NEW YORK — Kia America is recalling nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs — and urging owners to park their cars outside and away from other structures until a problem posing a hearth hazard is fixed.
The front power seat motor on the affected Tellurides from the 2020-2024 model years may overheat due to a stuck slide knob, in accordance with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That might potentially end in a hearth while the automotive is parked or being driven.
Kia made the choice to recall the vehicles on May 29, NHTSA documents published Friday show, after receiving reports of 1 under-seat fire and 6 incidents of localized melting within the seat tilt motor between August 2022 and March 2024. No related injuries, crashes or fatalities were reported on the time.
The recall report notes that strong external impact to the recalled Tellurides’ front power seat side cover or seat slide knob may end up in internal misalignment — and with continuous operation, that may cause overheating. People driving vehicles with the difficulty may find they can not adjust the ability seat, may notice a burning or melting smell, or see smoke rising from underneath the seat.
To repair this, dealers will install a bracket for the ability seat switch back covers and replace the seat slide knobs for free of charge. Until the vehicles are repaired, owners are being instructed to park their cars outside and away from buildings.
Owner notification letters are set to be mailed out starting July 30, with dealer notification just a few days prior. Irvine, California-based Kia America didn’t immediately reply to The Associated Press’ request for comment on why these notifications would not begin until the tip of next month.
Within the meantime, drivers can even confirm if their specific vehicle is included on this recall and find more information using the NHTSA site and/or Kia’s recall lookup platform.
The recall covers 462,869 model yr 2020-2024 Tellurides that were manufactured between Jan. 9, 2019 and May 29, 2024. Kia America estimates that 1% have the defect.
This isn’t the one recall impacting Kia Telluride owners. In March, Kia America said it will be recalling greater than 427,000 of 2020-2024 Telluride SUVs resulting from a defect which will cause the cars to roll away while they’re parked.
Just last fall, Kia and Hyundai announced previous “park outside” recalls for 3.4 million other automotive and SUV models resulting from the danger of engine compartment fires. Amid long-delayed repairs, lots of those vehicles remained on the road months later, posing serious concerns from drivers and consumer safety advocates.
Hyundai owns a part of Kia, though the 2 firms operate independently.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
