This is a safety concern and should never been allowed. Searching for the speedo needle is no different than texting and driving, you have your eyes off the road too long.
I live in sunny AZ. I drive with sun glasses on and you can't see the speedometer needle during day light hours. The cause is they put a red needle on a black background. It has already cost me a ticket. I don't know what the hell these engineers were thinking, but I can assure you I will never buy another vehicle with this same problem.
The electroluminescent speedometer isn't readable during daylight operation. This causes a very real safety situation when the driver has to take his eyes off the road for 3 or 4 seconds to figure out how fast he is going.
The display is entirely programmable by Kia. They have chosen to show the speed by a small dark red marker against a black background. During daylight driving you have to hunt for the marker. Put on sun glasses and it can take 5 or 6 seconds to find the marker. All that time you are not looking at the road.
Simple program changes and software updates could easily solve this problem. - Make the marker longer and/or bigger, make the marker lighter red, make the marker white, or show the speed numerically in the center of the speedometer. All these could be driver selectable from the existing “settings†menu.
Kia has been made aware of this problem since at least June 10, 2013 (case # K2502753 – customer service representatives Quinton and Robin). They are liable for accidents caused by this faulty product. The local Kia service people recognize the problem but only corporate Kia can fix it.
Other than this safety issue my $39,050 2014 Sorento Limited is perfectly assembled and excellently designed.
Update: The local service people were told by Kia that they are working on the problem. That means Kia is selling vehicles with known safety issues.
- fredmt,
Billings, MT, US
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This is a safety concern and should never been allowed. Searching for the speedo needle is no different than texting and driving, you have your eyes off the road too long.
- J C., Saint Petersburg, FL, US