2017 Kia Forte Electrical System

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving with the phone plugged in on speaker, there was smoke coming from the adapter cord. The contact stated that the charger cord was melting. The adapter was unplugged by the driver. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 141,224.

On [XXX] at [XXX], I was driving on [XXX] , when I noticed smoke come from the left side of the interior of the car near the fuse box. Within seconds, the fuse box exploded, and a fire developed. The fire engulfed the entire left side of the interior of the car. the car shut down and I was able to pull over to the side of the road. I tried to put the fire out with my left foot, but couldn't stop the fire. Luckily, I had 5 bottles of water with me in the car. I put all of the 5 water bottles on the fire and eventually put out the fire. But the smoke was so severe that it filled the entire car. I couldn't breath. I fell out of the car and hurt my knees. I noticed that my left toes were burnt and my new shoes that I had bought were ruined. I tried to call 911 but my phone was not working. Again I tried to call 911 and succeeded. The NJ State Police arrive 15 minutes later. I was towed to a KIA dealership in Burlington NJ. They declared the car a total loss with over $18,000 worth of damage. Every wire in the car was destroyed INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

3 WEEKS AGO MY VEHICLE WENT THROUGH ITS ANNUAL SAFETY INSPECTION HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND IT FAILED. THE PROBLEM HAS TO DO WITH MY REAR BRAKE LIGHTS WHICH WERE NOT WORKING. THE TECHNICIAN INFORMED ME THAT THE ELECTRICAL WIRING WAS BURNED OUT DUE TO WATER GETTING INTO THE LINES. HE INDICATED THAT THE REPAIR WOULD PROBABLY BE COVERED UNDER KIA'S 10 YEAR WARRANTY. I PLAN TO REACH OUT TO MY LOCAL KIA DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THEM INVESTIGATE, AND HOPEFULLY REPAIR THIS DEFECT ON THEIR DIME. ANY INPUT OR RELATED ISSUES BROUGHT TO YOUR ATTENTION WOULD BE APPRECIATED AS WELL AS IF YOUR ORGANIZATION HAS ISSUED A RECALL ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE.

THE CAR IS ONLY 2 YEARS OLD AND IT WOULD START INTERMITTENLY. SOMETIMES IT WOULD START WITH NO PROBLEM BUT SOMETIMES IT WOULD NOT START AT ALL. I TURN THE IGNITION KEY AND I COULD BARELY HEAR CLICKING SOUND AND NOTHING. I AM REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS ISSUE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHEN AND WHERE I WILL BE STRANDED IF THIS HAPPENS. I HAVE LITTLE OVER 80000 MILES ON THIS CAR AND DEALER SAID THIS IS NOT COVER UNDER 100000 MILE WARRANTY. I THINK MANY OTHER KIA OWNERS HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS AND THIS HAS TO BE A RECALL ISSUE.

THE AUTOMATIC TRUNK LATCH WILL NO LONGER WORKS , SO THE TRUNK OF MY CAR IS OPENED. THE BUTTON ON THE KEY PAD WORKS FINE BUT THE LATCH WILL NOT LOCK . MY CAR WAS SITTING IN THE PARKING LOT OF MY APARTMENT COMPLEX.

IN THE LAST 1 1/2 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP I HAVE HAD MANY ISSUES WITH LIGHTS GOING OUT. FIRST BOTH BREAK LIGHTS WENT OUT AND I REPLACED THEM. THEN THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT KEPT GOING IN AND OUT. THE DRIVER'S SIDE BREAK LIGHT WENT OUT AGAIN SO I REPLACED IT AGAIN. NEXT THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT WENT OUT COMPLETELY AND I REPLACED IT. AFTER THAT BOTH HEADLIGHTS WERE FINE. A FEW MONTHS LATER THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT STARTED GOING IN AND OUT AGAIN. I REPLACED IT AND IT WAS FINE. THEN THE PASSENGER SIDE BREAK LIGHT WENT OUT. 7 WEEKS AFTER I HAD BOTH HEADLIGHTS REPLACED AND IN GOOD WORKING ORDER THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT WENT OUT. 4 DAYS LATER THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT WENT OUT.

MY BATTERY HAS FAILED TO START MY CAR TWICE IN A MONTH. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER; THEY RAN IT THROUGH THE COMPUTER; THE BATTERY CAME BACK 'FUNCTIONAL'. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN AT ALL LAST YEAR! THEIR REMEDY WAS TO DRIVE MORE OR INSTALL A 'TRICKLE CHARGER' ON THE BATTERY. (THIS CAR IS A LEASE; I HAVE HAD IT FOR 1.5 YEARS--PUTTING 3,600 MILES ON IT.) I HAD MY PREVIOUS CAR FOR TWENTY YEARS WITHOUT EVER HAVING THIS KIND OF ISSUE. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING VERY LOW MILES FOR YEARS WITHOUT A BATTERY ISSUE. THOUGHTS?

THE FINGER PRESS FAILS TO START WHEN PARKED IN HOT SUN. IT WILL THEN START WITH PRESSING THE KEY ON BUTTON- THEN A NOTICE APPEARS THAT THE KEY IS NOT PRESENT. BUT, CAR THEN RUNS FINE. WHEN I STOP ENGINE A NOTICE SAYS THE KEY BATTERY IS WEAK (BATTERY WAS REPLACED 4 DAYS AGO). LAST YEAR THIS HAPPENED AND SHOP FOUND AN INTERNAL SHORT IN THE SMART KEY ANTENNA. IT DID NOT OCCUR AGAIN THEN TILL ABOUT 2-3 MONTHS AGO.

ON MARCH 1, VEHICLE HAD BEEN PARKED FOR 10 MIN ON A COLD DAY AFTER BEING DRIVEN FOR A FEW HOURS AND 'ENGINE OVEHEATED' CAME UP ON THE DISPLAY. VEHICLE WAS TOWED THE FOLLOWING DAY TO CABLE DAHMER KIA WHERE THEY SAID THE CAUSE WAS AN ELECTRICAL GLITCH AND THAT THE CAR WAS FINE. ON AUGUST 3RD, I CONTACTED CABLE DAHMER KIA BECAUSE THE CAR WAS IDLING EXTREMELY LOW/STALLING. DEALER STATED THEY WERE UNABLE TO PROVIDE A LOANER CAR BUT THEY WOULD LET ME KNOW WHEN ONE BECAUSE AVAILABLE. WAS DRIVING ON AUGUST 7TH WHEN CAR SHUT ITSELF OFF WHILE GOING 45MPH DOWN THE ROAD. ALL FUNCTIONALITY WAS LOST. DEALER WAS CONTACTED AND ROADSIDE WAS DISPATCHED. DEALER PROVIDED LOANER AND HAD THE CAR UNTIL AUGUST 23RD. DEALERSHIP UNABLE TO DUPLICATE CONCERN AND CORPORATE ASKED THAT I PICK THE VEHICLE UP. CORPORATE STATED TO ME THAT CAR WAS FUNCTIONAL AND I DID NOT HAVE A LEGITIMATE CONCERN, EVEN WITH MY VIDEO PROOF OF THE ISSUE. SEPTEMBER 4TH ISSUE HAPPENED AGAIN DRIVING AT 60 MPH AND HAD VIDEO FOOTAGE. DEALER WAS CONTACTED BUT CORPORATE UNWILLING TO EXCHANGE VEHICLE.

VOLUME BUTTONS ON STEERING WHEEL VOLUME UP TURNS VOLUME DOWN, MUTE BUTTON TURNS VOLUME UP.