— A Kia Telluride power seat recall allegedly won't help customers other than to take their time and money.
Michigan plaintiff Vincent Brandt filed the class action lawsuit less than a month after a Kia Telluride power seat recall was announced for nearly 463,000 model year 2020-2024 SUVs because of the possibility of front power seat motor fires.
According to the Kia Telluride power seat recall, the front power seat motor can overheat due to a stuck power seat slide knob. The stuck knob can cause the motor to overheat and melt or catch fire.
When the Kia Telluride power seat recall was issued, the automaker knew of one fire and six melting incidents under the front seats.
A front power seat fire can occur while driving or when the Kia Telluride is parked.
According to Telluride power seat recall documents filed with the government:
"If there is an external impact with excessive force to the front power seat side cover and/or seat slide knob, the power seat switch back cover can dislodge resulting in internal misalignment of the seat motor control switch."
Kia Telluride owners should park outside until dealerships install brackets for the power seat switch back covers and replace the seat slide knobs.
Kia told safety regulators 1% of the Tellurides may be affected by the front seat problem.
Kia Telluride Power Seat Fire Lawsuit — The Plaintiff
The plaintiff purchased his 2020 Kia Telluride in July 2020, and Mr. Brandt says no Kia dealers have told him about any power seat recall or defects.
This is likely because he filed his Telluride class action lawsuit not even a month after the power seat motor recall was announced.
In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says owners of the recalled 2020-2024 Kia Telluride SUVs would not be notified of the recall until recall letters are mailed July 30, 2024.
The class action lawsuit, filed for more than $5 million, alleges the free recall repairs probably won't fix the SUVs, even though none of the SUVs have been repaired yet.
According to the class action, the power seat motors will fail again unless Kia issues "a more comprehensive recall to truly fix the root cause of the Power Seat Motor Defect."
"Defendant's Recall is no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time as there is no true fix for the Power Seat Motor Defect." — Kia Telluride lawsuit
The plaintiff also complains about the time it will take to repair the Tellurides.
"Transitioning back to the repair itself, at a bare minimum, a thirty-minute repair time means that it will take Defendant 231,500 hours to repair the Class Vehicles. In a more comprehensible term, 231,500 hours amounts to a little more than twenty-six years."
The plaintiff further complains about the "9 mile, 20 minute trip" to a Kia dealership for the Telluride power seat recall repairs.
In addition, the plaintiff says he "is faced with another difficult expense, the price of towing his vehicle," though Kia hasn't told owners not to drive their Tellurides.
"The average cost of towing, per mile, is $4.75 per mile. Given Plaintiff's roughly 9 mile commute, this cost amounts to $43 taken from Plaintiff for his own Class Vehicle to be safely repaired." — Kia Telluride power seat fire lawsuit
The lawsuit goes on:
"Given the additional time it takes for a tow truck to arrive, roughly thirty minutes, Plaintiff's total time spent on his vehicle amounts to three hours, unless of course, one is to assume that Plaintiff drives his potentially flammable Class Vehicle to the dealership. In all, Defendant's Recall amounts to tens of thousands of hours and dollars needlessly taken from Plaintiff and other Class Vehicle owners."
The plaintiff also asserts owners are stuck with vehicles that are devalued because of the Telluride power seat motor recall.
The Kia Telluride power seat recall class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Vincent Brandt v. Kia America, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo, LLC, and Bohren Law.