Heated seats are a boon to Canadian drivers, warming our bottoms on the way to early morning hockey practice or whilst enduring another interminable commute. Still, the old smoke-and-fire adage still pertains whenever heat is applied to a surface – and it seems the Kia Soul may be belting out a bit too much of the stuff.
According to Transport Canada’s tall hats, Kia Soul models from the 2014 to 2019 model years may have a potential safety-related defect in the form of seat heater failures that can create a burn risk. all-electric variants of the Soul in this period.
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There doesn’t seem to be an official reminder for this factor yet, and the only mention of this factor appears on the list of active investigations into the Federal Reserve’s defaults. What’s the difference? Well, those moves are classified as Transport Canada Active Defect Investigations that are investigated to determine if there are actual safety-related defects within the related car, tire, or child seat organization. For example, the existing list includes considerations about certain snowmobiles and other recreational vehicles, in addition to the decade-old diesel VW and the new Honda CR-V crossovers.
The funky Soul is a popular product for Kia, arriving at an attractive price point and offered in numerous feature-laden trims. All the same, Canadian shoppers voted with their wallets for the Seltos and Sportage through the first 11 months of 2023, helping those two models outsell the Soul despite higher price tags.
Interestingly, Kia Canada recalled more than 43,000 Soul compact crossovers in 2017 for the same issue. At the time, the 2010-2013 style year Soul was under investigation for seat wiring issues. Apparently, the fabric-covered upholstery was threatening to be damaged. The holes melt over time due to breakage of the seat heater wiring at the base of the seat or the back of the backrest.
While there’s no indication that recall and this new active defect investigation are related, it’s worth noting that the problem is all butt but identical.
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