2017 Kia Sportage Structure
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
I need a recall on the paint for the 2017 Sportage Burnished Copper KIA. I've seen many others this color with the same paint fading issue. I contacted KIA and was basically told warranty expired.
My 2017 Sportage is Burnish Copper. I've seen at least 2 other cars (same color) with discoloring paint. I've tried reporting this to Kia dealer to no avail. This is a defeat in paint which is now fading in certain areas of my car and I don't think I should have to pay to have it repainted. This should be a recall issue.
The rear passenger door will not open. This is a safety concern should we need to exit the vehicle rapidly in an accident. Other KIA Sportage vehicles are on the recall, but for some reason, my VIN model is not on the list for recall.
The front panel of the sunroof spontaneously exploded as I was driving down the interstate. There were no vehicles in front of me, and clear skies above me. No rock or debris hit my vehicle to cause this. Had my interior sunroof cover not been closed, glass shards would have fallen onto my baby in the car seat, and myself in the front seat! Not to mention the horrible gun shot/bomb like noise that was so disorienting while driving. There were no warnings or signs that this would happen. Terrifying! Thank goodness the cover was closed and there were no vehicles near me!
The back passenger door behind the driver's seat will not open from the outside or the inside. The driver's door handle (outside) must be pulled several times before the door will open. I had the handle replaced (driver's door) but now must pull 3 times before opening. Vehicle is available for inspection at Phil Long KIA Colorado Springs There was not an accident before this started.
Rear doors are randomly not able to be opened from outside or inside door handles. Multiple clicks of drivers door unlock / lock will sometimes (30-50 clicks) will allow the door to open from the inside handle. Once opened from the inside door handle the outside handle will work until the door is relocked. The locking mechanism clicks ( sounds like other doors ) removal of the door panel did not reveal any clips broken or cables disconnected. It appears the lock solenoid is not traveling far enough. The left rear door is out least used door. If this happens to the right side rear door, passengers would be stuck inside as the door won’t open from the inside or outside. This could ( would ) create an extreme safety hazard. We are reluctant to use the vehicle with more than 2 people due to the potential of trapping someone as one door already failed.
The passenger door behind the driver seat suddenly would not open from either inside or outside the vehicle. The faulty lock makes it difficult to reach a child or pet in that seat quickly, as we have to go around the car to get to them through the other passenger door. Therefore, we don't consider the seat behind the driver safe, given the extra time needed to unlatch the seat belt and retrieve the passenger sitting there.
My rear driver side door hatch malfunctioned and had a mechanical fail as confirmed by Auffenberg KIA, he stated “he see’s this all the time”, in O’Fallon, IL. I can not open the door from the inside or outside. Child lock is not active. Just a mechanical fail. This is not safe! What if there had been a car accident and my children needed to vacate the car! There were no warning lamps or other symptoms.
PASSENGER DOOR WILL ONLY OPEN FROM THE OUTSIDE IF THE DOOR UNLOCKS FROM BEING PUT IN PARK. IF I UNLOCK FROM INSIDE THE CAR OR THE KEY FOB THE EXTERNAL PASSENGER HANDLE WILL NOT OPEN THE DOOR.
BOTH SECOND ROW (PASSENGER) WINDOWS NO LONGER OPEN.
WITH 60,700 MILES, THE DRIVER'S SIDE REAR DOOR LOCKS AND UNLOCKS, BUT WILL NOT OPEN. DEALERSHIP STATED I WAS OVER WARRANTY BY 700 MILES. I EXPLAINED THAT I THOUGHT THIS SHOULD BE TREATED AS A SAFETY ISSUE AS IF THE VEHICLE IS IN AN ACCIDENT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, REAR OCCUPANTS CAN NOT EXIT THE VEHICLE ON DRIVER'S SIDE
RIGHT REAR PASSENGER DOOR CAN NOT BE OPENED FROM INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE. PROBLEM NOTICED AT ABOUT 55,000 MILES. DEALER HAS BEEN UNABLE TO OPEN DOOR. CURRENTLY 56,600 MILES ON VEHICLE. 'PARTS ON ORDER' FOR THE FIRST PROBLEM LIKE THIS THEY HAVE SEEN.
FRONT DRIVER HANDLE DO NOT OPEN THE CAR. IF YOU LOCK THE CAR AND UNLOCK, YOU CAN NOT OPEN DRIVER DOOR FROM OUTSIDE. I TRIED DOOR ADJUSTMENT AND DIDN'T WORK. IT COULD BE OPEN FROM INSIDE. THE CAR IS 2 YEARS OLD. IT IS SAFETY HAZARD SINCE THE DOOR COULD NOT BE OPEN FROM OUTSIDE.
2017 KIA SPORTAGE. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO UNHEALTHY AIRBORNE MOLD IN VEHICLES. *LD THE CONSUMER STATED THE MANUFACTURER REPAIRED THE DASHBOARD, BUT THE CONSUMER WAS STILL BECOMING SICK DUE TO THE DOOR PADS BEING MADE FROM THE SAME MATERIAL. THE TRANSMISSION AND THE ECM WAS REPLACED DUE TO IT THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPING, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. *JS *JS
I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY- DRIVING UNDER A UNDERPASS. THE SCREEN TO THE PANORAMIC ROOF WAS BACK BUT THE SUNROOF ITSELF WAS CLOSED- THERE WAS A LOUD NOISE AND THE GLASS TO THE MOVING PART OF THE SUNROOF SHATTERED FALLING INTO THE CAR. ALL THAT REMAINED WAS A SMALL GLASS OUTLINE AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE ROOF.
WHILE DRIVING APPROX. 60 MPH ON A FREEWAY, WE HEARD A LOAD "BANG" NOISE FROM THE ROOF ABOVE US. WE HAD NOT SEEN ANY PROJECTILE FLYING TOWARDS US PRIOR TO THE NOISE. WE FOUND OUT WHEN WE STOPPED TO LOOK THAT THE TINTED GLASS PIECE THAT STRETCHES ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE CAR AND IS LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE SUNROOF, HAD SHATTERED ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE CAR FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER. IT LOOKS LIKE A JAGGED CREVICE AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE.
ON 8/30/17 I WAS DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE LANE OF THE HIGHWAY WHEN MY SUNROOOF EXPLODED. THERE WERE NO OVERPASSES AND VERY FEW CARS AROUND ME SO NOTHING HIT THE SUNROOF TO CAUSE THE EXPLOSION. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY PULL OVER TO THE SHOULDER BECAUSE OF THE LIGHT TRAFFIC AT THE TIME. NORMALLY THIS SECTION OF THE HIGHWAY IS VERY BUSY AND HAD I BEEN TRAVELING DURING COMMUTING TIMES THE OUTCOME COULD HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT. I HAD A FEW CUTS AND THROBBING EARS FOR TWO DAYS DUE TO THE BUFFETING WIND WHEN THE ROOF OPENED UP. SHARDS OF GLASS COVERED THE ENTIRE INSIDE OF THE CAR AND I AM STILL FINDING GLASS EVEN AFTER THE DEALERSHIP CLEANED THE CAR. THE SUNROOF WAS REPAIRED AFTER LENGTHY DISCUSSIONS WITH KIA HEADQUARTERS. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR BACK ONE MONTH LATER BUT NOW I KEEP THE SHADE CLOSED AND PROBABLY WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO. I PAID EXTRA FOR THIS FEATURE AND NOW WILL NOT USE IT. BILL DODGE KIA IN WESTBROOK MAINE PROMISED TO SEND ME THE REPAIR RECORD BUT HAVE NOT DONE SO TO DATE.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2017 Kia Sportage has 17 Structure complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.