2017 Kia Niro

During first recall 18V-666, Kia stated that I received a new PRA in September 2019 per recall instructions. July 2023, my car would not turn on and was sent to same Kia dealership. Recall 22V-836 applies to my car, and my PRA shows sign of thermal damage yet again. Both main relays that were replaced in 2019 were of Panasonic, yet, the PRA was melted to the point that the wire harness also needs replacing. This is 2 fire incidences in my 2017 Kia Niro in less than 3.5 years, on the same part.

Few days ago, the check engine light turned on in the dashboard of the Kia Niro 2017 The car was taken to an authorized Kia dealership for diagnostic. The dealership informed that the "Fuel air filter kit & NVLD" needed to be changed at the expenses of the owner. The same issue was described in the "Kia technical service bulletin ... SA395" in the NHTSA website. This bulletin explains that the dealership has to repair this issue under warranty, even if the warranty is expired. The dealership said that this car VIN number is not covered by this bulletin; however, the issue is exactly the same as described in the mentioned document. The car mileage is under 54,000 miles. I would appreciate if NHTSA reviews the list of VIN numbers in order to cover all the cars that present this problem.

I called my local Dealer Nationwide Kia in Timonium Maryland to get an appointment for the required recall. They have so far have been unresponsive, so I called Kia in California. I got a case # of [XXX] after waiting 1:30 mins on the phone. Called back the next week and they said they called the dealer and got no answer but left a message and they sent an email. Called back the next week and they said the dealer never responded and they sent another email. Called back today and sat on the phone with Kia California for another hour and they never answered. I'm very upset that i can't seem to get an appointment for a safety recall, what good does a recall do if the dealer won't answer me and the Kia Zone office can't force them into action. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

On Friday, December 9, 2022, the heating element in the driver side seat burned through the cushion, burned a hole in my coat, and burned my right leg. Yes, it is available for inspection upon request. Thursday, January 5, 2023, the service department at Kia confirmed the heated seat element had gotten too hot and burned through the seat. Service personnel said the part that needed to be replaced was not under warranty and quoted prices ranging from $600-$1,700 to have it repaired. Other than the service department at Lithia Kia of Anchorage, no other inspection has been done. There were no warning lights or messages prior to the failure. In fact the car had been in the shop the week prior and had a courtesy vehicle inspection.

Back seat got warm & later that morning car engine would not start but lights in vehicle came on. Appt made w/dealer who after a week hadn't done diagnostics nor checked battery & main hybrid fuse as I had requested. I towed to a service garage who upon starting to open the box covering battery, found battery had kindof exploded & bulged. I searched online for recalls on 12/7/22 and found a recall 11/10/22 -22V836000 (KIAs # is SC256) which is "Main Relay within Power Relay Assembly (PRA) may have inadequate connections between its contacts, causing increased electrical resistance, which can overheat the rear seats." "This recall supersedes NHTSA recall number 18V-666. Vehicles already repaired under the previous recall will need to have the new remedy completed" I have receipt showing I had did the 1st recall but the recall is not showing up when I search my VIN#. Kia has found some dealers lied & never replaced the part they said they did. My car will be towed tomorrow to a KIA dealer who will look into this issue & what my battery looks like. No warning lights came on prior to the engine not starting. I called KIA cust service for recalls this morning 12/7 and they were no help to me at all seeing the recall isnt showing under my VIN number.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while her mom was opening the front passenger’s side door outside door handle detached. The driver’s and passenger’s side door handle and button detached. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer four times where it was diagnosed and determined that the door handles needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not covered under a warranty or recall. No additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. The VIN was not available.

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Niro. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, he noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust. The contact stated that her son pulled over to input more coolant however, upon starting the vehicle, the coolant immediately drained from the reservoir. Additionally, the contact stated that a burning odor could be detected throughout the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that a hole was in the exhaust and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000. The VIN was not available.

I own a 2017 Kia Niro with 48,000 miles on it. In early February 2022, I received a "system overheating" warning on my dashboard. When I pulled over and checked the engine, I noticed that the coolant overflow reservoir was nearly empty. I had the vehicle towed to a dealership (Destination Kia in Albany, NY), who pressure tested the engine but couldn't find any leaks. They returned the vehicle to me, but a day later I got another overheating warning and this time noticed excessive smoke, along with the coolant reservoir once again being drained. I thus brought it to a different dealer (Matthews Kia in Schenectady, NY), who also could not find a leak, but offered to replace the engine. Several months went by without the repair being completed, so I finally went to Matthews last week for a status update. They informed me that they had several Niro's experiencing similar issues, and that Kia Corporate had sent out a "technical service bulletin" to the dealers informing them that this recurring issue in the Niros is due to faulty EGR coolers. I brought the vehicle back to Destination, hoping that as a larger dealer they could complete the repair more quickly. They have since confirmed that the EGR cooler needs replacing, but quoted me $2500 for the repair, stating that it is not covered under warranty. Considering that this problem has recurred in enough Niros to warrant a technical service bulletin from the corporate office, and the obvious safety issues that an overheating vehicle can cause, I argue that Kia should have to send out a recall for this part. It's absurd that I'm being asked to pay $2500 to repair a vehicle with less than 50,000 miles on it, especially considering that this is clearly a recurring issue with this model. I have attached the initial repair records that I received, and will add the $2500 repair order for the EGR cooler once it is completed.