Kia Stinger Reliability by Year

Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

209 NHTSA complaints (2018–2023).Complaint rate: 21.5 per 1,000 vehicles.

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Should I buy a Kia Stinger?

Quick answer from 209 NHTSA complaints · 2018–2023

Kia Stinger shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 4.8% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to engine problems. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.

Best years to buy
Most common Kia Stinger problem: Engine Problems42 complaints (2.4% crash-involvement rate).

Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.

Severity Score
538.4
Complaints
209
Crash Rate
4.8%
Fire Rate
7.2%
Injuries
6
Fatalities
3

Which Years to Buy & Avoid

Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.

Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.

Bottom line: Avoid the 2018–2019 Kia Stinger. The 2022–2023 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Engine.

Avoid These Years

2018–2019
~68/yr complaints · 5 crashes

Average

2020–2021
~27/yr complaints

Better Years

2022–2023
~11/yr complaints
Looking at a specific Kia Stinger?

A model's reputation is just the start.

Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).

Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA complaint count per model year

Common Kia Stinger Problems

Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.

Show full table
ComponentComplaintsCrash %
Engine Problems422.4%
Electrical Faults267.7%
Fuel System210.0%
Brakes205.0%
Transmission / Drivetrain119.1%
Headlight/Taillight Failures100.0%
Body Structure90.0%
Gasoline Fuel System80.0%
Hydraulic Brakes70.0%
Wipers & Visibility50.0%

When Each Problem Spiked

Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.

Data Sources & Methodology

Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (209 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.

Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.

Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.

Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).

See also: Kia Stingeraccident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.

Buying a Kia Stinger?

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