1999 Kia Sportage — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 481 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Engine62 (12.9%)Official recall records for this system: 17, covering model years 2011–2020.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)61 (12.7%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2023.
• Brakes48 (10.0%)Official recall records for this system: 15, covering model years 1998–2023.
• Electrical system43 (8.9%)Official recall records for this system: 19, covering model years 1997–2026.
• Fuel system42 (8.7%)Official recall records for this system: 8, covering model years 2000–2018.
• Body & structure31 (6.4%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2023–2024.

Other / uncategorized: 14 classifications (2.9%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (9,334 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, electrical system and brakes.
• Safety recalls (125 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, brakes and lights.
• Transport Canada recalls (118 records, model years 2000–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, electrical system and brakes.
• Manufacturer communications (2,597 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, engine and equipment & accessories.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 72reports included a mileage
• 84,434average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 1995 67 records for 1995 67
2. 1996 70 records for 1996 70
3. 1997 198 records for 1997 198
4. 1998 326 records for 1998 326
5. 1999 310 records for 1999 310
6. 2000 330 records for 2000 330
7. 2001 246 records for 2001 246
8. 2002 251 records for 2002 251
9. 2005 114 records for 2005 114
10. 2006 144 records for 2006 144
11. 2007 113 records for 2007 113
12. 2008 129 records for 2008 129
13. 2009 107 records for 2009 107
14. 2010 50 records for 2010 50
15. 2011 371 records for 2011 371
16. 2012 586 records for 2012 586
17. 2013 560 records for 2013 560
18. 2014 313 records for 2014 313
19. 2015 307 records for 2015 307
20. 2016 265 records for 2016 265
21. 2017 601 records for 2017 601
22. 2018 304 records for 2018 304
23. 2019 159 records for 2019 159
24. 2020 259 records for 2020 259
25. 2021 125 records for 2021 125
26. 2022 100 records for 2022 100
27. 2023 264 records for 2023 264
28. 2024 102 records for 2024 102
29. 2025 58 records for 2025 58
30. 2026 52 records for 2026 52

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 27mention a crash
• 3mention a fire
• 14mention an injury
• 1mention a fatality

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 5
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 13
• Investigations NHTSA 8
• Owner complaints NHTSA 284

Explore the underlying evidence records