A small number of Seltos and Soul crossovers are recalled over a welding error in the stored gas section of the side curtain air bag's hybrid inflator. Otherwise put, side curtain air bags may inflate without a deployment command from the airbag control unit.
The welding error may cause the diffuser disk within the hybrid inflator to break, thus inflating the air bags without any prior warning or deployment command. As per documents filed with the federal watchdog, the supplier is Mobis, namely Hyundai's parts arm.
Published on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website, the report attached below lists four part numbers for the side curtain air bag modules: 80410-K0000 and 80420-K0000, as well as 80410-Q5000 and 80420-Q5000. An estimated 2,300 vehicles need to be inspected, of which one percent are believed to require brand-new air bag modules.
Dealers will be informed about said blunder no later than January 29, whereas known owners can expect Kia-branded envelopes to arrive via first-class mail no later than January 31. Affected vehicles include 933 units of the Soul and 1,367 units of the Seltos.
Production dates of the potentially affected Soul crossovers range from April 5 to April 28. As for the Seltos, make that April 3 to May 8. Kia North America became aware of this concern back in July 2023 after a dealer identified an inflated left-side curtain air bag in a parked 2023 model year Soul.
Photo: Kia
Come September 2023, a different Kia dealer informed the automaker of a second inadvertent air bag inflation, also on the left side. Fast forward to November 30, and the supplier finally admitted the welding error. Fortunately, no injuries or worse have been reported as a result of inadvertent inflation.
Advertised as being a compact crossover despite its subcompact footprint, the Seltos is named after one of the many children of Hercules. The grand total varies wildly depending on the source, with Herakles believed to have fathered as many as 101 children.
Slightly larger than the Soul, the Seltos can be had for as little as $24,390 at press time. Kia offers five trims for the 2024 model year, two engine choices, and two transmissions. The base engine-transmission combo brings together a naturally-aspirated I4 and the so-called Intelligent Variable Transmission. Higher up the spectrum, prospective customers are presented with a 1.6-liter turbo and a torque-converter auto.
The Soul is Kia's most affordable crossover in the US market, starting at $19,990 for the LX trim level with the aforementioned naturally-aspirated I4 and Intelligent Variable Transmission. There's no turbocharged option to speak of, and the Soul isn't available with all-wheel drive. But nevertheless, it's one of the most compelling entry-level crossovers available in the United States as of December 2023.
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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