Owner-reported complaints naming the airbag system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the air-bag system — deployment behaviour, inflators, sensors and warning lights. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Kia Rio submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 12 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
The airbag warning light and the ABS warning light turned on simultaneously while driving. This is a severe safety hazard as both critical, life-saving safety features are currently compromised. I have already contacted Kia Customer Care regarding this issue, but I am filing this official complaint with the NHTSA to ensure a proper safety investigation is documented for this vehicle.
The airbag warning light illuminated on the dashboard and has stayed on permanently. This indicates a malfunction in the supplemental restraint system (SRS). Because the warning light is active, there is a severe safety risk that the airbags may not deploy correctly or at all in the event of a crash, putting the driver and passengers at risk of serious injury. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request
I RECENTLY PURCHASED MY VEHICLE AND IMMEDIATELY NOTICED WHAT SEEMS TO BE OIL COMING FROM THE ENGINE, POOLING ON TOP OF THE BLOCK BUT ALSO LEAKING ONTO THE GROUND AFTER BEING PARKED FOR AN HOUR OR SO. THE WALLS AROUND THE ENGINE, MAINLY ON THE LEFT SIDE OR PASSENGER SIDE WERE SATURATED WITH PRESUMABLY THE SAME FLUID. UNDER THE CAR IS ALSO SATURATED FROM WHAT I AM GUESSING TO BE A LEAK, PERHAPS THE SAME LEAK FROM ATOP THE ENGINE BLOCK. I'VE HAD THE CAR REPAIRED AND PAID FOR A SYSTEM FAULT DIAGNOSTIC, AND IN BOTH CASES HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY HELPFUL INFO AS TO WHAT IT IS, THE CAUSE OR WHERE THE LEAK IS COMING FROM, OR HOW TO TREAT IT. I VERY RECENTLY HAD THE OIL CHANGED AND THE INVOICE SHOWED A COMMENT STATING THAT MY CAR APPEARS TO BE LEAKING OIL. THERE WAS NO FURTHER COMMENTARY. I FEAR THAT MY KIA RIO MAY BE DANGEROUS TO DRIVE FOR REASONS SUCH AS A FIRE HAZARD OR BREAKDOWN FROM OVERHEATING POSSIBLY RESULTING IN LEAVING ME ON THE SIDE OF A HIGHWAY, STRANDED. ALSO THE A/C AND HEATER DO NOT OPERATE AS THEY SHOULD. THE PANEL CONTROLS ARE OUT OF WHACK AND NEITHER A/C OR HEAT PERFORM IN SYNC WITH THE COMMANDS. A MECHANIC HAS SAID THIS APPEARS TO BE DUE TO ELECTRICAL ISSUES, POSSIBLY WITH THE MAIN COMPUTER, THOUGH THE SYSTEMS FAULT DIAGNOSTICS WAS PERFORMED AFTER THE MECHANIC INFORMED ME OF THIS, AND SEEING THAT I WAS CHARGED FOR THAT SERVICE I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE MAIN COMPUTER IS DOING WHAT IT IS MEANT TO DO, RELAYING THE INFO TO THE TECH'S COMPUTER. I JUST DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE A GOOD CAR THAT NEEDS A LOT OF WORK OR IF I'M DRIVING A DEATHTRAP. NO RECALLS FOR THIS VEHICLE BUT I SEE A LOT OF KIA'S VEHICLES BEING RECALLED. AND I BELIEVE THEY NO LONGER MAKE THE KIA RIO. JUST AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. TIMES ARE TOUGH FINANCIALLY OR I WOULD DEFINITELY HAVE MORE PROPER DETAILED INFO TO GIVE, THAT OR HAVE A GOOD RUNNING CAR...
I CAN NOT BELIEVE I TOOK THIS MUCH TIME TO ACTUAL FILE A COMPLAINT ON THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS ON MY KIA. MY 2012 KIA RIO SX HATCHBACK HAS BEEN BURNING OIL SINCE IT REACHED THE 70,000 MILE MARK. I HAVE ALL RECEIPTS AND RECORDS FOR EVERY OIL CHANGE SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW BACK IN LATE 2011. OIL HAS BEEN CHANGED EVERY 3,000/4,000 MILES ON THIS VEHICLE. NO LEAKS HAVE BEEN FOUND BY MY LOCAL VALVOLINE SHOP AND IT CONTINUES TO BURN OIL NOW AT ITS CURRENT ODOMETER READING OF 113,000 MILES. THE OIL LEVEL NOW REACHES THE LAST DOTTED LINE ON THE OIL METAL READER STICK (LOW MARK) EVERY 300 TO 400 MILES. I HAVE TO ADD OIL 8 TO 10 TIMES BETWEEN OIL CHANGES. NO OIL LIGHT HAS EVER TURNED ON. MY DRIVER AIRBAG LIGHT HAS TURNED ON AND HAVE NO IDEA WHY. IT FIRST TURNED ON JUNE OF 2018 AND IT HAS NOT TURN OFF SINCE THEN. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN INVOLVED IN ANY ACCIDENTS AT ALL SINCE I BOUGHT NEW. *TR
I'M AT 96K MILES. THE MECHANIC PULLS CODES FOR THE AIRBAGS. THEY ARE SHOWING A DEFECT AND THE REASON IS UNKNOWN. I'M ALSO HEARING A RATTLING IN THE ENGINE. WE ARE DISCOVERING IT IS COMMON IN KIA RIO AND THE REASON KIA GIVES IS WE ARE GETTING OUR OIL CHANGES DONE AT PLACES OTHER THAN THEM. I USED ONLY EXPERIENCED, LICENSED MECHANICS. THE ISSUE CONTINUES TO GO UNDIAGNOSED AS TO KNOW IF THE ENGINE WILL CATCH FIRE CAUSING DEATH OR INJURY. THE CAR IS NOT SAFE. A FIX NEED FORCED.
ABOUT 3 MTHS AGO STARTED USING OIL 3 QTS EXTRA THE WENT TO A QT A WEEK, NOW USING A QUART EVERY OTHER DAY, HAVE HAD PEOPLE CHECK. CANT FIND OUT WHERE OIL IS GOING, HAVE PARKED IT, ALSO, AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON ABOUT 4MTHS AGO, KIA RIO HAS 114,000. THE CALIBER FROZE UP AT 88,000 THE BRAKE PADS KEPT WEARING ON LEFT SIDE, NOW THE RIGHT STARTING TO WEARING MORE...I HAVE THE GOLD AUTOGUARD WARRANTY UP TO 120,000 WITH HENDRICK CHEVROLET, TOOK IT IN ON APPT. DAY N TIME, HAD 30 CARS AHEAD. I HAVE ALSO LEARNED. CARFAX ON CARS ARE NOT TRUE, THIS CAR WAS NOTED WITH NO DAMAGE OR WRECKS, BUT I HAVE SEEN ON LEFT SIDE OF CAR, MARKS OF JUNK YARD PARTS, EVEN ON BACK WINDOW. REASON FOR PARKING CAR BC ITS COSTING TO MUCH FOR OIL, ALSO MY GRANDBABY IS ALWAYS WITH ME IN THIS 2012 KIA RIO, THIS CAR ISNT WORTH HER LIFE, NO CAR IS...OH ON CARFAX IT STATE'S ITS AN EX THEN ON SECOND PAGE IT STATE'S A LX, WHICH UNDERSTAND MITE BE TYPE ERROR BUT WHEN IT STATE'S NO DAMAGE OR WRECK, THATS A BIG ERROR. NEVER GOT CHECK OIL LIGHT NOT ONE TIME, NEW IT WNOR A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, ONLY LIGHT WAS AND IS THE AIRBAG LIGHT.
"TAKATA RECALL" CAR AIR BAG LIGHT ON AND WILL NOT GO OUT.
AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON, CAR HAS LITTLE OVER 87,000 MILES STRICTLY DEALER MAINTENANCE NO RHYME OR REASON TO EXPLAIN THE LIGHT. NO ACCIDENTS NO LIQUIUD SPILLS ON ANY SEATS DEALER STATED COST COULD BE UP TO $2000.00 DEPENDING ON WHAT THE $245.00 DIAGNOSTIC SNOWS. I CAN NOT U UNDERSTAND HOW A SAFETY FEATURE UUS NOT COVERED FOR MUCH LONGER. HELL MY CATALYTIC CONVERTER GAS A LONGER WARRANTY. MY DEALER TELLS ME THEY ARE SEEING MORE AND MORE KKA VEHICLES COMING IN WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH ALMOST EXACT YEARS AND MILEAGE. THAT TELLS ME THERE IS A ISSUE. KIA NEEDS TO STEP UP AND ADDRESS THIS SAFETY ISSUE. I HAVE 2 OTHER CARS THAT ARE OLDER AND NEVER BAD A AIRBAG LIGHTG ON. MY 02 AVALANCHE HAS 237,000 MILES ON IT. NEVER A ISSUE. MY 99 CHEVY EXPRESS VAN 347,000 MILES ON IT ZERO AIRBAG LIGHTS EVER! WHY DOES A 5 YEAR OLD CAR WITH 87,000 MILES HAVE IT? GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO ISSUE A SAFETY RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE IS INJURED OR DIES DUE TO CHEAP PARTS BEING USED.
MY AIR BAG SENSOR LIGHT HAS BEEN ON FOR A LITTLE OVER TWO WEEKS NOW. I WAS HOPING THE ISSUE WOULD CORRECT ITSELF AND IT DIDN'T. SO I BROUGHT IT TO A DEALER YESTERDAY. THE PRICE THEY QUOTED FOR PARTS IS 913 FOR AN OSC MAT AND 296 FOR A CLOCK ASSEMBLY PART. THAT'S OVER 1000, NOT INCLUDING LABOR. I AM VERY UPSET AND CONFUSED AT THE COST I'M BEING QUOTED TO REPAIR THE MATTER. JUST MY LUCK OF COURSE, THE WARRANTY COVERING THIS EXPIRED ABOUT 2 MOS AGO, PER THE DEALER. I REALLY WOULD LIKE SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE MANUFACTURER ON WHY THE COST IS SO HIGH, CONSIDERING THE CURRENT VALUE OF THE VEHICLE AS A WHOLE. IT'S NOT REASONABLE AND NOT ECONOMICAL IF I HAVE TO PAY FOR A SIMILAR ISSUE IN THE FUTURE. THE LIGHT STAYS ON AFTER I START MY VEHICLE; TYPICALLY IT SHOULD FLASH ON FOR A FEW SEC IMMEDIATELY AFTER STARTING AND THEN TURN OFF; BUT THE LIGHT NEVER TURNS OFF; THE ISSUE HASN'T SEEMED TO AFFECT MY DRIVING; BUT IT DOES CONCERN ME IF I DON'T PAY TO CORRECT THE MATTER THAT THE AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY DURING A WRECK OR CONVERSELY IT MAY DEPLOY AT A WRONG TIME, CAUSING UNNECESSARY DAMAGE. *TR
I WAS DRIVING IN THE RAIN, GOING ABOUT 55-60 MPH, WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME SLAMMED ON ITS BRAKES AND ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A LEFT TURN (LIKE THEY ALMOST MISSED THE STREET AND TRIED TO COMPENSATE LAST MINUTE) I SLAMMED ON THE BREAKS BUT COULD NOT STOP IN TIME AND HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THE SEATBELT DIDN'T CATCH, NOR DID THE AIRBAG DEPLOY, AND MY HEAD HIT THE STEERING WHEEL, CHIN FIRST.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 KIA RIO. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN STARTING THE VEHICLE, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED CONTINUOUSLY. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE AIR BAG SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 39,000.
WE RAN INTO A TELEPHONE POLL AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY AND SEAT BELTS DID NOT LOOK, PASSENGER HIT THE WINDSHIELD WITH HEAD AND DRIVER HIT HIS CHEST INTO THE STEERING WHEEL AND HURT CHEST. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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