2009 Kia Sportage
This year drew an ordinary 80 complaints for a Kia Sportage — the model's median is 111. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.3% of them mention condition, against 0.5% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Kia Sportage, which began in 2005 and ran to 2010. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 80 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 111 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- condition — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 0.5% across the other years of this generation (13.9×). Owners wrote it as: condition, times since.
- position — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: position, limit, own 2009.
- above — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.2% across the other years of this generation (5.4×). Owners wrote it as: above, axle, garaged.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
The frame has rusted out on this vehicle. The passenger side frame above the rear axle is completely rusted out. I can put my thumb through the rear frame on the driver's side. The exhaust system on this vehicle is still intact - ironic that the frame would ru…
AIRBAG ABOVE PASSENGER CURTAIN HAS DEFECTIVE MODULE. VEHICLE HAS ONLY 53375 MILES ON IT, IS ALWAYS GARAGED. KIA HAS ISSUED 507,000 VEHICLE RECALL FOR AIRBAGS DEFECTS, GOING BACK TO YEAR 2010. NORMAL WARRENTY IS 5 YEARS OR 60,000 MILES. KIA TOLD ME I AM NOT A L…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V815000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 13V114000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 22V800000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Sportage was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Kia Sportage? What happened to yours?
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