2016 Kia Sedona

I purchased the minivan as a used car last year and I noticed that the airbag light turned on when a passenger would sit on the front passenger seat. I tried to get a diagnosis ever since but many shops that I brought my minivan to didn’t work with airbags. So I eventually brought my minivan to a Kia dealership, Luther Bloomington Kia in Bloomington, Minnesota, and got 2 diagnostics: the first one was on 7/9/26, and the second one was on 8/26/26. Both diagnostics found and confirmed that there is an issue with the occupant seat detector or ocs mat defect, code B149000 dtc (occupant classification system). This matches the Kia recall SC175. This issue is a serious safety concern because the airbag system might not work as it should in the event of a crash. The problem is that the dealership would not repair the issue after diagnosing it without me having to pay for the repairs at my own expense, which by the way I was charged by the dealership for the initial diagnosis. The reason they gave me for that decision is that the issue was already allegedly fixed before I took ownership of the vehicle. They advised me to contact Kia America or Kia Customer Care and ask them to consider authorizing the repair. When I contacted Kia Customer Care, they said that they would not authorize the repairs because my vehicle is out of warranty and that the cost of repairs would be on myself. I asked to speak with a supervisor and they said that there was another way to request a consideration. I later learned that the consideration is called something goodwill. After Kia’s review, I was recently informed that they denied me assistance through goodwill. I requested a denial letter from both the dealership and Kia Customer Care. I have not heard from the dealership at this moment and Kia Customer Care answered my request with an email that said that I would need to get the letter through the dealer, that they don’t give out denial letters. So I decided to escalate this issue to NHTSA.

WE PURCHASED BRAND NEW A 2016 KIA SEDONA FROM THE DEALERSHIP. WITHIN THE 2 YEARS WE OWNED IT WE HAD TO TAKE IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOUR TIMES BECAUSE THE AIRBAG LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND STAY ON, OR WOULD FLICKER OFF AND ONE AS I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. THEY FOUND IT TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE PASSENGER AIRBAG. THEY REPAIRED IT THE FIRST THREE TIMES AND THE LIGHT WOULD STAY OFF FOR A WHILE. THE FOURTH TIME WE TOOK IT IN THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO TRY REPLACING THE WHOLE SEAT TO SEE IF THAT HELPED. WE DECIDED THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO RISK IT HAPPENING AGAIN AS THE VAN WAS LESS THAN 2,000 MILES FROM BEING OUT OF WARRANTY. SO, WE TRADED IT IN FOR A 2018 KIA SEDONA WHICH NOW, AT 1400 MILES, HAS THE SAME ISSUE! WE HAVE ALREADY TAKEN IT IN TWICE TO THE HAVE ISSUE REPAIRED. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF HAVING THE EXACT SAME ISSUE?

MY MOTHER AND HER FRIEND WERE DRIVING APPROX. 35 MILES PER HOUR WHEN THE RIGHT REAR WHEEL WENT OFF THE ROAD CAUSING THEM TO GO INTO THE FRYING PAN RIVER IN BASALT, CO. THERE WAS APPROX. 42.1 DEGREE SLOPE. MY MOTHER WAS THE PASSENGER. WE RETRIEVED HER PICTURES AND VIDEO. SHE WAS VIDEO TAPING WITH HER CELL PHONE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE PASSENGER WINDOW WAS DOWN. SHE SAID, "OH [XXX]", AND APPEARED TO REACH TO REMOVE HER SEATBELT. THEY WENT INTO THE RIVER. THEY WERE FOUND AT 4:30 PM WITH CAR SUBMERGED IN WATER AND BOTH DROWNED. NO DAMAGE TO THE CAR. THE SIDE AIRBAGS HAD GONE OFF AND THE FRONT WINDOWS WERE UP WITH THE AIRBAGS STICKING OUT WHEN THEY WERE FOUND. THE FRONT AIRBAGS DID NOT GO OFF. MY CONCERN IS THAT MY MOM KNEW SHE WOULD GET OUT BUT WHEN SHE TOOK A DEEP BREATH THE AIRBAGS KNOCKED HER AIR OUT. AND WE KNOW THE WINDOWS WERE DOWN BUT WENT UP. IF THE ELECTRICAL SHORTED OUT FROM BEING UNDER WATER, WHY DID THE WINDOWS GO UP AND NOT STAY WHERE THEY WERE, WHICH WAS OPEN. ALSO, THE DRIVERS SEAT MOVED FORWARD AFTER GOING INTO THE WATER. AND WE QUESTION IF AIRBAGS WENT OFF TO EARLY. BOTH THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYING AND WINDOWS GOING UP IMPEDED MY MOM GETTING OUT. THE POLICE REPORT SEEMS TO QUESTION WHY THE AIRBAGS WENT OFF ALSO. THERE WAS A REPORT THAT ANOTHER KIA SEDONA WAS DRIVING DOWN THE FREEWAY AND ALL THE DOORS FLEW OPEN. I'M WORRIED THAT WE WILL START SEEING MORE AND MORE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS WITH KIA. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR