Kia recalling 70,000 Optima sedans over rollaway suspicions

13 years, 8 months ago - 14 March 2011

Kia is recalling 70,115 units of its 2006-2008 Optima sedans over a weak shift cable that could break and cause the car to roll unexpectedly when parked. Kia first noticed the problem in 2007 and changed manufacturing processes to try and cure the issue. They also notified technicians to look for flaws in customers' Optimas and address the issue if there was a problem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started an investigation into the 2007 model in November after getting three reports of weak or broken shift cables in automatic transmission cars preventing owners from shifting between Park, Drive and Reverse. In one case, a broken cable caused a parked car to roll away.

As answer to the NHTSA inquiry, Kia has done more testing and assessment on the cars and decided that a recall was necessary. Despite the recall, Kia says the trouble hasn't resulted in any "real world safety incidents."