10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 1
- Average Mileage:
- 47,253 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The incident happened as I backed out of my garage in March of 2016. I put the car into reverse and began to push the gas to back out. The car engine revved loudly and the car shot out of the garage. I put my foot on the brake and the car continued to accelerate. Thinking I possibly had my foot on the wrong pedal (even though I have never done that before), I looked down at my feet and verified that my foot was indeed on the brake and not the gas pedal. I then put both feet on the brake and the car still did not slow down; it continued to pick up speed. At this point, I had gone down my driveway across the street and was in my neighbors' driveway headed toward their house. Then, I tried putting the car in park and that still did not stop or even slow down the car. It just made a terrible noise. My next step would have been to pull the emergency brake, but I had already hit the outside wall of my neighbors' garage and that is when the car finally stopped and began idling normally. I towed it to the Kia dealership, and they said they ran tests on the brakes, throttle, etc. And found no abnormalities. When I asked what information was gathered from the control module, I was told that no history codes were shown. So, according to them there was no record of me braking or the car accelerating. I do not understand how that is possible. I asked twice for copies of the actual tests and data that was downloaded from the control module, but did not receive them. I was told the information was typed word for word in the summary section of the receipt. I am now looking for a new car, since I no longer feel safe driving this one and expressed this to the dealership and their corporate office. How can they allow a car back on the road when they don't have an answer for why it accelerated uncontrollably? I'm baffled by this. Unfortunately, my story is not unique.
- Romoland, CA, USA
Driver was in middle lane driving around 55 mph. For some unknown reason, driver lost control of vehicle. Car began flipping while still in the roadway, eventually hit a guard rail and continued flipping. Driver was ejected and killed. Airbags never deployed...updated 11/13/15.....updated 12/23/15 updated 1/11/2015 updated 9/17/2017
- Crosby, TX, USA
- Attleboro, MA, USA