2000 Kia Spectra recalls and problems

THE MANUFACTURER HAS INITIATED A SAFETY RELATED CAMPAIGN TO RECALL THE SUBJECT VEHICLES FOR CORRECTION OF THE SEAT BELT BUCKLE DEFECT.THE CORRECTIVE ACTION IS TO REPLACE THE SEAT BELTS/BUCKLES.THIS SAFETY RECALL PROGRAM HAS BEEN ASSIGNED NHTSA CAMPAIGN NO. 04V305.

BASED ON THE LOW RATE OF FUEL SPIT-BACK INCEDENTS (14.3 INCIDENTS PER 100,000 VEHICLES SOLD), A LOW WARRANTY CLAIMS RATE OF 0.02 PERCENT, AND THE LACK OF ENGINEERING INFORMATION THAT WOULD SUPPORT THE PRESENCE OF AN ENGINEERING DEFECT, A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT TREND HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AND FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, SEE THE ATTACHED CLOSING REPORT.

ODI GATHERED FIRE DATA FROM VARIOUS SOURCES AND INSPECTED SUBJECT VEHICLES TO ASSESS THE SCOPE AND FREQUENCY OF NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES CAUSED BY STARTER CABLE CHAFING.ODI'S ANALYSIS FOUND THAT MOST OF THE SUSPECT FIRES OCCURRED AFTER THE VEHICLE HAD RECEIVED SERVICE REPAIRS IN THE AREA OF THE SUBJECT CABLE.CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATA INDICATE THAT THE PROBLEM EXPERIENCE HAS DECLINED SINCE A PEAK IN LATE 2001.THE MOST RECENT KNOWN EVENT OCCURRED IN NOVEMBER OF 2002. KIA WILL PERFORM A SERVICE CAMPAIGN BEGINNING IN LATE 2003 TO INSPECT SUBJECT VEHICLES BUILT PRIOR TO JANUARY 2000 FOR CABLE DAMAGE AND WILL REPLACE DAMAGED CABLES AS NECESSARY. GIVEN THE DECLINING FIRE RATE AND KIA?S SERVICE CAMPAIGN, FURTHER EXPENDITURE OF AGENCY RESOURCES IS UNJUSTIFIED IN THIS MATTER.THE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS IS THEREFORE CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN THE FUTURE IF WARRANTED. FURTHER DETAILS MAY BE FOUND IN THE ATTACHED CLOSING REPORT.