Hyundai, Kia recall their vehicles in US, know what’s the reason

Hyundai and Kia are one of the major car manufacturers across the world and both the manufacturers have recalled their vehicles in US. Some specific batch of the vehicles manufactured by both Kia and Hyundai have developed fire risk and the company has asked the owners to be careful about it. As many as 5,71,000 SUVs and minivans are under the fire risk and the owners are asked to park their vehicles outside until the problem is resolved.

The Hyundai vehicles that are prone to fire risk include Santa Fe, Santa Fe Hybrid as well as Santa Fe Plug-in hybrid. The Santa Fe variant under recall is manufactured between 2019- 2023. On the other hand, the Santa Fe Hybrid variant that was manufactured between 2021-2023 is under recall. Similarly, the Santa Fe Plug-in hybrid variant manufactured between 2022 and 2023 is under recall. The Santa Cruz that is produced in 2022 and 2023 is under recall.

When it comes to Kia, the Caravan minivan that was manufactured between 2022 and 2023 is under recall. All the above mentioned models have tow hitch harnesses that were as a part of original equipment or were installed by dealers.

According to Hyundai and Kia, water can get into circuit boards on the hitches of the SUVs and cause a short circuit. This can happen even when the ignition is off. While Hyundai has reported one fire and five heat damage incidents, Kia is yet to report any.

The SUV dealers will primarily remove the fuse and tow hitch computer module until a fix is available. Later the dealers will install a new fuse and wire extension with an improved connector which is waterproof.