This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 1999 Kia Sportage. The seat belt retractor on the drivers side has failed. The air conditioner is also leaking into the passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been diagnosed. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage is 80,000 and failure mileage was 76,000.
The retractor to the driver's side seatbelt just fell off while driving the vehicle down the road. And when I say fell off, I mean literally fell off. My daughter heard the retractor fall down the side panel. The seatbeat then had no resistance and would not retract, leaving the seatbelt useless. After closer examination, I found the plastic dowels holding the retacting mechanism to the seatbelt had just fallen off or worn away. Had this failure occurred during an accident, there could have been serious injuries. Seems these plastic dowels should be replaced with metal or steel ones. This problem should be reported to Kia asap.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Cocoa, FL, USA