Steering wheel jammed in cold weather specially in morning, very hard to turn

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

This has been going on for 2 years and I have contacted and gone to dealership with no satisfaction. While driving in wet conditions, the steering wheel will lock up, battery light will come on, car sometimes stalls and there is a high pitch squeal near right front wheel. I have read and printed many reports from online complaints where customers are saying same thing happens to them. I also have video that I took this morning on the way to work to document what happens because trying to recreate the problem at a dealership by spraying water on it does not help. I showed a co-worker the video this morning and he said for me to keep it because if something happens to me while driving in the rain, perhaps this will help the lawsuit. I reported this originally in 2017 but has occurred every time I drive in the rain. This morning was the most recent and I fear for my safety driving this car. Does someone need to get killed before anything gets addressed"?"

- Kernersville, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Kia Sportage. While driving various speeds on wet road surfaces, the steering wheel locked and the battery and other unknown warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to bob king Kia (1725 link rd, winston-salem, nc 27103 (336) 724-3866) where the failure was unable to be duplicated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Kernersville, NC, USA

I own a 2007 Kia Sportage LX with 6,0259 miles on it. I purchased this vehicle used with warranty, but of course that has expired. When driving in wet road conditions, through rain and over puddles of water my battery light will come on and the power steering will lock. I strongly believe that this is a defect in the vehicle and not due to regular 'wear and tear.' I have read other reports of owners of this same make/model vehicle that have also had the same issues. I am scared to drive the vehicle during a rain storm, worrying that the car is going to stall and leave me stranded.

- San Angelo, TX, USA

I parked my car I went out the next day and my steering was locked, my ignition was locked and my shifter was locked.

- Chicopee, MA, USA

When driving through a puddle of standing water in October 2012, a 'splash' of water entered the engine compartment caused the engine in my 2007 Kia Sportage to stall, resulting in the loss of power assist to both steering and brakes. This occurred several times in 2012 and 2013. But, in 2014, it has happened much more often. Enough to force me to take my Sportage into a Kia dealership to see if they could diagnose the problem. They tried to recreate the problem using a hose, since they did not wish to have their employees try to drive it in actual rain. They were not successful in making the car stall. Therefore, I was told that there is no problem with the engine. Recently, I have learned that the ignition coil is what is getting wet and stalling the car. If Kia is willing to replace the ignition coil, it does not solve my problem. The ignition coil will still be in a vulnerable place under my car. I would expect the same to happen in the future even with a new ignition coil. I cannot have my car stall out on a major highway in the rain while going 70 miles an hour. It is an accident waiting to happen. I refuse to endanger myself and my family, as well as others on the road, with a problem that Kia is aware of. Unfortunately, I do not have another vehicle at my disposal. Looking at information on the internet, this is a known problem that Kia has not done anything but recall and replace the ignition coil. My mechanic was able to find several web sites mentioning this defect. The dealership said that they checked their databases and did not find any such problems/recalls about stalling or ignition coils. Loss of braking and steering is a major safety issue. Do I need to wait for injury or death to get a resolution?

- Cary, NC, USA

When driving in rainy weather, I will loose power steering after driving over a puddle. The battery light will come on and my power steering will go off. It comes back after a minute or so, but when it goes out, the vehicle becomes very difficult to control.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while traveling approximately 70 mph, he felt a strong vibration in the steering wheel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 10,000 and the current mileage was 61,000.

- Orville, OH, USA

It started Feb 22nd, 2010 when a sensor on the power steering pump broke and I had power steering fluid leaking all over the engine and my steering locked up. Kia of redding replaced the pump @ 59K miles. Then on July 9th, same thing happened as steering locked up in traffic in eureka, had to have it towed 175 miles back to redding Kia. Had around 73K miles on it. Car returned after fixing same issue from Feb. On July 16th. On July 17th after less than 100 miles, Kia power steering locked up again in traffic in redding. Same problem fixed again and car returned on July 26th. On July 30th, car making whining noise from power steering pump, brought into dealership to be looked at and have oil changed. Mechanic "fixed" the noise, changed oil, said was good to go. Drove car less than 50 miles and again steering locked up on curvey mountain road. Had the car towed back to the shop for the 4th time in less than 21 days. Car is just at 78K miles now.

- Anderson, CA, USA