Kia Seltos Engine Problems
340 owner complaints filed with NHTSA across 5 model years.
Complaints by Year
Worst year: 2021. Best year: 2025.
Owner Reports
A representative sample of complaints filed with NHTSA.
I had two incidents with the Kia listed above involving the feature where the engine stops when at a light, and then turns back on when foot is removed from brake. The first instance happened in a parking lot while I was maneuvering int...
Car cutoff. Started back up to get off interstate. Saw smoke under hood and got it. Within 5 min sparks under the frame and then 10-15 min later flames
My 2022 Kia Seltos out of nowhere started smoking, losing power, total control and braking. There were no lights on the dashboard warning of any kind complete stall than a little bit of power hesitation stall no brakes. I managed to coas...
The engine started to fail when I'm driving and on the highway it suddenly loses strength, the oil goes down and I don't know where it's going, the engine starts to make noises and burning smell, the ignition light turns on and minutes l...
The contact owns a 2021 Kia Seltos. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, there was white smoke coming from the engine, before the engine caught on fire. After the failure, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The conta...
I had my car to a reliable mechanic who informed me of open recalls on my vehicle. The next morning, while I was driving, the engine started making a noise and I called a local Kia dealership. I was making arrangements to bring the car i...
My vehicle was sent to the Kia dealership for service after a front-end collision there was minor body damage however the car wouldn't move so long story short a modular had to be replaced on the transmission there was multiple issues tr...
Purchased kia in 2021- Car was taken in on April 24 for a recall. I was originally told the recall would take 2 weeks if it failed now South Hills Kia along with Kia can tell me anything. We are 2 weeks in the car I need to drive my elde...
Daughter driving back to college from home in her new 2024 Kia Seltos. We leased this vehicle for her for reliability and dependability throughout her years at college. 9 months into lease, 10,000 miles her car started smoking from eng...
The car initially had electrical and engine issues since may of 2022. The engine would fail mid drive and the car would turn of in the middle of driving and would lock up until engine would restart on its own. It stayed at the dealership...
ON 11/26/22 I was driving down the road my Kia Seltos showed error messages on the dashboard saying ERROR and then Power Train off, the car then shut off at 55 mph and smoke filled my cabin, I got the car pulled over and called the fire ...
The contact leased a 2021 Kia Seltos. The contact stated that while his son was driving in traffic, he heard an abnormal banging noise and noticed smoke emerging from the engine compartment. The driver was able to pull off the road and e...