2024 Kia Sportage HybridRecalls, problems, MPG & safety

“While driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of propulsion and significantly reduced acceleration. At the same time, the climate control system stopped producing heat. A red warning message appeared instructing me to stop safely. The vehicle would barely accelerate, creating a dangerous situation while driving. This issue has occurred three separate times, including twice in the same day. Each occurrence happened while the vehicle was in motion. The condition resolved only after turning the vehicle off and restarting it. The issue is intermittent and cannot be predicted. The reduced acceleration and loss of propulsion placed my safety at risk, especially at highway speeds, as the vehicle could not respond normally to traffic conditions. The vehicle was taken to a Kia dealership and inspected. A manufacturer tech line case was opened, and testing was performed, including a smoke test. The dealership stated they were unable to duplicate the issue. No repair was made, and the manufacturer closed the tech line case despite the reported loss of propulsion events. The vehicle is currently being retained at the dealership because I do not feel it is safe to…”

“First of all, what I am about to write put my husband and I in great danger.Driving on a two way, busy, rural highway, traveling approximately 65 mph, my Kia suddenly displayed a warning to pull over immediately and something about the battery. I barely had time to pull on to a narrow shoulder before it completely died. Nothing electrical worked. It was running fine one second, then it was completely dead.Not knowing what to do, I described the situation to CHATgpt. It said to push the battery reset button located to the left of the steering wheel and at the same time push start. Relief, I thought we were good to go, but 2 miles down the road, in a worse road situation, it happened again. This time we were in heavy 65 mph traffic with no shoulder to pull over to.The road had been under construction to create a new lane but it wasn't completed. I had to quickly steer between two red/orange traffic drums from the black top to gravel construction area. I barely had enough time to pull over before it completely died again. We were lucky to escape being rear ended by a line of cars behind us going at least 65 mph. We had it towed to our home town 20 miles away, only…”

“While driving downhill, the vehicle experienced a sudden, catastrophic loss of power steering assist and service braking assist with no warning lights on the dashboard. The brake pedal had no initial response and had to be pushed with full force completely to the floor to bring the vehicle to an emergency stop right before an intersection. The steering wheel became locked/unresponsive due to loss of power assist. The vehicle was taken to Lee Johnson Kia in [XXX] (Repair Order #XXX) and remained out of service for 37 days (XXX). The technician confirmed there were zero stored DTC codes, but noted on the official invoice: 'THERE IS NO TSB OR PITSTOP FOR THIS CONCERN AS I SAID THIS IS IN WORK OF ENGINEERING SO THEY HAVE NOT RELEASED ANYTHING YET.' The dealer replaced the valve cover/PCV assembly per internal engineering guidance for 1.6T hybrids exhibiting this condition, but root cause remains under active manufacturer investigation. A total loss of steering and braking assist at speed without warning is an extreme safety defect.”