AutoUtility currently tracks 5 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Kia Cadenza. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 2 complaints (40% of submitted records). Zero crashes, fires, injury reports, or fatality reports are cited across these complaint records.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 5 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (2 reports • 40% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Wheels & Tires (1), Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (1)
  • 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
5
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 2019 Kia Cadenza

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

#1 Problem Area 40% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Wheels & Tires

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#4 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Steering System

1 owner complaint submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 20% of complaints

Exterior Lighting

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 2019 Kia Cadenza

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

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11755245
Filed: 08/06/2026

"While operating the vehicle, the engine suffered a catastrophic internal mechanical failure, resulting in an immediate and dangerous loss of motive power on the road. A subsequent physical diagnostic scan at an authorized Kia dealership revealed manufacturer trouble code P008800 (Fuel Rail System..."

Incident Date: 07/22/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11744719
Filed: 06/17/2026

"I picked up my Cadenza from the repair shop. They were repairing the sunroof controls because the sunroof was not operating properly. I was 24 miles away from the shop headed home from Temple, TX to Waxahachie, TX on [XXX]. It sounded like a shotgun was fired right above my head and scared me. I am..."

Incident Date: 06/16/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11742797
Filed: 06/08/2026

"The contact owns a 2019 Kia Cadenza. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, upon starting the vehicle later, the contact noticed that there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from under the hood. The vehicle was..."

Incident Date: 05/27/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: TIRES,ENGINE
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11481339
Filed: 08/26/2022

"Hello, I wasn't notified of the recall on my vehicle. The steering wheel is extremely hard to turn and all of the system lights are on."

Incident Date: 06/19/2022 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE
Brakes & Traction Control NHTSA ODI ID: #11416147
Filed: 05/11/2021

"TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 KIA CADENZA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V137000 (SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC) HOWEVER, THE PART TO DO THE RECALL REPAIR WAS NOT YET AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAD EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE..."

Incident Date: 05/11/2021 • Raw NHTSA Component: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
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 14 0 2 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Kia Cadenza 32 4 2 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Kia Cadenza 7 0 1 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Kia Cadenza Current Page 5 0 1 Current
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 2019 Kia Cadenza

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 5 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
TIRES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 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 (5). 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 →
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.