NEW YORK – That America is remember nearly 463,000 Telluride SUVs – and urges owners to park their vehicles outside and away from other structures until the fire hazard problem is fixed.
According to the regulator, the front power seat motor on affected Tellurides from model year 2020-2024 may overheat due to a stuck sliding knob. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That could potentially cause a fire while the vehicle is parked or being driven.
Kia made the decision to recall vehicles on May 29 NHTSA Documents released Friday show that after receiving reports of an underseat fire and six partial melt incidents in seat tilt motors between August 2022 and March 2024. No related injuries, accidents or deaths were reported at that time.
The recall report notes that strong external impacts to the front power seat side covers or seat slide knobs of the recalled Tellurides could result in internal misalignment — and if operated continuously, that could causing overheating. Drivers who experience problems may find they cannot adjust the power seat, may notice a burning or melting smell, or see smoke coming from underneath the seat.
To fix this, agency will install a bracket for the power seat switch back cover and replace the seat slide knobs at no charge. Until the means repairOwners are being instructed to park outside and away from buildings.
Notification letters to owners will be sent out starting July 30, with dealer notification a few days beforehand. Irvine, California-based Kia America did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment on why the announcements don’t begin until late next month.
Meanwhile, drivers can also confirm whether their specific vehicle is included in this recall and find more information using NHTSA page and/or Kia’s recall lookup platform.
The recall includes 462,869 model year 2020-2024 Tellurides manufactured between January 9, 2019 and May 29, 2024. Kia America estimates 1% have this defect.
This is not the only recall affecting Kia Telluride owners. In March, Kia America said it would recall more than 427,000 2020-2024 Telluride SUVs due to a defect. Defects can cause the car to roll while they were parking.
Just last fall, Kia and Hyundai announced previous “offsite parking” recalls for 3.4 million other car and SUV models due to the risk of engine compartment fire. Amid long delays in repairs, many of the vehicles still on the road months latercaused serious concerns from drivers and consumer safety advocates.
Hyundai owns part of Kia even though the two companies operate independently.
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