2018 Kia Sedona problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (17) · Electrical System (5) · Structure:body (3)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Sedona model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags 2022-01-25 · campaign 22V031000 · 410,619 vehicles
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Sedona, Soul, Soul EV, 2017-2018 Forte, and 2017 Forte Koup vehicles. The Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) cover may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit. Circuit damage may result in deactivated air bags that will not deploy in a crash.
Risk: Air bags that do not deploy as intended can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the ACU, and either update the software or replace the unit, as necessary. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 21, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC226.
Electrical System:wiring 2019-02-19 · campaign 19V109000 · 94,389 vehicles
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Sedona vehicles equipped with manually-adjusted front passenger seats. Over time, the Occupant Detection System (ODS) wiring harness located underneath the front passenger seat may break from the seat being occupied.
Risk: If a child is in a child seat in the front seat, a broken ODS wiring harness will not prevent the front passenger air bag from deploying in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury to the child.
Fix: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will remove the wire harness clip to prevent the wiring harness from breaking. If the harness is found damaged, the front passenger seat cushion will be replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began March 19, 2019. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC175.
Electrical System:software 2018-05-23 · campaign 18V338000 · 106,428 vehicles
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Kia Sedona vehicles equipped with a power sliding door (PSD). The PSD may not auto-reverse when its closing is obstructed.
Risk: If the door closes on an occupant, there is an increased risk of an injury.
Fix: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the PSD module software, free of charge. The recall began on June 18, 2018. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC164.
Service bulletins (55)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure:body 2026-06-08 · CS2312_TSB_R2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: customer satisfaction: theft deterrent ignition cylinder protector and decal installation (cs2312) - 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 prov
Engine 2026-03-18 · WTY026_TSB_R2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: warranty extension campaign: oil pressure switch (ops) replacement (wty026 revision 2) - 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 informa
Structure:body 2026-02-19 · TSB_CS2312_R1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: customer satisfaction: theft deterrent ignition cylinder protector and decal installation (cs2312) - 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 prov
Structure:body 2025-12-18 · TSB_CS2312 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
technical service bulletin: customer satisfaction: theft deterrent ignition cylinder protector and decal installation (cs2312) - this bulletin provides information to install a theft deterrent ignition cylinder protector on certain 2010-2022my kia vehicles outlined on page 19, which may not have bee
Structure:body 2025-12-17 · CS2312_OWNR · Other
customer satisfaction campaign: owner notification (cs2312) - this document is the owner notification advising that kia is conducting customer satisfaction campaign. a software upgrade that addresses the social media theft method has been made available to owners of eligible kia model vehicles free
Back Over Prevention: Warnings 2025-12-09 · PS797 · Other
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
Showing the 6 most recent of 55 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-16 · Power Train · 🔥 fire“i was driving, my car just stopped, couldn’t start, started smoking and started on fire. …”
2026-08-02 · Engine“2018 kia sedona lx stalled while my wife was driving on the highway. no warning lights were on until the vehicle lost all power. luckily my wife was able to pull the car safely to the side. the vehicle only has 36960 miles. brought vehicle to the dealer and they said engine was seized. that kia would not attempt a repair unless i gave copies of oil…”
2026-07-02 · Electrical System · 90,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 kia sedona. the contact stated that the air bag and the check engine warning lights were illuminated. the vehicle failed to start and was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with alternator failure; however, the battery was replaced. additionally, the contact stated that after his wife had pulled into the driveway, t…”
2026-04-15 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 63,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 kia sedona. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "check auto emergency system" was displayed and the brake warning light illuminated. additionally, an unknown fluid was leaking near the front passenger’s side wheel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, and an oil change was performed but…”
2026-03-27 · Engine“the vehicle is a 2018 kia sedona with approximately 122,000 miles that experienced a catastrophic engine failure resulting in complete engine seizure. the failure has been identified by an independent mechanic as a rod bearing issue. the engine remains intact and is available for inspection upon request. the vehicle is currently not operational and…”
2025-11-30 · Seat Belts“my [xxx] son pulled the seatbelt so tight it got wrapped around his neck. when i pulled over to unbuckle it, it was stuck. i turned the car off and on again to try and loosen it, but it didn't work. in the emergency, i had to cut the seatbelt with scissors. it's the passenger seatbelt in the second row, next to the window. i reported the incident …”
2025-10-24 · Air Bags“in 2022, our airbag light came on. on 5/10/2022 am airbag recall was issued and it was fixed. the airbag computer/module was fixed. we got into an accident in august of 2022, and our airbags never went off. and the airbag light has never shut off since it was “fixed” may 2022. it’s now october 2025. they said nothing was wrong with it, after bring…”
2025-10-15 · Engine“while driving under normal conditions and normal operation, the engine lost power, began using excessive fuel, the inside of the vehicle smelled like fuel and white smoke began pouring out of the exhaust.…”
2025-09-21 · Structure:body“driver side door stuck in the closed position. electric motor does not work.…”
2025-09-14 · Suspension · 🔥 fire“there was a fire under my minivan as my husband was driving it, creating smoke and flames. he lost power to the van and had to coast to the right side of the highway where he came to a stop with the flames occurring. this is the family vehicle and i have small children. we had no warning lights or any indication that there would be a fire in my ve…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.