2011 Kia Sportage
This year drew an ordinary 181 complaints for a Kia Sportage — the model's median is 98. What they were about is the unusual part: 10.5% of them mention switch, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Kia Sportage was redesigned for 2011. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 181 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 98 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- switch — 10.5% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation (6.4×). Owners wrote it as: switch, lamp, brake light, pretty.
- cruise — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 0.8% across the other years of this generation (10.5×). Owners wrote it as: cruise, brake lights, inability, increase.
- shift — 12.2% of this year's complaints, against 4.1% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: shift, stuck, pushed, car park.
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 TRANSMISSION GEAR SHIFT WAS STUCK AND WOULD NOT MOVE. THE CONTACT HAD TO HIT THE GEAR SHIFT BUTTON IN ORDER FOR IT TO OPERATE. IN ADDITION, THE RADIO MALFUNCTIONED AND WOULD NOT WORK AND THE KEY WAS STUCK IN THE IGNITION. THE CONTACT HAD TO HIT THE KEY WIT…
BRAKE LIGHTS INOPERABLE, ESC INOPERABLE, CRUISE CONTROL INOPERABLE, TRANSMISSION STUCK IN PARK. UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE I NOTICED 2 WARNING LIGHTS REMAIN LIGHTED. I LOOKED IN THE MANUAL OF THE VEHICLE AND LEARNED THE WARNING LIGHTS FOR THE ESC. I CONTINUED T…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V907000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 19V101000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V224000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V114000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 15V360000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V652000 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 2011 Kia Sportage? What happened to yours?
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