Kia Air Bags: Sensor/Control Module-Inactive

Kia is recalling about 72,568 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. Air bag deployment with a child in the front passenger side seat increases the risk of injury to that child.

Campaign
12V244000
Manufacturer
KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
Reported
31 May 2012
Vehicles
72,568
Built between
Not published
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
26 July 2012
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2006-2008 Kia RIO

What the defect is

Kia is recalling certain model year 2006-2008 rio vehicles, manufactured from february 20, 2005, through december 9, 2007. The front passenger seat occupant sensor mat can experience fatigue cracking. If sufficient cracking occurs, the occupant classification system (ocs) will cease to function such that the system will not be able to detect whether a child passenger is in the seat and the airbag will deploy during a crash necessitating deployment.

What could happen

Air bag deployment with a child in the front passenger side seat increases the risk of injury to that child.

What gets fixed

KIA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE OCS SEAT SENSOR MAT, FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 26, 2012.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA31 May 2012
  2. Owners notified26 July 2012

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 31 May 2012.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact kia consumer assistance center at 1-800-333-4542.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
SC097
Recalling manufacturer
KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Kia's safety recall campaign number is SC097.CUSTOMERS may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand