Kia of course recalling 22,883 EV9 electric SUVs because they may be missing mounting bolts for their second and third row seats.
The EV9 arrived in the US as a 2024 model and is currently on sale here as a 2025 model. The recall includes a mix of vehicles from both model years may have left the factory with missing seat bolts due to line worker error, Kia told NHTSA. All affected vehicles were assembled in South Korea; Kia started building EV9s at its US plant in June, but produced small numbers of SUVs there.
2025 Kia EV9
Without these mounting bolts, the seats may not treat the residents properly in the event of an accident, it increases the risk of injury, said security officials. Owners may also notice scaling or looseness of the seats if the bolts are missing.
Kia estimates just that 1% of recalled vehicles does not have the bolts in question, and told NHTSA that it is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths related to this issue, found during quality control testing.
2025 Kia EV9
Dealers will inspect the seats once replace any missing bolts for free. Kia plans to send out owner notification letters on Jan. 24, 2025. In the meantime, owners can contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542 for more information. Kia's reference number for this recall is SC329.
This recall follows two in October. Another mentioned the issue of the remote parking system in 12,400 vehicles starting in the 2024 model year that are equipped with that feature. Another mentions a software problem in both the 2024 and 2025 models that could cause the digital instrument clusters to fail.