The Used Car Index

2019 Kia RIO problems

NHTSA lists 21 complaints for the 2019 Kia RIO, 4 of them mention a crash and 1 mention a fire. 4 complaints mention an injury, with 4 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-09.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA RIO.

At a glance

Complaints
21
With crash
4
With fire
1
With injury (complaints)
4
Injuries
4
Deaths
0
Recalls
1
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
253,074
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
60

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. The available sales group does not match this vehicle variant.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
UNKNOWN OR OTHER838.1%
ENGINE628.6%
AIR BAGS314.3%
POWER TRAIN29.5%
STEERING29.5%
BACK OVER PREVENTION14.8%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM14.8%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)14.8%
Other/I am not sure14.8%
SERVICE BRAKES14.8%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
BACK OVER PREVENTIONREARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING1
STRUCTUREBODY1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
mechanical failure733.3%0.82
electrical electronic419.0%0.74
restraint or airbag419.0%0.97
loss of control314.3%0.81
unclear29.5%0.99
fire or overheating14.8%0.96
Severities
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
moderate1047.6%0.71
high628.6%0.87
low419.0%0.54
none14.8%0.71

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 21 tagged complaints of 21 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

1 recalls.

21V622000

Date: 2021-08-09. Systems: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES.

Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Forte 4-door, Forte Koup 2-door, and 2018-2019 Rio 4-door vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."

Consequence: A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the trunk latch assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on February 10, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC216.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

60 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM26
STRUCTURE14
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING13
STEERING10
EQUIPMENT6
POWER TRAIN3
TRA3
ENG2

11033803

Date: 2026-06-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION: CYLINDER PROTECTOR & DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2311) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provi

11034003

Date: 2026-06-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin prov

11028908

Date: 2026-02-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin prov

11026989

Date: 2025-12-19. Type: Other. Systems: STRUCTURE.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: POSTCARD OWNER RENOTIFICATION (CS2311) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. Kia has developed a new zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector hardware upgrade and can be installed at the ignition

11026825

Date: 2025-12-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: THEFT DETERRENT IGNITION CYLINDER PROTECTOR AND DECAL INSTALLATION (CS2312) - This bulletin provides information to install a Theft Deterrent Ignition Cylinder Protector on certain 2010-2022MY Kia vehicles outlined on page 19, which may not have bee

11026980

Date: 2025-12-17. Type: Other. Systems: STRUCTURE.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN: OWNER NOTIFICATION (CS2312) - This document is the owner notification advising that Kia is conducting Customer Satisfaction Campaign. A software upgrade that addresses the social media theft method has been made available to owners of eligible Kia model vehicles free

11026698

Date: 2025-12-09. Type: Other. Systems: BACK OVER PREVENTION.

PITSTOP: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO ULTRASONIC SENSOR: This Pitstop provides information related to Parking Distance Warning (PDW) alerts and repairs involving ultrasonic sensors. The PDW system alerts the driver while parking, by calculating distance based on the difference in signal

11017172

Date: 2025-04-17. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: TRANSMISSION FLUID APPLICATION GUIDE - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information relating to the correct transmission fluid ty

11017109

Date: 2025-04-03. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION NU/GAMMA/THETA/KAPPA ENGINES - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information on diagnosing and/or repair

11014912

Date: 2025-02-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION NU/GAMMA/THETA/KAPPA ENGINES - This bulletin has been revised to include additional information. New/revised sections of this bulletin are indicated by a black bar in the margin area. This bulletin provides information on diagnosing and/or repair

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
RIO21

Same model, other years

All model years | All Kia models

Other Kia models, 2019

Sources

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