NHTSA has received 38 owner complaints about the 2026 Kia Sportage, or 38.0 per year on the road — a typical number of complaints (complaint index 0.94, where 1.00 is the average of all tracked vehicles). Among the 73 model-year 2026 vehicles we track, it ranks #59 of 73 by complaints per year (#1 = fewest). Against other Kia models its rate is 9% higher; against other Compact SUVs it is 37% lower.
Counts are normalized by time on the road, not by sales volume: a popular model generates more reports than a rare one, and complaints are not verified individually. How we count
Complaints filed between 2025-07-29 and 2026-10-13. Median delay from incident to filing: 11 days.
38Complaints
38.0Complaints per year on the road
0.94Complaint index vs. all tracked vehicles
1Recalls
13.2%Share involving a crash or fire
37Last 12 months
Analysis
The previous model year (2025) drew 39.7 complaints per year, about the same.
The most common problem area is Brakes (21.1% of complaints), followed by Electrical (18.4%) and Unspecified or other (18.4%). Brakes complaints are 3.5 times as common here as across all tracked vehicles. 5 reports (13.2%) describe a crash or fire; owners mention 1 injury and 0 deaths.
Half of the reported incidents happened within 4 months of the model year's start; the busiest period was the first year (100% of incidents). In the last 12 months 37 new complaints were filed, versus 1 in the 12 months before — up 3,600%.
As the vehicle ahead of me began braking, I attempted to slow down accordingly. Despite applying the brake pedal, my vehicle did not decelerate as expected. The brake went down to the floor without resistance.
Brakes · 2026-10-13 · ODI 11770930 · Crash
The contact owns a 2026 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that his wife had driven for 6.5 hours at 35-70 MPH with the seat heater activated, the seat heater overheated.
Other · 2026-09-16 · ODI 11764801
I am writing to formally report a severe and life-threatening safety defect regarding my 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid. On September 28, 2026 around 8 am, I experienced a terrifying Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) event while operating the vehicle.
Brakes · 2026-10-01 · ODI 11768268
Vehicle: 2026 Kia Sportage X-Line HybridVIN: [XXX] Complaint – Unexpected Forward Collision-Avoidance Emergency Braking I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious safety incident involving my 2026 Kia Sportage X-Line Hybrid.
Driver-assist systems · 2026-09-29 · ODI 11767671
Vehicle experiences intermittent stalls when accelerating at freeway speeds. This is my second NHSTA report on this vehicle. Kia replaced the engine to try to fix the problem but it persists.
Engine · 2026-09-24 · ODI 11766698
Excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length. The ODI number is NHTSA's record identifier.
Summary: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2025 Kia K4, 2025-2026 Sorento, Sorento Hybrid, Sorento Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV), 2026 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid, Sportage PHEV, K5, EV9, Carnival, and Carnival Hybrid vehicles. Due to a software error, the instrument panel display may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 101, "Controls and Displays" and 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring System."
Risk: An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer, tire pressure, or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy: The instrument panel display software will be updated over-the-air (OTA) or by a dealer, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 26, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC361. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 9, 2026.
