TAMPA, Fla. — Christine McGuire-Wolfe's experience echoes that of dozens of drivers who told I-Team they narrowly escaped burning Kias and Hyundais. Their cars and SUVs burst into flames while rolling down the road.
“I know without question if my children had been in the backseat, I would not have been able to get them out in time,” McGuire-Wolfe said.
Mathias Donaldson, 17, jumped out of his 2011 Kia Optima after it caught fire as he pulled into a Tampa neighborhood. Donaldson told the I-Team: “A few seconds later, the car is in flames.”
The I-Team first broke the story of Kias and Hyundais catching fire while parked or driving in 2018. Our ongoing investigation uncovered fuel leaks and faulty recall repairs that sparked some of the more than 5,000 fires reported by the car makers to federal regulators.
Since the start of our investigation, Kia and Hyundai have recalled more the 5.8 million vehicles over engine defects linked to fires. But the cars and SUVs continue to burn while parked in driveways and garages or with unsuspecting drivers caught behind the wheel. In some cases, drivers told us they didn’t get the recall notice until it was too late.
Michael Brooks, who heads up the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C., suspects the true number of Kia and Hyundai fires is double the government's count. “Not everybody whose car catches on fire calls the manufacturer to complain," he said. "A lot of people report it to their insurance, and they're done with it.”
Our reports and ongoing consumer complaints to the Center for Auto Safety led the industry watchdog to issue a rare "do not buy" warning involving five used cars and SUV models made by Kia and Hyundai in specific years. Brooks told the I-Team that the group is "seeing continuous failures, continuous consumer headaches.”
The consumer alert includes over a million Kia and Hyundai vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2014. All of which contain the theta two engines that have been linked to multiple fire-related recalls.
- 2011-2014 Hyundai Sonata
- 2013-2014 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
- 2011-2014 Kia Optima
- 2012-2014 Kia Sorento
- 2011-2013 Kia Sportage
Brooks told the I-Team the auto safety watchdog had not issued a "do not buy" warning on any group of cars in the last 20 years. “I’ve never seen the magnitude that we've seen from these vehicles.
McGuire Wolfe’s 2012 Sorento is on the list. She hopes used car buyers heed the warning. “I was unaware, and I feel incredibly lucky now that neither myself nor my children were seriously injured," she said.
Hyundai responded to the warning in a statement, telling the I-Team: “Hyundai has taken numerous proactive actions to address engine issues, including conducting several recalls, launching a new engine Monitoring and diagnostic technology..... The safety of our customers is the top priority in everything we do.”
And a Kia spokesperson wrote: “We continuously evaluate our vehicles as part of ongoing monitoring activities...all Kia vehicles sold in the United States meet or exceed all federal government vehicle safety standards.”
Meanwhile, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's expanded investigation into the scope and effectiveness of the recalls entered is ongoing.
No matter what you drive, run your car's VIN thru the government's website to see if there are any open recalls for your ride.
