The defect
Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Sorento vehicles manufactured October 27, 2014, to August 25, 2016, and 2017 Sportage vehicles manufactured December 10, 2015, to August 26, 2016. The affected vehicles are equipped with an accessory trailer hitch wiring harness that, due to a malfunction of the tow hitch module, may result in the trailer brake lights being constantly illuminated. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, " Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
The risk
If the trailer brake lights stay illuminated while being used, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the trailer tow hitch harness, free of charge. The recall began January 18, 2017. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC142.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Kia Sorento | 2016, 2017 |
| Kia Sportage | 2017 |
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | TRAILER HITCHES
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kia Sorento | 2016 | 1,258 | 8 |
| Kia Sorento | 2017 | 808 | 4 |
| Kia Sportage | 2017 | 403 | 4 |
Other trailer hitches recalls in 2016
12 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the trailer hitches; Kia Motors America filed 82 campaigns in all.
| 16V842000 21 Nov 2016 | Hyundai Motor America |
| 16V709000 5 Oct 2016 | Universal Trailer Cargo Group, Inc. |
| 16V682000 21 Sept 2016 | Forest River, Inc. |
| 16V587000 9 Aug 2016 | Outdoors RV Manufacturing |
| 16V572000 2 Aug 2016 | ALUMA/KLM |
| 16V564000 29 Jul 2016 | Keystone RV Company |
| 16V545000 20 Jul 2016 | Chrysler (FCA US LLC) |
| 16V433000 14 Jun 2016 | PJ Trailers |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016