X

Hyundai and Kia recall 601,232 vehicles over bad interior trunk latches

The latches can break, leading the vehicles to no longer comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
2020-hyundai-accent-promo
Enlarge Image
2020-hyundai-accent-promo

It could be a little trickier than usual to escape from the trunk of some 2016-2020 Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

Hyundai

and Kia are issuing recalls for the interior trunk latches on 601,232 vehicles from model years 2016 through 2020, according to a pair of filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted Monday.

According to the NHTSA filings, the interior latches may become damaged and stop working. This would mean that the affected models would no longer comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 401, "Internal trunk release."

The specific models affected by these recalls are the 2016-2018 ,  and 2018-2019 Rio as well as the 2017-2018 Hyundai Sonata , 2016-2018 , 2018-2020 Accent and 2016-2017 .

The fix for this issue is simple and involves your dealer replacing the interior trunk latch. This recall, like all recalls, will be performed free of charge. Hyundai will begin notifying owners of affected vehicles on or around Oct. 1, while Kia will start on Oct. 5.

If you have questions about this recall, you can contact Hyundai's customer service department at 1-855-371-9460 and give recall number 208, or you can contact Kia's customer service department at 1-800-333-4542 and give recall number SC216.

2018 Hyundai Azera: Returning to the US as the Grandeur?

See all photos
Watch this: The 2018 Kia Rio makes landfall in the US