Owners of Kia Carnival 2022-2024 and Sportage 2023-2024 models may hear a strange noise when driving at high speeds as it could be the first warning sign that the roof trim is about to come off the car.
Kia has announced a recall of 40,426 Sportage and 60,623 Carnival vehicles in the US due to a manufacturing defect that could loosen the roof components. Although the roof trim does not affect the safety of the vehicle’s operation, if it falls off while driving on the highway, the debris can fly off and pose a danger to other road users.
The South Korean automaker became aware of this issue in September 2023, but the investigation proved to be more complicated than they anticipated as most of the debris from the roof trim had been lost.
However, after receiving a large number of customer complaints, Kia was forced to investigate. To find out what was happening, Kia intentionally installed the roof trim improperly on a test vehicle and found that it could come loose when the car was driving at about 145 km/h. The cause of this condition may be due to the roof trim being adhered with insufficient or excessive amount of adhesive, or improper assembly.
Kia will start contacting affected owners from March 15, 2024, to have their vehicles brought to dealerships for inspection. The South Korean automaker will either fix the roof trim for customers or replace it altogether.
Trang Nguyen (Forum.autodaily.vn)