2025 Kia Sportage PHEV

My 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV, brand-new with ~750 Miles, was in a low-speed collision with a parked vehicle when the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) system failed. I was pulling out of a parking spot from a complete stop. My foot was not on the accelerator; the vehicle moved forward under idle power as I prepared to brake. A parked vehicle was directly ahead. The FCA gave no audible warning, no visual warning, and applied no automatic braking. A collision occurred. This system is designed to detect obstacles ahead and warn or brake to prevent a forward collision. It did neither, despite a large, solid, stationary vehicle directly ahead, in clear conditions, with an unobstructed sensor. In normal use it routinely alerts on nearby cars and objects, so it is active and sensitive to exactly this hazard. Its failure to detect a full-size vehicle directly ahead indicates a malfunction of a critical safety system. No warning lamps appeared before the failure. Only after the collision did the vehicle display a "Check Forward Safety System" warning. This is not the only concern. On April 3, 2026, over two months before this collision, I noted in writing to the selling dealer that Lane Keeping Assist would sometimes turn off while driving, the dash indicator shifting from green to white to grey to black. I was told this was normal, so I did not pursue it.  Intermittent loss of an active safety system is itself a concern. Together these may indicate broader driver-assistance problems warranting investigation. The system is available for inspection. The vehicle was delivered to the dealer June 27, 2026 and remains there. Diagnostics are not complete, so the malfunction has not been confirmed and no findings produced. It has not been inspected by police or insurance. Kia corporate case #26217509 is open, reportedly with engineering for weeks with no response Failure of a primary safety system meant to prevent collisions, is a serious safety risk and remains unresolved

NHTSA ID

11750845

Incident

Jun 24, 2026

on saturday [XXX] while driving on the highway my car lost propulsion and started slowing down even after i was pressing on the acceleration/gas pedal all the way. It happened 3 times within an hour's time frame the car refused to speed up and would stop driving. I was in immediate risk as well as the drivers behind me since i was on the highway and my vehicle immediately slowed down and came to a stop. The dealer asked me to not drive in an eco mode after i took it to the service station at winn kia fremont, they ran diagnostics. This happened in san jose California INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11741831

Incident

May 30, 2026

While driving the vehicle at 55 mph, it suddenly lost the ability to accelerate even when I pressed down on the accelerator. The RPMs went up to 4 or 5 but I could not go over 30-35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to move into a left turn lane to get away from the flow of traffic and avoid an accident. A semi-truck was behind us when I was unable to accelerate. We had to have the vehicle towed to a local dealership in the area. I had been driving the vehicle for about 2 hours when this occurred. The service department at the dealer was able to recreate the issue. My vehicle has been out of service and remains at the dealership. They told me that a new transmission would be installed due to loss of transmission fluid. They had a difficult time identifying the issue because there were no warning lights or codes registered.

NHTSA ID

11718936

Incident

Jan 23, 2026

I’m the owner of a 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV and I’m experiencing a critical software bug: the car does not retain my custom driver assistance settings. Specifically, I have a bike rack installed on the rear hitch. I disable automatic rear emergency braking to avoid false stops when reversing, but the setting resets every time I turn off the vehicle. This leads to the car emergency braking unnecessarily — the car will suddenly brake when trying to reverse out of a parking space. This is not a dealer-specific issue — it’s affecting other 2025 Sportage models as well. I’d like to know: Has Kia acknowledged this issue or issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB)? Is a software update being developed to allow driver-assist settings to persist through vehicle restarts?

NHTSA ID

11674644

Incident

Jul 7, 2025

This only happens on the freeway but happens every time on the freeway. When using adapted cruise control and you hit the brake, when you reengage the cruise the LKA comes on and the steering wheel begins to assist. I do not want the lane assist to ever be engaged. I turned it off in the system settings. I believe it is a safety issue for drivers who are not aware that this will happen to them while driving and might cause a driver to jerk the wheel when they feel it the steering wheel move in their hands. I know it is going to happen but I am sometimes still startled by it. Besides being what I consised a safety issue, it [XXX] to have to hit the button to delete the LKA each time it happens, which, on a freeway with traffic, can be often. Otherwise, I love my Kia... [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11670092

Incident

Jun 29, 2025

On [XXX] I took ownership of the described brand new vehicle from Kia of Portland OR,(12miles on the odometer) and insisted twice to sales management that the vehicle is prep'ed with a full fuel tank, fully charged battery and that tires are set to OE spec. The following 2 days the area experienced a head wave of near 100oF. During the following week, we noticed instability with the vehicle driving. Upon verification of the tires pressure with a digital pressure gauge on 6/12/25 at 8am to my disbelieve I discovered that both left side tires (Michelin PRIMACY TOUR A/S 235/55/R19) where at 50.3/50.4 PSI while the right side tires where set correctly at 35.4 PSI. After conversation with Michelin these tires may have exceeded during the heat wave the max allowed operating pressure of 51 PSI making them unsafe for driving. I immediately contacted the dealership Maintenance manager who confirmed that on their digital record the vehicle, as part of Kia standard procedure, was transported and arrived with all 4 tires above 50PSI and that the maintenance team, despite been warned, they forgot to reduce the tire pressure to OE spec of 35PSI on the left tires before allowing the vehicle to be operated on Oregon highways/streets. I requested Kia to send a technician to inspect and adjust the tires but the Maintenance manager refused. Thus I had to gradually release the pressure to match the right side tires and OE spec (35PSI). After the adjustment of the right side tires the vehicle did not exhibited more stability issues. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11668513

Incident

Jun 5, 2025

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: 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: AVN5.0W DTC P17A000 DAIGNOSTIC PROCEDURE - This bulletin provides information regarding a potential illuminated Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) accompanied by DTC P17A000 on some 2022-2025MY Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) equipped with AVN5.0Wide head units listed below. This condition occurs when the Global Positioning System (GPS) module within the Audio Video Navigation (AVN) head unit, sends an inaccurate signal to the Hybrid Power Control Unit (HPCU), causing the DTC to set. There are no drivability symptoms associated with this condition.

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.)

RELEASE NOTES: OVER-THE-AIR: VOLUNTARY SERVICE CAMPAIGN: SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR PARKING DISTANCE WARNING (SC350) - This Over-the-Air (OTA) software update is designed to update the Body Control Unit (BDC) logic of certain 2025 Sportage vehicles. This update improved Body Domain Controller (BDC) software to remedy intermittent operation of the Parking Distance Warning (PDW) system.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: TRANSMISSION FLUID APPLICATION GUIDE - 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 relating to the correct transmission fluid type and fill quantity requirement for each Kia model. A flush is required ONLY when a transmission is replaced, and the transmission oil cooler is transferred to the new transmission.