Kia America, Inc. recall 25V649

Affected vehicles (1)

Component / system

Defect

Kia America, Inc. (Kia) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Sorento vehicles. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) blower motor wiring harness may be inadequate, which can result in a fire.

Risk / consequence

A fire increases the risk of injury.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the wiring harness and blower motor resistor, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 23, 2026. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC351. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning October 9, 2025.

Chronology of events

1. Oct 4, 2024

   October 4, 2024 During normal review of field claims, Kia NA Safety Office engineer evaluates a third-party fire Cause & Origin report on a 2023MY Sorento LX involving a customer allegation of a hot rubber smell coming from the AC vent and subsequent fire. The C&O report identified the “origin of fire is located within the instrument panel on the passenger side, forward of the glove box and above and to the left of the HVAC blower motor. The cause of the fire is undetermined.” Kia NA Safety Office works with customer to repurchase the 2023MY Sorento LX for further investigation and begins to monitor field data.

2. Dec 27, 2024

   December 27, 2024 Kia North America receives repurchased 2023MY Sorento LX for further evaluation.

3. Jan 13, 2025

   January 13, 2025 Kia NA Safety Office requests support from Kia Corporation (Kia HQ) to perform a joint evaluation of the repurchased 2023MY Sorento LX vehicle and begins warranty parts collection.

4. Feb 5, 2025

   February 5, 2025— Further investigation of the repurchased 2023MY Sorento LX is

5. Feb 7, 2025

   February 7, 2025 conducted. X-ray analysis of the damaged blower motor resistor and adjoining wire harness indicate origin at terminal #2 of the connection between the two components. The circuit involving terminal #2 controls blower fan speed 3. Cause of the damage is unknown.

6. Feb 14, 2025

   February 14, 2025— Kia NA Safety Office collects warranty returned wire harnesses

7. Mar 28, 2025

   March 28, 2025 and resistors with localized melting at the connection and ships them to Kia HQ for further evaluation.

8. Apr 18, 2025

   April 18, 2025—August Kia NA Safety Office and Kia HQ work to duplicate the issue on 12, 2025 vehicles under various operating conditions but is unable to duplicate. Kia HQ evaluates warranty returned parts and confirms localized melting damage to terminal #2. Cause of damage is unknown. Kia HQ and wire harness supplier work together to further investigate.

9. Sep 16, 2025

   September 16, 2025 Kia HQ provides its investigation findings with the wire harness supplier to Kia NA Safety Office. Although no root cause of localized melting could be identified, production variances due to quality control including thinner than nominal wiring gauge are suspected as contributing factors for overheating while using fan speed 3 of the HVAC system. 1 Kia America, Inc.

10. Sep 17, 2025

    September 17, 2025 Kia NA Safety Office reviews field data across all data sources and finds twenty-five VINs with localized connector melting, one (1) localized connector fire, and one (1) vehicle fire (dates of receipt

11. Aug 16, 2024

    8/16/2024—6/16/2025).

12. Sep 18, 2025

    September 18, 2025 Kia NA Safety Office decides to recall all 2021-2023MY Sorento LX vehicles. No accidents or injuries. 2 Kia America, Inc.

Notification schedule

Dealer notification

Sep 26, 2025 - Sep 26, 2025 No Dealers

Owner notification

Dec 31, 2025 - Dec 31, 2025 Phased Recall