Hyundai and Kia Recall Nearly 500,000 Cars Over Safety Concerns
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Some Hyundai and Kia owners are being urged to keep their vehicles outside this winter.
Both South Korean automakers have issued warnings to customers who own specific vehicles to park the cars outdoors due to the possibility of nearly 485,000 models catching fire, even when their engines are turned off, CNN reported Tuesday.
The recalled vehicles are: 2016-2018 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2017-2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe XL, 2014-2015 Hyundai Tucson, and 2014-2016 Kia Sportage SUVs, and the 2016-2018 Kia K900 sedan, per Consumer Reports.
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Kia is recalling certain vehicles due to a faulty Hydraulic Electronic Control Unit (HECU), according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which warns that the HECU "could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire."
Kia is recalling 126,747 vehicles that may have been affected, according to the NHTSA.
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The automaker reported three incidents in which their vehicles caught fire, none of which resulted in fatalities, injuries, or crashes, according to NHTSA documents.
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Meanwhile, Hyundai has issued a recall over faulty Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) modules, which the NHTSA warns "could malfunction and cause an electrical short, which could result in an engine compartment fire."
Hyundai is recalling 357,830 vehicles that may have been affected, per the safety administration.
Eight Hyundai vehicles affected by the recall caught fire in separate incidents, none of which resulted in injury, NHTSA documents state.
Moving forward, both car companies will notify owners of affected vehicles and will replace the faulty parts, free of charge, the NHTSA said.
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The recalls come after a string of incidents affecting Korean automakers in recent years. CBS News reports that both Hyundai and Kia have issued similar recalls as recently as May of 2021, March 2021 and February 2020.
Michael Brooks, chief counsel for the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, told NBC News that the most recent recalls present a new challenge.
"Although NHTSA has the authority to order a recall and potentially a buyback of all affected vehicles, the separate fire defects that have plagued millions of Hyundai vehicles across multiple model years makes this a very difficult task," he said.
