Category Archives: Kia

News about Kia automobile manufacturer. News about Kia recalls, technical service bulletins (TSB), and problems regarding Kia vehicles.

Kia Recalls 2006-2008 Optima Vehicles

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2006 2008 Kia Optima RecallKia has announced a recall that will have almost 70,000 Optima owners taking their vehicles in for repairs. The recall is over concerns that some of the shift cables were not assembled properly, allowing them to detach from the shift assembly dowel pin. The detached cable will prevent the transmission from being put in “park” even though the shift lever is in the “park” position. As a result, the vehicle could roll away causing damage and injury.

The vehicles involved in this recall are the 2006-2008 Optima vehicles built between September 2005 to June 2007. Kia will start notifying owners middle of March, where Dealers will inspect and reinstall the shift cable if necessary. Owners can contact Kia at 1-800-333-4542 for more information.

Vehicle Safety Picks For 2011

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has come out with their annual list of top safety picks for the 2011 model year vehicles. This year they recognized 66 vehicles, more than double that of last year. Hyundai and their affiliate Kia as well as Volkswagen and their affiliate Audi lead the insurance industry’s list with nine vehicles on the safest new vehicles list. Below are some of the automobile manufactures and their vehicles that made the list.

  • Audi – A3 sedan, A4 sedans, Q5 SUV
  • BMW – 5 series (except 4-wheel drive and V8)
  • Buick – LaCrosse, Regal
  • Cadillac – CTS, SRX
  • Chevrolet – Malibu, Cruze, Equinox
  • Chrysler – 200 4-door
  • Dodge – Avenger, Journey
  • Ford – Taurus, Fusion, Fiesta sedan and hatchback built after July 2010, Explorer, Flex
  • GMC – Terrain
  • Honda – Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional electronic stability control, Element
  • Hyundai – Genesis sedan, Sonata midsize, Santa Fe, Tucson
  • Infinite – M37/M56 (except M56x 4-wheel drive)
  • Jeep – Grand Cherokee, Patriot with optional side torso airbags
  • Kia – Optima, Forte, Soul, Sorento built after March 2010, Sportage
  • Lexus – RX
  • Lincoln – MKS, MKZ, MKT
  • Mercedes – C class, E class coupe, E class sedan, GLK
  • Mitsubishi – Lancer sedan (except 4-wheel drive)
  • Nissan – Cube
  • Scion – tC, xB
  • Subaru – Legacy, Outback, Impreza sedan and hatchback (except WRX), Tribeca, Forester
  • Toyota – Avalon, Corolla, Sienna, Highlander, Venza
  • Volkswagen – Jetta sedan, Jetta SportWagen, Golf 4-door, GTI 4-door , Touareg, Tiguan
  • Volvo – C30, S80, XC60, XC90

Hyundai And Kia Recalls Vehicles For Brakes

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Hyundai Santa Fe Kia Sorento recallHyundai has announced that they will be recalling certain 2011 Santa Fe vehicles built between September 28, 2010 to November 25, 2010 for rear brake calipers that may have not been properly machined. The problem may lead to a brake fluid leak, an illuminated brake light warning on the dashboard, soft or spongy brakes, and a potential loss of brakes. Dealers will inspect the calipers and replace problematic ones free of charge. Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-243-7766, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle safety hot line at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.safercar.gov .

Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai, has also issued a recall for the same problem. Almost 8,000 2011 Sorento vehicles built between September 14, 2010 and October 4, 2010 will be recalled..

Kia Inspects Accelerator Pedals On Optima

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Kia has issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) to dealers asking them to inspect accelerator pedals on any 2011 Optimas made between October 16 and November 24. The automaker reported a potential problem with the spring design which may lead to noisy, sticky or unresponsive acceleration.

The Kia Optima was designed to compete against mid size sedans such as the Camry and Accord, and though it has done poor in the past, the totally redesigned 2011 model the Optima is starting to live up to it’s name. With it’s new look, increased performance and safety, and outstanding fuel economy Kia continues to build it’s brand in the U.S.

Kia Recalls Soul And Sorento Vehicles

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Kia has announced that they will be recalling their 2010 Kia Soul and the 2011 Kia Sorento over wire harnesses which have been improperly soldered. The wiring that runs in the door trim panels are susceptible to an electrical short which could lead to a fire.

No accidents or injuries have been reported due to this problem. After receiving a recall letter later this month Kia owners will be able to bring in their vehicles to have the harnesses replaced, free of charge.

Posted in Kia.

2009 Was A Year Of High Auto Recalls

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced 2009 as the highest for auto recalls since 2005. Although the number of campaigns was the lowest in five years, the number of automobiles recalled in each campaign was high. 2008 brought about 10.5 million vehicles recalled in 684 campaigns while there were 16.4 million vehicles recalled in 2009 in 492 campaigns. Only Honda reported a decline in recalled vehicles in 2009.

Below is a list of how the recalls were distributed amongst auto makers in 2009:

  • The leader with nine campaigns adding up to 4.26 million vehicles recalled was the automaker Toyota and their unintended acceleration problems. This is the first time a Japanese automaker has led the industry total.
  • Ford recalled 4.5 million vehicles in eight campaigns. The largest being a defective cruise control switch which was linked to vehicle fires.
  • General Motors had 2.2 million vehicles recalled in 16 campaigns. The possibility of engine fires in passenger sedans accounted for 1.5 million vehicles recalled.
  • Chrysler had 15 campaigns, recalling almost 600,000 vehicles. Chrysler’s popular minivans the Town & Country and the Dodge Grand Caravan accounted for over 350,000 of these recalls for defective crash sensors.
  • Honda had four campaigns recalling 454,000 vehicles. Almost all these vehicles were recalled due to an airbag defect.
  • Nissan Motor Co. had six campaigns, recalling 706,000 vehicles in 2009. Almost 550,000 of these recalls were due to a brake pedal pin becoming partially disengaged causing a loss of normal braking power.
  • Hyundai Motor Co. and its Kia unit recalled 1.3 million vehicles in eight campaigns. Over 530,000 recalls were due to a malfunctioning stop lamp switch that could prevent the brake lights from illuminating or cause them to stay lit after the brakes were released.
  • Volkswagen had eights campaigns and 100,000 vehicles recalled. Almost 17,000 sport-utility vehicles were recalled to fix a software program that could lead to passenger air bag failure.

The History OF Unintended Acceleration

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Toyota’s unintended acceleration problem has been flooding the media lately causing fear in anyone who drives on the roads. You hear stories of how someone’s car started speeding uncontrollably and the deaths and injuries that resulted. Drivers of these vehicles said they pressed the brakes, but the vehicle just didn’t respond.

You may be surprised to learn that this is a problem that has been around for quite a while, and is not limited to only Toyota vehicles. ConsumerAffairs.com has received sudden acceleration complaints over the years from a wide range of makes, including Kia, Jaguar, BMW and Ford. Ford coming in second after Toyota. In fact, during the 80’s, Audi went through the same legal and media problems that Toyota experiences now for unintended acceleration.

In 2005 there was an estimated 20,000 consumers who complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of sudden unintended acceleration. Some complaints as far back as the late 1980’s when vehicle first started to be controlled with electronic controls. The problem is difficult to recreate without tampering with the vehicles electronics, so in most cases there is no indication that the vehicle has malfunctioned.

According to engineers familiar with electronic technology any electronic interference could cause the accelerator to surge out of control. In these type of systems there are fail-safes that will reset the computer and will store an error code which can be read by a technician when brought in for repairs. So far, any vehicle that has experienced unintended acceleration has not brought up an error code indicating anything went wrong.

Toyota Ranks Well In Consumer Reports

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After all the news we have been hearing about Toyota and their problems, Consumer Reports still ranks Toyota vehicles as number three. (The same ranking as last year.) The rankings are based on performance, comfort, utility and reliability of over 280 different vehicles.

“Toyota builds extremely good, reliable cars”, said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “I think once they get through all the recalls you will see that they are a very reliable manufacturer.” The magazine ended up dropping a couple of Toyota models from the Top Picks after the company suspended sales because of the recall. Since the vehicles were not for sale at the time, they could not make the list.

Honda (which includes Acura models) and Subaru were tied for first place, the fourth year that Honda was the leading manufacturer. They were followed by Toyota, and Hyundai (including Kia) which was ranked fourth, up from ninth last year. American manufacturers fared poorly. Ford was ranked eleventh, moving up one place from last year. General Motors and Chrysler occupied the bottom two slots, respectively.