AutoUtility currently tracks 14 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 Kia Cadenza. Visibility, Wipers & Glass issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 6 complaints (42.9% of submitted records). Zero crashes, fires, injury reports, or fatality reports are cited across these complaint records.

Key Problem Findings
  • • Total NHTSA Complaints: 14 reports
  • • #1 Reported Problem Area: Visibility, Wipers & Glass (6 reports • 42.9% of submitted complaints)
  • • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (4), Brakes & Traction Control (2)
  • • Crash-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 0 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
14
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
0
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 Kia Cadenza

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 42.9% of complaints

Visibility, Wipers & Glass

6 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 28.6% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

4 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 14.3% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

  • Campaign #23V652000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE
*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 7.1% of complaints

Electrical System

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 7.1% of complaints

Suspension

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 Kia Cadenza

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11702878
Filed: 12/03/2025

"My 2016 Kia Cadenza (VIN [XXX] ) experienced repeated overheating, coolant loss, and eventually white exhaust smoke consistent with internal coolant intrusion. The issue began mid-2025 and worsened over time. Despite reporting overheating and coolant loss to Central Kia of Plano, the dealership..."

Incident Date: 08/01/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11684923
Filed: 09/04/2025

"I am submitting this complaint regarding a 2016 Kia Cadenza (VIN: [XXX] ) and Kia’s repeated failure to properly diagnose or repair a serious overheating/safety defect despite this being a well-documented and known issue affecting these engines. Vehicle and Service Information •Vehicle: 2016 Kia..."

Incident Date: 08/25/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE
Visibility, Wipers & Glass NHTSA ODI ID: #11660507
Filed: 05/12/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 Kia Cadenza. The contact stated that there was water and air leaking through the windshield of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V158000 (Visibility); however, the dealer inspected the vehicle and informed the..."

Incident Date: 05/12/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: VISIBILITY
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11649124
Filed: 03/18/2025

"While driving down the highway, I heard a loud boom and my sunroof exploded sending glass everywhere all through the car with my kids in the backseat. Driving straight on the highway at 60 miles per hour and nothing to hit the glass, Something is definitely wrong with the pano sunroof on these cars."

Incident Date: 03/18/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Visibility, Wipers & Glass NHTSA ODI ID: #11586595
Filed: 05/02/2024

"The contact owns a 2016 Kia Cadenza. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from the front windshield, after which she observed that the windshield had begun to crack and was leaking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a..."

Incident Date: 06/27/2023 • Raw NHTSA Component: VISIBILITY
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Kia Cadenza

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2020)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Kia Cadenza 48 1 2 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Kia Cadenza Current Page 14 0 2 Current
2017 Kia Cadenza 32 4 2 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Kia Cadenza 7 0 1 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Kia Cadenza 5 0 1 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Kia Cadenza 0 0 1 View 2020 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 Kia Cadenza

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 7 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 5 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 1 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
VISIBILITY,STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (14). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (1)

1 OPEN

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
OPEN Audit Query (AQ) ODI Action #AQ23002
Opened: 2023-11-17 • Currently Active

Hyundai and Kia ABS Module Fires

Affected Component: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received eight Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) and eight Kia America, Inc. (Kia) Part 573 Recall Reports between 2016 and 2023. The combined 16 safety recalls all involve the antilock braking system (ABS) modules or Hydraulic Electronic Control Units (HECU) manufactured by the equipment supplier Mando. The Part 573 Recall Reports contain varying defect descriptions and differing remedy descriptions fo...

Active federal investigation. Official NHTSA File →

Related Official Reports for 2016 Kia Cadenza

Cross-reference safety recalls, crash test safety ratings, and EPA fuel economy for this model year

Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.