2019 KIA SPORTAGE — Complaint #2171240
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about TRAILER HITCHES filed January 29, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2171240 (ODI reference 11714237) concerns a 2019 KIA SPORTAGE and was filed on January 29, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on December 23, 2025. The vehicle had 74,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Tennessee based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as trailer hitches, 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 trailer hitches 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 2019 KIA SPORTAGE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sportage. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V703000 (Trail Hitches) and 21V137000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the recall repair requests were denied by the manufacturer. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, it failed to start as intended. No warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that while her brother was driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from under the hood. After restarting the vehicle, there was a burning odor coming from under the hood. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer, where it remained, and the contact was advised that a recall warranty had expired. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the costs. In addition, the contact stated that the recall was initiated prior to owning the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2171240 |
| ODI Number | 11714237 |
| Date Filed | January 29, 2026 |
| Failure Date | December 23, 2025 |
| VIN | KNDPMCAC4K7 |
Similar TRAILER HITCHES Complaints for 2019 KIA SPORTAGE
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sportage. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she heard an unusual ticking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer wher
The contact owns a 2019 Kia Sportage. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V703000 (Trailer Hitches) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local
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.