2025 Kia K4

Vehicle sat for 6+ hours and caught fire on its own. When the firefighters showed up, they asked if I had been in a wreck, there had been no wrecks on this vehicle in the less than 23K miles it had on it. Something according to their thermal guns got caught behind the drivers side screen panel and got hot. This caused the entire front dash to melt and something to projectile outwards through the bottom left hand corner of the front windshield. Luckily, this car was out in the open, their emergency sensor went off causing the car horn to go off nonstop, alerting me of the issue, otherwise I would have never known it was happening. But, had this had happened in someone's garage when they weren't home, it could have burned someones entire home down.

NHTSA ID

11776741

Incident

Nov 1, 2026

My tire pressure sensor keeps alerting on the dashboard even after filling the tire with air. And it won’t go away.

NHTSA ID

11776482

Incident

Nov 2, 2026

Vehicle Safety Complaint – 2025 Kia K4 Unexpected Engine Shutdown I own a 2025 Kia K4 purchased new in August 2025. I am reporting a serious and recurring safety concern involving unexpected engine shutdown while the vehicle is being operated. The vehicle has experienced intermittent engine shutdowns, including while traveling at highway speeds. During these incidents, the vehicle switches into Accessory Mode, resulting in an unexpected loss of engine power while in motion. This issue first began before the vehicle reached 24,000 miles. The vehicle currently has approximately 58,000 miles. I previously brought the vehicle to an authorized Kia dealership for diagnostic evaluation. However, the dealership was unable to reproduce the problem or identify its cause. The underlying safety concern remains unresolved. I am particularly concerned because an unexpected engine shutdown at highway speeds creates a significant risk of a collision and endangers the occupants of the vehicle and surrounding motorists. I have also become aware of other owner-reported incidents involving 2025 Kia K4 vehicles experiencing unexpected shutdowns and switching into Accessory Mode while driving. I am requesting that NHTSA document this complaint and evaluate whether this recurring condition represents a potential safety-related defect affecting 2025 Kia K4 vehicles. I am willing to provide additional documentation, dealership records, and vehicle information if needed. Vehicle: 2025 Kia K4 Purchase date: August 2025 Current mileage: Approximately 58,000 First occurrence: Before 24,000 miles Dealer investigation: Conducted, but no cause identified.

NHTSA ID

11775789

Incident

Oct 29, 2026

The contact owns a 2025 Kia K4. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds, the lane keep steering assist erroneously engaged causing the vehicle to steer out of the intended lane. The contact stated that the failure was recurrent, causing the vehicle to unintendedly steer to the left and to crash into a concrete median wall on one occasion. The failure mileage was 9,000.

NHTSA ID

11775345

Incident

Oct 20, 2026

Mileage

9,000 mi

I purchased my 2025 Kia K4 in March 2025. Approximately two months after purchasing the vehicle, around May 2025, I began experiencing serious and recurring safety issues. While driving, the vehicle intermittently loses acceleration and becomes unresponsive when I press the gas pedal. When this occurs, I have to pull over, turn the vehicle off, and restart it before I can continue driving. On other occasions, the vehicle has unexpectedly shut off and restarted on its own while I was driving. The dashboard also goes completely black during these incidents. I have taken the vehicle to an authorized Kia dealership for inspection, but I was informed that the dealership could not duplicate the problem. The issues have continued, leaving me concerned about the safety of the vehicle. I previously requested that Kia repurchase or replace the vehicle, but my request was denied. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate these recurring loss-of-power, stalling, and electrical issues because they create a serious risk of a collision.

NHTSA ID

11770717

Incident

May 27, 2026

Check Driver Assistance System light came on. It wasn’t until driving at night that I realized the steering wheel had no power. The horn, buttons, and lights all did not work or function. This also caused all driver assistance settings to not work or function. With no power to the steering wheel, their is no way of knowing if the airbag would deploy. The problem was seen by the dealer and after two months of repair attempts, the clock spring was replaced. The light slowly started coming on and then finally stayed on. Later I noticed the horn and lights were not working on the steering wheel.

NHTSA ID

11768305

Incident

Aug 2, 2026

The tpms system will stop working and display a message saying check tire pressure monitoring system. While this message is displayed i cannot see any tire pressures and presumably will not receive any warnings about tires losing pressure. It starts working again on its own at seemingly random intervals. The dealership has been asked to look at it and found no issues. They asked to bring it back when the message was displayed but it is difficult to get the message to pop up and get to the dealership without it going away again.

NHTSA ID

11758856

Incident

Aug 11, 2025

I am submitting this complaint regarding a suspected safety defect involving a 2025 Kia K4. On XXX, the vehicle was involved in a single-vehicle crash in the Town of [XXX]. According to the driver, the vehicle unexpectedly steered off the roadway when the Lane Keeping Assist/Lane Centering steering system appeared to intervene. The driver attempted to maintain control but was unable to keep the vehicle on the roadway. The vehicle entered a ditch and struck a utility pole, causing significant damage to the passenger side. The front and rear passenger-side airbags deployed. The front passenger window shattered, sending broken glass onto the front and rear passengers. My daughter was seated in the front passenger seat, and my [XXX] granddaughter was properly restrained in a rear child safety seat. Both sustained injuries and required medical evaluation following the crash. After the collision, I began researching similar incidents and found other owners reporting concerns involving the steering assistance and lane-keeping systems. While I cannot determine the exact cause of this crash, I believe the possibility of an unintended Lane Keeping Assist or steering system intervention should be investigated because it may present a safety risk to other motorists. I respectfully request that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration review this incident, along with any similar complaints involving the 2025 Kia K4, to determine whether a defect exists in the vehicle's steering assistance, Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Following Assist, or other Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Supporting documentation can be provided if requested. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11753551

Incident

Jul 5, 2026

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: BODY DOMAIN CONTROLLER (BDC) REPLACEMENT (CA2515 Revision 1) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information regarding the Body Domain Control unit ‘BDC’ on certain 2025MY and 2026MY K4 (CL4) vehicles manufactured from May 1, 2025, through February 9, 2026. Due to a communication issue between the key fob and the BDC, the affected vehicles may exhibit a NO START condition when the ignition 'START' button is pressed; however, all other key fob functions such as the Lock/Unlock, Trunk Release, Alarm, and Remote Start continue to operate normally.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE USING UPDATE.KIA.COM - This bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable Kia vehicles using the Kia Navigation Updater available at update.kia.com. The software update may improve system performance, enhance existing features, and apply the latest operating software for supported vehicles (2021-2026MY All Models).

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: BODY DOMAIN CONTROLLER (BDC) REPLACEMENT (CA2515) - This bulletin provides information regarding the Body Domain Control unit (“BDC”) on certain 2025MY and 2026MY K4 (CL4) vehicles manufactured from May 1, 2025, through Feb 9, 2026. Due to a communication issue between the key fob and the BDC, the affected vehicles may exhibit a NO START condition when the ignition 'START' button is pressed; however, all other key fob functions such as the Lock/Unlock, Trunk Release, Alarm, and Remote Start continue to operate normally.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: INFOTAINMENT SOFTWARE UPDATE PROCEDURE - This bulletin provides information on the process for downloading infotainment software updates and preparing USB for installation on applicable Kia vehicles. The software downloads and USB preparation process is similar across all supported platforms; however, in‑vehicle installation procedures vary by head unit type.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: DCU COMMUNICATION LOGIC IMPROVEMENT - This bulletin provides the procedure to upgrade the Data Connectivity Unit (DCU) system software on some 2025–2026MY vehicles listed in the table below. Kia has identified that Connected Car Services (CCS) functionality may intermittently fail due to temporary DCU communication issues. This condition can impact convenience and connectivity features by causing the Remote Start and Remote Climate functions to become inoperative, prevent vehicle status updates in the Kia Access app, and interrupt connected navigation routing services.

PITSTOP: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO ULTRASONIC SENSOR: This Pitstop provides information related to Parking Distance Warning (PDW) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. The PDW system alerts the driver while parking, by calculating distance based on the difference in signal transmission and reception times between the vehicle (ultrasonic sensor) and an object. The membrane film of the ultrasonic sensor is used for object detention and can be damaged by stone chips or foreign substances while driving. Damage to the cover of the ultrasonic sensor can also lead to damage to the internal circuit. As a result of this external damage, the PDW system may not receive the proper signal from the ultrasonic sensor. In some cases, the system may cause a false alarm, no alert, or phantom warnings by a “Warning Lamp’ to be displayed on the cluster. The ultrasonic sensor membrane film should be always inspected for external damage and if any part replacement should be treated as a general repair, not as a warranty claim repair for this concern. (Please note that this Pitstop only applies to models/trims that are equipped with the ultrasonic sensors.)