Kia Sorento, Volkswagen Passat most prone to ignition failure

Kia Motors’ Sorento

By Park Jin-hai

Kia Motors’ SUV Sorento and Volkswagen’s Passat sedan received the most complaints about critical ignition failures in local and imported cars, figures show.

Out of 702 such complaints to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) between 2010 and 2013, most were about the Kia Sorento R (69), followed by the Hyundai Santa Fe (52) and the Renault Samsung (39).

Overall, most complaints were about Kia cars (243), followed by Hyundai Motor (186) and GM Korea (116).

There were 64 complaints about imported cars. BMW (15) and Volkswagen (14) topped the list, followed by Mercedes-Benz (nine), Land Rover (five) and Volvo (five).

By model, Volkswagen Passat received the most complains (six), while BMW Cooper and Mercedes-Benz ML280 received four complaints each.

About 80 percent of complainants said the ignition stopped while they were driving. Sixty percent said the failure happened when they accelerated.

“When ignition goes wrong while someone is driving, it poses a tremendous safety risk to drivers because it affects the steering and brakes,” a KCA official said.

The consumer rights watchdog surveyed 128 people whose vehicle ignition defects had been confirmed, and found that more than half of the initial ignition failures happened within the first two years after purchase.

“What gets our attention is that even though a vehicle’s ignition problem is repeated over and over after the repair, only 4.5 percent of people could exchange their vehicle or get a refund for their defective cars,” the official said.

Out of 128 people surveyed, 50 said their cars had been repaired more than four times. Fifty-nine people said that they still had ignition problems after repairs were done.

Only six people said they were able to exchange their vehicles or get a refund.

“The current law regarding customer dispute resolution policy on vehicle exchange and refunds only mentions critical safety defects, but doesn’t say clearly what a critical safety defect is,” the official said. “That should change, as well as easing the conditions under which customers can claim an exchange or a refund.”

The KCA plans to ask the government to revise the relevant law so buyers can receive speedy compensation for defective cars.