7 complaints reported

2018 Kia Stinger Exterior Lighting

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
7
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Dec 2026

Around a two years ago the headlight brights failed and have yet to come back. Kia refuses to fix the issue stating normal wear. This is an incredible hazard to safety in night operation of the vehicle. We are told it is due to a motor in the headlight assembly failing. There are many forum post about this issue and the only known fix is to replace both headlight assemblies at a cost of upward of $1800 a piece. This is a failure that should not be taken lightly and all lighting a safety devices should be of the upmost importance.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2024
May 2025

The bright lights on both headlights stopped working instantly.. the design is flawed as it operates on a shutter using one bulb.. the malfunction is cause by premature failure of the gears in the shutter. The dealerships are aware of this problem as the shutter is also used in their Telluride vehicles as well… it causes safety issues when driving at night. Kia also knows the problem also the gear in the headlight can’t be replaced and Kia forces to replace whole headlight assembly which is $1200 per light.. on many Stinger forums a lot of people are saying the same problems with their headlights. This is a major safety hazard!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2024
Nov 2022

Adaptive front lighting system error. For the last several months, and more frequently in the last 2 weeks when the weather has been colder, the dashboard warning light for the adaptive headlights has come on -- initially intermittently, but now solid nearly every time I turn on the vehicle. Bluedriver OBDII tool tells me this is error code B2325: "Swivel module fault left short circuit or over temperature." I noticed the problem seemed to creep up and became more frequent when the temperature dropped. Others on Kia Stinger forums have reported the exact same issue: https://stingerforum.org/threads/dynamic-bending-light-failure.3820/ To me, this represents a safety problem, as the feature function is to provide Dynamic Bending (Swivelling) and Automatic Leveling (Leveling) to control headlight beam pattern with curves in the road. I have reported this problem to my local Kia dealer and to the national Kia customer service line, but neither of them seemed to have yet heard of the problem. Consumer was told by RAM truck would be brought to a RAM DEALERSHIP to have the diagnostic run!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2021
Feb 2019

THE KIA DEALERSHIP PERFORMED A MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDED UPDATE/REPLACEMENT OF THE ECU. BEFORE THE REPLACEMENT MY CAR HAD AMBIANT LIGHTING FOR THE CABIN THAT CHANGED LIGHTS. AFTER THE ECU UPDATE/REPLACEMENT THE AMBIANT LIGHTING DOESN'T NOT WORK AND IT'S NO LONGER AN OPTION IN MY CARS SETTINGS.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2019
Jan 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 KIA STINGER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS DID NOT PROJECT ENOUGH ILLUMINATION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE BEGAN EVER SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2019. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO FERGUSON KIA (1601 N ELM PL, BROKEN ARROW, OK 74012) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS WERE PERFORMING ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Sep 2019
Dec 2018

CONDENSATION" INSIDE" THE HEAD LIGHT ASSEMBLY CONTINUALLY APPEARS AND HINDERS THE VEIW. ONCE AFTER WASHING THE VEHICLE AND SEVERAL TIMES AFTER A SHORT DRIVE THEN RETURNING TO THE VEHICLE TO DRIVE IT AGAIN. WHERE AND WHEN IT OCCURS IS RANDOM AND OFTEN. AFTER THIS CYCLE CONTINUES THE INSIDE LENS LEAVES A RESIDUAL FILM ULTIMATELY REQUIRING REPLACEMENT. CAR HAD 4000 MILES ON IT THE FIRST TIME IT WAS NOTICED. BRAND NEW CAR. $52000.00.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2018
Oct 2018

HEADLIGHTS CANNOT BE ADJUSTED SIDE-2-SIDE. CURRENTLY BOTH DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHTS POINT OFF CENTER TO THE LEFT, BLINDING ON-COMING TRAFFIC. THIS IS ALSO A MASSACHUSETTS VEHICLE SAFETY VIOLATION WHICH COULD RESULT IN A REJECTION WHEN THE VEHICLE IS DUE FOR INSPECTION.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2018 KIA STINGER, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Aug 2018

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2018 Kia Stinger has 7 Exterior Lighting complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.