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EnginePart report

2016 Kia Sportage Engine Problems

Complaints
62about this part
Share
46%of 134 total for the year
Median mileage
82,120miles
Trend
StableComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are within 25% of the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 62 complaints about the engine of the 2016 Kia Sportage, 46% of the 134 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 82,120 miles. 3 a fire, according to the filers. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Car began making a rattling noise in the engine then immediately stopped running while I was driving. Luckily I was on a county road and coasted in to a driveway. I had the car towed to my house where it still resides and fearing it is a rod bearing failure in the motor.”

NHTSA complaint #11404008, filed 2021-03, 2 miles

“My car wouldn't run right we took it in they said it was the cran sensor charged 900 to fix it. Then that didn't work now it is the engine harness and they want 3400 to fix it. If I say fix it what will be next. They don't want ot repair it just replace”

NHTSA complaint #11253432, filed 2019-09, 72,000 miles

“Our 2016 Kia Sportage began emitting light smoke out of the exhaust. We became concerned and asked out dealer to look into things. The dealership said they needed to do tests (this consisted of filling the oil up and asking us to drive 1500miles) we did as they asked and pithing 700mile the engine started to make clacking noises and on 2 occasions lost power. We returned the car to the dealership stating our concerns, they wanted to repeat the test but we refused to drive the car. …”

NHTSA complaint #11209271, filed 2019-05, 60,000 miles

“My husband and I were driving our 2016 Kia Sportage that we had bought on 05/23/2018 (just made the first payment the day before) to myrtle beach sc, we heard a pop, I lost function to the gas, pulled to the side of the road and popped the hood to find fire flames coming from the engine. We grabbed what we could out of our car and ran as far away as we could. It wasn't even 2 minutes later and the whole car was in flames and everything was destroyed. All that was left was the frame of the car. …”

NHTSA complaint #11105067, filed 2018-07, 53,200 miles

“I own a 2016 Kia Sportage and in january 2019 on a trip to a nearby town the car engine started to catch. At this time the car only had about 29,000 miles on it and had the oil changed about 4 weeks prior. My husband checked the all the fluids and found the car had very little oil in it. We were surprised since no warning lights ever came on and we had just change the oil. He put oil in it and watched it and again 2 weeks later there was very little oil in the car. I took it to the dealer and explain all of this. …”

NHTSA complaint #11276987, filed 2019-10, 29,000 miles

Related recalls

Related service bulletins

Engine: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2025713%
20241115%
20233820%
20222146%
20212343%
20207948%
20193752%
20189155%
201722255%
20166246%
20158458%
20147358%
201330179%
201232884%
20117743%
2010210%
20091013%
20081717%
2007810%
20061514%
200511%
200221%
200110%
200021%
199921%
199821%

Other parts of the 2016 Kia Sportage

Brakes
38 complaintsOther or unknown
18 complaintsElectrical system
17 complaintsFuel system
9 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
8 complaintsVehicle speed control
7 complaintsAir bags
5 complaintsSteering
4 complaintsBody and structure
4 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
4 complaintsEngine cooling
3 complaintsExterior lighting
3 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2016 Kia Sportage

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology