2020 Kia Sportage problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (67) · Engine And Engine Cooling (9) · Steering (6)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Kia Sportage model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
37 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (2)
Trailer Hitches 2022-09-19 · campaign 22V703000 · 70,887 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2022 Sorento, 2021-2022 Sorento Hybrid (HEV), 2022-2023 Sorento Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV), and 2017-2022 Sportage vehicles equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Kia dealership. Debris and moisture accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.
Risk: A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete. Dealers will inspect the vehicle, and, as necessary, replace the fuse and/or tow hitch harness module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 11, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC249.
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip:control Unit/Module 2021-03-04 · campaign 21V137000 · 379,931 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2017-2021 Sportage and Cadenza vehicles. The electrical circuit in the Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (HECU) may short-circuit, which can cause a fire in the engine compartment.
Risk: An engine compartment fire can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Owners are advised to park outside and away from structures as a precaution until the recall repair is complete. Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace certain fuses in the electrical junction box. Vehicles equipped with an electronic parking brake (EPB) will also receive a HECU software update. Repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on April 30, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC206.
Service bulletins (93)
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 2026-04-04 · SC340_TSB_R5 · Emissions
voluntary emissions service campaign: theta ii 2.4l gdi emissions: ecm logic improvement (sc340 revision 5) - 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 information to
Engine 2026-03-17 · SC340_OWNR_NQ5_105 · Emissions
voluntary emissions service campaign: owner notification (sc340 flight 105) - this document is the owner notification advising that kia is conducting a voluntary emissions service campaign to improve the emissions software logic in the electronic control module (ecm) for certain 2017-2022 my sportag
Engine 2026-03-06 · SC340_TSB_R4 · Emissions
technical service bulletin: voluntary emissions service campaign: theta ii 2.4l gdi emission secm logic improvement (sc340 rev 4) - 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 p
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
Engine 2025-12-19 · SC340_OWNR_QL103 · Emissions
voluntary emissions service campaign: owner notification (sc340 flight 103 / ql) - this document is the owner notification advising that kia is conducting a voluntary emissions service campaign to improve the emissions software logic in the electronic control module (ecm) for certain 2017-2022 my sp
Showing the 6 most recent of 93 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-28 · Engine“on saturday, xxx, while driving on xxx in [xxx], my 2020 kia sportage (2,4 l engine, 152,245 miles) suffered a sudden, catastrophic loss of motive power. the vehicle actively entered limp home mode at high speed, dropping velocity rapidly and creating an immediate traffic hazard that my husband and i stranded 6.5 hours away from home. the vehicle w…”
2026-10-28 · Steering“"while driving to work and actively attempting to pass another vehicle, the battery light suddenly illuminated out of nowhere. a short time later, while slowing down at a stoplight coming into town, the engine completely stalled out and died in the middle of a busy, active intersection. i lost all acceleration and power steering capabilities, and n…”
2026-10-25 · Engine“my vehicle's check oil light repeatedly lit up on several occassions before my next scheduled maintenance. contacted my vehicle's manufacturer for assistance and unfortunately got a lukewarm response. …”
2026-10-22 · Service Brakes · 🔥 fire“i was driving and my vehicle and saw smoke and it caught on fire and burnt..…”
2026-10-12 · Engine“rod bearing failure june 29,2026 with prior kia manufacturer recalls june 19,2023: (1.) sc206, hecu fire recall, a serious safety recall regarding the hydraulic electronic control unit. the circuit board can short out and cause an engine bay fire even when the vehicle is parked. (2.) sc249b (tow hitch harness fire recall): another active safety rec…”
2026-09-27 · Engine“my daughter's 2020 kia sportage s was purchased september 22, 2025 from a nissan dealership with 96,574 miles on it. it dove great. she used it less than 20 miles per day on residential streets to get to and from work and to church on sunday. it was not used for interstate or freeway driving. by june of 2026, we noticed that it was requiring mor…”
2026-09-06 · Power Train“high oil consumption burning a quart of oil every 500-600 miles. …”
2026-08-13 · Engine“while driving on the expressway posted speed 65 was doing 70, left lane driving, suddenly my check engine light started flashing, my oil light came on and my vehicle started slowing down. acceleration was not an option, causing hazardous conditions to have to put my hazards on and cross two lanes of heavy traffic. vehicle went into limp mode. vehic…”
2026-08-13 · Engine“need an engine replaced for the infamous knocking of the motor from the previous class action but my model isn’t covered. ridiculous to need a new engine on a less than 5 year old car …”
2026-07-17 · Unknown Or Other · 🔥 fire“my 2020 kia sportage spontaneously caught fire. it started smoking about 1/3 mile from my destination. there were no dash lights on and the temperature gauge was not elevated and was below half so it wasn’t the engine overheating. i pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car and the smoke then increased and turned darker rapidly and the car c…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.