2012 Kia Sportage
Complaints about this year name seized far more often than the other years of this generation — 16% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 6.1%.
Generation 2 of the Kia Sportage, which began in 2011 and ran to 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 392 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 98 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 16 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- engines — 11.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation (5.5×). Owners wrote it as: engines, manufacturing, second owner.
- covered — 9.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (3.5×). Owners wrote it as: covered, under recall, covered under.
- new engine — 8.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: new engine, needed new.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- heard — 14% of complaints, 3× usual
- pulled — 13% of complaints, 3× usual
- engines — 9% of complaints, 6× usual
What owners wrote
DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND HEARD A LOAD NOISE FROM UNDER THE HOOD. NOISE STOPPED AND THEN LOSS ALL POWER! EVERTHING DIED. GOT IT PULLED OVER AND NOW THE MOTOR IS SEIZED. GOT THE OIL CHANGED A WEEK BEFORE AND NEVER HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THIS CAR.
ENGINE SEIZED. MOVES WHILE IN PARK MOVES FORWARD IN REVERSE. DRIVING ENGINE STALLED PULLED OVER CAR DIED. THEN WOULD NOT ENGAGE BUT STILL MOVED AS DESCRIBED. HAD HAPPENED A FEW MONTHS AGO AFTER TRANSMISSION REPLACE. THEN THE IGNITER SWITCH NEEDED [VIN].
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V907000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 20V750000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 19V101000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V224000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V652000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Sportage was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Kia Sportage? What happened to yours?
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