2017 Kia Rio Problems & Owner Complaints
Age-normalised, this year draws ~3.1 complaints per year on the road — ranking 7 of 14 Kia Rio years we track (1 = most complaints per year).
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What owners report
Engine is the most-reported problem area on the 2017 Kia Rio, cited in 11 of 31 filed complaints (35%).
Service Brakes is next (7 complaints, 23%), followed by Air Bags (3), Electrical System (3), Latches/Locks/Linkages (2).
Across all complaints, 3 report a crash, 6 report a fire, 4 report injuries.
The most safety-critical cluster is Air Bags: 3 crash, 4 injury report(s).
Complaints by vehicle system
Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2017 Kia Rio, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 31.
Engine 11 5 fire
“As my car was driving my vehicle encountered sudden changes and my engine light went on. As the vehicle stopped driving on its own there was smoke coming from the hood and a fire stared shortly after underneath the car.”
NHTSA complaint #11738683, 2026 · fire
“I was driving my 2017 Kia Rio at approximately 70 mph when the vehicle began shaking violently. I heard a loud mechanical sound from the engine compartment that sounded like something broke loose and was being thrown around. I immediately began pulling over as smoke started entering the cabin. As soon as I stopped, the car erupted into a fast-moving, intense fire originating in the engine compartment. The fire spread so quickly that the front of the vehicle and the passenger cabin were completely destroyed before the fire department arrived. The Austin Fire Department responded (Incident Type:…”
NHTSA complaint #11727456, 2026 · fire
“My son and I were driving home from work on IH-35 and I noticed smoke coming from under my hood. Then within seconds, flames appeared moving quickly towards the windshield. I attempted to move to the shoulder and after doing so, I was unable to stop since the brakes were no longer working. I had to use the parking brake when it slowed down and then once stopped, my son and I jumped out of the vehicle and within 3-5 seconds, the entire car was overcome with fire which then exploded.”
NHTSA complaint #11600593, 2024 · fire
Service Brakes 7 1 fire
“My son and I were driving home from work on IH-35 and I noticed smoke coming from under my hood. Then within seconds, flames appeared moving quickly towards the windshield. I attempted to move to the shoulder and after doing so, I was unable to stop since the brakes were no longer working. I had to use the parking brake when it slowed down and then once stopped, my son and I jumped out of the vehicle and within 3-5 seconds, the entire car was overcome with fire which then exploded.”
NHTSA complaint #11600593, 2024 · fire
“The contact owns a 2017 Kia Rio. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000(Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. An unknown dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirm parts not available.”
NHTSA complaint #11578348, 2024
“The contact owns a 2017 Kia Rio. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.”
NHTSA complaint #11573351, 2024
Unknown Or Other 6 1 fire
“Vehicle started shaking, engine light flashed and now vehicle is not drivable due to unresolved recall.”
NHTSA complaint #11570304, 2024
“I took my KIA Rio to mechanic for knocking noise in engine. Mechanic said it's not the original engine and has been replaced. Nuts and bolts are rusted and some aren't even tightened or torqued correctly. I am the second owner of this car and could have been in an accident. This is very scary. There was no information about a different engine or anything else warning me about KIA or Hyundai cars. Please let others know that their safety is at stake buying these vehicles.”
NHTSA complaint #11521796, 2023
“Unknown- trunk won’t open even after pulling the inside emergency cord”
NHTSA complaint #11496956, 2022
Air Bags 3 3 crash 4 injury
“WAS ENVOLVED IN A WRECK TO WHERE I WENT OFF THE ROAD HIT A STOP SIGN,,A TELEPHONE BOX,,A OAK TREE THEN A PINE TREE AND NONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED NOW MY WIFE HAS A BROKEN BACK AND CHEST BONE,,I GOT A BUSTED UP KNEE A SPRANG SHOLDER NECK AND BACK”
NHTSA complaint #11130901, 2018 · crash · 2 injury(ies)
“WAS RUN OFF THE ROAD AT 55 MPH HITTING A STOP SIGN A TELEPHONE BOX A OAK TREE THEN A PINE TREE AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY OR DID THE SEAT BELTS LOCK UP WIFE HAS A BROKEN BACK AND CHEST BONE”
NHTSA complaint #11124725, 2018 · crash · 2 injury(ies)
“THE CAR WAS INVOLVED IN A MAJOR ACCIDENT. THE CAR HIT A FENCE KNOCKED IT DOWN & HIT A TREE IT IS COMPLETELY INOPERABLE. THE CAR WAS TOTALED. NONE OF THE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED.”
NHTSA complaint #11221014, 2019 · crash
Electrical System 3
“No parts available to fix hydraulic electronic control unit HECU. Been told this since December 2023. Received another letter dated 4/10/3024. The remedy is now available. Being told again there are no parts. Went by another car insurance company. Being told I cannot get a quote because of repair problems with recalls.”
NHTSA complaint #11583448, 2024
“Bought the vehicle beginning of March. Thought it was the battery because it wouldn't hold a charge. Coded battery. Replaced. Twice. Electrical power steering started to code. That wasn't the issue.car started to stall while on the highway or in traffic and cut out. Scary when there's semis behind you and you were just going 65 mph in a 70 and I had just got on the highway from the on ramp and was trying to get to speed when it cut out. the crank shaft position sensor coded then so had it replaced and its still rough on acceleration and shifting and it's an automatic transmission.”
NHTSA complaint #11522543, 2023
“This vehicle has electrical issues none stop. One day it randomly stalled out while still in motion and lost all power. No power at all. It was “repaired” and I had it for 2 weeks and it again lost all power while in motion. It put my life completely at risk as I had to pull over into a parking lot after losing all power turning in the middle of a very busy main intersection. Kia dealership said it was the main wiring harness at first and replaced that but then the second time said that the new harness was out again and needed replaced a second time because of a fuse that was causing too much…”
NHTSA complaint #11518898, 2022
Latches/Locks/Linkages 2
“The contact owns a 2017 Kia Rio. The contact stated that while attempting to open the trunk with the key fob, the trunk failed to unlock or open. In addition, the contact engaged the emergency gear, and the trunk would not open. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.”
NHTSA complaint #11590009, 2024
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 KIA RIO. THE CONTACT STATED THE TRUNK OF THE VEHICLE FAILED TO LOCK SECURELY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TRUNK LOCK WAS DEFECTIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO BE DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. NEITHER A DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 28,000.”
NHTSA complaint #11341121, 2020
Power Train 1
“Extremely hot weather lately. Trunk is no longer opening.”
NHTSA complaint #11533147, 2022
Seat Belts 1 1 crash 2 injury
“WAS RUN OFF THE ROAD AT 55 MPH HITTING A STOP SIGN A TELEPHONE BOX A OAK TREE THEN A PINE TREE AND THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY OR DID THE SEAT BELTS LOCK UP WIFE HAS A BROKEN BACK AND CHEST BONE”
NHTSA complaint #11124725, 2018 · crash · 2 injury(ies)
Steering 1
“steering wheel would not lock into place, moved up and down from dash, once dash was removed to see steering column was not connected, top brackets came loose inside dash, bottom of column was never bolted in place from assembly, dealship will not cover/ help and states new column is needed and quoted 1000.00 to repair”
NHTSA complaint #11492979, 2022
Structure 1
“My Rio's trunk latch mechanism has failed for the second time. I know there may be recalls for other model years. But 2017 models may also be affected. The trunk latch mechanism will fail without warning. The remote release will not open the trunk, the key/lock will not open the trunk. Most worrisome is that the inside emergency release will not open the trunk. I checked by climbing into the trunk through the fold-down rear seat back.”
NHTSA complaint #11432586, 2021
Vehicle Speed Control 1
“Bought the vehicle beginning of March. Thought it was the battery because it wouldn't hold a charge. Coded battery. Replaced. Twice. Electrical power steering started to code. That wasn't the issue.car started to stall while on the highway or in traffic and cut out. Scary when there's semis behind you and you were just going 65 mph in a 70 and I had just got on the highway from the on ramp and was trying to get to speed when it cut out. the crank shaft position sensor coded then so had it replaced and its still rough on acceleration and shifting and it's an automatic transmission.”
NHTSA complaint #11522543, 2023
How we read this (methodology)
How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2017 Kia Rio draws about 3.1 complaints per year on the road, ranking 7 of 14 among the Kia Rio model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).
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Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.