2022 Kia Seltos POWER TRAIN,ENGINE
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
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Certified shop said my timing chain was going as well as other associated components. My car is always low on oil even when mileage has not been met. Found my car is part of piston ring recall. Dealership stated my car is not affected however the issues the shop found most certainly confirm my issue which is going to cost over $2k to fix is associated with this. Dealership not only says my car passed piston ring recall but wanted $175 to diagnose what has already been diagnosed and then another $175 on top of that to "dig into the engine". Check engine light came on and car began making noise and not running properly on 2/7/2026 on 2/9/2026 called independent service center and car was checked out and diagnosed on 2/11/2026. Found out this is likely recall related 2/12/2026. Car was looked at by dealership on 2/17/2026 and I was told the aforementioned. However magically the two other recalls on this vehicle were remedied but not this one.
This vehicle passed the piston oil ring recall in September 2025, by November 2025 the vehicle was burning through a quart of oil a week. Two different dealerships advised that this wouldn't be covered under the recall, stating the recall was for engine noise. The recall states that the issue in question can cause increased oil consumption that will then lead to noise. The vehicle was 5,000 miles out of warrenty
My vehicle was sent to the Kia dealership for service after a front-end collision there was minor body damage however the car wouldn't move so long story short a modular had to be replaced on the transmission there was multiple issues trying to program it I was told there was an issue with my computer they had to reach out to Kia manufacturer for help. I received my car back and while it was there for service I had them do an oil change I hadn't drove 300 to 400 miles and all of my oil was gone from my car when I called Kia they had me bring it back in couldn't find anything wrong with it and said they want to do a oil consumption after I had already documented oil that I had to put into the car three times in the week up until my appointment because every time I check the car it was empty of oil. Now Kia is telling me to drive a thousand miles on it so they can do an oil consumption however my check engine lights on my oil lights on and it is clearly burning extremely high amount of oil. So in caution of not blowing my engine I added oil to my car yesterday one quart and now my oil light is back on after maybe 20 miles of driving. Haven't gotten to 400 mi yet total out of the thousand Kia wants me to drive and my car has stalled at three red lights and cause me to miss out on two job opportunities. My car is a 2022 and has 62,000 miles on it. Everything I research shows there's piston recalls on the engines that are causing these exact problems that my car is having except there hasn't been a recall put into place for my specific year and make. The 2021 and the 2023 Seltos are listed, but my VIN number shows no recalls. The car has a horrible smell now it constantly smells like burning rubber or oil rather, exhaust stinks now. Car is not performing as you would expect a car would with that low of mileage in less than 3 years of ownership. And related to my accident the only issue was the modular on the transmission according to the mechanics everything else was ok
2022 KIA SELTOS S AWD [XXX]- ENGINE FAILED, PISTON SCORING, PISTON OIL RING FAILED, OIL BURNING, KNOCKING IN ENGINE. THIS KIA'S VIN NUMBER IS PART OF THE KIA RECALL THAT WAS PUBLISHED 2/17/25 AND ANNOUNCED TO CONSUMERS VIA MAIL ON 4/4/25. My [XXX] daughter & I purchased a used 2022 Kia Seltos on [XXX] Mileage at time of purchase was little bit under 60,000 miles. On [XXX], while on vacation in Florida, my daughter noticed sluggish acceleration, smoke coming from exhaust and some from hood, a knocking sound from engine and then engine then seized in the middle of the road. If they wouldn't have stopped, this engine would've started on FIRE! This event caused SIGNIFICANT DANGER to my young daughter and her 3 passengers! My daughter and her friends had to push the vehicle back to a safe location off the road so they didn't get hit by a car. We are from Wisconsin and these kids were stranded in Florida on vacation without a vehicle. We had to have the vehicle towed to a Kia dealership in Panama City, FL on 3/28/25. Inspected and RECALL testing done by Kia in Panama City, FL. It is now 5/2/25 and we are STILL WAITING FOR KIA TO APPROVE A NEW ENGINE FROM THIS RECALL. NO ONE WILL GIVE US ANY UPDATES. These 2022 Kia Seltos engines are a complete danger! Engine needs to be REPLACED ASAP INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
On June 10, 2023 I was driving and in stop and go traffic. My 2022 Kia Seltos transmission over heated. I pulled over, let it cool, and cautiously drove home. I made an appointment with the dealership I purchased the car from and requested that they inspect the transmission and explained what happened. This is when I was informed that my vehicle had a "design flaw" in the dual clutch system and that if I did not put my vehicle in park or neutral while on stop and go traffic, my vehicle would overheat. I was given the all clear, but a month later I had to have my car towed to the dealership for further transmission issues.
I bought a brand new 2022 Kia Seltos a month and a half ago at Monroeville Kia dealership. On December 11, the car started manifesting a transmission temperature overheating problem in the middle of traffic. Once the transmission overheated, the engine lost power. I was driving in busy traffic and had to pull the car over to allow the engine to cool down. The police came over and made me start driving my car again, indicating that I could not pull over in such busy traffic. This is a major risk to my safety and can potentially cause a car accident. I reported this case to Kia Manufacturer and I opened a case. The case number is 14537410. The manufacturer told me to have the dealership evaluate the car. The dealership evaluated the car and said “This is a known defect and, per Kia’s engineers, there is nothing they could do to fix the car.” I need reliable vehicle, especially because my job requires me to travel. I am concerned that this issue will continue to manifest and will likely cause a serious accident. I am filing this case because I need arbitration and I need this issue to be fixed or i need a refund.
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Quick Summary
The 2022 Kia Seltos has 6 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.