2024 Kia EV9

The contact owns a 2024 Kia EV9. The contact stated that while attempting to release the rear seat belt to install a child safety seat, a significant amount of effort was required. The contact stated that after struggling with the seat belts over several months of use, the seat belt became fully jammed and no longer was able to be extended. The dealer was notified of the failure on several occasions. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,600.

Two seatbelts failed in the rear of the car. One seatbelt in the third row seat and the middle seatbelt in the 2nd row back seat. This happened in quick succession soon after I purchased the car used from a Kia dealer in Orlando. The seatbelt in the third-row seat seemed to fold up and jam in a way that could not be unjammed. The middle seatbelt in the second row got stuck in its extended position, as if it were fully extended, and will not retract. The dealer is claiming that both failures were due to external issues and they are not covering them under warranty. But both issues seem odd to me -- the middle seat seatbelt is just fully extended and now won't retreat; the third row seatbelt folded up when it retracted but, in my experience, that happens somewhat frequently and usually the seatbelts just unfold and keep working. My concern is that this might be a sign that there is an underlying seatbelt manufacturing issue. The dealer is claiming that both seatbelt pretensioners need to be replaced. I have not repaired the seatbelt issues yet so they can both be examined. I can also sent photos of the seatbelts.

A rear seatbelt indicator in the dashboard is broken, and it persistently indicates that (a) a passenger is in a rear seat; and (b) the passenger's seatbelt is fastened. This occurs even if a passenger is not in the seat and the passenger's seatbelt is not fastened. It is unclear whether this is strictly an electronic error in the dashboard, or if the seatbelt itself does not function appropriately. Kia has unsuccessfully tried to fix it twice, and the service department reproduced the problem by simply turning on the vehicle and seeing the persistent light. The local Kia service department says they are not trained to fix many EV problems, so corporate has to be involved, but corporate has not provided material assistance. Corporate has been informed in writing several times of the issue, including that this is a material safety issue, particularly since the vehicle is marketed toward families where a seatbelt indicator may be relied upon by drivers, and it's unclear whether this is strictly an electronics issue or a seatbelt functionality issue. Corporate acknowledged receipt of communications in which they were asked if this has been reported to the NHTSA, and they ignored both requests.

We were rear ended on the freeway by a vehicle going 75 mph. The impact pushed us into the vehicle in front of us.The airbags were deployed but the front and rear passenger seat belts did not lock. My husband flew forward onto the dashboard and cracked the windshield. My daughter who was behind him flew forward into the back of the passenger seat. They both suffered injuries as a result. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by our insurance company..We have some pictures and video. As of now the vehicle is in the ownership of the insurance company on their storage lot.

After starting and backing the car out of a parking spot, I noticed the instrument cluster display screen behind the steering wheel was completely blank, except for the letter of the gear I was in (P, R, or D) in the bottom center of the screen. The symbol for the parking brake also appeared in the bottom left of the screen, and the Door Ajar symbol at the top of the screen. The Heads Up display was also not working at all. When the turn signal was used, I could not see the light flash on the screen, and there was no audible noise telling me the turn signal was on. In fact, many audio notifications did not work. I had no ability to see my speed as both the speedometer and Heads Up Display were not working. I also could not see what mode of regenerative braking was being used, or any other vehicle status that normally appears on the status display. This is dangerous situation for multiple reasons: 1) I can not see how fast I was going 2) There were no safety indicators, visual or audio, that the seat belt is not used. 3) I can not tell if my turn signal was on, which could result in an accident when changing lanes if it wasn't working 4) I can not see how much range is left, potentially resulting in a situation where I get stranded. 5) I could not see what mode of regenerative braking I was in. This is important to ensure the car can be stopped in a safe manner, as each mode affects the stopping distance required. The problem can be reproduced. I am unable to get the display cluster screen to reappear. I have turned the car off and on and it still remains blank along with the heads up display. I have also changed settings for the display cluster in the main menu, but it does not work. I have not had an oppty to have this car inspected yet, but it is available upon request. I plan to call Kia to schedule an appointment. There was also no warning this could occur. I have not had an issue like this appear before.

Drivers seat moving diagonally back and forth left to right when your make left and right turns. The force the car makes, forces the drivers seat to shift. Its a huge safety concern, everyone that has an EV9, a crash can result in the driver being killed because if the seat moves left to right forward and back under heavy or even light g force, imagine during a crash. The seatbelt is on the seat, so your whole body would go flying into the windshield because the seat can't even stay in position with light or heavy movements. Several people have reported identical experiences that only indicate the problem is not just happening to one or a few cars. Kia of America refused to replace my seat and refused at the local kia service center in Daytona beach, FL acknowledge or be shown the replication of the safety hazard. Several others on Facebook and forums are trying to take to service centers, but with it being a complex matter of not just the seat bolts needing to be tightened and something above the seat frame causing the issue, "master technicians" have no idea what they are looking at.