Washington, D.C. – February 6, 2022 – Kia (OTCMKTS:KIMTF) will not have to recall its 2011-2013 Kia Sorento SUVs over failing headlights. The finding follows a U.S government investigation which looked into reports of headlight failures with the goal of identifying a safety-related problem.
Investigation summary
After receiving over 1,300 complaints from owners of these vehicles, the regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), initiated the investigation in June 2020. According to the complaints, headlights on the SUVs would shut down on their own, without any apparent reason.
Investigation conclusion
Upon closer examination, the regulator has discovered that headlight issues in question are caused by a connector that may overheat. When that happens, the low beam light may start flickering or even shut down completely. In most cases, this issue was limited to one headlight. And even if both low-beam headlights would shut down, the driver was still able to turn them back on by toggling the headlight switch to the “ON” position.
Because Kia has started replacing these connectors in 2019 as a part of extended warranty, the regulator concluded last month that there was no need for a recall.
Other Kia recalls
Despite the complaints and corresponding investigation, there is no Kia headlights recall or Kia Optima headlight recalls caused by this particular issue. However, Kia and Hyundai are being investigated because of ongoing recalls related to fires, as reported.
Is your vehicle part of a recall?
This Kia Sorento highlight issue did not result in a recall, although there may be other ones that are affecting these SUVs. To do a Kia recall check and see if your vehicle is due for any of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.
