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NHTSA reopens investigation into Hyundai, Kia engine fires

It's the continuation of a problem that's plagued Hyundai and Kia vehicles for quite some time.

Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
2014 Kia Soul
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2014 Kia Soul

The Kia Soul is one of many vehicles affected by this problem.

Kia

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is once again investigating a number of and Kia vehicles over potential engine fires. According to an Associated Press report published Monday, NHTSA opened "a new engineering analysis investigation" that covers more than 3 million cars.

The engines in question are the Theta II GDI, Theta II MPI, Theta II MPI hybrid, Nu GDI and Gamma GDI engines that are used in a number of Hyundai and Kia products. These include the , and Sonata , as well as the , Rio, and Soul. All of the affected vehicles are from the 2011 to 2016 model years.

According to the AP, NHTSA received 161 complaints of engine fires, many of which involved vehicles that had already been recalled. These engine fire issues have been making headlines since 2015, and the two automakers were fined for moving too slowly in issuing these recalls.

NHTSA said this new investigation will determine if yet another recall is needed.

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