1999 KIA SPORTAGE — Complaint #698159
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EQUIPMENT:RECREATIONAL VEHICLE/TRAILER:LPG SYSTEMS:LINES AND FITTINGS filed November 30, 2008
NHTSA complaint #698159 (ODI reference 10250200) concerns a 1999 KIA SPORTAGE and was filed on November 30, 2008. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 27, 2008. The vehicle had 69,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to New York based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as equipment:recreational vehicle/trailer:lpg systems:lines and fittings, 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 equipment:recreational vehicle/trailer:lpg systems:lines and fittings 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 1999 KIA SPORTAGE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I PURCHASED MY KIA USED, FROM A DEALER, LESS THAN A YEAR AGO, AND IT PASSED THE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS CHECK FOR VEHICLE INSPECTION. I IMMEDIATELY HAD TO HAVE DEALER REPLACE THE GASOLINE TANK AFTER SMELLING GASOLINE. THIS CAR IS USED SOLELY FOR LIGHT USAGE TO TRANSPORT MYSELF AND MY CHILDREN TO AND FROM DR'S AND GROCERY STORES. AFTER OWNING THE CAR FOR LESS THAN TWO MONTHS, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, REPORTING ISSUE WITH CATALYST. FOUND A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE AND AM TRYING TO GET ORIGINAL DEALER TO FIX. NOW EXPERIENCING LOSS OF POWER TO ENGAGE INCLINES OR HILLS, CAUSING A HAZARD TO OTHER DRIVERS. ALSO BACK BRAKES SIMPLY "BLEW"! WITHOUT ANY FOREWARNING, WITH MY CHILDREN IN THE CAR, I LOST ALL BRAKING ABILITIES. THANK GOODNESS I WAS NOT GOING FAST AND HAVE A STANDARD TO QUICKLY DOWNSHIFT. MY MOTHER WAS KILLED DUE TO LOSS OF BRAKES, AND IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE PANICKING SITUATION FOR ME EMOTIONALLY. BEING A SINGLE MOTHER I RELY ON MECHANICS TO DO ALL MY WORK, AND I HAD JUST HAD ALL MY F
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 698159 |
| ODI Number | 10250200 |
| Date Filed | November 30, 2008 |
| Failure Date | November 27, 2008 |
| VIN | KNDJA7232X5 |
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.