The recall covers 2011-2013 Kia Sorentos.
Kia has announced a recall covering nearly 400,000 late model Sorento crossover vehicles because the vehicles can unexpectedly pop out of the “Park” position and roll away.
The move comes in the wake of numerous complaints about the problem and the report of at least three injuries, including one in which a 10-year-old was hospitalized for three weeks as a result of a rollaway Sorento.
Kia is just the latest in a long list of manufacturers who have faced rollaway problems, most due to defective transmissions that can unexpectedly jump out of Park – though Ford recently recalled nearly 500,000 vehicles at risk of rolling away because their engines wouldn’t shut off.
The Kia recall is the result of a defect in the transmission’s brake interlock mechanism. It’s designed to ensure that once a vehicle is shifted into Park it stays there unless intentionally shifted – a process that requires the motorist to consciously first step on the brake pedal. In the case of the Sorento, the mechanism can chip or crack if a driver applies too much force to the shift lever. That means the car can shift on its own.
A total of 377,000 Kia Sorentos sold during the 2011 to 2013 model-years are affected, according to a posting on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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Among the three known injuries, one occurred when an owner’s 10-year-old son was playing in the vehicle and inadvertently shifted it out of gear. The boy then “jumped out of the truck and tried to stop it by getting behind it.” He suffered a cracked pelvis and four cracked ribs and was hospitalized for about three weeks.
The shift interlock system was created to help prevent what were frequent rollaway problems in decades past, and the technology is now mandated by NHTSA. But it has created some problems. Several recent recalls have involved defects that make it hard to shift out of Park. Others have made it difficult to engage the interlock system. But other issues also have been linked to rollaways.
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In July 2014, Kia’s sibling Hyundai brand recalled 833,000 vehicles because their shift cables could disconnect, allowing them to roll away. The maker said it had received over 1,100 complaints about the issue.
This year, Chrysler recalled 26,000 midsize 200 sedans because their nine-speed transmission might not properly shift into Park. If that happened, the vehicles could roll away.
Ford, which had a long-standing problem with rollaway transmissions in the late 1970s, recently recalled 433,000 Focus, C-Max and Escape models from the 2015 model-year. In this case, the vehicles were equipped with a potentially faulty body control module that might prevent the engine from shutting down even if the ignition was switched to Off and the key removed. That meant the vehicles could roll away or be stolen, NHTSA reported.
In the case of the Kia transmission recall, the maker will notify owners in the coming weeks and make repairs at no cost.
The recall is the latest in a series of large service actions that could see the auto industry set yet another record this year. In 2014, U.S. makers recalled more than 60 million vehicles, roughly double the previous record set in 2004.
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