There’s a risk that the vehicles may catch fire.
The issue stems from contaminants in an ABS brake control module.
Model years affected range from 2014 to 2019.
This problem was first noticed back in September of 2020 when a Hyundai Tucson caught fire. The overheated ABS module set the engine bay ablaze and the ensuing investigation revealed little. Now, Hyundai and Kia have warned nearly 485,000 owners that they should not park their vehicles indoors.
A follow-up incident occurred in July of 2021 which led to further investigations. Hyundai’s investigation determined that the fire risks are due to an internal micro leak in the ABS controller module “caused by foreign contaminants in the valve body.”
At Kia, 126,747 vehicles are affected. The majority involve the 2014-2018 Sportage and handful of 2016-2018 K900. Over at Hyundai, the issue is far more widespread. Arstechnica reports that there are 357,830 vehicles affected and they are split between the 2016-2018 Santa Fe (not equipped with smart cruise control), the 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport (not equipped with smart cruise control), the 2019 Santa Fe XL (not equipped with smart cruise control), and the 2014-2015 Tucson.
