2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid

REAR PASSENGER SEAT BELTS ON BOTH DRIVERS AND PASSENGER SIDE: The seat belt would not fully pull out/extend, and allow the passenger OR the child safety seat to be properly secured. It would lock up, and once the belt was pulled out, it would lock up on the retraction and not allow any extension. I took to the KIA dealership - which took a total of 3 visits- DEMONSTRATED and recreated the issue- which confirmed there was a problem. This did not happen on each use, but once I realized the child safety seat could not be installed properly (fully extended seat belt, retraction/ratcheting of belt to secure seat) I returned, and asked the service manager also observe along with at least one of the service techs. They were skeptical and not even fully aware of how a child seat should be installed, and the full extension of the seat belt, and the SOUND of the ratcheting/locking of the belt once fully extended. A repair/replacement was eventually done- parts had to be ordered and I could not find this “defect” on any KIA or other websites. It took a number of days for the replacement/repair. There were no warning lights that there were any problems with the safety belts. I (retired) police officer with NHTSA safety seat instructor certification (not current) and have knowledge of this, and it wasn’t until I explained and demonstrated the system to these dealership employees the proper function did they “believe” me. I just read of the a KIA recall on their Telluride models, and it sounds like a similar problem. Until it was fixed, I had a couple of occasions where the passenger was unable to secure their belt, which was before I realized that there was a manufactured problem with this system.

This is a new car purchased in August 2022. A few months after I bought the car the rear, left passenger seat belt stopped working. I brought it into Kia. They stated that they could find nothing wrong with it. A month later I brought it back and they agreed with me that it was not working correctly. This was April 10, 2023. I was told that a part would be ordered. It is now June 8th and Kia has not yet replaced the seat belt. I contacted Kia Customer Affairs and was given case number #15485151. I am still waiting.