The 2025 Kia Sportage Phev has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 5,046 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 7 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the back over prevention. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
TRAILER HITCHES25V8740002025-12-175,046 affected
Defect
Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Sportage Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) and 2024-2025 Sportage vehicles equipped with a 4.2" screen and a Genuine Kia tow hitch harness accessory. Due to a software error, the instrument panel screen may fail. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the…
Consequence
An instrument panel screen that fails to display critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the tow hitch harness control module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 13, 2026. Owners may contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC359. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on…
Complaints by component
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
1
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
1
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
1
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
1
POWER TRAIN
1
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
1
WHEELS
1
Total complaints7
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“On saturday [xxx] while driving on the highway my car lost propulsion and started slowing down even after I was pressing on the acceleration/gas pedal all the way. It happened 3 times within an hour's time frame the car refused to speed up and would stop driving. I was in immediate risk as well as…”
“While driving the vehicle at 55 mph, it suddenly lost the ability to accelerate even when I pressed down on the accelerator. The rpms went up to 4 or 5 but I could not go over 30-35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to move into a left turn lane to get away from the flow of traffic and avoid an…”
“While driving the vehicle at 55 mph, it suddenly lost the ability to accelerate even when I pressed down on the accelerator. The rpms went up to 4 or 5 but I could not go over 30-35 mph. Fortunately, I was able to move into a left turn lane to get away from the flow of traffic and avoid an…”
“I’m the owner of a 2025 kia sportage phev and i’m experiencing a critical software bug: the car does not retain my custom driver assistance settings. Specifically, I have a bike rack installed on the rear hitch. I disable automatic rear emergency braking to avoid false stops when reversing,…”
“This only happens on the freeway but happens every time on the freeway. When using adapted cruise control and you hit the brake, when you reengage the cruise the lka comes on and the steering wheel begins to assist. I do not want the lane assist to ever be engaged. I turned it off in the system…”
“This only happens on the freeway but happens every time on the freeway. When using adapted cruise control and you hit the brake, when you reengage the cruise the lka comes on and the steering wheel begins to assist. I do not want the lane assist to ever be engaged. I turned it off in the system…”
“On [xxx] I took ownership of the described brand new vehicle from kia of portland or,(12miles on the odometer) and insisted twice to sales management that the vehicle is prep'ed with a full fuel tank, fully charged battery and that tires are set to oe spec. The following 2 days the area…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2025 Kia Sportage Phev as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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