Skip to content

Free public service · Official NHTSA & EPA data

NHTSA campaign number

16V231000

Airbag system issue — affecting 1 model year across Kia.

Issued
Manufacturer
Kia Motors America
Model years
2016
System
Airbags

Elevated severity

This campaign addresses a defect NHTSA classifies as carrying elevated crash or injury risk.

What the defect is

Kia Motors America (Kia) is recalling certain model year 2016 Kia Optima vehicles manufactured November 10, 2015, to February 12, 2016. In these vehicles, a chemical enhancer required for the for the second stage deployment of the driver's frontal air bag was not loaded, resulting in the second stage not deploying in necessitating crashes.

Why it matters

If the second stage air bag does not deploy it increases the risk of injury or death.

The remedy

Kia will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2016. Owners may contact Kia customer service at 1-800-333-4542. Kia's number for this recall is SC131.

What this page does not include

NHTSA's public recall feed does not supply an affected-population count, the manufacturer's own campaign number, owner-notification dates or a defect chronology for this campaign. Rather than estimate them, we omit them. Confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected — and whether the repair has already been done — using its VIN.

Check a VIN

Vehicles affected by this campaign

1 model year in our index. Coverage reflects the vehicles VerifyTheVehicle tracks, which may be narrower than the full campaign population.