY IT WOULD JUST CUT OFF AND THERE'S GAS FUMES I SMELLINSIDE MY KIA, IT ALSO HESITATES WHILE DRIVING.”
Structure
11 reports1 crash
“After hearing a popping in my front end for two days I took my car into my mechanic. He took a look at it and said he’d never seen anything like it before. My stabilizer bar had completely ripped apart from my subframe. He said the metal was as thin as a few pieces of paper and there was rust. He contacted Kia to see if there were any campaigns on my car and there was one for an anti corrosion coating that was not applied. I took my car to my local Kia dealership and they were not interested in helping and said they couldn’t even look at it for diagnosis for at least a month and even then didn’t know if they would cover it. I am 38 weeks pregnant and have two small children and my mechanic said it was a major safety issue to drive it as is. I contacted Kia corporate and they informed me that it would be covered but I would have to get it diagnosed at a dealership first or pay for it out of pocket. I’ve contacted every dealership within two hours of me and they have all said they can’t help or haven’t gotten back to me. Kia says they can’t be of more help because each dealership is independently owned.”
Vehicle speed control
11 reports3 crashes
“MY RONDO SPEEDS UP WHILE I'M DRIVING IT ON THE ROAD, AND IT SMELLS OF GAS INSIDE MY RONDO, IT RUNS HIGH WHEN I START IT AND THERE'S A HESITATION BEFORE IT DRIVES.”
Engine
11 reports
“MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON. WHEN I REFUEL MY VEHICLE IT HAS DIFFICULTY RESTARTING. OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS, IT HAS STARTED TO STALL. LOOKING AT FORUMS I FOUND QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WITH THE SAME "ISSUE" BUT NO SOLUTIONS. I HAVE HAD MY VEHICLE ON A DIAGNOSTIC MACHINE AND IT COMES BACK WITH AN EVAP CODE. THE CODES HAVE BEEN CLEARED BUT COME RIGHT BACK ON. I SEE THE FUEL PUMP HAS BEEN RECALLED, I HAVE HAD MY CAR SINCE THE FALL OF 2009 AND TO MY KNOWLEDGE I HAVEN'T HAD THIS REPAIRED, BUT FOR SOME REASON THIS DOES NOT SHOW UP WHEN I DO THE RECALL SEARCH. HAS IT ALREADY BEEN REPAIRED PRIOR TO MY PURCHASING THE VEHICLE?”
Suspension
10 reports
“I TOOK MY 2008 KIA RONDO FOR THE ANNUAL WV STATE INSPECTION TODAY. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN TOLD ME THAT I HAVE A BROKEN FRONT PASSENGER SIDE COIL SPRING. HE SAID THAT THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS IF THE SPRING SHOULD POP OUT OF IT'S NORMAL POSITION. HE SAID THAT THE END OF THE SPRING COULD RUPTURE THE TIRE AND CAUSE A BAD ACCIDENT. I DIDN'T NOTICE ANY HANDLING OR NOISES THAT ALERTED ME TO THIS CONDITION, SO I DON'T KNOW WHEN IT MIGHT HAVE BROKEN. I DO NOT SEE ANY KIA RECALLS FOR THIS CONDITION. THE VEHICLE HAS 112,500 MILES ON IT.”
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 30, 2026
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.