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
01 —By component

Complaints by component

One complaint can cite several components
  1. Air bags18
  2. Fuel/propulsion system16
  3. Structure11
  4. Vehicle speed control11
  5. Engine11
  6. Suspension10
  7. Steering8
  8. Electrical system6
  9. Fuel system, gasoline6
  10. Power train6
  11. Equipment5
  12. Engine and engine cooling5
  13. Service brakes4
  14. 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
02 —Trend

When complaints were filed

Does it get worse with age? Complaints per calendar year filed
View as table
Model yearComplaints filed per calendar year
20082
20097
20107
20117
201211
201310
201413
201512
20167
20173
20186
20197
20203
20210
20220
20232

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.

03 —Owner reports

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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 6, 2019Electrical system, Air bags, StructureODI 11184614

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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Dec 16, 2020Vehicle speed control, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11383788

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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 9, 2023Suspension, StructureODI 11543589

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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 16, 2020Vehicle speed control, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11374954

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?”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 18, 2019Unknown or other, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11269343

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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 28, 2019SuspensionODI 11210387
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.