Hyundai and Kia recall cars that may catch fire

Hyundai and Kia recall cars that may catch fire

December 1, 2025 Bojan Popic ,

Fountain Valley, CA – December 1, 2025 – Hyundai (OTCMKTS:HYMTF) and Kia (OTCMKTS:KIMTF) are recalling 85,043 2020-2023 Hyundai Sonata and 250,547 2021-2024 K-5 vehicles whose fuel tanks may develop a leak. This defect ups the chances of a vehicle fire and injury. 

Hyundai owns a significant stake in Kia and they share some parts, engine components and engineering platforms.

Recall summary

A fuel tank has a purge check valve that regulates the pressure inside it. In the affected vehicles, the valve may get stuck and cause a pressure increase that could result in the tank touching the “hot exhaust pipe components.” Over time, this can lead to “localized melting” of the tank and a fuel leak.

Recall risks

Leaking fuel may cause a vehicle fire, significantly augmenting the risk of injury.  

Safety tips 

You can learn what to do if the vehicle catches fire in this article.

Warning signs 

The driver may hear a “pop” sound from the back of the vehicle or notice a “fuel odor.” In addition, the car may be difficult to start, run rough or have a check engine light come on the dashboard.  

Background of the recall  

Hyundai and Kia tried to tackle the problem by issuing a service bulletin to their dealers in January 2025. The document instructed dealers to replace the check valve when its failure triggered a check engine warning light.

Other Hyundai recalls

In October 2025, more than 30,000 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EVs were recalled because their charging port door panels could have detached while driving. 

In March 2025, Hyundai recalled approximately 32,000 Genesis vehicles due to inoperable instrument clusters. 

The repair

The dealers will replace the fuel tank and the purge check valve and will update the corresponding software. All repairs will be done free of charge.

Notifications to the owners will be mailed by January 16, 2026. 

Is your vehicle a part of this recall?

This Hyundai fuel leak recall affects more than 85,000 vehicles and 250,000 Kia vehicles. To do a Hyundai recall check and see if yours is one of them, please use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool. You can use the same tool to check for Kia fire recalls.

Bojan PopicHyundai and Kia recall cars that may catch fire
Hyundai recalls over 120,000 cars over faulty engines that may catch fire

Hyundai recalls over 120,000 cars over faulty engines that may catch fire

December 16, 2020 Rebecca Rand

Fountain Valley, CA – January 31, 2022 – The U.S. government auto safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA),  is currently conducting an investigation to see if the remedy offered in this recall was adequate. Please bookmark this page and come back for any updates. You can find more information about why this is happening here or use our free vehicle lookup tool to see if your car is part of a recall.

Fountain Valley, CA – January 20, 2022 – Hyundai (OTCMKTS: HYMTF) Hyundai has remedied issues with 49,948 vehicles at risk of engine fire such as the 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. Additionally, 4,773 vehicles have been deemed unreachable and another 11,039 vehicles have been removed from the Hyundai recall.

Fountain Valley, CA – December 16, 2020 – Hyundai (OTCMKTS: HYMTF) is recalling 128,948 cars because connecting rod bearings inside the engine may wear down and cause engine damage, increasing the risk of stalls or fires. The recall includes:

  • 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe SUVs
  • 2011-2013 and 2016 Hyundai Sonata hybrid cars
  • 2015-2016 Hyundai Veloster hatchbacks

Recall summary

The recall concerns the vehicles’ engine rod bearings, which help reduce friction between two moving parts in the engine. These cars’ bearings could become worn, which could damage the engine. The damage may even cause the engine rod to snap and the vehicle to stall.

Separately, engines in these recalled cars can catch fire after being punctured by the rod.

High rates of fires

The recall comes a week after NHTSA issued Hyundai a consent order requiring them to clean up their act in regards to safety, by developing better resources, tools, and practices for catching vehicle safety problems early. The consent order was the result of a three-year probe into Hyundai’s behavior regarding recalls of 2011 model year vehicles.

NHTSA is disciplining Hyundai for moving too slowly to recall vehicles with engine issues and high rates of fires, and for reporting inaccurate information to NHTSA regarding the recalls. According to the consent order, Hyundai must create a US safety office, develop better data analytics programs to detect safety issues, and build a new safety testing facility in the US.

Safety concerns

Stalling and fires are both significant safety issues. Owners of recalled cars should watch out for abnormal knocking noises from the engine, reduced engine power or hesitation, the check engine light, the oil pressure light, a burning smell, a visible oil leak, and smoke, which all may be signs of trouble with the rod bearings.

For tips on what to do if your vehicle catches fire, please see the following page.

Repair

This Hyundai engine recall is set to start in late January of next year. Dealers will inspect the engine  for any damage to the rod bearings. If it is damaged, the whole engine will be replaced. Hyundai will also be installing a software update designed to detect engine issues.

Is your vehicle affected by this recall?

Nearly 130,000 cars are included in this Hyundai motors recall. To see if your car is one of them, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.

Rebecca RandHyundai recalls over 120,000 cars over faulty engines that may catch fire

Recent Posts