2012 Kia Sportage: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jun 26, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · WA · fire

I was driving eastbound in my 2012 Kia Sportage on I-82 just past Benton City MP97 at about 11AM on Monday June 22, 2026, when my engine knocked twice, the red check engine light came on, and I lost power. I pulled over off the road next to a concrete barrier that was beside a rock roadcut. My flashers would not operate, I put it into park, turned off the ignition and immediately noticed the smell of burning oil or rubber. I had 2 half gallon containers of water on my front seat, so I popped the switch, lifted the hood, used the prop rod to hold the hood up as I started dowsing the flames that were popping up on the passenger side of my engine compartment near the firewall. After using both half gallons, I ran to the rear of the vehicle, opened the hatchback, and grabbed a gallon spray bottle of water and brought that back around to the front of the vehicle. By this point the prop rod holding the hood was bending and the flames were popping back up, I pumped the sprayer and directed a stream of water with my left hand and used my right to hold up the hood as the prop rod was not working. After the fire was completely out, I returned to the rear of the vehicle, donned my reflective vest, put a portable flasher on my vehicle, and at this point a Benton County fireman in a pickup arrived - he was called by a motorist that saw me pulling over with smoke trailing my vehicle. The fireman was followed by a large firetruck and crew. They propped up the hood with a bar and inspected the motor to verify the fire was completely extinguished. They took my information and left. A Washington State Patrol arrived, assessed the scene and offered assistance, but I already had called my wife so he left me to wait for her. He told me I had 24 hours to get the car off the interstate. I had the car towed to my driveway by A&E towing at about 2:30PM. I just realized this morning that I ought to report it to you. I haven't tried to start it, but I'm sure it won't.

Filed Apr 18, 2025 · Electrical · NC

The car has been giving off a burning smell each time that I begin to drive especially if the heat is being utilized. The smell worsens as I drive a further distance.

Filed Jul 30, 2022 · Engine · TN

I was driving down the road at 55 mph and my vehicle lost all power and died. So sitting on the side of the road I tried to start the vehicle again. It started but died again. So I waited a few minutes and tried again. It started so I put my flashers on and drove at a low speed until I got the vehicle home. I heard a loud knocking as I was driving it. So the next day I called the Kia dealership to make an appointment for the recall on it and they told me they only do recall on certain days. So I had to wait for 3 wks before I could bring it to them. On the day of the service I was driving it to them and the knocking of the engine started to get loud and then the engine started to make this grinding sound and it died on me. So I sat in a turning lane for a bit and tried to start it up again but then the grinding got louder and I heard something explode and smoke came out from under the hood of the car. I had to call the dealership and let them know I was broken down and I had to call a tow truck this being the weekend after the 4th of July I sat for a tow truck from 7:40 am to 10:40 am and the temp outside at that time was around 100 degrees. I get the vehicle to the dealers and they call me the next day telling me they can't do the recall and it would cost me 12,000 for a new engine because they say the warranty has gone out on the vehicle and I waited too long to have the recall done. I bought this vehicle from Carvana and before I actually purchased the vehicle I took it to the dealership for them to look at it and make sure it was ok. At that time I had brought up the recall that Carvana told me about and I told them that at the dealers and they told me they didn't have the time to take care of that recall so life went on and I had forgotten it until that day when the vehicle had broken down. I only had the car for a year and only had put 1,500 miles on it when all of this happened. So I own 12,000 on this car and can't drive or do anything now.

Filed Jun 18, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · MI · fire

My vehicle had just recently been parked and turned off after only having driven 10 miles. Upon returning to my car less than 5 minutes later, a plume of white smoke and a small flame could be seen below the hood of the car. Within minutes the entire engine was engulfed in flames. By the time the Fire Department arrived, the blaze had already reached the rear of the vehicle. Everything was completely lost.

Filed Mar 30, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · IL

Was driving suv when sudden loss of power to engine, pulled off of highway and loss all power to electrical and to engine, I could smell something burning, upon further inspection after having suv towed to repair shop, I was informed that starter had melted and engine had seized up, I have contacted Kia dealership 3 times with no response from them, I also contacted Kia corp and no response, I also notified the BBB, I know there was a lifetime engine repair of this vehicle and some recall on bearings, I did have knock sensor done as required, I am looking for help in filing a complaint and copies of any recalls that were ever issued to this vehicle, I do not get recall notices sent to me, I own 4 cars, all Kia, other 3 not having issues yet, any help would be appreciated. Consumer stated the warranty has expired, but never received any notices of recalls.

Filed May 26, 2021 · Electrical · PA

My vehicle ran out of fuel, before the fuel gauge came close to "empty". The light had just come on in the past five miles, which usually indicated I had about ~30+ miles before the gauge hit "empty". It is not an electronic speedometer. I have never had that issue before. Surprisingly, I had never had this issue before. I refueled it, and it was seemingly okay. That was Sunday. Friday of the following week, I had my vehicle state inspected (PA), where it did not pass. They had to fix several issues with the rear rotor (reoccurring issue). Once it was fixed, they passed the vehicle. I had asked them to investigate the fuel issue I had. Two days later, my vehicle was less than half on the fuel gauge. I was on the highway, and suddenly I couldn't accelerate anymore. The fuel, battery, and engine lights all appeared on my dashboard. I smelled burning briefly. I went to the side of the highway and waited hours for AAA to jump my car and fuel it back. None of the options worked. I towed the car from AAA to Kia Wexford, at AAA's recommendation to get the car inspected to see if this issue was related to the recall. When the dealership finally looked into the issue, they said they wouldn't even investigate the engine issue, because I had not had the software update for the engine "downloaded" in time. The car was transferred to my name after this time period. They did state the engine would need to be replaced, paid for by me, for a total of $8k. I feel taken advantage of.

Filed Mar 30, 2021 · Engine · 16,000 miles · AL

I was drive down the hwy and the truck just cut off on thw hwy and little smoke came from the hood I had to try push the truck to the side of the road and the truck never crank again its dead

Filed Feb 12, 2021 · Engine · 120,000 miles · LA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia sportage. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 20v750000 (engine) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. While her husband was driving at various speeds and was flagged down by a bystander who noticed flames from under the hood. No injuries were sustained. The contacts husband managed to veer to the shoulder of the road. No incident report was made however the police were contacted. The fire department came out to the scene but was not needed. The vehicle was towed by the contacts insurance to a repair shop where its awaiting details for damages. The contact mentioned that the oil was changed 3 weeks prior to the failure that occurred. Kia of lake charles 1900 siebarth drive, lake charles, la 70615 (844) 203-6075 was contacted and had to schedule an appointment to have the vehicle diagnosed on march 2nd 2021. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

Filed Jan 21, 2021 · Engine · 109,000 miles · KS

As driving down the highway at 65 we noticed a abrupt loss of power followed shortly after by several warning lights and vehicle engine shutting off. After safely pulling off side of road I popped the hood to look for any obvious issues non were found no smoke, smell of burning or hot, checked oil level which was fine. Got back in vehicle and it restarted fine but has a audible click noise, we decided to have the vehicle trailered home to prevent any further damage. When this took place there were no active check engine lights or any info on temp gauge that was out of the ordinary. The next day I checked the oil again and decided to start the vehicle once again started with no issue but has a audible click that gets louder with applied RPM. Went ahead and put in drive to check if transmission was functioning and appears to work in drive and reverse only moved a few feet then shut it off. We seen that kia has had several recalls over manufacturing defects for engines that cause these malfunctions but according to the dealer ours does not fall in that category.

Filed Sep 29, 2020 · Engine · 108,000 miles · FL

We purchased the vehicle from a family member. My granddaughter was coming home on the expressway, and the car started to vibrate and knock and began to shut down. She pulled off the expressway and the she was able to maneuver the car to the side of the road. When they opened the hood, smoke came out but there wasn't a fire. After having the car towed to the kia dealership the next day, it was determined that the engine seized up. Because there is was out of warranty, the dealership has declined to fix the problem. We are being told the VIN number that is on our theta ii gdi engine is not on the other engine recalls for the 2012 kia sportagetheta ii engine. It appears that kia is trying to distance itself from fixing an obvious problem with these engines by designating only certain engines qualify. Putting an engine in a vehicle is out of the question, particularly now with this pandemic and having limited work hours. There are no savings to repair this. We now have a beautiful vehicle with no engine that is useless for us. We have contacted kia consumer department and will again appeal to them now that the dealership has examined it. But I would hope that your agency is able to push kia to include any of these engines that have failed, particularly if they have been well maintained over the years.

Filed May 5, 2020 · Engine · 105,000 miles · CA

Hi, on 04/24/2020 while driving on the highway at 60mph my kia broke down completely and lost the acceleration, a lot of oil was dripping from under the kia, and a lot of smoke came out from the hood. I brought my mechanic and confirmed me the engine blew out due to an oil leaking. I send the SUV to kia dealer in cerritos, ca as it had an open recall due to an oil pan issue. They just notified me the dpsm manager review my case and declined repairs under warranty. All that info was provided to me by victor representative at kia dealer. And I requested via email a report of the reason from the refusal to repair the engine. Victor did not provided me no report and just texted me it was due to a connecting rod that went through and block, and it was a lack of lubrication. That sounds hard to believe from my side and my mechanic as no engines fail due to a connecting rod issue. That's for I'm submitting this claim. I had a case number just incase is needed #13629204 and my contact info is per below if you need to reach me. Name: [xxx] tel# [xxx] email: [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Feb 24, 2020 · Engine · 45,000 miles · NY · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia sportage. The contact stated that while driving on the highway at driving 55 MPH, when she noticed the oil light come on and saw smoke. When she pulled over and checked the hood she saw smoke and flames coming from underneath the hood. The contact quickly got her granddaughter out and quickly ran away from the vehicle. The vehicle exploded into flames. The vehicle made popping noises as it was on fire. The police and fire company came and put out the flames. A police report was filed and there were no injuries and the vehicle was towed by the city to an unknown location. The insurance company has yet to officially total the vehicle since the incident happened yesterday on a sunday. The contact had learned of numerous reports from the internet of kia vehicles catching on fire. The dealer west herr kia (3565 southwestern blvd, orchard park, ny 14127 (716) 239-4859) offered to get her into a new vehicle. The manufacturer had not been contacted yet. The vehicle was purchased used on 07/2019. The failure mileage was 45,000.