Kia Stinger Problems — All Years, Common Issues & Reliability
Year-by-year breakdown of safety recalls, NHTSA owner complaints, reported deaths, injuries, crashes, and worst problem areas. Updated daily from federal databases.
Recent Safety Incidents — Last 5 Model Years
Own a Kia Stinger? Check your specific VIN for a full history report.
Kia Stinger — Year-by-Year Problem Comparison
| Year | Verdict | Recalls | Complaints | Crashes | Injuries | Deaths | Top Issue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026Best | Excellent | — | — | — | — | — | — | Full report → |
| 2025 | Excellent | — | — | — | — | — | — | Full report → |
| 2024 | Excellent | — | — | — | — | — | — | Full report → |
| 2023 | Good | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | Electrical System | Full report → |
| 2022 | Good | 1 | 9 | — | — | — | Unknown Or Other | Full report → |
| 2021 | Caution | 4 | 14 | 3 | — | — | Engine | Full report → |
| 2020 | Avoid | 6 | 23 | 1 | — | — | Electrical System | Full report → |
| 2019 | Avoid | 2 | 32 | — | — | — | Engine | Full report → |
| 2018Worst | Avoid | 3 | 43 | — | — | — | Engine | Full report → |
9 model years shown. Crashes, injuries, and deaths from NHTSA complaint filings. Click any year for full details.
Most Common Kia Stinger Problems
Based on 124 owner complaints filed with NHTSA across all model years.
Recent Safety Recalls — Kia Stinger (2022–2026)
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2019-2020 K900, and 2018-2023 Stinger vehicles equipped with a 3.3-liter turbo gasoline direct injection engine. The left turbocharger oil feed pipe and hose assembly may deteriorate and leak oil.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the left turbocharger oil feed pipe and hose assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 26, 2024. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC300.
Showing 1 recall from 2022–2026 model years. See the full year-specific pages for older recalls.
Recent Owner Complaints
Direct reports filed with NHTSA by Kia Stinger owners — 2022–2026 model years.
My 2022 Kia Stinger first went into the dealership because it would not accelerate properly even at full throttle, creating an immediate safety risk in traffic. Over multiple visits, the dealership replaced the ECM, ABS module, brake booster, vacuum pump, and a fuel injector, and confirmed repeated electrical shorts across major systems including throttle control, braking, and fuel delivery. Despite months of repairs, the loss of power, brake assist issues, ABS faults, and electrical failures continued, and the dealership never identified the root cause. The problems were reproduced and documented by the dealer, the vehicle was inspected multiple times on behalf of the manufacturer, and warning lights and drivability symptoms appeared before each failure. The vehicle is currently not in my possession, and all replaced components are available for inspection. The combination of engine hesitation, brake system failures, and repeated electrical shorts makes the vehicle unsafe and unreliable to operate.
Upon getting warranty repairs done to vehicle, the car started to glitch out the next day in the cabin with multiple electronics. Driver window switch was turning on and off, when it turned off, multiple electronics glitched out in the car. Brought back to dealership as multiple sources online said the driver's door switch was the reason for the glitches. Upon the dealership removing the door panel, they discovered the door switch short circuits and the plug burnt and melted the connector. Incident is definitely a fire risk as the connector is near cloth inside the panel and could've burnt the car to the ground if not addressed sooner. Multiple reports of this flickering door switch issue online, photos can be provided, dealership confirmed the issue, video evidence of the problem happening. Life was at disk due to drivers door possibly catching on fire trapping occupants inside. Problem was reproduced and diagnosed at dealership. Component failed: 2022-2023 Driver Door Window Master Switch Part number: 93570-J5002 I can provide documentation and photos upon request.
The paint on the vehicle is severely damaged, cracking components, fading paint all throughout the vehicle. The hood of the vehicle is showing severe fading, looks cloudy.
To whom it may concern, I spun out on the highway in slippery conditions and hit the guard rail, probably at 50-60mph and none of the airbags deployed. I contacted KIA and even though the car is located at their dealership they have not even bothered to move this along and get it inspected. The insurance company sent an estimator to check, and I am waiting to see if they would repair or total it, but Kia has not bothered so far to send a team. There were no symptoms before the accident that the car may malfunction at any point. At walked out of this not because the safety mechanisms did their job, it's by the grace of god.
The sunroof exploded without impact
Sunroof randomly shattered while driving.
After driving on the highway for approximately 20 miles with no warning lights illuminated or any signs of issue, the driver's door opened while driving at highway speeds. We were in a right hand turn on a highway exchange ramp at approximately 65 mph, when the door popped open an audible warning began to sound and visual door ajar warnings illuminated on the dash. This was not just an erroneous alarm of the door ajar alarm; the door came unlatched opening enough to see daylight around the seal. My wife immediately grabbed the door and pulled it shut while driving. After closing the door the audible and visual alarms extinguished. I witnessed the incident from the passenger seat and can verify she did not on purpose or by accident touch the interior door handle to release the latch. This occurred with the vehicle having approximately 6,000 miles on the odometer. Doors should not inadvertently pop open while driving, this puts us at extreme risk of injury or death. If this were to occur while someone was leaning against it the outcome could be fatal.
I have a vehicle that has a safety recall for the oil feed line that can leak and catch fire and Kia is refusing to perform the recall because my VIN is not in there system. I have the recall notice and the fact my car dies in fact need the recall work and have proved that to them and they still refuse to help
Having an issue with my driver’s door switch lighting and the changing of different ambient lighting colors. They seem to be related. About a few months into owning my car (purchased May 2021) I was driving to work at night and the lighting on the driver’s door switches would randomly all flicker off/on. There was no pattern and the duration of how long they were off would be a half second to upwards of a few seconds. Just by chance, I started messing with things in the infotainment screen and noticed my ambient lighting wouldn’t change sometimes and it gave me a body control module error. This has probably happened 7 times total from September 2021 to March 2023 where both the door switch lights and ambient lighting do this together but never have they done it separately. Took the car to VanDevere Kia in November 2021 and they couldn’t reproduce either error and there were no stored codes. They claim to have reset the pin tension on the harness for the switches and packed it with dilectric grease. March 25 2022, had the same issue driving home from work. Restarted the car and that stopped the door switches from flashing. However the infotainment screen said “vehicle system connection is unstable. Please try again later”. Ie., I tried to pick default blue option in ambient lighting, that error would pop up, but if I kept trying blue it would eventually select blue. Some colors would throw the error and some wouldn’t. This time there was no BCM error. Dealer replaced my driver door switch module April 27 2022 due to a short. I didn’t have issues with those lights flickering for 7 months then it came back. In March of 2023, (2) separate times at night I had all interior lights, including instrument cluster lighting, flick off then immediately back on. I have videos and dealer work orders. Several others have this issue located here: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Kia America is failing to address a significant defect in the sunroof of my Kia Stinger. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue with the company directly and using the BBB AUTO line I have received dismissive and unhelpful responses. Kia America is demonstrating a complete disregard for customer satisfaction and safety. The interior of my Kia Stinger has been producing an excessively loud and distracting noise since the day of purchase. I have contacted Kia America on numerous occasions to seek assistance and resolution. However, their response has been consistently unsatisfactory and dismissive of my concerns. In their latest communication, which I have attached for your reference, their representative has gone so far as to suggest that the noise is normal and imply that I should trade in my vehicle due to my dissatisfaction. This response is wholly inadequate and fails to address a clear defect in the sunroof and other potentially defective components. I have previously owned vehicles with sunroofs, and none of them exhibited such a disruptive noise. It is evident that there is a manufacturing or design flaw in the sunroof of my Kia Stinger, and Kia America's unwillingness to acknowledge and rectify the issue is deeply concerning. I believe this defect poses a significant safety risk. It is a safety risk because it sounds like the glass is banging against itself, which over time can create fatigue cracks damaging the glass. This may lead to premature wear to the point where the entire glass breaks, flies back and hits someone else or micro pieces may fall into the car and land into someone's eyes. The distracting noise from the sunroof can impair the driver's concentration, potentially leading to accidents or hazardous driving conditions. Furthermore, there has been other documented complaints of people's sunroofs blowing out; I am trying to avoid being the next victim. The defect compromises the overall quality and value of the vehicle.
Sunroof explosion
I brought my 2022 Kia Stinger GT -2 in to Greenway Kia, West Palm Beach FL on 02/20/2023 for routine maintenenace, check front end alignment and brake check as there was significant vibration while applying breaks and choppy breaking. The mileage is 4000 and driven primarily city/low speeds. Later that day I was told that the rotors needed to be resurfaced as they were warped. I questioned how a new $70,000 vehicle with low milage could have warped rotors this soon, as I work from home and rarely drive it. I was told by the service manager that this was a design flaw in the Kia Stinger and the vehicle should have been fitted with high performance slotted rotors by the manufacturer. I was charged $425 for the resurfacing because the 12/12 waranty has expired on the exact day the car was brought in for service. I stated that 12/20/23 does not end until midnight and I should not be charged anything for a design flaw in the vehicle, particularly a safety flaw involving the breaking system. The service manager stated that they have had similar issues with the Stinger GT with low milage as well and that I would have to file a compliant with Kia Motors. I do not beleive that I should have been charged anything for this repair and that the vehicle Stingers should be recalled due to being a safety hazard to owners as well as other motorist's on the roads. A high performance vehicle; 6 cylinder twin turbo with 368 HP 3.3 L engine should have appropriate and safe breaking system to stop the vehicle. Aside from the vehicle being unsafe with innapropriate rotors I believe that I was intentionally ripped off by KIA Motors, Greenway KIA or both. I advise all vehicle consumers to consider these facts before purchasing a high performance Stinger, or fo rthat matter any KIA product
17 total complaints retrieved from NHTSA for 2022–2026. For older model years, see individual year pages.
Stinger Years to Avoid
Best Stinger Years to Buy
Kia Stinger Problems by Year
Frequently Asked Questions — Kia Stinger Reliability
What year Stinger has the most problems?
Based on NHTSA data, the 2018 Kia Stinger had the highest combined complaint and recall count — 43 complaints and 3 safety recalls. See the full 2018 report for specific defects.
Is the Kia Stinger reliable?
The Kia Stinger has accumulated 124 owner-filed complaints and 17 safety recalls across all model years in NHTSA's database. The 2026 model year shows the fewest reported issues. Always run a VIN check before purchasing any used Stinger.
What are the most common Stinger problems?
The most frequently cited problem areas are: Engine (28 reports), Electrical System (22 reports), Fuel/Propulsion System (11 reports), Service Brakes (11 reports). Based on NHTSA complaints across all model years.
How do I check if my Stinger has an open recall?
Use the vehicle's 17-character VIN at VinCheckEngine.com. Our free VIN report pulls the latest NHTSA recall data along with auction history, odometer records, and 30+ intelligence signals.
Check a Specific Kia Stinger VIN
Model-level data shows what can go wrong. A VIN-specific report shows what has gone wrong with a particular vehicle — including auction history, odometer discrepancies, open recalls, accident records, and 30+ intelligence signals.
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