2021 KIA K5 problems
Owners have filed 253 complaints about the 2021 KIA K5 with NHTSA. Electrical system accounts for 17.8% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of fuel/propulsion system at 16.2%.
Complaints253
Crashes8
Fires3
Injuries9
Deaths1
What owners report breaking
Electrical system 17.8% · 45
Fuel/propulsion system 16.2% · 41
Unknown or other 12.3% · 31
Engine 11.1% · 28
Power train 6.7% · 17
Fuel system, gasoline 5.1% · 13
Air bags 4.0% · 10
Forward collision avoidance 4.0% · 10
Severity
Of those complaints, 8 describe a crash, 3 describe a fire, 9 report an injury and 1 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 3 model years of the KIA K5 in this data, 2021 draws the most complaints of any of them.
Filings are rising — 179 in the last three years against 71 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 52,000 miles.
In owners' own words
The blower motor goes out intermittently. I replaced the blower motor but found the problem to be much greater. Upon further inspection the fuse for the blower and wiring harness are melting into eachother at the fuse box. This issue is becoming more and more prevalent in model from the year 2021-2024 the remedy is a complete wiring harness and fuse box replacement. Electrical system
Vehicle was stopped a red light on a city street when suddenly cut off. Smoke began to pour out from under the hood. Less than 1 minute later the vehicle was fully involved under the hood of car. Car was a total loss. Vehicle had just been driven approximately 25 miles (all highway) from home towards work when incident occurred. Electrical system · reported at 3,000 miles
Air conditioning was fine then would suddenly cycle levels by itself. One day the air stopped blower. Tested the resister, it was bad. Replaced it and less than one week later the air stopped again. Resister and blower motor test fine. Fuses and relay are fine. No ac/hest causing driving concerns with window fog. Electrical system
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…