RoadVitals

2017 Kia Sportage Visibility Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the visibility system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Visibility reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
9
Latest Nov 22, 2024
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
2%
of 398 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
2

What this page shows

Reports naming windshields, glass, wipers, defrosters and mirrors. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2017 Kia Sportage submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 9 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming visibility

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Visibility
Filed Nov 22, 2024
1 injury reported

The contact's daughter owns a 2017 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving approximately 45 MPH, the panoramic sunroof exploded without impact. The glass shattered into pieces onto the driver. The driver sustained some minor cuts to her head. The glass was picked out of her hair by her colleagues, but medical attention was not provided. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

NHTSA ID
11626802
Incident
Nov 18, 2024
Mileage
40,000 mi
Visibility
Filed Aug 5, 2024

The sunroof spontaneously exploded. Sunroof was closed at the time. AC on. Driving on the highway. Loud band and glass pieces rained down. Made it to the next exit to assess damage. No warning that this would happen. No debris hit the car. I have contacted my insurance about this, USAA. Kia said that they won’t cover this or repair for free. And in fact said that they haven’t heard of such a thing, though Kia models have one of the highest chances of this happening

NHTSA ID
11606599
Incident
Aug 4, 2024
ElectricalVisibility
Filed Mar 7, 2024

All the windows have just randomly failed down. The last one was my passenger back window on my way to work with it pouring down rain this morning. The first incident was about a year and a half ago, the driver's side window fell, and the window shattered. Took to glass shop and they said regulator needed to be replaced and they put in when they installed new glass. I went to Texarkana Kia dealer ship were bought car and bought a regulator and thought problem was solved. Several months later the window did not work so took back to glass shop that fixed they said regulator not working again. The Glass Shop took off and I got a replacement one at Kia and talked to several people of how my windows were acting but no one said a word about my certain model did had a problem with the regulators.

NHTSA ID
11575953
Incident
Mar 7, 2024
ElectricalVisibility
Filed Feb 14, 2023

I purchased my 2017 Kia Sportage new with 0 miles. Since day one I have had multiple electronic related issues with this automobile. The speedometer sometimes doesn't display speeds, the Bluetooth connection turns on and off randomly. The air conditioning system sporadically works. If the air conditioning is turned on it will blow hot air and then sporadically turn on and off by itself. I have noticed that the Bluetooth connection turns off when the air conditioning system turns on. I have called Kia customer service and they deny any problems with my Kia or any other 2017 Kia sportage, yet I located a technical service bulletin from KIA issued in 2019 that calls for the replacement of the entire air conditioner system. When I spoke to Kia about the technical service bulletin, they claimed that individual dealers are allowed to issue those bulletins without KIAs knowledge. I have brought my Kia to the local dealer several times and they claimed that there is nothing wrong with the air conditioning system or the electric systems

NHTSA ID
11507230
Incident
Jun 6, 2022
Visibility
Filed Sep 18, 2022

I was sitting in my driveway in my car and the windshield started cracking from the bottom. The crack has spread in both directions across my windshield. Visibility is not as good as the crack is in my line of vision.

NHTSA ID
11485120
Incident
Feb 9, 2022
Visibility
Filed Dec 13, 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 KIA SPORTAGE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE SUN ROOF EXPLODED WITHOUT WARNING OR AN IMPACT OCCURRING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE GLASS SHATTERED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 20,000.

NHTSA ID
11288914
Incident
Sep 10, 2019
Mileage
20,000 mi
Visibility
Filed Mar 6, 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 KIA SPORTAGE. WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE SUN ROOF EXPLODED WITHOUT WARNING OR IMPACT. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO ARAPAHOE KIA (9701 E ARAPAHOE RD, CENTENNIAL, CO 80112) AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WERE NO OPEN RECALLS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 15,000.

NHTSA ID
11184696
Incident
Jan 8, 2019
Mileage
15,000 mi
Powertrain (other)Visibility
Filed Mar 5, 2019

AIR CONDITIONING / HEAT SYSTEM LEAKS AIR ONTO FRONT WINDSHIELD CAUSING FOG ON THE INSIDE/OUTSIDE OF FRONT GLASS. TRANSMISSION DOES NOT ENGAGE FULL TIME WHILE IN MOTION. WHILE DRIVING FORWARD, THE ENGINE WILL RACE AND THE TRANSMISSION WILL BECOME DISENGAGED, WITHIN 20-90 SECONDS THE TRANSMISSION RE-ENGAGES AND YOU CAN PROCEED. THIS HAPPENS SOMETIME WHILE YOU ARE ENTERING A HIGHWAY FROM AN ON RAMP AS YOU ACCELERATE INTO MOVING TRAFFIC. THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED WITH A REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION LESS THAN 6 MONTHS AGO AND THE VEHICLE IS STARTING, TO SHOW THESE SAME SYMPTOMS AGAIN. IT HAPPENED WHILE ON 1-95 IN THE ALEXANDRIA AREA OF VIRGINIA, ROUTE 66 SOUTH, ROUTE 29 EXPRESSWAY IN LYNCHBURG, VA JUST LAST WEEK. I HAVE BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE DEALERSHIP AND THE MANUFACTURER WITHOUT ACTION. THIS MALFUNCTION IS A THREAT TO THE SAFETY OF THE DRIVER AND OCCUPANTS AS WELL AS OTHER VEHICLES ON THE HIGHWAY. WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE IT IS POSSIBLE TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT.

NHTSA ID
11184330
Incident
Nov 1, 2017
Mileage
10,000 mi
Visibility
Filed Oct 23, 2017
1 injury reported

MY SUNROOF "EXPLODED" ON SATURDAY, OCT. 14, 2017.I WAS DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AND THERE WAS SOME TRAFFIC. AFTER THE INITIAL "BOOM" AND RUSH OF WIND WE HEARD GLASS SHATTERING. THE SUNROOF AND SHADE WERE CLOSED, THANKFULLY! I PULLED OVER AND ATTEMPTED TO COLLECT THE GLASS BUT I WAS GETTING CUT SO MOST OF THE GLASS REMAINED ON THE SUN SHADE.

NHTSA ID
11035763
Incident
Oct 14, 2017
Mileage
10,500 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .