This is part 2 of 3... we got a new battery installed at advanced auto. Car ran fine. The next morning, she started the car and then went into the house. My niece was there and said she heard a pop and look outside to see the car on fire. The whole front end including the passenger compartment was burnt to a crisp. I believe what happened was a faulty part in the ABS (causing the light to come on) was shorting or something and that kept draining the battery. With the battery low, the battery would die before enough heat could build up, however, with the new battery, it could continue to pull power and heat up whatever faulty part was shorting out and then got hot enough to blow and cause fire. (continued in next post) 3 of 3...

- Oakdale, PA, USA

I received a safety recall notice for the stop lamp switch. I have been unable to schedule an appointment with my local Kia dealership to have the recall work done. When I first moved to the area, I was unsuccessful in scheduling routine maintenance with the same dealership. What do you recommend?

- Henderson, NV, USA

I was in the car, parked in a wendys parking lot, engine off, radio on. There was a loud pop followed by smoke, a gentleman in a truck 3 spaces away heard it and saw it. We got out to look at it and the smoke was increasing, I opened the hood and you could see flames about 2 inches high around the box mounted inside the engine compartment, on the passenger side up near the headlights and over the wheel well. We shut it and waited for the fire department, everything inside the engine compartment that could melt did melt, all the paint on the hood etc, passenger door will not open or shut without noise and an extra push or pull. I am not a mechanic but I am pretty sure that the little black box was the ABS controller. Just lucky that I wasn't driving on the highway. I have seen that there are several other complaints about the same thing.

- Smithsburg, MD, USA

Vehicle parked, not running, but with the radio on, there was a loud pop and smoke from under the hood. Relased lock and looked inside, small box mounted on the passenger side wall, under the hood, over the wheel well, a small square box, I think it was the ABS box was on fire. Everything that was burnable under the hood burnt before the fire department arrived.

- Smithsburg, MD, USA

I recently purchased a 2008 Kia Sportage at an auction. It has sustained an engine compartment fire that appears to have been caused by the wiring harness and / or ABS pump. This is the LX model with 2.7 V6 automatic 4WD. I just saw another Sportage 2010 model that had a fire in the same ABS pump area at an auction. Thought you might be interested as there seems to be a problem..

- Brownsville, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Kia Sportage. The contact has experienced several failures with the vehicle ever since its date of purchase. While driving 30 mph, the instrument panel gauges illuminated and began to fail. Soon after, the vehicle failed completely; however, the contact was able to safely maneuver the vehicle to her destination. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the electronic steering control module failed. The vehicle was repaired. Two months later, the contact noticed a noise coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but they could not determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was then taken to a local repair shop and it was determined that the two front strut bolts were loose from the spindle. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed to take the vehicle to the dealer for further inspection. The failure mileage was 900 and current mileage was 4,230.

- Farmington, NY, USA