This car has had a series of electrical issues in the first year of use. 1. The main battery needed to be replaced 6/2025 2. The 12 V battery needed to be replaced 6/2205 3. 7/2026 There is an electrical issue that causes the right headlight to go out and all the indicator lights to be set-off, which prevents certain safety functions. This has been evaluated be an independent Bodyshop, which changed a part. Then 3 visits to the Kia dealer where another part was changed. After 4 visits and 2 parts, the problem occurred again. I've asked Kia to buy out the lease and they have not. This car is under warranty, but not fixed
Lights
Kia EV9 Lighting problems by year
8 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Kia EV9's lights. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.
Lighting complaints by model year
| Year | Lighting complaints | Crashes | Injuries | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Latest EV9 lighting complaints
On my 2024 Kia EV9 GT-Line, the front illuminated digital pattern acrylic/plastic grill panel suffered a catastrophic structural failure, resulting in a complete blowout and puncture hole under normal driving conditions. The panel fractured and shattered completely while driving on standard paved roads, with zero history of front-end collisions, low-speed impacts, or road debris strikes. This indicates a severe material strength, thermal stress, or structural design defect where the acrylic housing cannot withstand...
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normal operational driving forces. Given its placement over critical forward-facing ADAS sensors, cameras, and electrical lighting elements, this open hole and structural failure presents a severe safety, sensor compromise, and moisture/debris intrusion hazard. I am submitting this report to document the defect and wish to cross-reference existing complaint number 11589157, as multiple owners are experiencing identical structural failures of the illuminated grill panel under normal driving conditions. Requesting a federal investigation into material durability and a manufacturer-backed recall.
The display for the instrument cluster is completely blank, or shows unrelated information after starting the car and shows none of the vital information about the car's operation or status. After leaving the car off for 30 minutes, the instrument cluster display began functioning normally. This was the subject of a 2024 October recall which we got dealer service for but the issue is not resolved.
For the second time in a week, the instrument panel went completely blank. This meant it was not possible to see speed, etc. The multimedia display panel in the center of the dash continued to work fine. The first time this happened last week, the problem resolved itself after the vehicle was turned off for 2 hours. Many others have reported this problem over the past month here: [[redacted]] I have had this vehicle for more than 3 months and last week was the first time this happened, but it happened again today. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2024 Kia EV9. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the turn signals became inoperable while attempting to switch lanes. The contact stated that the instrument panel was also inoperable. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The main display of the vehicle which shows Speed, Range, Blind Spot Cameras, etc - essentally all the critical vehicle information needed to drive - goes blank randomly. While the vehicle is driveable during this time, the driver does not know their speed, range, any other alerts/warnings that would typically be shown on the guage screen (including seatbelt warnings, mechanical failure warnings etc). During this time the climate screen and infotainment screens, which are seperate, function but the main guage...
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screen does NOT. There is no pattern/predictablity as to when the screen will be unavailable. Further, it does not seem to return until the vehicle is parked and locked for an extended period (eg, several hours).
Without any previous warning signs or issues, the dashboard screen went blank. I was unable to see my speed, or use my signals and wipers. I tried turning the car on and off and it still wasn't fixed. I was able to drive the car home and my infotainment system still operated but the screen with the important info is broken.
The automatic high-beam system in my 2024 EV9 is not sensitive enough to dim the headlights for traffic. Quite frequently it will just leave the brights on even though there is obviously traffic in the way. It does this for oncoming traffic, traffic moving in the same direction ahead of me, and crossing traffic. It does dim the lights only under some circumstances and is very inconsistent. This puts other drivers at risk because the LED headlights are extremely bright in the high beam setting and will blind other...
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drivers. I have had numerous other cars with auto high beam systems that are much more sensitive and work properly. It appears as if the system doesn't have any issues, as there are no warning lights and it behaves like this all of the time.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data