2017 KIA SPORTAGE — Complaint #1952127
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:BULBS filed December 21, 2023
NHTSA complaint #1952127 (ODI reference 11561396) concerns a 2017 KIA SPORTAGE and was filed on December 21, 2023. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 21, 2021. The vehicle had 120,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting:brake lights:bulbs, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same KIA SPORTAGE cohort independently describe similar exterior lighting:brake lights:bulbs failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2017 KIA SPORTAGE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2017 Kia Sportage. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH and depressing the brake pedal to slow for traffic or a traffic signal, the contact required more force to depress the brake pedal before the vehicle would slow. The contact became aware that while making a right turn, excessive pressure was needed to depress the brake pedal. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that while depressing the brake pedal to make an abrupt stop, the front brakes made an abnormal sound like loosened pieces of metal bouncing around in the front wheels. Additionally, the contact stated that her rear brake light bulbs were burning out frequently and the brake light wiring was melted. The contact stated that the failure was recurring. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rear taillight wiring needed to be replaced. The taillight bulbs and the wires were replaced. The mechanic also deter
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1952127 |
| ODI Number | 11561396 |
| Date Filed | December 21, 2023 |
| Failure Date | October 21, 2021 |
| VIN | KNDPN3AC4H7 |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.