In September 2023, during a review of field reports, Kia identified an increasing number of complaints alleging loose or detached roof moldings in Sportage crossovers and Carnival minivans. Kia North America Safety Office shared the available information with the Kia Corporation of South Korea, which conducted a number of duplication tests.
The safety boffins determined that roof moldings could fly off if the front retaining clips weren't properly installed. Even in this scenario, Kia says that detachment occurs at vehicle speeds higher than 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour). Given these findings, Kia Corporation instructed Kia North America to inspect available vehicles.
Between December 19 and December 21 last year, the South Korean automaker identified two Sportage crossovers and eight Carnival minivans with loose or missing roof moldings. The subsequent inspections revealed improperly installed retaining clips, interference between the retaining clips and the roof panel sealer, or both.
The Kia Corporation eventually decided to issue a safety recall for all potentially affected vehicles, including 101,049 vehicles produced for the United States market. Of those, a meager one percent or 1,010 vehicles are believed to require new retaining clips or new roof moldings. Their production dates range from January 2022 to November 2023 for the 2023 – 2024 model year Sportage and January 2021 to November 2023 for the 2022 – 2024 Carnival.
Potentially affected Sportage crossovers were assembled at Kia Georgia in the United States with roof moldings from South Korea-based Wooyoung Industry. The Carnival, on the other hand, comes from South Korea with Saedong roof moldings.
Photo: Kia
Documents published on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website reveal that suppliers improved the design of the retaining clips on 11/30/2023 for the Sportage and 12/12/2023 for the Carnival. The manufacturer also highlights that certain minivans produced between 11/25/2023 and 12/11/2023 will be repaired in port facilities prior to being shipped to dealers nationwide. Dealers will be informed of this blunder on March 12, whereas known owners will be notified on March 15, 2024.
At the beginning of January, the South Korean marque reported all-time best annual deliveries in the United States market. 782,451 vehicles were delivered in 2023, of which the Sportage proved most popular of the bunch thanks to 140,780 sales. The Forte ranked second with 123,953 sales, whereas the Telluride clocked 110,765 deliveries.
The Carnival is one of Kia's worst-performing models in the United States, with Kia reporting 43,687 deliveries. It can get worse, though, because Kia moved a meager 5,452 examples of the now-discontinued Stinger and 18,879 units of the EV6.
Available with ICE, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid powertrains, the Sportage carries a starting price of $27,190 (excluding destination charge) in the United States of America. The V6-powered Carnival, which is marketed as being a multi-purpose vehicle, is $33,600 for the nicely equipped LX trim level.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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