Kia Recall

[pennypinch]

Hyundai-Kia Motors is voluntarily recalling over 35,000 cars due to hazzardous wiring systems that have the potential to catch on fire!

The government agency said Friday that the recall extends to some 2010-2011 Kia Soul and Kia Sorento models manufactured between Sept. 7 2009 and July 30, 2010.

"When lights are illuminated under certain conditions, an electrical short may occur that can result in a fire," said the recall notice.

The problem occurs with the interior lighting in front and rear door trim panels. Those panels are plastic moldings on the inside of the car.

If you believe that your vehicle may be a part of the recall you should not drive the vehicle and call 800-333-4542 right away.

[beaston]

Geeze.....First Toyota, and now Kia? Who's next?

Actually, Toyota's problems have been going on for years...

[dimetime]

Are these companies in such a hurry to produce a new car that they are no longer stopping to think carefully about these cars and how they are designed??? I mean come on it seems that there are more and more cars being recalled for a variety of problems.

Most of the older cars on the roads do not have recalls on them because they were designed to be used and at times abused. Though the cars today seem to quickly put into production and then later recalled for a variety of problems!!

Another thing I am sure that people have noticed, is that while driving down the highway you see at times these newer fancy cars broke down along side of the road. Yet rarely seen is an older car which isn't in the best of shape.

[beaston]

Most of the older cars on the roads do not have recalls on them because they were designed to be used and at times abused. Though the cars today seem to quickly put into production and then later recalled for a variety of problems!!

That's so true, but now you don't see many older cars (older than 1990's) on the road today because they get such shabby gas mileage.

Around here you see a lot of older trucks, but that's because this area is really a blue collar neighborhood and people want something that's dependable and can handle heavy loads.

[dimetime]

Where I live we tend to see many cars that are older. They may not be in the best of shape some of them, but they apparently get people where they are wanting to go.

We have some horrible roads here and I really wouldn't want to drive a new or newer car on them. It would end up needing a new suspension in a matter of weeks, .

Granted they do fix them sometimes, but by the time they get all of the roads fixed around here, they need to start the process all over again because the first roads that were tended too are in horrible condition again.

[2cents]

I think there is such pressure for automakers to make cars fuel-efficient, crash resistent, techno-fluent, and cost effective, that those pretty details we love and modern comforts we enjoy are coming at the expense of subpar materials and inappropriate testing periods. Nowadays we want our cars to be like our phones--we want them to not only define our social statuses, but our means of productivity, entertainment, networking, and clout. It's sad that some Americans treat their cars much like their phones and upgrade them as soon as the next model comes out. Built to last, sheesh, most people would settle for built-for-the-time-being. The rest of us, however, need our cars to last more than 5 years. We need stricter testing and more rigorous punishments for companies who fail to fully vet a vehicle before letting someone fill it full of their loved ones and get behind the wheel.

[moneysense]

2cents, I couldnt agree with you more.

When it comes to our car, it has to last a while. We just dont have the money or the want to to replace our car every couple of years.

And you are so right, there should be hefty fines put in place for companies that make defective cars that we are to put our loved ones in.

I like Chryslers, I have found through the years that there isnt a lot of recalls on this car. So I think I will stick to that.

[2cents]

I found a website that can give you more information about vehicle recalls as well as other consumer products:

http://www.recallowl.com/interesting_stats.php

Recall Owl states its information is up-to-the-minute, so if you're ever in the market for a new car, you can pull up the actual model, year, and manufacturer to see if it ever had an issue with a recall, etc. I wish the database was a little more user friendly (I would love to see it in graph form so that you could do a make by make comparison), but at least the information is compiled into one spot.

Hope this helps!

[beaston]

Originally Posted by moneysense

2cents, I couldnt agree with you more.

When it comes to our car, it has to last a while. We just dont have the money or the want to to replace our car every couple of years.

And you are so right, there should be hefty fines put in place for companies that make defective cars that we are to put our loved ones in.

I like Chryslers, I have found through the years that there isnt a lot of recalls on this car. So I think I will stick to that.

You guys have that right....After my accident I opted to get a car that was slightly more expensive than my last one, just because I wanted something that was more dependable.

Sometimes you can find great deals on cars, but the old saying still rings true - you get what you pay for...

I'd rather have an older car from the 60s than some of these new cars. At least with those you can work on them, and if something goes wrong, it won't cost you $2,000+ to fix.

For example, a friend of a friend has a Mini Cooper. I think they cost about $25,000+ new. Well, the water pump went out, and it cost him over $3,000 to get it repaired. Now if that had been a car from 1980 or before, it would have cost him (at most) $500.

It's insane what these people are charging to fix cars nowadays.

[pennypinch]

I just read that Kia Motors CEO resigned just after the recall was announced.

Chung Sung-eun resigned the very same day that Kia recalled over 35,000 vehicles. Thats just how many in the United States. The number is 104,000 vehicles globally!!!

"[Chung] resigned amidst an ongoing recently announced recall," said Woo, declining to say whether the recall was the reason Chung decided to step down.

I can't help to think that is a bit on the suspicious side. Had he done something? Had he known somehow that those vehicles were unsafe and yet put them on the market anyhow? I hope there is an investigation.