A completely new car with a completely new problem list — and the hybrid's is the one that stops you on a highway.

At least six separate filings across the hybrid and plug-in hybrid files describe the same fault, and it is specific enough to be worth naming precisely. "When engaging the cruise control using the steering wheel button, the speed will set itself at 110 miles an hour, and the vehicle will in fact attempt to reach that speed and accelerate. The problem has occurred at speeds as low as 30 miles an hour and as high as 70… pressing the cruise control button does not disengage the cruise control every time, sometimes it is necessary to press the brakes." Another: "When using cruise control and raising the speed, the cruise control gets maxed out to 110 MPH, and requires the driver to [brake]." Another reports three incidents in fifteen months. There is no Kia bulletin and no recall covering this. It is one of the strongest unaddressed patterns in the 2023 file, and it is easy to test: set the cruise control several times on the test drive, from different speeds, and watch the set figure.

Recall 23V531 covers 2023 Soul and Sportage and 2023 to 2024 Seltos. The electronic controller for the Idle Stop and Go oil pump assembly — Idle Stop and Go being the system that shuts the engine off at a red light and restarts it when you lift off the brake — may contain damaged electrical components that can cause the pump to overheat, which increases the risk of a vehicle fire. Kia advises owners to park outside and away from structures until the repair is complete. Dealers inspect and replace the electric oil pump controller free. Kia's own code is SC275, and owner letters went out in late September 2023. This is the most serious of the seven and the first one to confirm against the VIN.

Recall 23V410 covers 2023 Sportages. The brake booster diaphragm — the part that multiplies the force of your foot on the pedal — may become misaligned and cause an internal vacuum leak, which can result in a loss of power brake assist. Without it the pedal goes hard and the car takes much longer to stop. Dealers inspect and replace the brake booster free. Kia's code is SC272, and owner letters were mailed in July 2023. A handful of 2023 complaints describe exactly this shape of event, including one crash into a guardrail after the pedal did not respond. Verify this one has been done before you take a test drive anywhere with traffic.

Recall 23V298 covers 2023 Sportage, Sportage Hybrid and Sportage Plug-in Hybrid — along with the Niro, Soul and Telluride — fitted with a digital instrument cluster containing a 4.2-inch screen. The cluster may fail to display anything at all when the car is started, which breaches the federal standards for controls and displays and for tyre-pressure monitoring, because you can no longer see warning lights, tyre pressures or messages. Dealers update the cluster software free; Kia's code is SC270 and letters went out in May 2023. This is the only recall that reaches all three 2023 versions. Owners report it recurring after the remedy — "my instrument cluster is blank and will not turn back on, so called recall never fixed it" — and one reports buying a hybrid whose cluster software had never been updated before sale. Check the cluster lights up fully on a cold start, not just a warm one.

Four more, all free, all quick. Recall 22V651: the alternator battery positive terminal nut may loosen, which can cause an engine stall or an electrical surge — dealers inspect and tighten it, Kia code SC248. A community channel covering this car describes the affected population correctly as cars built at Kia Georgia between January and August 2022. Recall 22V878: the side curtain airbags may have been twisted during installation, so they can deploy improperly — dealers inspect and reinstall, Kia code SC257. Recall 24V025: the roof molding may loosen and detach, becoming a hazard for the car behind — dealers inspect and secure or replace it, Kia code SC292. Several 2023 owners report exactly that, including one whose VIN was not in the recall. And on the plug-in hybrid only, recall 25V874 covers cars with a 4.2-inch screen and a genuine Kia tow-hitch harness, where a software error can make the instrument panel screen fail; dealers replace the tow-hitch harness control module, Kia code SC359, with letters mailed in February 2026.

A genuine cluster on the gas car, and distinct from the brake-booster recall. "I have had repeated failure and wear of my rotors on my 2023 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige, starting at about 12k miles"; "Premature rotor failure and grinding within approximately six months"; "I took my car in several times to complain about the rotors and brakes, they said everything was fine but then the vehicle [failed]." There is no Kia bulletin for it and no recall. On a car of this age it will often still be inside the basic warranty, and warped or scored discs are a documentable complaint, so raise it early rather than living with the noise. At a pre-purchase inspection, ask for the discs to be measured with a micrometer rather than glanced at.

The gas 2023 uses a 2.5-litre Theta III engine with GDI — Gasoline Direct Injection, where fuel is sprayed straight into the cylinder — paired to an eight-speed automatic, a combination Kia's own bulletin names. Three documented items. First, fuel injectors: Kia's bulletin describes cylinder misfire codes on 2021 to 2023 models with the naturally aspirated 2.5 GDI and dual fuel injection, where a high-pressure injector may be damaged by exposure to fuel containing ethanol. One 2023 owner files simply, "defective fuel injectors on my 2023 Kia Sportage I purchased 6 months ago." Second, Kia issued an engine-computer software upgrade for 2023 Sportages built through mid-2023 because of the possibility of an intermittent restart failure with the stop-start system — which matches owner reports of the car stalling at a stop sign. Third, on 2023 cars built between January and June 2022, Kia found the transmission wiring harness could rub against the shift-cable bracket bolt, chafe, and short to it, lighting the engine light with transmission fault codes. An Australian used-car mechanic reviewing this generation independently flags the same thing: the transmission wiring harness rubbing through and causing complications.

The plug-in's file is small — 15 complaints — but it has its own shape. Charging is the first theme: "charging interrupted in the middle of the night. When attempting to reconnect the charger, a 'Charging unsuccessful' message was given. A warning with 'Check Hybrid System' appeared… I cannot charge the car anymore." Another reports only 29 miles of range after a full charge, plus intermittent stalls, and a battery quietly swapped without explanation. Kia has a campaign that speaks to the cooling side of this: SC325 instructs dealers to inspect and, if necessary, replace the auxiliary electric water pump, its control harness wiring and the engine-room junction box for coolant intrusion and corrosion on certain 2023 Sportage hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Ask whether it has been done. Also in this file: a heavy burnt-fuel smell in the cabin whenever the engine runs, and a fuel gauge that reads empty with half a tank.

Three owner-reported items with no bulletin behind them. The panoramic roof shattering on its own continues from the older car into the redesign, across all three versions: "a loud pop like a gunshot and then the sound of glass breaking"; "my panoramic ceiling just imploded, it sounded like a bomb." Check your policy covers glass. Two separate filings report fires starting at the heated seats, one of them a total loss: "vehicle caught fire while idling unattended with seat warmers activated. The driver seat ignited and fire spread across [the cabin]." No recall covers that. And a two-year owner's video catalogue is worth a skim before you buy: a driver's-door speaker that stops working below about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, dashboard trim near the screen going soft and sticky in heat, a high-mounted brake light working intermittently, and a heating fan that shakes the whole cabin at high speed — with his dealer telling him all of it was normal. One owner's account, and he says so himself, but they are all things you can check in five minutes.

Worth stating plainly, because it is the strongest argument for the 2023 over any Sportage before it. The Theta II 2.4-litre engine is gone. Across 288 complaints on three versions there is no oil-consumption cluster, no P1326 knock-sensor code, no rod-bearing failures, and no filings about denied engine warranty claims — the themes that dominate every Sportage year from 2016 to 2022. The anti-theft campaigns that cover 2011 to 2022 Sportages built without an immobilizer do not reach this car either. What you are buying instead is a launch year with seven recalls and a hybrid system that is still throwing warnings. Different risk, and a much cheaper one if you close the recalls out.