Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor are recalling more than 1.8 million car and crossover vehicles for bad stoplight switches and defective airbags. The most popular selling vehicles from the 2007 up through the 2013 model year are affected. In a required NHTSA filing just made public today, the South Korean automakers once known for poor quality said that a defective brake switch can cause the brake lights to fail or may keep the cruise control engaged even when the driver presses the brake pedal.
The huge safety recall was prompted by a Transport Canada query about defective Hyundai vehicles that were outside of the production range of Hyundai’s 2009 Canadian recall number R0057 to replace the brake light switch. Transport Canada opened an investigation requesting additional information on 10 January 2013 and shortly thereafter, after speaking with Transport Canada, NHTSA requested that Hyundai and Kia look at numerous complaints in the NHTSA database.
In addition, the malfunctioning brake light switch may also result in the intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, and negatively affect the operation of the brake-transmission shift interlock by preventing the shifter from being moved out of the PARK position, as well as cause the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) malfunction light to illuminate.
Kia Motors vehicles recalled include model year 2007-2010 Rondo and Sportage, model year 2007-2011 Sorento, model year 2007 Sedona, model year 2010-2011 Soul, and model year 2011 Optima. Hyundai Motor vehicles recalled include 2007-2009 Accent and Tucson, model year 2007-2010 Elantra, model year 2007-2011 Santa Fe, model year 2008-2009 Veracruz, model year 2010-2011 Genesis Coupe, and model year 2011 Sonata.
In another quality gaff, model year 2011-2013 Elantra vehicles have a defective support bracket attached to the headliner that may become displaced during a side-curtain airbag explosion. If it hits an occupant during a crash, it may cut him or her.
Owners may contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151 or Kia at 1-800-333-4542. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.gov.
