Recall · 23V179000
Kia America recalled the KIA Carnival over trailer hitches
Park outside and away from buildings until repaired. NHTSA issues this where it considers the risk immediate, and it stands until the repair is done.
3,555
Vehicles covered
1
Model
2
Model years
March 17, 2023
Filed with NHTSA
TRAILER HITCHES
- The defect
- Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2022-2023 Carnival vehicles equipped with a tow hitch harness installed as original equipment, or purchased as an accessory through a Kia dealership. Water accumulation on the tow hitch harness module printed circuit board (PCB) may cause an electrical short, which can result in a fire.
- What it can cause
- A fire while parked or driving can increase the risk of injury.
- What the dealer does
- Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is completed. Dealers will inspect and verify whether the vehicle is equipped with a Genuine Kia accessory trailer tow hitch assembly. If equipped, dealers will install a new fuse and wire extension kit. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 16, 2023. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC265.
- NHTSA's note
- Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
How this campaign compares
At 3,555 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 71% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 2022 to 2023, so the oldest vehicles on it were one model year old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
Kia vehicles have been recalled over the trailer hitches 3 times before this, most recently in September 2022 as 22V703000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for all 2 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 183 complaints with NHTSA, 62 of them before this campaign was filed. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in May 2021, 1 year before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry 5 other recalls published here, the newest being: 26V232000 (fuel system, gasoline), 24V025000 (structure), 23V236000 (structure), 21V908000 (latches/locks/linkages).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by Kia America, Inc. with NHTSA on March 17, 2023 as campaign 23V179000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2023-03-17.
Independent developer and analyst