There are 3 stored owner reports matching the powertrain & transmission leading-label group for the 2009 Kia Sportage in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 3 of 3 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)WHEN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTS FROM 2ND TO 3RD GEAR WHILE DRIVING THE WHOLE VEHICLE JERKS VERY HARD. IT JERKS SO HARD YOUR HEAD FLIES BACK. IT JERKS SO HARD AND LOUD THE ENGINE SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GOING FALL OUT.
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION "BURNED OUT" (DEALER'S WORDS) WHILE DRIVING THRU PIEDMONT HILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA. PROBLEM STARTED AROUND 60MPH AND BECAME SERIOUS AT 70 MPH, THE SPEED LIMIT WHERE THE PROBLEM OCCURRED. CRUISE CONTROL TURNED OFF ON ITS OWN. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DID NOT SHIFT EVENLY OR SMOOTHLY. VEHICLE STRAINED AND LOST POWER ON HILLS AND OVERPASSES. ENGINE "REVVED UP" UNCHARACTERISTICALLY HIGH ON BACK SIDE OF HILLS, HAD TO PRESS GAS TO DECREASE RPMS. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON DURING RETURN TRIP, GEAR STICK SHIFTED TO + - POSITION ON ITS OWN. VEHICLE OPERATED OKAY AT SPEEDS BELOW 55 MPH AND ON LEVEL GROUND, EVEN WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A STOP. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 KIA SPORTAGE. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH, THE REAR PASSENGER TAIL LIGHT FAILED TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. THE FAILURE RECURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE LIGHT SWITCH WAS REPLACED. IN ADDITION, WHEN DEPRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL OR WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IN REVERSE, THE PASSENGER SIDE TURN SIGNAL LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE THE LIGHT BULB WAS REPLACED. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT THE FUEL CAP AND STOP SWITCH NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURES. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 75,000. UPDATED 11/03/16*LJ THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE OVER 60MPH. THE VEHICLE WOULD LOSE POWER. UPDATED 09/19/2017*JS
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.