AutoUtility currently tracks 69 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Kia Sportage. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 31 complaints (44.9% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 3 filings cite a crash, 3 cite a fire, 2 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 69 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (31 reports • 44.9% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (10), Powertrain & Transmission (7)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 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
69
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2019 Kia Sportage

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

#1 Problem Area 44.9% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

31 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 2 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 14.5% of complaints

Electrical System

10 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 2 fire reports
#3 Problem Area 10.1% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#4 Problem Area 10.1% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
🔥 1 fire report
#5 Problem Area 10.1% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

7 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 #21V137000 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.
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 2 injury report entries
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 Sportage

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

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11754692
Filed: 08/04/2026

"The vehicle is have issues every time I get and oil change the vehicle loses about 2 qt of oil there are no leaks that are notice but the lost of engine oil still happens this oil could cause the engine to turn on fire it is nerve reacting to every often to check the oil level dealership are..."

Incident Date: 07/30/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11748827
Filed: 07/07/2026

"Vehicle suddenly entered recall limp-mode due to the ongoing engine campaign. Prior to this, the vehicle had immaculate maintenance records and zero driveability issues. The franchise dealership performed a short-block engine replacement under the safety recall, rushing the complete powertrain swap..."

Incident Date: 07/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11748112
Filed: 07/03/2026

"The engine locked up about a year ago, and since we didn’t technically have a recall we didn’t know what to do. It was able to drive again after we had a technician work on it, but now it’s not driving anymore. It shakes hard when it’s idling and driving. We have waited over 2 weeks to be diagnosed..."

Incident Date: 06/13/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11743447
Filed: 06/11/2026

"I did not have an incident yet. I was advised by my local State representative Jimmy Gordon's office. They stated were unable to help me get reimbursement for the $8000 I just paid my Kia dealer, but that I should make a complaint on this website. What happened is that I was hearing an odd noise..."

Incident Date: 05/14/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA ODI ID: #11726557
Filed: 03/23/2026

"The vehicle is experiencing excessive engine oil consumption. The engine was found by the dealership to be low by 3 quarts of oil after about 1000 miles during an oil consumption test, indicating abnormal oil loss. The suspected failure involves internal engine components, possibly piston rings,..."

Incident Date: 12/16/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
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 Sportage

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Kia Sportage 146 7 2 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Kia Sportage 130 8 2 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Kia Sportage 399 14 4 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Kia Sportage 162 7 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Kia Sportage Current Page 69 3 2 Current
2020 Kia Sportage 159 11 2 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Kia Sportage 50 3 2 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Kia Sportage 45 6 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Kia Sportage 296 28 7 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Kia Sportage 98 11 3 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Kia Sportage 68 7 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Kia Sportage 0 0 1 View 2026 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 Sportage

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 31 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 19 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 1 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 2 0 1 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 2 0
AIR BAGS,WHEELS 1 0 0 2 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,TRAILER HITCHES 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
TRAILER HITCHES 1 0 0 0 0
TRAILER HITCHES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 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 (69). 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 (2)

1 OPEN 1 CLOSED

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 →
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22003
Opened: 2022-09-12 • Closed: 2023-12-12

Loss of Motive Power

Affected Component: ENGINE

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a letter dated July 13, 2022, petitioning the Agency to initiate a safety defect investigation into loss of motive power allegations attributed to oil drain pan assembly failures on certain Hyundai Motor America, Inc. and Kia America, Inc. vehicles spanning Model Years (MY) 2005-2021. The Petitioners cited examples of complaints indicating that the subject vehicles were experienc...

Closed without associated recall campaign. 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.