8 recalls covering model years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. To check whether your vehicle is affected, look up your 17-character VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls — a recall may apply only to some vehicles of a given year.
A damaged valve in the fuel system on these Kia K5 cars can let air into the gas tank. The extra air makes the tank swell until it touches hot exhaust parts underneath, and that heat can melt the tank. A melted tank can leak gasoline, and leaking gas near hot exhaust parts can start a fire. The dealer will replace the valve, inspect the fuel tank, and replace the tank if it is damaged — all free. Owner letters were mailed January 16, 2026.
The trim pieces along the outside of the rear windows, on the pillars behind the back doors, may not stay attached. On some cars the left and right pieces can work loose and fall off the vehicle while you are driving. A piece of trim in the roadway can strike or startle the drivers behind you. A dealer will inspect the trim assemblies on both sides of the car and replace them if necessary, at no cost.
A software error in a control computer on some 2025 Kia K5 sedans can make the parking lights flicker instead of glowing steadily. Parking lights help other people see your car, especially in the dark or when you are stopped at the roadside, so lights that blink or fail to light properly make your car harder to notice. The fix is a free software update, done either at a dealer or sent to the car over the air.
The side curtain airbags, which drop down along the windows to protect your head in a side crash or rollover, may have been put in incorrectly at the factory. Because of that, they may not open the way they are supposed to when a crash happens. You would have no way of knowing there is a problem until it is too late. Kia dealers will inspect the airbags and reinstall them correctly if needed, and the work costs you nothing.
These Kia vehicles have a backup mode that is supposed to let you keep driving slowly if the transmission's oil pump acts up. On the recalled vehicles that backup mode may not work, so instead of limping along you could lose drive power completely and the vehicle would coast to a stop. A Kia dealer will check the transmission and replace it if needed, and will also update the transmission's software. Everything is done free of charge.
These cars and SUVs have a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine. Gasoline can leak from the spot where the high-pressure fuel pump connects to the fuel rail, the pipe that carries fuel to the engine. Fuel escaping into a hot engine bay can start a fire. A dealer will look at that connection and either tighten it or put in a new fuel pipe, at no cost to you. Kia mailed notices to owners in July 2021.
These K5s use an electric power steering system that cannot detect certain internal communication faults. If one of those faults happens while you are going around a curve with Lane Following Assist switched on, the power assist may not adjust the way it should, and the steering wheel can suddenly become much harder to turn. A sharp change in steering effort in the middle of a corner can catch you off guard and pull you off your intended path. A dealer reprograms the steering software.
The sensor in the front passenger seat that decides whether someone is sitting there may fail to recognize a child restraint seat, so these vehicles do not meet the federal rule for occupant crash protection. If the system does not detect the child seat, the front passenger airbag can stay switched on and inflate during a crash. A front airbag going off right next to a child sitting in a child seat can seriously injure that child. Dealers will replace the sensor unit.
Complaints owners have filed with NHTSA about the Kia K5. These are unverified reports; better-selling years collect more.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| 2022 | 125 | 14 | 4 | 18 |
| 2023 | 106 | 6 | 0 | 17 |
| 2024 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
Recalls and complaint record for one model year at a time: