Problems with 2009 Kia Spectra AIR BAGS

Airbag warning light is always on even if seat is occupied. in addition the airbag "off" message was displayed next to the clock and is always in the 'off', position. both lights remain in that condition whether the vehicle is stationary mode (in park) or driving in motion. a safety inspection showed a b1448 code.

Tl* the contact owned a 2009 kia spectra. while driving 30 mph, the contact lost control of the vehicle. as a result, the vehicle jumped a curb and crashed into two fences, four tombstones, and a stone pillar in a cemetery. the air bags failed to deploy. the contact suffered minor injuries that required medical attention. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was deemed a total loss. the dealer was not contacted. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the manufacturer would send a field investigator to inspect the vehicle. the failure mileage was 70,000. the vin was not available.

Letter from senator roberts re: inquiry on behalf of constitute in regards to her mother's 2009 kia spectra airbags deployed too much force and injured her mother. *as see also odi 11109673. *dsy the consumer stated the driver died as a result of injuries from the airbag during the crash. the manufacturer was notified. *js

My mother rear ended another car on 3-6-18. my mom, [xxx], died 3-13-18 from injuries inflicted by an airbag deploying. it broke all her facial bones including her jaw. it tore an artery on the left side of her brain and bruised the right side of her brain. brain surgery was done but she could not recover from her injuries. she was driving a 2009 kia spectra. i have read articles that kia bags will deploy with greater force in some accidents. the wreck was her fault. that does not make it ok for her to be killed by the airbag. i am wondering how many people this has happened to. this is wrong and should not happen to anyone else. please contact me at [xxx]. thanks [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *cc *tr *tt *tr see also odi 11155008. *dsy

Tl* the contact owned a 2009 kia spectra. while driving, the contact swerved and lost control of the vehicle after trying to avoid a deer. the vehicle rolled over and struck a telephone pole. the air bags did not deploy. a police report was filed. the vehicle was towed to a salvage yard where it was deemed destroyed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. there was one injury that required medical attention. the contact suffered from lacerations to the top of the head that required six staples. the failure mileage was approximately 74,000.

Air bag light is malfunctioning,got letter from kia saying it is under warrenty and dealer will not fix

Passenger air bag off indicator light is illuminated when person is sitting in the seat.

The airbag light is constantly on now on my dash near my speedometer. it also illuminates on the passenger side as 'on' and 'off' while my husband is sitting there. this has been going on for about a month now for the driver's dash light, and 2 months for the passenger airbag indicator. i've owned this car for 2 years, no accidents, and now a legally required safety feature appears to be malfunctioning. that is a horrible investment, and should not be legally ok.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. while driving 60 mph, the contact crashed into the rear of another vehicle. the air bags failed to deploy. prior to the crash, the passenger side air bag warning light illuminated intermittently. the contact sustained head and shoulder injuries that required medical attention. a police report was filed. the vehicle was driven to the contact's residence, but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 54,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that the air bag light illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the vehicle was not included in nhtsa action number: pe15031 (air bags). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was not available.

Takata recall i own a 2009 kia spectra i've had it since 2014. i moved & about a year ago my airbag light came on the car was stationary i went to get came back in my car & noticed it was on. i didn't think anything of it because where i lived you didn't have to do vehicle inspections. not too long after my seatbelt kept locking & in the last several months it completely locked on me. i'm in the process of moving & i took my car to get a vehicle inspection because the state i will be living in you have to be able to pass inspection. i was told i wouldn't pass the inspection due to the airbag light being on & my seatbelt being locked. i called several dealerships & they are trying to make me pay all these different prices to fix it the least i've been told is about $700 just to install a new seatbelt. i'm a single mom & i can't afford this..this is unsafe !! i was looking up how to fix my seatbelt & came across a lot of individuals who were having this same issue & i want to know if there is a recall because this is a safety issue for my child as well as myself.

When commuting on a freeway going the speed limit (65) approaching a bend, a car suddenly appeared around the bend that was broken down in the left lane. unable to swerve because of a large truck next to me, i slammed on my brakes, only to hit ice and begin spinning uncontrollably on the freeway. finally, the car hit completely head on into a concrete barrier and the seat belts locked up, causing a giant bruise from the impact, but even at the speed of hitting this concrete barrier, the airbags did not deploy at all. the car has since been totalled and taken away, but i fear for others safety that this may be an issue with other kia spectras.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat sensor malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Air bag light is on constantly, 60000 miles on car. after reading all complaints associated with this issue it seems to me it is a manufacturer issue and a recall needs to be issued to repair problem.

Passenger side airbag remains "off" even when occupied. took to dealer and was told it would be $1900 to replace the entire seat which is where the sensor is kept. blue book value of the car is not even $5000, seems ridiculous to spend that much for an entire seat when the whole car is barely worth that much! as a serious safety concern i feel like kia should be doing something about this

The pass. air bag light comes on with a little weight on the seat. i was told the problem will cost $1800 to fix and there is no re-call on this. also they said none of the air bags will work until fixed. a large number of people have or had this problem.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that the air bag warning light illuminated continuously. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the passenger sensor mat and seat belt circuit needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 127,957.

My airbag light would not turn off so i took the car to a kia dealer. i was told that i would need to replace the passenger seat to the tune of over 2 grand! i then contacted the kia company directly to ask for their assistance. after waiting a week for the promised 48 hour call back i was told there would be no assistance and they took no responsibility for the failure even though i rarely have anyone riding in the passenger seat. they also could not tell me whether the airbag would deploy or not if someone was riding in the passenger seat.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 mph, the air bag warning light. the contact took the vehicle to a dealer, who stated that the ocs mat failed and needed to be replaced. the contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic, who confirmed that the ocs mat needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 96,755. updated 04/04/16*lj

Airbag light came on and stayed on. took the car to the kia dealership, hooked it up to the computer, it was the ocs sensor mat. is going to cost $1000-$2000 for a new seat with a new osc! the car only has about 53,000 miles and the passenger seat isn't/ hasn't been used often, as this is primarily a car that i drive to work and back by myself, alone. of course it isn't under warranty! this should be a recall kia! safety needs to matter!

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. while the vehicle was parked, the air bag warning light illuminated. the failure occurred constantly. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the occupant classification system failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 85,000.

Air bag warning light on. car has only 25,000 miles but out of warrantee. dealer wants $109. just to scan it. multi complaints online.

I noticed investigation: pe 15-031 where the ocs seat sensor mat is failing on a number of kia spectra models. my airbag light came on a few weeks ago so i too the car to the dealer and they charged me $100 to determine the ocs seat sensor mat was bad. diagnostic code b1448. they told me it would be about $1500 to replace the entire passenger seat to fix the problem. needless to say i have not gotten the problem fixed. the vehicle only has 52,000 miles on it and until about 3 years ago when my wife started riding to work with me i rarely ever had anyone in the front passenger seat so the mat shouldn't have seen much use. as of today your odi resume says there were 43 complaints on this issue but you can change that to 44 if you would like. something as important as a passenger airbag system should not be susceptible to inferior parts like this.

Vehicle has 115000 miles and air bag light stays on. this is a $2000 repair according to info on line. there have been many complaints on this . why hasn't nhtsa issued a recall? does it take death or serious injury first?

2009 kia spectra air bag won't turn off. car has 48000 miles. afraid to take in for repair after reading of cost to repair.i just don't the funds to get it repaired.

Airbag light popped on months ago without force or any accidents

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that the passenger side air bag warning indicator remained illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the air bag sensor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 mph, the air bag warning indicator illuminated. the contact stated that this was a recurring failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 38,000.

Air bag light will not go off....updated 09/22/15 *bf updated 11/03/2017*cn

The airbag light on my kia spectra stays on and the kia dealership quoted me $1600 for the b1448 code which is passenger seat mat occupancy sensor or something like that, and my car is under 80000 miles. i think that amount is really high for a senor to fix and kia should fix and recall the airbag issue since it is a high risk for the safeties of american lives. nhtsa should make kia recall the airbag issue. thank you *tr

I am filing this for my mom. she rear ended a car who had stopped the flow of traffic at a green light to let a vehicle out of a parking lot. my mothers air bags did not deploy and she received a double open fracture to her right ankle and a fractured sternum and intense chest traura. she was life flighted to a hospital in wv ruby memorial she underwent surgery and they saved her right foot they wher unsure if they could save and talked before surgery of possible amputation

My car is a 2009 kia spectra ex. it was purchased in 2011 from enterprise car sales. the mileage at purchase was approximately 46k. in may of 2015, around 74k mileage, the air bag light would turn off and on sporadically. one day the air bag light never turned off. at this point, i decided to have the car inspected my a certified kia dealer. the air bag code received from inspection was b1378 which indicated a problem with the 'side air bag - resistance too high'. the inspector than hooked up the air bag to side air bag connector and the air bag light went out indicating that the driver side air bag would need to be replaced. the technician suggested that to fix the issue i would need to obtain an entire driver's seat from a pre-owned vehicle to replace the current driver's seat (cost part & labor: $ 694.00, but no guarantee that this would be effective) or purchase a brand new air bag directly from kia factory (cost of parts & labor: $1341.73) i have seen that other's are having similar issues in other forums. this issue with defective air bags has been a problem for kia in the past with cars of same year but different model. i am fortunate to have never been in an accident, but i was informed by the dealership if i was ever in an accident this air bag would not deploy.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. while driving approximately 45 mph, the front passenger side air bag warning light remained illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed that the passenger side occupancy seat sensor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

The airbag light is on. i went to a kia dealership and they said they need to replace the front passenger seat and gave me an estimate cost of +2000 usd. after doing my search i found that there are so many people out there with the same problem. the problem started as while the car was in motion, the aribag light started blinking for a while and then remained on. it is a manufacturing malfunction that is causing the whole aribag system to not do its work. the cost is too expensive for me to handle and i believe the company should fix it.

The light went on as the vehicle passed 100k miles. the light started blinking as the car was in motion. not for long, the light remained on since then. went to a dealership and they estimated more than 2k usd to replace the front seat. they explained that the sensor mat is attached to the seat and to replace it they need to replace the whole seat. this is a major safety issue and i have no doubts that this is a manufacturing malfunction that should be addressed by this kia due to the overwhelming reporting on the same issue and the poor design that caused the maintenance price to be so high (almost half the price of the vehicle).

Driving and the front passenger air bag light came on a few days later it went off but a few days after that it came back on once i started the car and has been on since. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 mph, the air bag warning light illuminated continuously. the failure occurred on numerous occasions. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 97,000. updated 07/13/15*bf

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. after the vehicle was started, the air bag warning light illuminated. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 70,000.

My airbag light had been flashing off and on intermittently, and i had thought that it was when there was no weight in the passenger seat to activate it. at some point after that, it stopped flashing and was on constantly. i brought my car in for its yearly inspection and it was not passed due to the fact that my air bag system had been disabled. this was due to a faulty sensor in the front passenger seat. this will cost me over $2000 to fix and is a safety hazard for my day to day driving. i was informed that if i were to get into a collision that my air bags would not deploy. i contacted several dealerships and the kia company itself and was told that my warranty had just expired and that i would have to repair this in full myself. i have read several complaints of the same nature and i cannot believe that the company will not recall this part and provide peace of mind and safety to its customers.

The passenger airbag light was going off and on for about a month. now the airbag warning light is on all the time and will not go off. i live in texas and need to have the car inspected but it will not pass due to the airbag warning light being on. there is no reason that the airbag light should be on; there hasn't been any type of wreck or damage. the kia dealership requires me to have the seat replaced due to faulty airbag sensor.there should be a recall of this vehicle due to the faulty sensor. i don't think it's right for kia to not be responsible the faulty sensor that requires the entire passenger seat to be replaced that will cost almost $1800.00 dollars to fix just so i can get the car inspected so it can be driven. *tr

We bought my daughter a 2009 kia spectra (used) for her 16th birthday in 2012. the mileage was at about 50,000. in just two years we have had to replace so many things on this car it is unbelievable, this car was junk when we bought it, we just didn't know it. this morning she told me that her airbag light came on for the first time and didn't know why. she had a passenger and still the light would not go out. also the tps light has been on since we bought the car even with replacing the tires and rims it stayed on. kia should definitely have a recall on this year, make and model. they are obviously a lemon and if kia cares about their consumers they would do something about this problem. we are now looking to replace this kia because we don't feel our daughter is safe after reading all of the complaints in this forum. thanks kia, we will never buy anything you make ever again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 kia spectra. the contact stated that the air bag warning sensor illuminated continuously and caused the passneger seat to malfunction. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the air bag sensor and the passenger seat needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown.

The airbag warning light came on. took the car to morrie's minnetonka kia dealer. they diagnosed the ocr seat mat failed causing the airbag system to become inoperative. quoted $1,941.02 for repair needing a replacement seat cushion assembly par ki88202-2f703390. the seat ocr failure should not disable the entire airbag system. this is a design flaw and with the very expensive fix i believe most are just driving the car without repair. i think kia should recall or provide a part to disable the switch making the front passenger airbag inoperable. this would be much safer than disabling the entire airbag system. not under 100,000 mile 10 year warranty. this seat was rarely used and is in perfect condition. less than 10% of miles had anyone in the passenger seat. *tr

When turning on vehicle in the morning the air-bag warning light came on. whenever a passenger sits in passenger seat the light does not light indicating that the passenger side air-bag is working. upon having it checked it was determined that there is a faulty air-bag sensor for front passenger seat. was also advised that this would mean no passenger side air-bag would deploy in a crash and it was possible that the air-bag could deploy at any time. repairs would exceed $1,600.00 and not covered by manufacturer warranty or recall. does someone need to die because of this before a recall is issued? *js

Air bag light came on. took to dealer, folsom kia in folsom ca. was informed it was the passenger seat mat and it needed to be replaced. part # 88202-2f7031931. cost with discount approximately 1750.00. informed this is a hazardous situation. upon doing a search on the internet i have found quite a few complaints on this same issue. those are from people who know about complaint forums. i suspect a flaw in the system. since this is a safety situation, this should be investigated further. *tr

Air bag sensor makes a working light stay on. the car has never been in an accident. when it was diagnosed by kia dealership it said manufacturer failure. they said things happen and it's after 5 years so it's my job to fix this $2000 problem. ...updated 07-08-15 *bf update (july 9, 2015): per the complainant, the sensor under the passenger seat is causing a mechanical failure warning. per a kia parts advisor: "there is a passenger weight classification sensor that is part of the passenger seat bottom that is part of the air bag system. this is something that has failed in the past on these cars and we are familiar with it. assuming that this is what you are asking for, the prices for this part range from $1000.00 to $1500.00 depending on the trim level and options for your car." *sc the consumer stated in may, after a year of fighting with kia and the vehicle failing inspection, kia gave her free passenger seat to replace the defective sensor calling it an act of good will. they charged her $230 for labor when she was fist quoted $130. the seat cost $2,000. the sensor in the passenger seat had a defect error after the diagnostic test was performed, which was the reason the air bag light illuminated. updated 07/16/15*jb

My air bag light on my dashboard has been on for several weeks now. when i took my vehicle to be looked at they said that it would cost over a grand to repair it. they also said that if i don't repair it the air bags could deploy while driving or they may not even deploy if in an accident. i do not feel like my vehicle is safe to drive. i see a lot of people with this make and model having the same problems and that leads me to believe that it is an error on the manufactures part. i feel that a recall should be issued for this problem! if this does not get fixed i will never buy another kia. why would i buy a vehicle if i won't feel safe driving it? *tr

A few months ago the passenger airbag light started flashing on my 2009 spectra. it went from flashing on and off to alternating flashing with the airbag symbol on the dashboard. finally, the passenger airbag light went off completely and the airbag warning symbol stayed on. due to several family tragedies i just now had the time to take it to my kia dealer. was told it was the passenger side airbag sensor which is built into the seat itself and the whole seat would have to be replaced at a cost of $1765.00. i have only 18,450 miles on the car but because i had it longer than 5 years, i will have to pay it myself. the dealer said the car has a built in safety feature which will deploy the airbags anyway but that i should have it fixed. i can't afford this but am afraid my life insurance would not pay if i had an accident and had not had the airbag issue corrected. *tr

Air bag light will not go off. i did take my car to a kia dealership and they told me that i would have to replace my entire passenger seat, in order to fix the air bag system. they wanted to charge me about $2,000 because my vehicle is no longer under warranty. in february of 2014, was when the incident first started to happen and is when i brought my car to the dealership. i was told it was dangerous to drive around with my air bag system messed up. i did look to see if there were any recalls or complaints about the vehicle but i did not find any at that time. i did make a complaint on some other site but i just learned about this site within the last couple of months and just noticed that i am not the only one who is going through the same problems....updated 10-26-15 *bf *cn

While driving my car to work, i noticed the air bag warning light illuminate on the dashboard. as i continued to drive my car, the warning light disappeared and then reappeared. after several days with the same problem, i took my car to an authorized kia dealership for diagnostic testing. the technician discovered it to be the passenger side seat occupant mat failure. the final diagnosis was to replace the entire passenger seat at a cost of $1,900 including parts, labor, and tax. after doing some research into this matter, i discovered this to be an ongoing problem with this year, make and model. i'm surprised this has not been a recall on behalf of kia motor corporation. this leaves many people with a decision to replace the entire seat at an exorbitant price or to do nothing and drive an unsafe car. the price of one car seat is nearly half the value of the entire resale value of the car. kia needs to address this issue if they want repeat customers in the future. *tr