Kia Recalls Borrego SUV Over Headliner Plate Detachment During Airbag Deployment

Before going any further, the Sorento is a front-biased unibody as opposed to its body-on-frame predecessor. You should also be aware that Borrego sales continued through 2019 in US territories (think Guam) rather than the United States proper.

That being said, let’s turn our focus to NHTSA recall number 23V-692 involving no fewer than 22,768 examples of the Borrego. As implied by the headline, said vehicles present an increased risk of injury to drivers and passengers due to a headliner plate that may detach in case of airbag deployment.

According to documents filed with the federal watchdog, Kia determined that insufficient adhesive may have been applied to the headliner plates that secure the headliner into place. It all started back in August 2022 with Kia issuing a recall for the 2012 to 2023 Optima over this very reason. Kia reviewed other designs through September 2022, checking whether any other nameplates might be hampered by this condition.

The South Korean automaker also tasked the Hyundai America Technical Center to conduct side curtain airbag deployment testing, yet the safety boffins at Hyundai didn’t find anything off with other nameplates tested. Be that as it may, a number of parts were sent to the Kia mothership in South Korea for in-depth evaluation. Lo and behold, no adhesive at all was found on the headliner plates.

This prompted Kia to investigate, but alas, the cause of the missing adhesive remains unknown to this day. Hyundai America Technical Center was ultimately tasked with performing more airbag deployment tests in January 2023, yet the headliner plates did not detach from the roof.

At the same time, Kia Corporation performed its own tests on the Mohave, which is the same thing as the Borrego under a different name for Kia’s domestic market. The plates didn’t detach on this occasion either. Even so, Kia Corporation tasked Hyundai America Technical Center in April 2023 to conduct one more test.

Better late than never, the left headliner plate detached from the roof of the third vehicle tested at HATCI. Even more curious, adhesive was present yet somewhat insufficient.

Kia North America then identified a single customer-submitted complaint involving a 2009 model year Borrego whose left headliner plate detached. Thankfully for the peeps inside that vehicle during the crash, nobody sustained any injuries. Come September 2023, Kia Corporation concluded that one of its suppliers was to blame for the insufficiently applied or lack of adhesive on the headliner plates of the US Borrego.

The supplier in question is NVH Korea, which is based in the Ulsan Metropolitan City. An industrial powerhouse, Ulsan is also the home of the world’s largest automobile plant. Rather than Kia Corporation, said plant is operated by Hyundai.

Dealers nationwide will be instructed to add industrial-grade adhesive tape over the left and right headliner plates no later than November 27. At no cost to the customer, of course! Owners can expect to be informed via mail on or about November 30. Owners who incurred expenses for repairing detached plates are obviously eligible for reimbursement.

The first batch of suspect vehicles was produced between May 20, 2008 and January 20, 2009 for the 2009 model. Furthermore, vehicles delivered to US territories were assembled between October 20, 2009 and May 14, 2013. They’re split 22,700 and 68, meaning a grand total of 22,768 vehicles.

The 2009 model year Borrego used to retail at $26,245 for the lowest specification available back then, a price that converts to 37,520 freedom eagles adjusted for inflation. By comparison, the 2023 model year Sorento is $30,090 at press time.