Owner complaints, recalls, fuel economy and safety ratings from public NHTSA and EPA data, updated Oct 17, 2026.
Fuel economy
19–22 mpgcombined; city 17–20, highway 21–25; every version of this model year
Five years of fuel
$14,760–$17,100U.S. average; Ohio $13,190–$15,280 at local prices; every version of this model year; fuel only, not other costs of owning it; 15,000 miles a year, at EIA fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026
NHTSA overall safety rating
Not ratedNHTSA has no overall rating for this year
Owners have filed 111 complaints with NHTSA about the 2006 Sportage. These are unverified owner reports, counted by the part of the car they name; one complaint can name several parts. Counts aren't adjusted for how many were sold, so they don't show how reliable a car is.
Complaints by part of the car
Part
Complaints
Crashes
Fires
Injuries
Air bags
38
6
0
4
Electrical system
22
0
4
0
Engine
15
0
1
0
Vehicle speed control
10
0
0
0
Electronic stability control (ESC)
9
0
0
0
Engine and engine cooling
8
1
0
0
Visibility
7
0
1
0
Exterior lighting
6
0
0
0
Power train
6
0
1
0
Structure
6
2
0
0
Service brakes
5
0
0
0
Suspension
5
1
0
0
14 more parts
Fuel/propulsion system
4
0
1
0
Seat belts
4
1
0
1
Wheels
4
0
1
0
Service brakes, hydraulic
3
1
0
2
Steering
3
0
0
0
Fuel system, gasoline
2
0
0
0
Tires
2
0
0
0
Unknown or other
2
0
0
0
Child seat
1
0
0
0
Equipment
1
0
0
0
Parking brake
1
0
0
0
Seats
1
0
0
0
Service brakes, electric
1
0
0
0
Visibility/wiper
1
0
0
0
Complaints by model year
Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, and counts aren't adjusted for sales, so a shorter bar doesn't mean a more reliable year.
NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for the 2006 Sportage over its history. Campaigns are matched by model and year, so each one may apply to a given car, and its repair may already be done: check a VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup for the open recalls on that exact car.
HUYNDAI-KIA IS RECALLING 139,844 MY 2006-2007- SEDONA, SPORTAGE, SORENTO AND MY RONDO AND AMANTI VEHICLES. THE STOP LAMP SWITCH IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY MALFUNCTION. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A STOP LAMP SWITCH MALFUNCTION MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFTED OUT OF THE PARK POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.
Risk: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, MAY LEAD TO A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 17, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT KIA'S CONSUMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-333-4542.
Carmakers sent NHTSA 31 service bulletins and notices that cover the 2006 Sportage, the latest on Apr 17, 2025. They tell dealers how to fix known issues.
The parts they mention most: equipment (8), structure (8), equipment adaptive/mobility (7), power train (5), fuel system (4).
NHTSA hasn't opened a defect investigation that covers this model year.
Maintenance
Oil
The owner's manual gives the oil and how often to change it. We show oil facts only once we've checked them against the manual, and we haven't yet for the 2006 Sportage.
These are searches on those sites; we don't copy or check their listings. Your ZIP is used for these links and never kept.
Specs
EPA class: sport utility vehicle. Each version EPA tested:
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Version
Engine
Transmission
Fuel
City / hwy / comb
Sportage Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl
Automatic 4-spd
Regular Gasoline
19 / 25 / 22
Sportage Front-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl
Manual 5-spd
Regular Gasoline
20 / 25 / 22
Sportage 4-Wheel or All-Wheel Drive
2.0 L, 4 cyl
Manual 5-spd
Regular Gasoline
19 / 24 / 21
Sportage Front-Wheel Drive
2.7 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 4-spd
Regular Gasoline
17 / 23 / 20
Sportage 4-Wheel or All-Wheel Drive
2.7 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 4-spd
Regular Gasoline
17 / 21 / 19
Sources and dates
U.S. EPA fuel economy data, file of Sep 29, 2026
NHTSA owner complaints, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA recalls, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA manufacturer communications, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA defect investigations, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings, file of Aug 7, 2026
U.S. Energy Information Administration, file of Oct 12, 2026
Fuel cost: EPA mpg with fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026 and electricity prices for Jul 2026. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Oct 2026). Complaints are unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA. About the data