A car owner from Pennsylvania found herself in the middle of a mishap when a car dealership in her area sold her a 2021 Kia Seltos that has an open recall. In a TikTok post she bemoaned how she’s always the unlucky one in the friend group, and how this car was something she only bought two months ago and is already having issues. But there are certain ways to prevent getting yourself in these situations.
According to Motor1, the 2021 Kia Seltos was recalled for issues with stalling and crash as well as fire risk. The danger that these issues can cause to a driver cannot be overstated. In Motor Trend’s review of the car when it first came out, and after they drove the car for 18,000 miles, they noted that while the car has its upsides of economical consumption and sufficient space for its price range, they found the manual structure of the climate control and seat adjustment underwhelming — they also weren’t quite impressed with the ignition keys, but more on that later.
On one odd morning, Beth Armstrong got an email from Kia informing her that her car was up for a recall and she should go to the nearest Kia dealership. There Beth was informed, much to her surprise, that Kia was even shocked themselves that people are still selling 2021 Kia Seltos, and they even told Beth that the dealership might get into trouble for doing that.
Technically, selling a car in the secondhand market that has an open recall on it is not illegal. According to federal law you cannot sell a car with open recalls for vital repairs. Some secondhand car dealerships respect that law too, but that’s mostly so they can maintain a great relationship with the car manufacturers. The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association even recommends that car dealers always check whether a car in their yard is under recall. But we have already established that for most salespeople, the first goal will be making a sale.
Unfortunately, in this situation you can’t just check the Carfax. But that’s not to say a seller doesn’t have options and methods of protecting themselves. Buying a car is a very serious commitment and should be approached as such before you sign anything — and that’s not just checking the mileage, it might also mean checking if the correct tires are on the car. And if you want to know if the car has a recall on it, you’ll need to do that through a VIN lookup tool.
Beth unfortunately has already started seeing issues with her car two months after buying it. The sensor of her car key doesn’t work well, and other computer issues just make the driving experience not fun. People in her comments keep telling her that the problem is the brand, and Beth herself even acknowledges that she was told earlier on to not get a Kia.
But the simple boring truth is when you get a car in the secondhand market — always walk in assuming there’s a reason someone is selling it in the first place. Figure out the why and figure out if you can live with it. That way, you’ll avoid a lot of disappointment.
