Kia Motors America has announced that it’s recalling 145,755 vehicles today. The two models affected are the 2006-08 Optima sedan, specifically those manufactured between September 29, 2005 and January 29, 2008, and Rondo MPVs (pictured above) built between September 13, 2006 and March 21, 2008, for issues with the cars’ supplementary restraint system.
The problem concerns the clock spring in the airbag assembly, which can apparently become damaged over time. Failure of the clock spring contact assembly, will result in high resistance in the airbag electrical circuit, meaning that in the event of an accident, the airbag will fail to deploy, likely resulting in greater risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
Kia says it will be notifying owners of the affected vehicles, suggesting them to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer who will replace the airbag clock spring assembly. Kia says the recall is expected to begin in March 2012 and concerned owners are encouraged to contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236. Alternatively they can also visit HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.
I knew I shouldn’t have bought a Rondo.
January 20th, 2012 at 7:36 pm