— Kia Carnival sliding door sensor lawsuit claims power sliding doors were never fixed during previous recalls.
West Virginia plaintiffs Rachel Langerhans and Andrew Langerhans filed a class action lawsuit alleging dangerous and defective power sliding doors on 2022-2023 Kia Carnivals.
Most automotive class action lawsuits are not filed until a recall is announced or a formal government investigation is launched.
The Kia Carnival lawsuit is a good example, as the lawsuit wasn’t filed until after the minivans were both under investigation and recalled.
According to the class action lawsuit, 2022-2023 Kia Carnival power sliding doors are equipped with a defective squeeze sensor that does not cause the power sliding door to automatically reverse.
Kia Carnival sliding doors are supposed to automatically stop closing if an obstacle blocks the path, but the lawsuit says children or people could be injured if the sensors malfunction.
“The force required to prevent the doors of such vehicles from closing is significant and greater than what a child, pet or disabled person may be able to exert.” — Kia Carnival Sliding Door Sensor Lawsuit
The allegedly defective sensor is mounted on a rubber seal on the edge of the Fiesta’s sliding door, the lawsuit states.
According to the sliding door sensor class action lawsuit, the problem “significantly reduces the value of the minivan.”
The two owners who sued claim that Kia dealers denied warranty coverage, saying the power sliding doors operated normally.
Kia Carnival Sliding Door Sensor Lawsuit – Plaintiff
Plaintiffs Rachel Langerhans and Andrew Langerhans purchased a new 2022 Kia Carnival SX in November 2021, but claim that within a few months, they noticed that the automatic sliding side doors did not respond to obstacles, people, or children.
In April 2023, Kia recalled the Fiesta minivan due to sliding doors, and dealers recalled the minivan for repairs the following month.
Dealer technicians checked the sliding door sensors and found no problems, but the plaintiffs claim they have to watch their young children closely when opening or closing the power sliding doors.
Although their minivans were fixed in the recall, the plaintiffs complained they “still fear for their children’s safety” and filed a class-action lawsuit seeking more than $5 million.
Kia Carnival Sliding Door Sensor Lawsuit – Investigation and Recall
In April 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the 2022 Kia Carnival sliding door sensors.
Ahead of a federal investigation, Kia engineers are working with a third-party engineering firm to investigate 2022 Kia Carnival power sliding door sensors after complaints that the doors harmed children.
In addition, Kia also sent an email to 2022 Fiesta owners to remind them of the automatic reverse function and the power sliding door function.
Meanwhile, the engineering firm found no issues with the sliding doors or sensors.
In October 2022, a third-party engineering firm and an independent third-party biomechanics firm tested 2022 Fiesta sliding doors and sliding doors from similar vehicles and determined that other similar sliding doors worked the same as the Fiesta doors and sensors.
In tests using children’s prosthetics designed and built specifically for testing, the tests confirmed there was no difference between the Kia Carnival’s power sliding doors and those of similar vehicles.
All companies agreed that the problem appeared to be human-caused and not a defect.
“The Power Sliding Door (PSD) auto-reverse feature in affected vehicles is a supplemental feature and may not activate in all situations. Kia is aware of a small number of injuries during PSD shutdown. A manufacturing design issue has not been determined, Kia believes The cause of the injury may be related to the fact that the customer was unaware that PSD was about to close.” — Kia.
Although no sliding door or sensor defects were found, Kia is recalling more than 51,000 2022-2023 Fiesta minivans “to increase customer awareness of the impending PSD shutdown to reduce the risk of injury.”
Kia learned of nine confirmed injuries out of 51,000 minivans, including incidents of broken thumbs, broken arms, bruises, scrapes, cuts and swelling.
The recall does not involve specific repairs to the sliding door sensors, as Kia, federal safety investigators and two engineering firms found no defects.
The Kia Carnival sliding door sensor recall has dealers updating the power sliding door control module software. Because engineers believe people are getting hurt because they don’t know the sliding doors are energized, updated software adds two warning sounds when a powered sliding door begins to open or close.
The recall also reduces the speed at which sliding doors close, making them move slowly as the door approaches its locking point.
NHTSA approved the recall and related repairs and concluded its investigation into the Kia Carnival sliding doors in June 2023.
According to the class action lawsuit, Kia “denies an adequate or durable remedy for defects under its express and implied warranties, leaving Plaintiffs and Class Members without an effective remedy.”
The Kia Carnival sliding door sensor class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland: Rachel Langerhans and Andrew Langerhans v. Kia Corporation et al..
The plaintiffs are represented by Migliaccio & Rathod LLP and Levin Sedran & Berman.
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