The Lemon Index$7,000 middle bill · most between $6,000 and $8,600
Lower than the $8,000 middle bill owners of all 168 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 88,000 miles (26 reports).
Kia Sportage owners reported paying a median of $7,000 for a engine replacement, with the middle half of bills between $6,000 and $8,600. That's from 40 owner reports (40 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,5002%
- $2,500–$5,0008%
- $5,000 and up90%
Share of the 40 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2002 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
- 2011 Kia Sportage3$4,500 middle bill
- 2012 Kia Sportage15$7,000 middle bill
- 2013 Kia Sportage10$7,100 middle bill
- 2014 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
- 2016 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
- 2017 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
- 2018 Kia Sportage2too few for a middle
- 2019 Kia Sportage2too few for a middle
- 2020 Kia Sportage2too few for a middle
- 2021 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
- 2022 Kia Sportage1too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2013 Kia Sportage104 complaints name it27% of that year's complaints
- 2012 Kia Sportage103 complaints name it26% of that year's complaints
- 2017 Kia Sportage51 complaints name it13% of that year's complaints
- 2018 Kia Sportage29 complaints name it17% of that year's complaints
- 2020 Kia Sportage28 complaints name it17% of that year's complaints
- 2015 Kia Sportage22 complaints name it15% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a engine failure. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
2.4 Theta II · Theta II 2.0 turbo (G4KH)
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
- Kia Sportage reliability by year
- Engine replacement cost on every car
- Car symptoms and what they can mean
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11770932, 11767293, 11744422, 11740300, 11697338, 11664116, 11630646, 11580012, 11571139, 11539659, 11446375, 11445598 and more.
Quick answers
How much does engine replacement cost on a Kia Sportage?
Kia Sportage owners reported a median of $7,000, and the middle half paid $6,000 to $8,600, from 40 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a Kia Sportage engine replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The Kia Sportage middle bill of $7,000 is lower than the $8,000 owners of all 168 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these Kia Sportage repair costs come from?
From 40 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which Kia Sportage years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2013 (104), 2012 (103), 2017 (51) Kia Sportage named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.