NHTSA lists 372 complaints for the 2021 Kia Seltos, 13 of them mention a crash and 6 mention a fire. 7 complaints mention an injury, with 8 injuries and 0 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-09.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as KIA SELTOS.
At a glance
Complaints
372
With crash
13
With fire
6
With injury (complaints)
7
Injuries
8
Deaths
0
Recalls
2
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
147,249
Investigations
1
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
134
Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ENGINE
228
61.3%
POWER TRAIN
68
18.3%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
48
12.9%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
46
12.4%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
44
11.8%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
26
7.0%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
10
2.7%
AIR BAGS
6
1.6%
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
6
1.6%
SERVICE BRAKES
6
1.6%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
WARNINGS
4
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
HORN
2
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
2
LANE DEPARTURE
BLIND SPOT DETECTION
2
STRUCTURE
BODY
2
AIR BAGS
SIDE/WINDOW
1
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
INSTRUMENT PANEL
1
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE
1
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM
1
One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.
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.
Date: 2025-02-17. Systems: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Defect: Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Seltos and Soul vehicles. The piston oil rings may have been manufactured incorrectly, which can result in engine damage.
Consequence: Engine damage can cause a vehicle stall or fire, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the engine as necessary, free of charge. Dealers will also install piston-ring noise sensing system (PNSS) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 4, 2025. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC336.
Defect: Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Soul, and 2021 Seltos vehicles equipped with 2.0L Nu MPI engines. The piston oil rings may not have been properly heat-treated, which may result in engine damage.
Consequence: A damaged engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash. In addition, oil may leak onto hot exhaust components, increasing the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Kia will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the engine, free of charge. In addition, Kia will deploy Piston Ring Noise Sensing System (PNSS) software. The recall began June 11, 2021. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC209.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
1 investigations; 0 open.
AQ25001
Opened: 2025-08-06. Closed: 2025-12-18.
Kia 25V099 Piston Oil Ring Recall Effectiveness
On August 6, 2025, the Office of Defect Investigation (ODI) opened Audit Query (AQ) 25001 to assess the implementation of Kia America, Inc.a s (Kia) remedy program for Safety Recall 25V099, involving incorrectly manufactured piston oil rings which may damage the engine causing a loss of motive power or fire. This AQ was opened in response to consumer complaints alleging of an ineffective remedy,
Systems: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING.
Linked campaign numbers: None listed.
Manufacturer communications
134 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
65
POWER TRAIN
34
EQUIPMENT
20
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
18
ELE
8
BOD
7
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
5
LANE DEPARTURE
5
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
11033217
Date: 2026-05-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE USING UPDATE.KIA.COM - This bulletin provides information and service procedures for updating the infotainment systems on applicable Kia vehicles using the Kia Navigation Updater available at update.kia.com. The software update may impr
11029040
Date: 2026-02-19. Type: Emissions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN.
VOLUNTARY EMISSIONS SERVICE CAMPAIGN: OWNER RENOTIFICATION (SC199 FL301) - This document is the owner renotification advising that Kia is conducting Voluntary Service Campaign to update the software programming on the Transmission Control Module (TCM) and, if necessary, replace the Intelligent Vari
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
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
11024470
Date: 2025-10-22. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: IBU LOGIC IMPROVEMENT: 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 to upgrade the Integrated Body Control Unit (IBU) software on
WARRANTY EXTENSION CAMPAIGN: TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN: HORN ASSEMBLY INSPECTION/REPLACEMEN (WTY038) - 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 associat
11022843
Date: 2025-09-04. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.
This bulletin provides information related to the Technical Service Bulletin previously published under SC336 titled a Engine Inspection/Replacement and ECM Logic Improvementa .
11022844
Date: 2025-09-04. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE.
This bulletin provides instructions to perform an engine vibration inspection using the Kia Diagnostic System (KDS) tablet on certain Kia engine/model vehicles. The piston oil ring(s) in certain Kia engines may, over time, damage the surface of the engine cylinder wall. This may lead to increased oi
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.