When a new car rolls off a dealer’s lot, every recall notice tied to that VIN should already be closed. Federal law says so. But for one buyer, a four-day-old Kia turned into a 60-mph liability, and her story shows how easily that system can fail.
Two viral clips from TikTok user Kristinaa (@kriistiinaa4) describe a nearly year-long struggle to get her Kia repaired after it repeatedly slammed on the brakes by itself at highway speeds. What began as a frightening sensor malfunction quickly became a case study in unreturned calls, disputed charges, and mounting frustration.
“Four days into [owning] it, I start realizing that I'll be driving and I'll be going 60 or 50 on the highway, and all of a sudden, the car completely stops,” she said in the clip that’s been viewed more than 3,000 times.
“No one's getting back to me. I call almost every day. I send emails daily, and the same answer I get is, ‘Your case manager will call you in 24 hours.’ Three months went by,” she adds.
The Kia Case Manager Maze
In a follow-up video, Kristinaa says her ordeal deepened even after she took matters into her own hands and went to an independent shop for a repair. Months passed before a case manager finally contacted her, instructing her to bring the car back so the dealership could “read the black box,” a step the service manager later told her was pointless because the faulty sensor had already been replaced.
She says the case manager also told her to expect a free loaner through Enterprise, but when she arrived, neither the dealer nor the rental office had any record of coverage. “They had no idea what I was talking about,” she said. “I had to pay out of pocket.”
The bill came to roughly $900, including a $300 deposit, and she says multiple promises of reimbursement have gone unanswered. She provided email records and receipts showing daily follow-ups since February or March, but claims she has yet to receive a refund or consistent communication from anyone at Kia or the dealership.
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Kristinaa also said she was later diagnosed with whiplash from the initial braking incident, which caused her car to jerk violently before striking an animal. She told followers she even emailed Kia’s corporate president but received only a single response promising to forward her message “to the case manager” and has heard nothing since.
Gallery: 2026 Kia K5
Phantom Braking: False Alarms and Real Dangers
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems are designed to prevent crashes by detecting obstacles and applying the brakes when drivers don’t react in time. When they malfunction, however, they can do the opposite, creating a dangerous situation for vehicles traveling behind.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency has investigated or recalled millions of vehicles since 2019 for what engineers call “unintended activation” or “phantom braking.” The failures are almost always electronic, where radar or camera sensors misread reflections or shadows as obstacles and trigger sudden stops even when the road is clear.
Kia has acknowledged technical bulletins and service campaigns addressing radar-misdetection and alignment issues in some Telluride models, though no public recall tied explicitly to the false-braking scenario has been confirmed.
Earlier this year, General Motors recalled certain 2023 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon models because the forward-facing camera module could trigger unwarranted AEB events at speeds between 5 and 85 mph. The company’s fix was a software reflash to correct the logic that interprets radar and camera data.
Mazda issued a similar recall in May 2024 for roughly 10,000 CX-90 crossovers, warning that “the brakes may activate suddenly due to false detection of certain objects” because of improperly programmed vehicle-control software.
And in April 2024, the NHTSA opened a formal engineering investigation into more than 3 million Honda vehicles after receiving hundreds of complaints about unexpected braking in models equipped with its collision-mitigation braking system.
In all of these cases, the underlying failure was electronic instead of mechanical. Front radar or camera sensors misinterpreted reflections, road markings, or shadows as obstacles, causing the system to engage the brakes even when the road was clear.
Problems with false braking have drawn regulators’ attention and led to action in the courtroom.
Regulators and courts have increasingly focused on “phantom braking” claims. Nissan, Subaru, and other automakers have faced class-action suits alleging their automatic emergency braking systems activate without cause or fail when needed. Attorneys say such cases highlight the gap between promised driver-assistance safety and the messy reality of software-driven vehicles.
Data from NHTSA shows that roughly one in four recalled vehicles on U.S. roads has not yet been repaired. Experts say the safest step any buyer can take is to run a VIN search at NHTSA.gov/recalls or on the manufacturer’s website before purchase, then insist on written confirmation that all open recalls have been completed.
When the Dealer Goes Silent
If a defect persists after multiple repair attempts, consumers may have recourse under state lemon laws or the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, provided they’ve documented each visit or communication showing the problem wasn’t resolved. While federal law bars dealerships from selling new vehicles with open safety recalls, follow-up repairs and customer contact typically fall to the automaker’s regional network. When that process breaks down, owners can find themselves stuck between the dealer, manufacturer, and insurer.
Consumer advocates say the best defense is documentation.
If a dealership is unresponsive, experts recommend escalating directly to the automaker and filing a safety complaint through NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline, which can trigger federal investigations. Drivers should also avoid paying out of pocket for recall-related fixes; under NHTSA reimbursement rules, automakers must reimburse verified expenses if a later recall confirms the defect.
Motor1 reached out to the creator via direct message and comment on the clip, and also emailed Kia for comments from the company. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.
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