Kia News: What You Need to Know

Kia has been in the news recently. Here’s what you need to know. There have been fewer than 200 non-collision combustions or near combustion incidents reported by drivers of Kia and Hyundai vehicles according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Specifically, the Kia complaints involve the 2011 to 2014 Optima and Sorento.

As per Kia Motors America (KMA):

All vehicles have combustible materials and a risk of fire. There are over 3 million of these Kia and Hyundai models on the road; and even though 200 reports is statistically a small number, we recognize that even one fire injury is too many. Neither the car manufacturers nor the U.S. government takes these incidents lightly. The CEO’s of both Kia and Hyundai have been requested to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee on November 10^th.

You will be notified by KMA if your vehicle is affected and Kia Country will notify our customers of recalls via email. Kia is encouraging customers to get open recall work done as soon as possible. Kia will contact customers who have not had the recall work performed and encourage them to schedule an appointment with their local dealer. You can also check for a recall notice.

Kia and Hyundai have built quality vehicles and stellar reputations over a number of years. In fact, they placed first and second in the 2018 J.D. Power Initial Quality Report.

Jeff Fisher, Director of Auto Testing at Consumer Reports said, “The reliability over the years has been quite good. I don’t think that is changing,” Fisher said of Hyundai and Kia. “What we’re looking at here is a safety issue.”

Kia Country checks open recall notices and performs required recall work on all used and Certified Pre-owned Kia vehicles before they are put on the lot. Steve Appelbaum, General Manager said, “we have not seen or heard of anyone experiencing these issues.  It has not yet been determined there is any manufacturing or corresponding component issue. We believe Kia is and will take steps to resolve this question.  Buyers do not need to worry about purchasing a Kia.  If you have any concerns we are happy to check your history for recalls and do a complimentary multi-point inspection.  We have not presently received any direction from KMA otherwise.”  We have a high level of confidence in the KIA product and know that they will stand dependably and reliably with any product in the market.

KIA will notify you if they find an issue regarding your vehicle and our Service and Parts department will happily perform any prescribed work.