Wiper Problems of Kia Motor Sportage - part 1

Immediately after delivery, the instrument/infotainment display malfunctioned, froze, and became unresponsive. Apple carplay failed, and phone calls distorted or dropped. After reporting the issue, I discovered that this VIN is subject to safety recall sc359b, with a recall date of December 17, 2025, and a status of recall incomplete / no remedy available. This recall existed prior to the sale. The recall is confirmed by the kia owner app, kia/NHTSA VIN lookup, and the dealer’s internal campaign report. Despite this, the dealer stated in writing that there were “no open recalls” and refused to unwind the sale, mischaracterizing the defect as an “audio panel” issue. I am submitting this to document a retail delivery of a new motor vehicle under an open, VIN-specific safety recall with no available remedy, which constitutes a violation of federal motor vehicle safety law (49 u. S. C. §§ 30112 and 30120). I request review by the office of defects investigation and recall management division.

See all problems of the 2025 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

While traveling at approx 65 mph on a clear, debris-free alaska highway in -5°f temperatures, the panoramic sunroof of my 2024 kia Sportage spontaneously shattered with an explosive sound. There were no vehicles in the immediate vicinity (nearest car was maybe 50 to 75 ft away) and no observation of flying debris or falling objects from overpasses. The failure appears to be a spontaneous glass breakage (sgb) incident potentially caused by thermal stress or manufacturing defect rather than external impact. Crucially, some of the remaining glass fragments and one large attached piece are displaced and flexed outward (upward toward the sky). There are also fracture lines in the remaining glass along and parallel to the sides of the vehicle as well as parallel to the front frame of the glass. They do not radiate out from a central point as one would expect from an object strike. This geometry to me indicates internal tension or cabin pressure release, as an external impact from a projectile would have forced the glass inward into the cabin. Additionally, there was very little glass in the vehicle cabin, certainly far less than one would expect given the size of the opening in the sunroof and the amount of glass missing. I have personally previously been in a vehicle whose side window was blown out from a vehicle kicked rock strike and in that case was showered with a lot of glass. Yesterdays catastrophic failure resulted in some glass intrusion into the passenger cabin at highway speeds, creating a severe distraction with sound was loud & sudden enough to potentially cause a loss of vehicle control. I am aware of similar reports regarding the 2023-2024 Sportage (and previous kia panoramic sunroof class actions) regarding the use of ceramic glazing or assembly stresses that contribute to such failures. I request an investigation into whether the current model's panoramic roof assembly is capable of withstanding extreme thermal differentials and body flex.

See all problems of the 2024 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

6” snow ice storm & negative degree temps 12/13/25 used heated windshield deicer. On 12/15 driving to work on a country road no other traffic, heard pop cracking noise above my head checked sunroof snow ice melting no visible cracks thought noise from thawing ice. Parked vehicle in my home garage while I went out of town. Returned home 12/22 found large crack origination point in front windshield originating in glass down the middle of rear view mirror sensor housing black box mounted on inner windshield the crack spans from top middle to bottom of black box glass over to right center half of windshield. Believe this is a manufacture defect design flaw low quality integrity of glass weaker than standard glass making it more susceptible to temperature changes or minor impact. Entire crack feels smooth interior exterior glass as if the crack is in the inner layers of glass windshield. Due to multi complaints & prior class action lawsuit regarding manufacture defect of kia windshields I am reporting my complaint as it is quite similar to others complaints, issues & lawsuits. The massive crack in windshield is a driving safety hazard & a manufacture defect that needs recalled & resolved before injury or death occurs. Kia must acknowledge, issue recall &/or post a bulletin, accept responsibility this is a manufactures defect, notify the public and replace the windshields under good faith customer relations warranty.

I turned on my vehicle and began driving in philadelphia. I noticed the dashboard where the speedometer was supposed to be was dark. The apple car play on the right side of the dashboard was on but no other components were visible. Such as turning signal, lane keep assist, speedometer, etc. I was on the highway and this was extremely scary. This vehicle has less then 200 miles. I’ve taken it to kia and they are looking into it. But this is a big concern. I have videos of this but it won’t let me add them to this file.

This morning, when I got into my 2023 kia Sportage hybrid sx-prestige to go to work, I started the car to let it warm up. Suddenly, I heard a noise that sounded as if something had fallen on the roof or struck the windshield. While the car was warming up, I was looking directly at the windshield and did not see anything hit it. I opened the sunshade to check the roof, but there was nothing there. A few minutes later, while driving, I heard a similar sound. Again, I looked around and saw no sign of debris. Shortly after, I noticed a crack forming at the bottom of the windshield. This was extremely surprising because I did not see anything strike my windshield while I was parked or driving. After researching online, I found that this seems to be a frequent issue with my particular model. I am concerned that this may be a stress crack caused by a manufacturing defect or an installation error.

See all problems of the 2023 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

I have had this truck to kia in clearwater 4 x for panel going black. No lights, air comes on and off by itself. No back up camera. This has been happening on this truck since I bought it. The mgr. Wade thinks I am crazy. There is a recall for the panel but not for my truck, why? no one will fix this truck. I am very disapointed with kia. I had a soul and traded up for these same reasons. 3 batteies in 4 months. Is there any recourse? [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

What I assume happened to my wiper blades: in December of 2024 we got a lot of heavy snow. I turned on my car to heat it up while I worked on cleaning off the outside of the car. My wipers were set to auto so the car automatically tried to clear the snow from the windshield. I did not notice this since they didn't move due to the snow weight. Once snow was removed I noticed the wipers did not work so I brought it in for the dealership to look at it. They determined that the gear had been stripped and needed to be replaced and informed me that this is not covered under warranty. Since the repair I have not driven the car in snow, no longer use the auto wiper function, and am sure to clean off all snow/ice before I turn the blades on. End of February I turned the wipers on to clean the windshield by pulling lever back. No fluid came out, the blades went back and forth a few times and then only one blade started coming up while the other lay in its off position. Determined that my car is not holding any wiper fluid (unsure if this was not connected properly during last repair). Have an appointment to get the car looked at again.

The contact owns a 2024 kia Sportage. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the windshield cracked. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer; the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

After owning our car for about a year when we started noticing abnormal pitting and chips in our windshield. I inquired to the dealership I bought it from and they said it was normal. Consequently the pits, chips and cracks got worse at an alarming rate. I took pictures from when the worst crack started and from February 2025 to August 2025 the crack has spread to 3/4 of my windshield. The windshield also rattles and whistles where the beginning of the crack is.

The sunroof spontaneously exploded. Sunroof was closed at the time. Ac on. Driving on the highway. Loud band and glass pieces rained down. Made it to the next exit to assess damage. No warning that this would happen. No debris hit the car. I have contacted my insurance about this, usaa. Kia said that they won’t cover this or repair for free. And in fact said that they haven’t heard of such a thing, though kia models have one of the highest chances of this happening.

See all problems of the 2017 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

Windshield chips and spiderwebs out very easily and without any major hits/bumps. Happened multiple occasions within one month which included a full windshield replacement. The windshield seems extremely delicate which poses a risk while driving. Kia has been accused of having defective windshields in other models.

Engine failure problem. Also, windshield just cracked for no reason and continously spreading.

The front windshield glass is very brittle compared to any other vehicle glass. This allows for frequent chips and cracks that are very costly to repair/replace.

On 4/42024 I was driving home and there was a mix of rain and snow. My riverside windshield wiper went out of sync and slammed into the passenger side damaging the blade, it then went over the edge and was stuck on the windshield frame overhanging the side view mirror. It made it very difficult to drive. When driving behind any other vehicle ot creates a scenario where you can't see how far or close you are to another vehicle. When I got to the dealership to have it looked at, they tried to blame it on a buildup of the wet snow that happened overnight. I cleared off my car completely before going to work. The fix was they had to tighten the linkage. While I was there, I overheard them complain in the service department that they had a lot of wiper related incidents that day.

Not really sure what happened, but last week the temperature suddenly dropped below freezing and there was ice built up on the windshield. We started the car and turned on the windshield defrost at high and we began to drive the car after the windshield was clear of ice and about 10 minutes later we noticed a crack develop on the windshield going from where the hot air from the defrost was hitting the windshield. And through out the day we noticed the crack grow exactly along the line where the defrost air would hit it. The crack is connected to a 2 mm round spot where a rock chip hit the windshield a few weeks ago but the crack seems to have started because of the temperature difference that was caused by the windshield defrost.

I purchased this car in October of 2022 it is less than a year old, this weekend the windshield spontaneously cracked on the lower passengers side in a straight thin line and has gotten bigger everyday, now exceeding 12 inches. The windshield was not impacted or hit in any way, the cracking occurring with no explanation and now requires a full replacement. . I believe I am not the only one having this problem and it’s a recall waiting to happen. I called the dealership to alert them of the problem and was hung up on twice, I am in the process of getting the car inspected and a replaced replaced by a glass repair shop/ my insurance.

I’m going to mall and then go to the store in route 61 in frackville PA the chips in road break my windshield is so much my phone number 570-789-9611 my name is ana reyes.

See all problems of the 2015 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

The panoramic sunroof spontaneously exploded on the highway. There were no other vehicles nearby that could have thrown any debris at my vehicle. The edges of the glass are pushed out as if the force came from inside the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2021 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

I was driving to work and suddenly my front windshield cracked. Not only did it crack, but it scared me as it sounded like a shotgun had gone off.

Automatic wiper does not work in rain.

Windshield cracking for no reason. No chips to signify it was hit. Noticed a zigzag on Friday 9/23 approximately 12" and this evening 9/24 has gone laterally an additional 6-8".

See all problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

On July 30, 2022 I took my car to greenway kia east orlando due to two traction warning lights that were on. After weeks and months of kia not knowing what was wrong with the car I was finally told that it was an electrical harness and that my warranty company was non responsive. I decided to call my warranty company and after back and forth they said they would not approve what kia wanted to do because they needed to fix the initial issue which I believe to be the same. The service manager from kia, gina carpio then told me there was nothing else they could do, so I asked them on December 14th to put my car back together the way that on dropped it off on July 30th so that I can pick it up and take somewhere else. A couple of months prior to this I asked them to do the same, since they couldn’t figure out what was wrong and their response at the time was that they couldn’t release the car to me because it was not safe to drive. Fast forward to December 16, 2022 when I picked up the car after almost five months I noticed that nothing on the console was working, so no ac, heat, defrost, radio, backup camera etc. I also noticed that the drivers side door would not open with the key fob or my hand and it looks like someone try to pry it open. When I told all of this to the service manager, gina carpio she didn’t know why anything wasn’t working so she called a tech and also told me she would order the part of my door that was prayed in, even though that isn’t the only issue with the door. So almost five months later I have a car that is in worse condition. I can’t see when it rains or is cold outside and I have to go in through the passenger side to unlock the drivers side door so I can get in.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

Driving on the freeway when the glass on the driver side passenger door suddenlty shattered into little pieces. The only portion of the window that remains is a small part on the bottom edge. The window was not hit with an object. The window was intact prior to this happening (no problem with the door either).

Windshield began to crack when the vehicle had approximately 500 miles. The windshield does not show impact from a rock or any object. The crack was noticed when getting into the vehicle, the crack did not occur while driving. Within a week the windshield showed extensive cracking within a short period of time, thereby preventing repair. The crack began on driver side and runs all the way to the bottom passenger side.

Driving down the highway with my two kids and little brother in the back seat leaving vacation. Nobody is in front of us and we are not under an overpass. We all hear what we thought was a shotgun being shot at us. It ended up being the panoramic sunroof, quite literally exploding on my brand new vehicle. (mileage was at 3450 when it happened). The glass is pointing outwards not inwards. Absolutely nothing hit my vehicle.

I purchased my 2022 kia Sportage on September 15, 2021. In February 2022, there was a deep freeze. When then weather warmed up, there was a crack in my windshield. I took the car in for it's 6 month service and the window was replaced. On christmas morning 2023, there was a crack in my windshield again. In the same place. Both times the crack started on the driver's side in the bottom black area of the windshield. We haven't had any deep freezes this winter. Now, I have to get the window replaced a second time. This time, I may have to pay for it, and I cannot and will not be able to come up with $1000 to have the window replaced. I will have to either not drive, or drive with it cracked. I am pointing this out because in all of my life, I have never experienced a cracked windshield. It seems very odd to have two cracked windshields in 1 year and 10 months. If kia's windshields are that fragile under normal driving conditions, then I feel that kia's windows are not safe if any normal road debris hits the windshield. I am experiencing a braking issue with my car as well that I filed under a different safety complaint. Between the thought of my windshield cracking while driving and my brakes slamming for no reason, I feel that my car has serious safety concerns.

See all problems of the 2022 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

I was sitting in my driveway in my car and the windshield started cracking from the bottom. The crack has spread in both directions across my windshield. Visibility is not as good as the crack is in my line of vision.

Rear hatch window shattered on bumper contact with a closed garage door from 6 inches. There was no damage to the aluminum garage door and no mark on the rear bumper. Car was put in reverse with foot on brake. Car idled into door when foot was removed from brake pedal.

See all problems of the 2020 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

Bought vehicle from team gunther kia - daphne, al. Vehicle arrived in colorado with illegally low tire tread depth and unusual rattling in the rear of vehicle which requires a heat shield replacement (i25 kia in colorado). Vehicle only has 23,000 miles. One owner, clean carfax report. Kia refuses to pay for heat shield replacement as vehicle ran out of warrant June of 2019 and 10 year powertrain warranty will not suffice despite incomplete sale (case number: 13917735). Tires should not have been so poor (hankook) at 4/32nds and extreme tire rot with only 23,000 original miles. Suspicious lack of documentation regarding odometer check that has delayed registration of vehicle in colorado. The vehicle condition upon arrival would have been an illegal sale in the state of colorado.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

The freezing point of the windshield washer fluid is too high. It froze while I was driving with outside temperature at 6 fahrenheit. Which made cleaning the windshield impossible and diminishing driving visibility because I couldn't use windshield washer fluid to clean the windshield. This was very dangerous and in all honesty downright scary. This was a brand new kia Sportage that had 5 miles when I picked it up from budget rental cars.

While driving down the highway about 65 mph, the sunroof exploded sending glass throughout the interior of the car. Nothing hit the car, no cars in front of the vehicle, didn't go under any overpass or signs, and there was no previous damage to the car. The temperature was in the 70's and a clear sunny day. The center of the sunroof has a large jagged hole in it, it appears the glass is bent upward as if it blown out, not in. Very fortunate there were no passengers in the back seat which was covered in glass and glass dust. Researching online, it appears this type of incident has been report numerous times. Fortunately control of the car was maintained and there were no serious injuries. I do have numerous photos of the roof.

I was driving down the highway and the sunroof exploded.

My sunroof shattered out of know where.

See all problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Sportage 🔎.

Sunroof exploded - I was travelling at approx. 60mph on a divided highway and the sunroof exploded causing small pieces of glass to fall into the vehicle.

Air conditioning / heat system leaks air onto front windshield causing fog on the inside/outside of front glass. Transmission does not engage full time while in motion. While driving forward, the engine will race and the transmission will become disengaged, within 20-90 seconds the transmission re-engages and you can proceed. This happens sometime while you are entering a highway from an on ramp as you accelerate into moving traffic. The transmission was replaced with a remanufactured transmission less than 6 months ago and the vehicle is starting, to show these same symptoms again. It happened while on 1-95 in the alexandria area of virginia, route 66 south, route 29 expressway in lynchburg, va just last week. I have brought this to the attention of the dealership and the manufacturer without action. This malfunction is a threat to the safety of the driver and occupants as well as other vehicles on the highway. Without the ability to maintain control of the vehicle it is possible to cause an accident.