'You Can't Touch Anything to Turn It Off:' Woman Says Her Kia K5 Randomly Makes a Noise. It Stops if the Car Sits for 40 Minutes

"Kia can’t figure out what’s wrong with it."

Photo by: @lyssa.gracem

By: Mustafa Gatollari

Jul 15, 2025 at 1:00pm ET

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A Kia K5 owner recently shared an alarming noise her car randomly makes when she turns it on. She says that not even the Kia dealership can figure out what’s causing the sound.

TikToker Lyss Grace (@lyssa.gracem) says that the only way to get the noise to stop is to let her car idle for around 40 minutes. Grace’s TikTok recording of the sound has roughly 150,000 views and many comments speculating about what is causing it.

Many people blame the fact that the vehicle is a Kia. Others are convinced that the issue is actually caused by an audio feature designed to play engine noises in the cabin.

Grace’s video starts with the camera trained on her Kia K5’s steering wheel. When she turns the key, the car starts making a loud noise that’s somewhere between grinding and whirring.

“Does anyone else’s Kia K5 make this noise randomly and it won’t stop unless you cut the car off or let it sit for 40+ minutes?” she asks in a text overlay.

In the video’s caption, she writes that “the sound gets worse with the rev of the engine.”

“You can’t touch anything to turn it off,” she adds. “Kia can’t figure out what’s wrong with it unless I bring it in while it’s doing it, but it happens randomly and at the most inconvenient times.”

A Feature Or A Bug?

A few TikTok users who replied to her video speculated that the K5’s audio system may be at fault.

“Clearly an audio/amp issue bro,” one penned. Another remarked, “It may be the speaker because it makes fake engine noises.”

K5s play engine noise inside the passenger compartment via its Active Sound Design feature.

The car company says this feature “makes virtual engine sounds when you press the accelerator pedal for driving pleasure. You can adjust the volume and change the settings for acceleration pedal response and sound style.”

If it is being caused by Active Sound Design, this feature in Grace’s K5 may be malfunctioning because it comes on randomly. It would make sense that it increases when she revs the engine, as Grace says.

This isn’t the first time the Kia K5’s Active Sound Design has generated confusion.

Last year, a Redditor asked what it’s used for.

“I believe it plays some of the engine noise in the cabin,” one person replied. “It's pretty dumb but I'd be lying if I said I have mine off.”

For several people who commented on Grace’s post, the sound is just proof that she needs to get rid of the Kia.

“Anyways so I hear Toyota has good options,” one person quipped.

What do you think?

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Another joked, “There’s actually a really simple fix to this just head on to your local Honda dealership they got plenty of options.”

Motor1 has reached out to Grace via TikTok comment for further information. We’ll update this if she responds.