STEERING:COLUMN
Defect Description
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Rio and Forte vehicles. A bolt in the steering column may not be secured properly, which can cause the steering column to detach from the steering rack and result in a loss of steering control.
Consequence
Loss of steering control can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will tighten the lower steering column u-joint retention bolt, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 27, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall SC235.
30 vehicles affected
Manufacturer: Kia Motors America
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:MASTER CYLINDER
Defect Description
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Rio vehicles. The brake master cylinder may have been manufactured with sharp edges that can damage the inner oil seal, resulting in reduced braking performance.
Consequence
Reduced braking performance can cause longer brake pedal travel or extend the distance required to stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the brake master cylinder, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 11, 2022. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall SC223.
87 vehicles affected
Manufacturer: Kia Motors America
Complaint Statistics
23 total complaints
3 crashes
Top Reported Components
| Component | Complaints |
|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 6 |
| STEERING | 4 |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 3 |
| ENGINE | 2 |
| POWER TRAIN | 2 |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 |
| LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING | 1 |
| LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST | 1 |
| SEAT BELTS | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
Incident date: Dec 31, 2024
Back up camera sometimes flips sides, so that obstacles on the right side of the car are shown on the left side of the camera screen. Sometimes the camera doesn't work at all.
Incident date: May 1, 2025
Steering Gear Assembly completely broke at 81,000 miles. My daughter was backing up in a busy street at 5pm and lost 100 percent of steering control. Lucking cars dodged her and she didn’t get hurt or worse.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
Placed car in park got out to open a gate. Car took off forward even when shifter was in Park Position and almost ran a child over.
Incident date: Nov 14, 2023
Placed car in park got out to open a gate. Car took off forward even when shifter was in Park Position and almost ran a child over.
Incident date: Aug 24, 2023
Center Console Display blank (screen black) upon startup unable to see cameras and backing up affected creating safety concern.
Incident date: Aug 24, 2023
Center Console Display blank (screen black) upon startup unable to see cameras and backing up affected creating safety concern.
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
seatbelts in rear are inoperable/anti theft not working. Kia dealership told me that its not their issue about the anti theft. I have been told on 3 separate occasions that my seatbelts have been ordered but they haven’t!!!! No one is following up with me, when I call I get told “until they can
... get in contact with the dealership Kia the corporate company cannot do anything” have 2 kids Kia the dealership as well as the corporate company knows about this and no one is doing anything!! NO ONE CARESRead more
Incident date: Apr 14, 2023
seatbelts in rear are inoperable/anti theft not working. Kia dealership told me that its not their issue about the anti theft. I have been told on 3 separate occasions that my seatbelts have been ordered but they haven’t!!!! No one is following up with me, when I call I get told “until they can
... get in contact with the dealership Kia the corporate company cannot do anything” have 2 kids Kia the dealership as well as the corporate company knows about this and no one is doing anything!! NO ONE CARESRead more
Incident date: Mar 26, 2023
At speeds over 20 miles per hours there is a “flapping” noise that sounds like a bag or piece of paper that is blowing in the wind. Although I don’t know were the noise originates, I can hear it clearly from the driver’s side b-pillar. It is incredibly annoying and greatly diminishes what
... is otherwise a solid entry, level vehicle.Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
On 3/19/23, as I was driving on a dry, straight, two lane road at the posted speed of 40mph, the car began to try to steer into oncoming traffic. I had to exert moderate force to keep the car in my lane. This continued continuously for about 1/2 mile. No low tire pressure indicator lights were illum
... inated, however the lane assist icon was on and green, indicating normal operation. Just as I was going to turn down a side street to check the tires manually, the steering returned to normal. However, the lane assist icon was now white, and as I drove the remaining approximately 2 miles home, the icon would change from white to green every 20 seconds or so. The car now operates normally. We took the car to the dealer today to be checked and they reported they could not replicate the issue. Attached is their report.Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
On 3/19/23, as I was driving on a dry, straight, two lane road at the posted speed of 40mph, the car began to try to steer into oncoming traffic. I had to exert moderate force to keep the car in my lane. This continued continuously for about 1/2 mile. No low tire pressure indicator lights were illum
... inated, however the lane assist icon was on and green, indicating normal operation. Just as I was going to turn down a side street to check the tires manually, the steering returned to normal. However, the lane assist icon was now white, and as I drove the remaining approximately 2 miles home, the icon would change from white to green every 20 seconds or so. The car now operates normally. We took the car to the dealer today to be checked and they reported they could not replicate the issue. Attached is their report.Read more
Incident date: Mar 19, 2023
On 3/19/23, as I was driving on a dry, straight, two lane road at the posted speed of 40mph, the car began to try to steer into oncoming traffic. I had to exert moderate force to keep the car in my lane. This continued continuously for about 1/2 mile. No low tire pressure indicator lights were illum
... inated, however the lane assist icon was on and green, indicating normal operation. Just as I was going to turn down a side street to check the tires manually, the steering returned to normal. However, the lane assist icon was now white, and as I drove the remaining approximately 2 miles home, the icon would change from white to green every 20 seconds or so. The car now operates normally. We took the car to the dealer today to be checked and they reported they could not replicate the issue. Attached is their report.Read more
Incident date: Jan 7, 2023
The contol post for lights, turn signal, and high beams is too sensitive. To control the lights, you twist the top of lever. To turn on turn signals, you flip the lever up or down. To turn on brights, the lever goes forward. To turn of lights, the lever is pulled back. The issue..... If you have
... brights on, when you pull lever back to dim lights, the top automatically twists to shut off the headlights entirely. DANGEROUS DANGEROUS DANGEROUS. My husband doesn't have this problem, but he has longer fingers and his fingers hit the lever more at the base where nothing twists. I have shorter women's fingers and they can't reach all the way down the lever. I have since adjusted how I dim the brights by reacing under the lever, (close to steering column), to pull the lever back. This is very uncomfortable and tends to cause me to make the turn signal come on, which could cause its own traffic accident. My remedy would be to make the headlights twist in the opposite direction for on off, or make the switch for headlights have a little more resistance.Read more
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
Having been complaining about a noise from under the front right tire, I was initially told it was a little piece of plastic and that got cut off. I was still hear the scraping and squealing and I kept check the from right tire because I thought that's where it was coming from. I mentioned this to e
... very mechanic at kia and was told "that's just how 2021s sound". Finally after months of complaining the noise got louder and you could hear it was clearly something in steering. They schedules an appointment for Dec 7th on Mon Nov 28th. Said it was safe to drive when that night while working I was turning a corner, I heard a loud spring noise, the tire and wheel jerked. It was snowing, so the car slide, only sliding into the curb. The front right break seemed to be locked and when you turn the steering wheel makes even more noise. Haven't been told the issue, but I'm certain it is not safe and definitely shouldn't be on the streets until it's fixed.Read more
Crash
Incident date: Nov 28, 2022
Having been complaining about a noise from under the front right tire, I was initially told it was a little piece of plastic and that got cut off. I was still hear the scraping and squealing and I kept check the from right tire because I thought that's where it was coming from. I mentioned this to e
... very mechanic at kia and was told "that's just how 2021s sound". Finally after months of complaining the noise got louder and you could hear it was clearly something in steering. They schedules an appointment for Dec 7th on Mon Nov 28th. Said it was safe to drive when that night while working I was turning a corner, I heard a loud spring noise, the tire and wheel jerked. It was snowing, so the car slide, only sliding into the curb. The front right break seemed to be locked and when you turn the steering wheel makes even more noise. Haven't been told the issue, but I'm certain it is not safe and definitely shouldn't be on the streets until it's fixed.Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jun 16, 2022
I had driven my wife to her school about 5 miles and headed back to my work another 5 miles when i tried to accelerate pass car I lost almost all power barely making it up a slight hill I kept going trying to make it to my house barely going 10 miles an hour. I thought the transmission had let go
... cause while I had the gas peddle floored i went at best 10-15 miles an hour I eventually parked the car I knew it would never make it up another slight hill. It was rowed to a nearby dealer where they could find no problem telling me it was just some bad gas. This sounds like what I read about today with a couple of other models of Kia.Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
The steering wheel column does not have a lock therefore someone broke into my car and tried to steal it and destroyed it, also no alarm went off when this happened.
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
The steering wheel column does not have a lock therefore someone broke into my car and tried to steal it and destroyed it, also no alarm went off when this happened.
Incident date: Mar 17, 2022
I was driving 60-70 miles an hour for 45 minutes then car lost all acceleration and engine light came on. I pulled over immediately turned the car off. Turned it back on drove 1/4 of a mile and same thing happened. I pulled over turned car off and had it towed to the dealership.
Incident date: Jan 17, 2022
Vehicle failed to reduce speed effectively while trying to avoid a collision with another vehicle during a left turn, which then caused the vehicle to turn widely and collide with the curb.
Crash
Incident date: Dec 11, 2021
Vehicle has less than 4000 miles and throttle body had to be replaced
Incident date: Dec 11, 2021
Vehicle has less than 4000 miles and throttle body had to be replaced
Incident date: Jul 23, 2021
On the way to work, I had the brake pedal pressed waiting for a traffic signal to change. After it changed to green, I released the brake pedal and depressed the gas pedal, only for the vehicle not to move forward - as if the brake was still being applied. I took my foot off the gas pedal, waited a
... second or two, then tried the gas pedal again and it still did not move. I was at the traffic signal for nearly 10 seconds with nothing touching the brake pedal and unable to drive forward. The vehicle did not turn off, display any warning lights, or any signs of other trouble. The parking brake was not applied and the vehicle was in Drive. After putting the vehicle in reverse and back into drive while still stopped at the traffic signal, the car resumed normal operation. The vehicle has less than 200 miles, bought brand new from the dealership a few days prior and has only gone for a car wash at the dealership aside from normal daily commute. The problem has not been reported to the dealership or manufacturer at the time of this report.Read more
NHTSA Safety Investigations — KIA RIO
Investigations opened by NHTSA into potential safety defects. These are separate from recalls and may or may not result in a recall.
EA — Closed
— Model Year: 2001
STEEL WHEEL FRACTURE
ON MARCH 24, 2004, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE04-030) TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED STEEL WHEEL FRACTURES IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 KIA RIO VEHICLES.THE SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE EQUIPPED WITH WHEELS MANUFACTURED FROM MAY 12 THROUGH OCTOBER 17, 2000.WHEELS
... WERE MANUFACTURED DURING THIS PERIOD USING A TOOL (RING DIE) THAT HAD IMPROPER SURFACE TREATMENT.THIS ALLOWED TOOL DAMAGE TO DEVELOP WITH ACCUMULATED USE AND RESULTED IN AN IRREGULAR SHAPED STAMPING ON THE WHEEL DISC AT THE HAT AREA.THE IRREGULAR SHAPED HAT AREA CREATES A STRESS RISER THAT MAY LEAD TO THE FORMATION OF CRACKS.ODI IS AWARE OF 40 NON-DUPLICATIVE CONSUMER REPORTS ALLEGING WHEEL FRACTURE, 6 OF WHICH ALLEGED WHEEL SEPARATION INCIDENTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.AS OF MARCH 31, 2005, KIA MOTORS AMERICA, INC. (KIA) HAS PAID 535 WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF ONE OR MORE WHEELS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES DUE TO FRACTURE.BY LETTER DATED APRIL 18, 2005, KIA HAS NOTIFIED ODI THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (NTHSA RECALL NO. 05V-159) TO REPLACE DEFECTIVE WHEELS IN APPROXIMATELY 24,119 SUBJECT VEHICLES.KIA WILL REPLACE ALL FOUR STEEL WHEELS FREE OF CHARGE.THE ACTION TAKEN BY KIA IS SUFFICIENT TO RESOLVE THE ISSUES RAISED BY THIS INVESTIGATION.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.Read more
PE — Closed
— Model Year: 2001
STEEL WHEEL FRACTURE
ON MARCH 24, 2004, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED STEEL WHEEL FRACTURES IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 KIA RIO VEHICLES.THE SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE EQUIPPED WITH WHEELS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN MAY 12 AND OCTOBER 18, 2000.WHEELS WERE MANUFA
... CTURED DURING THIS PERIOD USING A TOOL (RING DIE) THAT HAD IMPROPER SURFACE TREATMENT.THIS ALLOWED TOOL DAMAGE TO DEVELOP WITH ACCUMULATED USE AND RESULTED IN AN IRREGULAR SHAPED STAMPING ON THE WHEEL DISC AT THE HAT AREA.THE IRREGULAR SHAPED HAT AREA CREATES A STRESS RISER THAT MAY LEAD TO THE FORMATION OF CRACKS.ODI IS AWARE OF 30 NON-DUPLICATIVE CONSUMER REPORTS ALLEGING WHEEL FRACTURE AND 3 ALLEGED WHEEL SEPARATION INCIDENTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.KIA HAS PAID 576 WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR WHEEL REPLACEMENT ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA04-020) TO FURTHER STUDY THE SCOPE AND SAFETY CONSEQUENCES OF THIS ISSUE.Read more
EA — Closed
— Model Year: 2001
FUEL RAIL LEAKAGE
ON APRIL 15, 2003, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE03-016) TO INVESTIGATE ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES DUE TO ALLEGED FUEL SYSTEM LEAKS IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 KIA RIO VEHICLES.THE INVESTIGATION WAS UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS ON AUGUST 28, 2003.ON SE
... PTEMBER 22, 2003, THE MANUFACTURER NOTIFIED THE AGENCY THAT IT WOULD CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (03V-352) TO INSPECT THE SUBJECT VEHICLES FOR FUEL LEAKS.AN INFORMATION REQUEST (IR) LETTER WAS SUBMITTED TO THE MANUFACTURER ON NOVEMBER 17, 2003 TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SO THAT THE OFFICE COULD EVALUATE THE DEFECT AS REPORTED BY KIA.THE IR LETTER ALSO ADDRESSED OTHER KIA VEHICLES NOT SUBJECT TO THIS INVESTIGATION THAT USE FUEL DELIVERY SYSTEM COMPONENTS IDENTICAL TO THE SUBJECT VEHICLES BUT WERE NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL 03V-352.KIA?S SEPTEMBER 22, 2003 DEFECT NOTIFICATION LETTER IDENTIFIED QUALITY DEVIATIONS IN THE SUBJECT COMPONENTS THAT COULD RESULT IN FUEL LEAKAGE.DURING MY 2001 PRODUCTION, THE SUPPLIER OF THE FUEL RAIL (FUEL DISTRIBUTOR ASSEMBLY) IDENTIFIED QUALITY ISSUES THAT AFFECTED THE INTEGRITY OF PLASTIC WELDS AT THE SERVICE PORT AND/OR FUEL INTAKE NIPPLE.FUEL LEAKAGE COULD ALSO OCCUR IF THE BRASS SERVICE PORT (SCHRADER) VALVE WAS NOT PROPERLY INSTALLED INTO THE VALVE RECEPTACLE.THE SUPPLIER ADOPTED CHANGES TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM AND INSTITUTED A 100% INSPECTION PROCEDURE.SUBSEQUENT TO THIS INVESTIGATION, KIA ALSO CONDUCTED PERFORMANCE TESTING AND ANALYSIS OF WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT DATA.KIA DETERMINED THAT THE FUEL RAIL IS SUBJECT TO FRACTURE AT THE INTAKE NIPPLE DURING THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS OR VEHICLE SERVICING.DAMAGE MAY OCCUR WHEN THE FLEXIBLE FUEL LINE (MAIN FUEL TUBE ASSEMBLY) QUICK CONNECT COUPLING IS IMPROPERLY ATTACHED OR REMOVED FROM THE FUEL RAIL, OR WHEN EXCESSIVE FORCE IS OTHERWISE APPLIED.ODI IS AWARE OF 9 NON-DUPLICATE, NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES CAUSED BY FUEL SYSTEM LEAKS AND AN ADDITIONAL 14 FIRES OF UNKNOWN CAUSE THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THE DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.ODI IS ALSO AWARE 6 FIRES IN MY 2002 AND 3 FIRES IN MY 2003 RIO/RIO CINCO VEHICLES THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THE DEFECT.TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF FUEL RAIL DAMAGE, KIA HAS REDESIGNED THE FUEL RAIL TO INCLUDE A STEEL INTAKE NIPPLE, AND THE ATTACHING FUEL LINE QUICK CONNECT COUPLING HAS BEEN CHANGED TO FACILITATE EASIER SERVICING.ON APRIL 7, 2004, KIA NOTIFIED THE AGENCY THAT IT WOULD CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (04V-179) TO REPLACE THESE TWO COMPONENTS FREE OF CHARGE FOR OWNERS OF ALL MY 2001-2004 KIA RIO AND RIO CINCO VEHICLES PRODUCED FROM MAY 4, 2000 THROUGH MARCH 31, 2004.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.Read more
PE — Closed
— Model Year: 2001
ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES
KIA HAS IDENTIFIED 22 NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES OF ANY OR UNSPECIFIED CAUSE ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.NINE FIRES (OF WHICH 4 WERE ALSO REPORTED TO ODI) ARE IDENTIFIED AS BEING DUE TO A FUEL SYSTEM LEAK ORIGINATING BETWEEN THE FIREWALL AND THE FUEL INJECTOR RAIL (P/N 0K30E 13 150) IN THE PASSE
... NGER SIDE AREA OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT.THE REMAINING FIRES WERE DUE TO VARIED OR UNKNOWN CAUSES.ALL 9 FIRES CAUSED BY A FUEL SYSTEM LEAK SUSTAINED SEVERE AND TOTAL DAMAGE.ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT 1 FIRE WAS CAUSED BY A FAILED QUICK CONNECT BETWEEN THE FLEXIBLE HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL SUPPLY LINE (P/N 0K32A 13 49XB) AND THE RIGID LINE MOUNTED TO THE FIREWALL; 5 FIRES WERE CAUSED BY A FAILURE OF THE FLEXIBLE HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL SUPPLY LINE ITSELF OR ITS RELATED CONNECTORS; THE REMAINING 3 FIRES WERE CAUSED BY UNSPECIFIED FUEL LEAKS IN THE VICINITY OF THE FUEL INJECTOR RAIL, FLEXIBLE HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL SUPPLY LINE, AND THE RIGID LINE MOUNTED TO THE FIREWALL.KIA REPORTS THAT NEITHER THE FUEL INJECTOR RAIL NOR THE FLEXIBLE HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL SUPPLY LINE HAS BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY MODIFIED SINCE THEIR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2001 MODEL YEAR.THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA03-015) SO THAT ODI MAY COLLECT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND CONDUCT FURTHER STUDY OF THIS ISSUE.Read more
EA — Closed
— Model Year: 2002
AIR BAG NON DEPLOY
THIS INVESTIGATION IDENTIFIED A TOTAL OF 82 REPORTS ALLEGING NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE DUAL FRONT AIR BAGS.OF THE 82 REPORTS, ONLY ONE INCIDENT, THE FATAL CRASH THAT WAS THE BASIS FOR OPENING THE INVESTIGATION, HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A MODERATE TO SEVERE CRASH IN WHICH THE AUTOMOTIVE RESTRAINT CONTROLLE
... R ISSUED A COMMAND TO DEPLOY BUT THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY.A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THIS TIME AND FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES. SEE ATTACHED SUMMARY REPORTRead more
PE — Closed
— Model Year: 2001
AIR BAG NON-DEPLOYMENT FRONTAL CRASH
IN ADDITION TO THE DECEMBER 2001 FATAL CRASH REPORTED TO ODI THAT PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR OPENING PE02-022, KIA PROVIDED ODI 29 ADDITIONAL REPORTS OF ALLEGATIONS OF NON-DEPLOYMENT OF THE AIR BAG IN A CRASH.NO ADDITIONAL FATAL CRASHES ARE REPORTED.AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS HAS BEEN OPENED TO CONDUCT FUR
... THER ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLE'S AIR BAG SYSTEM.Read more