Table 1 shows one common vehicle speed control related problems of the 2023 Kia Motor Sportage.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Speed Control problems |
3 times in the last two days, and dozens of times over the last six months, while driving or while idling, the "check hybrid system" warning has flashed. When it happens the car does into limp mode, where it will go no faster than 13mph. This has happened in the left lane of a highway where there is no where to pull over except the lane, since there is no time to get over before the vehicle shuts down. The car essentially will shut down in the middle of driving, no matter where it is. Especially with my kids in the car it is terrifying hazard. I have brought the car to the kia service and since its not easily reproducible they have not been able to help and have offered no solutions.
The vehicle frequently fails to engage gas engine when depressing gas pedal to any degree. A full push of the gas pedal does not result in gas engine engagement. This has happened over 15 ties since the recall computer update last summer (2025). This creates extreme danger because the operator expects the full power of the engine to engage when pulling out of intersections or crossing oncoming traffic, but the engine does not engage causing a slow, creeping acceleration from the electric motor only. I took it into the kia dealer and they found nothing wrong. No warning lights occur when the malfunction happens. And no check engine lights occur either. The only correction is to fully turn the vehicle off and back on. Doing that resets everything back to normal. This malfunction usually occurs within the first 25-30 minutes of vehicle operation.
1. Hybrid system failure and check engine light on . 2. Car jerk while driving and gone to limp mode and my speed was reduced to 10 mph at traffic putting my self and other in danger . 3. My vehicle is currently at the dealership getting inspected this is the second time my hybrid warning light came on and the first time they told me nothing was wrong with my vehicle. 4. All of these symptoms happened at the same time while driving.
After driving for roughly 7 hours upon activating my cruise control, after using the entire drive with no issues, it went up to 110 mph as soon as I hit the button and would not allow me to adjust the speed down. It would turn off upon pressing pause, cruise control, or brakes but would rise to 110 mph everytime. I searched for recalls for this and could find none. But I did find posts of other people with the same issue. The only thing I could find was an emissions campaign that seems like it may be related. This appears to me to be much more of a safety issue especially if the driver is not paying attention. Or for example let's say you're driving behind someone and turn cruise control on you could very easily rearend someone at a high rate of speed. I will be trying to get my car into the dealership to try and resolve the issue, but my main point for filing a report is to see if this rises to the level of a safety recall versus a TSB or emissions campaign. My vehicle is available for inspection if needed. No warning lights came on or anything of the sort. I do have a video of this but does not appear I can upload it. Any assistance is greatly appreciated thank you and have a great day.
While driving on the highway at 80 mph, the accelerator suddenly stopped working and was completely unresponsive. The dashboard displayed the message "check hybrid system. Stop safely" and a warning ding sounded. The gas engine was still operating and showing rpms on the dashboard, but all acceleration and/or engagement with the engine was lost. I was able to coast and safely pull over to the side of the road. After pulling over, I turned off the engine and pushed the 12v battery reset button. The car restarted, and I was able to continue driving. The issue repeated about 20 miles later and again on a different drive four days later. Each time, there is no early warning or noticeable issue with the vehicle before the sudden warning and loss of power.
I was driving with cruise control on. I had to slow down for traffic. Upon resuming speed, I reactivated cruise control at which time it jumped to 110 mph. This happen several times. I turned cruise off and back on 110. I canceled and tried to reset, 110. I kept resuming 110 mph and the function was not usable. I have a video but was unable to upload because it was to large.
I was going 40 mph and tried to set the cruise control to my current speed. The cruise control set at 110 mph instead. I tapped the brake to stop the cruise control and it stopped. I tried to set the cruise control again multiple times and the same thing happened. I parked, turned the car off then on again and the cruise control worked like normal.
I have had three separate instances over the past year, most recently days ago, where I pressed the cruise control button, then pressed the cruising speed increase button, and the cruise control setting jumped to 110 mph. I could press the cruise control button again to turn off cruise control, but if I pressed cruise control again, it would immediately jump to 110 mph, no matter what my current speed was. Pressing the decrease cruise control speed button didn't lower the cruise control speed. The only workaround is to turn the vehicle off and the turn it back on. There are multiple online forum posts, and several youtube videos, of other kia Sportage owners experiencing the same problem.
I've had two issues with my 2023 kia Sportage cruise control. 1. When I press the 'set' cruise control button, it will set at a speed far grater than I'm driving and escalate to that speed. Example: I'm driving 65 on the highway. I set the cruise control. It sets to 100 mph and quickly gains to that speed. This has happened about 5 times. It doesn't happen every time I try to use cruise control. The last time it happened, I could click the 'set' button to disengage cruise control but it would never set to 60 mph- always 100. So I pressed 'set' at 60 mph. It went to 100 mph. Then I pressed set to disengage. Then pressed 'set'again at 60 mph and it went to 100 mph. The only way to get it to actually re set was to pull over and re-start the car. 2. When you actually get it to 'set' to 60 mph and then press the toggle to speed up, it will often toggle up to 90 mph instead of to 65mph. This has happened 3-5 times. This is super dangerous since it speeds up so quickly.
Good morning, I'm writing with a vehicle safety risk that my wife and I experienced on Sunday while driving home in our 2023 kia Sportage hybrid SUV that we purchased new in August 2022. On one of the surface streets in olympia, wa where we live, I turned on the cruise control to set it at the speed limit for that street. Instantaneously, upon turning on the cruise control, it set itself to 110mph and immediately started rapid acceleration. I was able to immediately turn off the cruise control. I tried turning it on again to see if the behavior repeated itself, and again it automatically set itself to 110mph and began acceleration. I tried turning the cruise speed setting to a lower mph, but the set speed would not adjust off 110mph. At that point, I turned it off, and we made it home without any problems. However, upon getting home, I immediately started to search online to see if other people are experiencing this problem. A number of users on reddit with either kia's or Hyundai's (same parent company) have dealt with the same exact issue. I'm including some links to reddit threads and videos below: [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] from what I can see online, this is likely a software issue that kia/Hyundai aren't making any moves to acknowledge or fix. However, it's an extremely dangerous issue. It looks like it's also happening to people who are using features like adaptive cruise control as well. It poses immense safety risk to drivers/passengers, as well as others on the road if the car randomly starts accelerating when it should be holding its speed steady in cruise. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
When using cruise control and raising the speed, the cruise control gets maxed out to 110 mph, and requires the driver to disengage the cc to stop. It keeps reoccurring until the car is restarted. I did not take pictures, but there is are multiple reddit threads at the below url's with multiple users having the same issue. Some have reported to kia who claim it's a known issue with no fix. [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
I have experienced a dangerous bug where cruise control shoots immediately to 110mph. I have experienced three incidents in the last 15 months. Too busy trying to disengage the accelerating vehicle to get a video, but many others have documented this bug: [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Second time reporting for the third instance dealer says nothing is wrong but I have a video when car speeds up and doesn’t stop when removing my foot for acceleration car keeps moving and it’s hard to stop unless I slam on brake this is occasionally instance but when it happens it’s highly risk for havug accident with kids I don’t feel safe.
I had my vehicle take to coughlin kia in dublin ohio on 04/10/24 and got my vehicle back on 04/15/24. The service center at coughlin claimed I had bad gas, they took it upon themselves to approve services I did not approve of. When I got my vehicle back on 04/15 I found wires under my hood and caps left under my hood as well. Then on 4/26/24 my vehicle started having problems, my vehicle would have the rpms jumping from 500 to 1,000 while sitting in park and driving. Not once did I ever mess with my vehicle under the hood. I notice this problem getting worse as the days went on. On 4/23 my vehicle wasn't getting any better, the engine was shaking while sitting in park and it was shaking the whole car. On 4/25 on my way back from a lunch break my car stalled out and stopped in the middle of traffic. I called great lakes dealership in columbus ohio, and have my vehicle taken there. My vehicle declined in speed while moving on a high speed highway. Putting my safety and my families safety at risk. Kia won't own up to any mistakes, they claim this as bad fuel and I have been putting high octane gas in my vehicle. I do believe my vehicle was messed with by someone at the coughlin dealership and now I'm facing safety issues I can't drive my vehicle because its unsafe and my vehicle has only 23,600 miles on it. I'm highly disappointed I reached out to the director of operations michele cameron and she refuses to respond back to me and return my phone calls. I can't get anyone from kia corporation to respond back to me. I was told by kia connect that they wouldn't provide me a tow truck last night when my vehicle was on the side of a busy highway. I have warranty on my vehicle and I get free tow's and was told they couldn't provide one. No safety vehicle would sit with us on the highway to make sure we were safe.
My car accelerates automatically and doesn’t stop unless slam on break this is happening occasionally yesterday I was about to hit front car after taking the exit. Even after breaking the car kept moving at full speed. It’s a huge safety concern I was with family and we all got so scared.
When on a cruise control it started accelerating on its own to an extremely high speed. Happened a few time to me. Clears only if you restart the vehicle. Scary. I have a video to proof, it won’t let me attach the video. I know that some other people had experience same, I seen comments on facebook group for kia Sportage hybrid 2023. I filed under lemon law for this vehicle for a different reason in June 2023. But manufacturer still haven’t gave me a comparable vehicle and I have to drive this death trap.
When engaging the cruise control using the steering wheel button, the speed will set itself at 110 miles an hour, and the vehicle will in fact attempt to reach that speed and accelerate. The problem has occurred at speeds as low as 30 miles an hour and as high as 70 miles an hour, it happens intermittently pressing the cruise control button does not disengage the cruise control every time sometimes it is necessary to press the brakes for the cruise control to be shut back off.
February 2024 (27,813 mi): vehicle lost acceleration while driving, would not transition from ev to engine mode, entered limp mode. Dealer replaced high-pressure fuel pump under warranty after consulting kia tech line (case #[xxx]). September 2025 (58,000 mi): vehicle will not start without manually resetting 12v battery module integrated in hybrid battery system. Pattern suggests hybrid control system defects, not resolved by previous repair. Car has now been with dealer for 4+ days figuring out this issue. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
I was driving for approximately 30 minutes, using cruise control as needed. There was a decreased speed area so I toggled down to reduce speed from 65 to 55. My cruise control speed jumped from 65 to 110. Nothing I did would reduce the speed. I had to turn off the cruise control to get control of my vehicle again. I thought I did something wrong so I turned on cruise control and attempted to set the speed again. Immediately upon using the toggle to set the speed, the speed jumped to 110. This happened several time and I couldn’t get cruise control to work correctly for approximately 30-45 minutes. Finally I found a safe area to pull off the interstate, turn the vehicle off and back on. At which time the speed controls began working correctly again. Very scary and unsafe situation!.
Car wouldn’t accelerate, could be problem if turning left into traffic. Trip to florida, 1000 miles, the engine accelerated by itself, one time the mph was into the 90’s before I got it under control. This happened 3 times on my drive florida from indiana.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the vehicle speed control failed to accelerate above 50 mph. Pushing down on the accelerator would continue to increase rpms, but instead the car would coast. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? this malfunction made it impossible to reach highway speeds, which meant I was traveling 20-25 mph slower than the rest of traffic. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? the problem persisted for the entire driving session; however, after turning off the car and turning it back on, the problem has not reproduced. A passenger recorded a video of the issue occurring, and the dealer reviewed the video and confirmed that it is definitely a safety hazard, but since the issue was not reproducible, they stated they could not take any action based on kia's service policies. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? the vehicle has been inspected by a kia dealer, but not by any other parties. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? before this problem occurred, the engine auto-stop icon appeared amber - which means engine auto-stop vehicle conditions were not met so the engine wouldn't automatically shut off at stoplights. This is the only time I've observed this icon appear amber instead of white.
The contact owns a 2023 kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at 45 mph, the contact stated the vehicle independently accelerated and decelerated. The contact also stated that the back over prevention camera was inoperable and displayed a black screen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated she previously experienced the same failure with the vehicle before and the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The dealer replaced the aftermarket mat with the original kia Sportage mat. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,800.
When I achieved my desired speed while driving on the highway, I turned on my adaptive cruise control as I usually do. This time, the car began accelerating dramatically, set on 110mph instead of my desire 55mph. It did this twice, even after I turned off the cruise control. I parked on the side of the street and restarted the car before it returned to normal. My life was very much threatened while I was driving as well as the lives of my fellow highway drivers that night. I will be taking this to my dealership but I also need this reported.
I purchased my car in August 2022, and the cruise control issue began in September 2023. It occurs randomly and significantly makes me feel unsafe in my vehicle. I have not been able to enjoy full use of my vehicle. Kia has been aware of this issue since at least April 2024 (when they first called me), even though I made my report to the NHTSA in October 2023 (NHTSA 11549711). Today, kia informed me that the video that I risked my life to take of my car almost killing me and other road drivers was not enough and that they could not replicate the issue. The response time from my case manager has literally been atrocious. These issues have significantly limited my use and enjoyment of the vehicle, making me regret my purchase. I did not expect to rely on rentals without the features that led me to choose this car, especially due to delays in addressing my case.
The contact owns a 2023 kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving forward into a parking space at a very slow speed and while pressing the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and drove over the stop bump and a curve before crashing into a building wall. During the crash, the contact sustained a head injury which later required medical treatment. A police report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was driven away. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 37,000.
While driving, the car came to an abrupt stop. Lights and alarms flashed stating "do not drive" "hybrid system malfunction". Car could not be driven. Had I been on the highway, which I just exited, I could have been dead with how suddenly the car stopped without prior warning. The warning came when the car was shutting down. It has now been at the dealership for 3 weeks and they are unable to pinpoint the problem. Apparently they are selling hybrids with no one to work on them. Smh.
While on a 65 mph enforced highway, cruise control was turned on via the button on the steering wheel. The digital cruise control set itself at 110 mph and the vehicle began to accelerate to match the speed. Aside from turning on the cruise control, no other buttons on the steering wheel were pushed. The car’s cruise control feature had previously been set at 70 mph to match current conditions and was used regularly throughout the length of the trip. While the car continued to accelerate on its own to match the self-set speed, we tried to decrease the speed both by trying to set it at the current speed, and by holding the dial down to decrease the speed manually. The car did not reflect any changes in speed and a message popped up saying “cruise control conditions not met” and it tried to disengage cruise control and acceleration. Driver had to manually turn off the cruise control function. Upon additional attempts to use cruise control and set speed to match current driving conditions, the same issue occurred. A recording of the incident was taken to be able to show proof that the car’s digital functions are to blame. Had the cruise control function not been able to be manually disengaged, the car would have continued to accelerate on its own to dangerous speeds. Dealer has been unable to replicate issue and has escalated incident to kia’s corporate office.
On the morning of may 16 2023 while making a turn at 17 th avenue and bayshore drive my car continued to accelerate in spite of me trying to brake. I was projected into a stone wall and knew I was going to crash . I crashed into the wall,all my airbags were deployed and the car smelled like smoke. My accelerator got stuck and was sideways . I was unable to get out of the car from inside but a good samaritan had opened the door from the outside and I crawled under the airbags and got out . The car did not go on fire but was still on when I was able to then turn it off . Police were called and I was checked at the hospital .
I was driving down the highway at the posted 70mph limit in medium traffic. The car started to sputter and wouldn't accelerate. The car started to decelerate and cars coming from behind had to quickly swerve to avoid me. The cab then filled with the strong smell of gasoline and I became light headed. The car reduced to around 10mph and I pulled off the highway into a gas station and waited for a tow truck. We towed the vehicle to a kia dealership and they claimed to have fixed it. A similar circumstance has occured 3 more times since that first issue. After each time, kia has claimed to have fixed the issue.
The car is currently in the shop at jim shorkey gainesville kia and is available for inspection. They have contacted me to tell me the transmission/engine failed. I was driving on interstate when I suddenly lost the ability to accelerate and was forced to get off of the highway. After coming to a complete stop I pressed on the gas pedal but the car would still not accelerate. I tried putting into park and back into drive and that did not work. I tried putting it into manual mode and it did go forward but every gear change was loud, jerky, and rough. I was able to make to my next complete stop in a left turning lane to cross a two lane busy highway that is coming downhill towards me at an intersection that does not have a traffic signal. However the car was stuck in gear 5. I was the first car in line. At this point I put other cars in danger as they swerved back into the high way to get around me into the intersection to make that left turn across busy highway. I turned the car completely off and after a minute turned it back on. I put in drive, waited until I couldn't see any cars coming down the hill and I pressed the gas pedal to test. It jerked forward and I managed to get across the highway as it shifted into the second gear it jerked violently and made a loud popping noise and there after every single gear change was loud and jerky. Thank god I did not lose the ability to accelerate in that left turn because those cars are coming at 70+ miles per hour down that hill or my family would have been t-boned on their passenger side. I am also lucky that I was able to get off the nearest exit when they problem originally happened as I was going downhill on the interstate and the next exit was very close so my momentum got me there. I lost the ability to control the vehicle as I ordinarily would putting myself, my family, and other motorists in danger had we not been able to get off on the exit or make it through that left turn.
I had a number of systems suddenly cut out on me. The dealership thinks it was a fuse or fuses that went bad. They affected the car's following systems: * primary instrument cluster (left side) * forward collision avoidance-assist w/car, pedestrian and cyclist detection * advanced collision avoidance (auto-breaking) * lane following assist * lane keeping assist * driver attention warning w/ leading vehicle departure alert * blind-spot collision-avoidance assist (in mirrors) * door unlock warning (I received several warnings that my doors were unlocked even when they were locked) * entrance/exit chime * blinker sound * compass * internal navigation (gps worked but because the compass was broken, the mapping system did not know which way my car was traveling. ) * fuel efficiency was incorrect. I never got above 31 miles to the gallon.
The contact owns a 2023 kia Sportage. The contact stated after his wife stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle accelerated independently and caused to crash the vehicle ahead of them. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50.