2021 KIA K5 Electrical System Problems

Ever since I bought my car in July of 2025 cash I’ve been having issues. Shortly after purchasing my car began to stall , lose power repeatedly. I then took to southwest kia in Dallas they told me I had contaminated gas. They charged me $2,000 to clean my fuel lines , replace spark plugs & replace a fuel pressure sensor. Shortly after i got my car I had the same issues. I explained my concerns and they replaced my fuel tank free of charge. A week later same issue so I went to a local mechanic and he replaced another fuel pressure sensor a month passed same issues occurred at least 3 more times on 3 different occasions. I’ve had to get my car towed off the middle of the free way or road numerous of times. This has been a financial nightmare

The vehicle experiences severe stalling and loss of power while driving. When attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitates, shakes violently, and will not accelerate beyond approximately 10–20 mph. The vehicle then stalls completely and shuts off. These failures occur both after the vehicle has been parked and while actively driving. When placed in drive, the vehicle shakes aggressively and stalls. The check engine light is illuminated. The stalling has occurred multiple times in the middle of freeway traffic, creating an extreme safety hazard. My child has been in the vehicle during every occurrence. On one occasion, the vehicle shut off completely while on the freeway, placing our lives at risk and nearly resulting in a serious collision. This issue is unpredictable, persistent, and prevents safe operation of the vehicle. The vehicle has been inspected and worked on by Southwest Kia and A-Z Auto, but the defect continues to occur. I believe this is a manufacturing or design defect related to the engine or powertrain that poses a serious safety risk and should be investigated to determine whether other vehicles are affected.

Within three days of purchase, the vehicle experienced a fuel system failure requiring the gas tank to be replaced. Shortly afterward, the check-engine light illuminated, indicating additional engine or emissions problems. The failures occurred without warning and made the vehicle unsafe to drive. The engine warning has continued to appear, suggesting a recurring or unresolved malfunction. The defects create risks including fuel leakage, stalling, engine shutdown, and potential fire hazard. The safety of the driver and others on the road is put at risk because the vehicle may fail while in motion. The problem appeared immediately after purchase and continues to recur. The dealer was notified but refused to diagnose or repair the vehicle further. No manufacturer inspection has occurred because the dealership declined to provide service. The warning light first appeared within the first week of ownership and has remained intermittent. The vehicle shows signs of unstable engine operation and ongoing system malfunction. The issue has been observed by the dealer, but they declined to perform proper diagnostics or repair. The defects are persistent and pose ongoing safety concerns.

My 2021 Kia K5 EX has a severe and unsafe steering problem. The vehicle consistently pulls hard to the right on its own, even on straight roads. If I loosen my grip even slightly, the car immediately veers to the right. The steering wheel does not stay centered, and I have to constantly fight the steering just to keep the car in the lane. This issue has continued despite multiple alignments, tire replacements, and inspections. Nothing has fixed the problem, and the steering behavior feels mechanical or electronic in nature. I no longer feel safe driving the vehicle because it feels like I could lose control at any time. Additionally, my vehicle is affected by the open recall (SC356 / NHTSA 25V794) involving fuel tank expansion and fire risk. The status says ‘Incompleted – remedy not available,’ meaning there is currently no repair solution. The combination of a steering defect and a fire-risk recall makes this vehicle unsafe to operate. I am reporting this because the steering issue appears to be a serious safety defect that needs investigation.

Kia has a known issue with the HVAC blower motor circuit on this vehicle model. They have issued a warranty extension related to relocating the blower motor fuse to another circuit in the fuse box, due to potential burning of fuse(s). After executing this extended warranty fuse-relocation-procedure, our blower motor relay burned and was replaced twice by separate Kia dealers. Kia is now claiming that our entire wire harness needs to be replaced at our own cost. It is quite obvious that any wire harness issue is now very dangerous (electrical arcing and melting) and was caused by the original motor circuit issue. (The two Kia dealers agree with our assessment but are saying that Kia will not repair because original warranty extension was limited to rewiring.) Safety issues: Electrical fire hazard (already demonstrated with burning/melting fuse-box before and after extended warranty procedure was executed). No A/C in 95 degree F conditions.

The car has a sudden loss of power but doesn't shut off. The drivers eat doesn't move towards or back and the back seat popped up for no reason whatsoever. We have taken it to the dealership and they say its not a recall but its doing the same things that others in the same year and model are doing. Why isn't this one on the list . Its paid off and haven't been able to drive it for a year now . Wasted money getting it towed to dealership and back . Ridiculous!!!!

At the beginning at the year I had to change my starter because my car would leave me stranded on the street, at a stop light or any time my car would stop. I was once in the car with my little brother and in the middle of the street it would not start again and left us stranded. Others around me had to help me push the car to the side of the road that way I wouldn't be rear ended. Now, I'm having other issues such as HVAC were my cars AC does not turn on. It doesn't even blow hot air. Some mechanics have told me it's probably my blower and resistor and other that it's a wiring issue. My car is only 4 years old and should not be having so many issues. I have tried reaching out to Kia but always get sent to voicemail or have told I would be charged for it to just be seen. If anyone could help me with my car that would be greatly appreciated.

Just minutes before entering the highway, my son and I heard a very loud popping sound that startled us, like something large hit the car or a tire exploded. I immediately pulled into a gas station checked the exterior & all 4 tires, but everything appeared intact. Shortly after, while driving on hwy during morning rush hour at 65–70 mph in the far-left lane, the check engine light illuminated & almost immediately the car lost all engine power. My speed dropped quickly with cars behind me traveling at high speeds. I had to activate hazard lights & cut across 4 lanes of traffic to the shoulder, putting myself, my child passenger, & others at serious risk of a multi-car collision. While waiting for help, I plugged in my FIXD OBD-II reader later looking over diagnostics read code P0451 – EVAP System Pressure Sensor. 8 hours after car was towed & had been parked at my home & still not starting I researched the code to learn what that means & the possible cause for & found it is all emission related issues varying in reasons as simple as a gas cap replacement. Nothing of any engine failure while driving risking the lives of drivers & others so before sending my car to a mechanic, I went and checked the gas cap in case just a simple emissions type fix that is where I observed fuel still bubbling out of the tank have photos, my daughter, & sister, as witnesses. The next day car was towed to Kia Mall of Georgia on June 26, 2025. As of August 20, 2025, the dealership has confirmed the fuel tank expanded as of now there is no resolution from Kia for fixing once this happens can likely shift car frame & could be declared totaled. Component/system failed: Fuel tank/EVAP system (pressure failure). Vehicle is available for inspection at Kia Mall of Georgia. Safety risk:Complete engine shutdown at highway speeds with child passenger on board; risk of multi-car, high-speed crash. Fuel bubbling/spitting increased fire hazard. not a recall only emissions campaign needs to change

AC blower stoped working

Air/hearing works intermittently. I’ve had fuses replaced and this seems to be a known and ongoing issue that Kia refuses to acknowledge. Many have reported that the wires are melting inside of the fuse box and I fear that this may result in a fire.

Having issues with the blower motor and harness which is a known issue with this car. I can’t keep my AC working plus my defroster doesn’t work either with the issue I am having with the blower motor. The issue is ongoing

Main wiring harness melted in my fuse box, had to pay $5000 to replace, turbo leaked into my engine and cause for the engine to blow! Hadn’t even had the car a year !! This is getting ridiculous.

Blower motor stops working, have to take fuse box cover off and move fuse assembly to regain function of blower motor. Replacing fuse only helped for a couple of months.

For breaks: at 20k miles the steering wheel shakes like crazy when braking, and also the pedals: the rotors are very cheap for being a 0-mile purchase vehicle and Kia does not replace this under warranty. I saw a forum that this is an issue for all owners of this Kia K5 and Kia doesn't care and does not replace them. For Electrical issue: the fuse box melted a couple fuse because I used my rear defrost system. Kia extended the warranty for the HVAC motor fan only because was burning the fuses, but they did not wanted to replace my issue with the rear defrost because I was above 60k for only 1000 miles. This is a poor-quality system, Kia does not recognize it. This is a safety issue because 1. There is an electrical issue with a melted fuse box. Im driving around a car like this with 2 kids. 2. I don't have rear defrost working and I live in Chicago (wild winter). They want to charge +$6000 to repair the fuse box.

AC System faulty . Cannot defog windows. Fusebox connection is malfunctioning Changed blower motor, resistor, fuse, relay. Many vehicles are having the same issue. It needs to be recalled.

Issue with electrical wiring for HVAC. Air conditioner and heater goes out with no power. You have to pop the hood and press on the fuse box to get it to come back on.

Air conditioning was fine then would suddenly cycle levels by itself. One day the air stopped blower. Tested the resister, it was bad. Replaced it and less than one week later the air stopped again. Resister and blower motor test fine. Fuses and relay are fine. No ac/hest causing driving concerns with window fog.

I have 2021 Kia k5 gt line I am having similar problem as other who own a Kia k5 get line 2020,2021, 2022 and 2023. Ac works one time next I turn the car off and the next time I start it up it doesn’t work anymore and now my ac does not work now and it is off completely

AC stopped blowing, vehicle had 62k miles. Took to an autoshop and they indicated that the AC blower and resistor needed to be replaced. I have both of these replaced, the AC work for a few minutes and then stopped again. I took it back to the same shop and the mechanic indicated that the fuse box was melted/burned (I have a picture as evidence). This is a tremendous fire hazard and we have been leaving our car parked outside of our home out of fear that it will catch fire. Their were no warning lamps whatsoever that indicated that there was a problem. Upon further online research, it appears that numerous people are having the same issue and Kia Motors has not done anythins about it, and we are having to pay thousands of dollars for repair when it is a manufacturer defect.

The blower motor goes out intermittently. I replaced the blower motor but found the problem to be much greater. Upon further inspection the fuse for the blower and wiring harness are melting into eachother at the fuse box. This issue is becoming more and more prevalent in model from the year 2021-2024 the remedy is a complete wiring harness and fuse box replacement.

Engine code came on, one interior headlamp works when it wants to, climate control module is bad it has cause the relay to blow and the resistor to go out. The air turns up on the control module by itself and then your ac just stops working and then starts again as it chooses. All of these are electrical issue as stated in MANY OTHER reports. And electrical issue is unsafe it can cause fire at anytime, my car is new 2021 Kia k5 Lxs, 60k miles and now who knows when the car is going to catch fire while my baby is strapped in a car seat and no AC . RECALL before lives are took from heat stroke or possible fire. To be “luxury” it’s sad I just paid my 3rd car payment and now I can’t even drive my car. Over 100 reports on this same problem and y’all do nothing. Kia is maybe at 70k sells a year now meanwhile Toyota and other are at 300k. When my baby is insured do to this crack head wiring system I will sue someone this is ridiculous.

The fuse pin melted into the wire harness. Kia is not recognizing this as a safety issue although they acknowledge that the melting pin could cause a fire.

I bought my Kia k5, my blower motor went out upon inspection the problem was a multilink fuse for the blower motor. The fuse is burning the wiring harness, I believe this to be a fire hazard. After some research I believe this to be a common issue with this particular car.

main body wiring harness grounding problem ... hvac blower motor works only some times at dealeship they found fuse melted at fuse block they want customers to pay for a new wire harness when is obvious a factory defect this can cause a fire or an accident if anything else fails while driving

nspected blower fuse 40A at E/R Junction block and found multi fuse & E/R Junction block melting Need replacement multi fuse and wiring repair at E/R Junction block Service adviser recommends performing repair which is a known issue for Kia, because the electrical short could create a fire The AC stopped working, got it repaired and within a month it failed again, took it to dealership and they said it was a known issue, but not a safety recall.

Air conditioner blower goes on and off intermittently without any pattern. Sometimes it will work for days and then will not turn on again. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Without the blower working I cannot defog / defrost my windshield and gives me poor visibility. Brought it to the Kia dealership they said the fuse wire harness has melted and fused into the engine block. They went on say that it will cost around $5000.00 to fix. Because I drive frequently I am out of warranty. The service desk office manager said she has been seeing more of these come in. Sounds like a manufacturer defect and should be under recall.

The horn for this vehicle simply stopped working. The horn was used earlier in the day to prevent a different vehicle from changing lanes to avoid an accident. My wife has the same vehicle (year make and model) and her horn stopped working 2 weeks ago. The fuse is not the issue on either vehicle. My wife was informed by local Kia that this issue has been common. I researched this issue online and several Kia customers have experienced the same issue. This does not seem coincidental, and poses a great safety concern! Customers should not have to front the cost for this as it seems to be a defect in the manufactured line.

Vehicle will occasionally fail to properly initialize its safety systems, causing ABS, Traction Control, FCW, warning, auto stop, auto hold lights to come on and the aforementioned systems to fail. This disables driver assist features and important safety systems. Kia Dealer does not attempt to resolve. Claims that “we parked too close to a tree and the vehicle thinks it was in an accident” would like further investigation from Kia to be performed regarding this issue.

Vehicle radio fails to initialize wireless Apple Carplay. The process to get it to work varies. This has been an ongoing issue with the car. Dealer will not update vehicle software.

The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the Lane Assist feature would illuminate without other vehicles nearby. The contact also stated that the vehicle would independently switch lanes independently; causing the contact to forcefully adjust the steering wheel into the desired lane to prevent a potential crash. The contact manually disabled the features; however, the features independently reactivated. In addition, the defroster failed to operate as needed which obstructed her vision due to fog on the windshield. The vehicle was initially taken to a dealer, but the contact was offered no assistance. The contact then took the vehicle to Kia of Irvine (45 Oldfield Building B, Irvine, CA 92618) where two mechanics acknowledged the failure while test driving the vehicle. The contact was assured by the dealer that both safety features where disabled; however, within minutes of leaving the dealer; the features independently reactivated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 17,951. The consumer called to make an appt due to the check engine light illuminating and informed vehicle will not be repaired for a few weeks. In the meantime the gas smell is pouring through the vents.

Mileage: 17,951

The contact owns a 2021 Kia K5. The contact stated that the driver assist feature would activate independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and shifted from park to drive to deactivate the driver assist feature and continued driving to his destination. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 32,077.

Mileage: 32,077

The front seats electrical adjustments do not work properly, I have had ir switch mid drive and stying to adjust them is a hassle. They do not work properly.

Took my car to the dealership on 12/20/21 because all of my sensors were going off so they installed a new harness and cleared all the sensors, I got my car back on 1/3/22. On 1/16/22 all my sensors came back on so I brought it back to the dealership on 1/19/22 and I got it back the next day and was told it was safe for me to commute to work (I got it back with the front panel off with exposed wires and no working airbags) and a few days later all the sensors were back on and as I’m driving home in the middle of the night from work my tire pressure sensor came on even tho I had air in my tires, my headlights turned off for seconds at a time, my speedometer kept dropping to 0 as I’m going 60 and my cruise control stopped working. Have pictures and videos of every issue every time

VEHICLE WAS STOPPED A RED LIGHT ON A CITY STREET WHEN SUDDENLY CUT OFF. SMOKE BEGAN TO POUR OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD. LESS THAN 1 MINUTE LATER THE VEHICLE WAS FULLY INVOLVED UNDER THE HOOD OF CAR. CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. VEHICLE HAD JUST BEEN DRIVEN APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES (ALL HIGHWAY) FROM HOME TOWARDS WORK WHEN INCIDENT OCCURRED.

Mileage: 3,000

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2021 KIA K5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNDISCLOSED SPEED, AN UNKNOWN WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER KIA FORT WALTON BEACH (343 MIRACLE STRIP PKWY, FORT WALTON BEACH, FL 32548) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WERE ISSUES WITH TWO OF THE COMPUTER CHIPS IN THE VEHICLE THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 600.

Mileage: 600

KEEP LOST WIRELESS CARPLAY SCINAL.