Hot on the heels of a recall announced by Genesis affecting four of its models, Kia has issued a recall of its own to fix the same problem in nearly 18,000 of its Carnival minivans: that of a potential fire risk caused by an assembly issue.
The new recall affects 17,873 units in all, of 2022-2025 editions of the Carnival minivan. Which is to say that every iteration of the model since it was introduced in Canada for 2022 are potentially affected.
A reminder here that Kia and Genesis are both part of the Hyundai Group, and that along with the Hyundai brand, components are shared liberally across the three banners.
Could we thus see a Hyundai recall issued soon for the same issue? It's not unreasonable to think so. And if a Hyundai recall were to mirror the Genesis and Kia issues, the Santa Fe and Santa Cruz would be the primary models to watch, as they share the most plumbing with the affected 2.5L Turbo engines in the Genesis fleet.
The problem
As per Transport Canada, “on certain vehicles, the nuts for the crossover fuel pipe may not have been properly tightened.” Over time, those nuts can loosen further, potentially allowing fuel to leak. If gasoline leaks onto hot engine components, it could ignite and cause a fire.
The solution
Kia Canada will contact owners of affected by mail and ask them to visit their dealership for an initial inspection. Technicians will then properly tighten the nuts to the correct specifications. If a leak is already present, the high-pressure fuel pipe will simply be replaced.