NHTSA Complaint #11677575 — 2021 KIA SELTOS

The engine on my 2021 Kia Seltos failed due to a jumped timing chain shortly after having the piston rings replaced under recall SC209. The vehicle is at a Kia dealership and available for inspection. On July 14, 2025, I contacted Kia Consumer Affairs to follow up on a GoodWill request I sent on June 25th, 2025 and KIA verbally stated the engine had been approved for replacement. When I followed up on July 21 due to lack of communication, I was told the approval no longer appeared in the system. Since then, I have received no return calls, voicemails, or emails despite explicitly requesting that a supervisor contact me directly. I was also promised a 48-hour follow-up, which never happened. This failure occurred at approximately 110,000 miles, well before a modern engine should suffer a critical mechanical breakdown. The dealership confirmed the timing chain was the cause and that the prior piston ring recall repair did not resolve the issue. The failure was sudden and puts safety at risk—if this had occurred at highway speeds, it could have caused total loss of power while driving. I rely on this vehicle as a single mother and have no alternative transportation. There were no warning lamps or dashboard alerts before the engine failed. Performance issues were present, but no early system diagnostics caught the problem. Kia’s inconsistent communication, lack of follow-through, and refusal to take responsibility after their own recall repair failed is unacceptable. I am filing this complaint to document the failure of the recall to prevent engine malfunction and the ongoing safety risk associated with this engine design.