Electrical system

Kia Rio Electrical problems by year

159 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Kia Rio's electrical system. Dead batteries, warning lights, wiring, alternators, infotainment and electronic module failures.

Electrical complaints by model year

'00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 27'13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18 '19 '20 '21 '22 '23

Year	Electrical complaints	Crashes	Injuries
2023	2	0	0
2022	1	0	0
2021	1	0	0
2020	5	0	0
2019	1	0	0
2018	5	0	0
2017	3	0	0
2016	9	0	0
2015	9	0	2
2014	5	0	0
2013	27	0	1
2012	6	0	0
2011	5	0	0
2010	4	0	0
2009	2	0	0
2008	1	0	0
2007	8	0	0
2006	3	1	0
2005	4	0	0
2004	6	0	0
2003	15	0	0
2002	12	0	1
2001	25	2	1

Latest Rio electrical complaints

2016 Kia Rio Electrical system Engine & coolingFire

While driving at highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly began bucking, lost power, and lost oil. The engine compartment immediately caught fire. The fire was entirely non-collision related and required immediate extinguishing. The incident was logged by the Washington State Patrol. The vehicle was towed and subsequently inspected by a certified Kia dealership. The Kia dealership technicians officially diagnosed the cause of the fire as a catastrophic internal engine failure, specifically noting in writing that they...

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"found hole in engine block." They noted there was no other possible causation. This spontaneous engine failure and resulting fire occurred at approximately 99,000 miles. The vehicle is currently disabled and available for inspection upon request.

2022 Kia Rio Electrical system Driver assistance

The rear camera fails to function most of the time. It is a safety issue because I am unable to see cars or objects behind me when I am backing up. I am also unable people passing behind me when I am backing out of a parking space in a parking lot.

2020 Kia Rio Electrical system Seats & seat belts

My 2020 Kia Rio S caught fire spontaneously while parked and unattended for 5 hours at my work parking lot. The vehicle was turned off and had not been involved in a collision. I was notified of the fire after it had already started. The fire caused catastrophic damage to the passenger compartment and resulted in a total loss of the vehicle. Component/system suspected: The exact component that initiated the fire has not yet been determined. Based on the circumstances, I am concerned about a possible vehicle...

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electrical or mechanical failure, but I do not want to speculate as to the cause without investigation reports. The vehicle was subsequently taken to a salvage/inspection facility. I am currently determining whether it remains available for inspection. Safety risk: The vehicle caught fire while parked without an apparent external cause. The fire became extensive enough to destroy the passenger compartment and vehicle. This created a significant fire hazard to nearby vehicles, property, and people. Had the vehicle been parked in a garage or other enclosed area, or had someone been inside or near the vehicle when the fire began, the potential consequences could have been severe. Reproduction/confirmation: The problem has not been reproduced by a Kia dealer or independent repair facility. The vehicle was destroyed by the fire and declared a total loss. Inspections: Boise Fire Department responded to the vehicle fire. Progressive Insurance subsequently inspected/handled the vehicle and classified the loss as a non-collision total burn/total loss. I have requested the complete Boise Fire Department records and additional records from Progressive concerning any investigation into the origin and cause of the fire. Kia has not yet inspected the vehicle to my knowledge. Warnings/symptoms before the fire: There were no warning lights, messages, smoke, unusual odors, electrical problems, noises or any other symptoms I was aware of. No after market electronics or anything.

2018 Kia Rio Electrical system Airbags Engine & cooling

The Components that have malfunctioned are the airbags, exaust system, electrical systems, sensors, gaskets, and a few other things. We had 5 failed clockspring repairs. The first (3?) under warranty, we paid for another when they said it was our fault, then that mechanic said that it needed to go back to a dealership because it was defective. I advocated for months for it to be evaluated. No one at kia helped me despite this being a repeat warranty issue. I finally found a shop that would waive a diagnostic and he...

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confirmed the issues atleast with the airbags- however in order to fully diagnose the engine they also needed to replace parts in order to perform an oil consumption test. While the represenative did approve the repairs for the airbag, they have not given the dealership an answear about ANYTHING engine related- we need an answear if we should be waiting or having it towed out of there. They have had it for a month. We repeatedly try to get ahold of them but they ignore when we call or email them. The represenative also made sexist comments about "being a woman" and its clear our safety concerns are not being handled serioursly. Just like with the inside, we get codes for certian parts but not all the other parts that go bad. You can not just hook it up to a computer and see what is wrong because of all the issues with the sensors (all reported under warranty and never fixed). The car goes through over 30 quarts of oil in between changes, and we belive that the tempterature sensors do not actually work because there is an EXCESSIVE amount of heat that comes off the engine. The clockspring turned into steering colums, a seat, electrical. Otherwise we can not drive the car anyways and would be happy to hand it over to be dismantled and inspected if the NHSTA would be willing to do that- the car is INCREDIBLY defective. I am INCREDIBLY scared if I have to drive off with this thing. Its an absolute safety hazzard weather or not the computer is flagging it.

2018 Kia Rio Electrical system Airbags

Took my car in as the airbag light on the dashboard kept turning on and off- with or without a passenger in the seat. The dealership ran a diagnostic inspection and turns out that the passenger side OCS Mat and ECU are faulty and need to be replaced (DTC codes B176700 and B17672F). I have not been in a crash and there are no obvious signs of damage to the seat that might have caused this. There's no active recall for this but it does seem that one other person has reported issues with the passenger airbag system...

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and I know other Kia models have had recalls in the past. The car had about 90,000 miles on it when this issue started and it's up to date on all maintenance but I was quoted over $3000 to fix this which is essentially the value of my car now, totaling the vehicle even though it has no other issues. This is a major safety issue, when you buy a car you expect that the airbags and corresponding electrical equipment last you for the life of the car or until there is an accident.

2018 Kia Rio Electrical system Airbags Engine & cooling

The first problem part is the airbag. The clockspring was fixed twice under warranty. Then the dealership said they wont keep doing it and blamed me wrongly. I had a private mechanic repair the same part twice due to the code it was giving but it turns out thats not what's wrong with it. The entire airbag and electrical components are bad, that is why the two repairs the dealership as well as the private mechanic made did not work. We also have some engine problems they wont continue to fix because my warranty is...

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now surpassed. The car burns through 20 quarts of oil in between changes, it has no leaks. It has so much carbon buildup. They replaced a gasket and thats another part that has continually needed replaced but they did not fix the issue that has caused it to go bad. When the small mechanics hear about the issue they are confused because the type of motor I have was recalled in other cars for the same issues. My car just recently surpassed the warranty, I should not be having to still fight the dealership to have a car in working condition for the same problems they kept putting bandaid on during warranty repairs.

2013 Kia Rio Electrical systemFire

Was sleeping and heard a pop looked and there was a fire under the hood tried to extinguish it got it outside on the road, and it burned to the ground basically

2013 Kia Rio Steering Electrical system Engine & cooling

Case numberODI11697241

2013 Kia Rio Steering Electrical system Brakes

Vehicle showed all defect warnings as described in recall #23v652 .To include loss of all hydraulic components. Your reference Claim # [[redacted]]. I would like to know the status of this claim as the dealer still has my vehicle and now claims needs chassis repair , even though they earlier did an undercoat of vehicle in July per another recall. The dealer now estimates the repairs at over $5800 . Since they have had vehicle over 6 months and all my quote s to repair and held because of further defects, I wonder if this is a scam to defraud people thru your recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

2015 Kia Rio Electrical system Engine & cooling Fuel systemFire

tHE ENTIRE CAR FAILED. cAUGHT ON FIRE FROM THE CONSOLE AND PASSENGER SEAT WHILE DRIVING ON 1-15 . 8.15.2025 . Car filled wit black moke and fire.l was driving blind. brakes failed, power failed, burning the entire time. I somehow got out of burning vehicle and ran about 100 yards and watched the car explode!! Had car tuned up at Findlay Honda whede it was bought, 4 months ago, and they said it was fine... fire and police both told me i should not be here. Since, my life is in shambles. No car, no ID for a...

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motnh, no license for 3 weeks. I bought car in 2023--- car was recalled in 2020. But was it and if it was, why did this EXACT problem occur? Someone must be responsible. On anxiety pillxs

2013 Kia Rio Electrical system Engine & cooling

Car started smoking while drive, lucky I was already pulling in my driveway.

2013 Kia Rio Electrical system Engine & coolingFire

On July 17, 2025, shortly before 4am, my son's 2013 Kia Rio caught fire, while sitting in the driveway turned off, and was totally destroyed. The car was parked in the driveway at his house and there were not any warning signs before it happened. On June 10, 2024 we had the HECU fuse replaced through a recall that could cause a fire. After we had it "fixed" we had no idea that it could still catch on fire! My son could have been in the car when this happened or other structures could have caught on fire! The fire...

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department was called to put the fire out and the car was inspected by Kia and by our insurance company. Kia does not care that we had the part replaced and that the car STILL caught on fire. They have stated that they will not do one thing about it. They didn't offer a rental car, removal of the burned car or any money to replace the car. I do not know how they get away with this especially when the fire inspector for Kia told me that they knew that changing the fuse wasn't a "fix" but it would hopefully short the fuse before a fire would start! So they knew it was still possible! Kia should not be allowed to manufacture cars!! As of the past week, Kia will not even return my phone calls.

2016 Kia Rio Electrical system Engine & coolingFire

I was driving when my Kia stalled and shut off but was still playing music and driving. So I pulled over and then my Kia caught on fire and went up in flames.

2013 Kia Rio Electrical system

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Rio. The contact stated that after receiving a notice of a recall, the vehicle was taken to a local dealer for the recall repair; however, several days later, the contact experienced intermittent difficulty starting the vehicle. Additionally, the vehicle occasionally stalled while coming to a stop. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the battery was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 157,000.

2020 Kia Rio Electrical systemFire

I went into a rural King store to shop when I came back out my car was completely filled with smoke. I opened the front passengerdoor and the smoke hit me in the face it was so thick and green it was just it took my breath. It took me 10 minutes to locate what had happened and down on the door frame of the passenger side of the front seat where the wiring is there was a whole melted all the way through that panel and you could see the wiring was exposed so I assume that the wiring had caught on fire. I'm not sure...

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about this it has been looked at and it is at Jeff Wilder Toyota in Clarksville Indiana. They want me to pay $1,000 deductible for this but I feel like if it was a wiring issue key is should be responsible. I am going through a flood right now in my home and now I have to deal with that and I don't think I'm even responsible for the payment I think he is at the cover it.

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