Owners of nearly 95,000 Genesis sedans are being told to park outside and away from buildings until a recall repair is completed, because a faulty seat adjustment switch can keep the seat motor running and start a fire, even after the driver has left the car.
The recall covers 94,622 vehicles: 54,644 Hyundai Genesis sedans from 2015-2016 and 39,978 Genesis G80s from 2017-2020. Hyundai says prolonged operation of the switch can overheat the motor and raise the risk of a fire while the car is parked or being driven.
The problem sits in the forward/back and height-adjustment switch on non-memory front power seats, on both the driver and passenger side. An external impact can displace or misalign the components inside the switch, leaving it engaged and continuously powering the seat-adjustment motor.
That matters because drivers who set their seat at the limits of its travel might not notice the motor still running. Hyundai says the resulting prolonged operation can overheat the motor and increase the fire risk.
What owners should look for
Hyundai has not explained what kind of impact is severe enough to trigger the fault, so there is no way to say whether an ordinary bump, say from a shoe, would cause it.
What the brand does offer are warning signs: a burning smell from the seat, or seat controls that stop working. The second symptom is easy to write off as a nuisance, but in this case it could point to a problem worth acting on. Owners whose switch has failed should bring the car to a dealer for inspection.
The fix, and how to check your car
The remedy is still being developed. Once it is available, the repair will be carried out free of charge, regardless of whether the vehicle is under warranty.
Affected owners can enter their VIN into the NHTSA recall lookup tool under campaign number 26V664.
Until the repair is done, the instruction is blunt: park outside and away from buildings. That kind of directive is usually reserved for fires linked to batteries, high-tech components or fuel leaks, not a simple switch.
The memory-seat caveat is worth checking before assuming your car is affected. The recall applies only to non-memory front power seats, so a Genesis G80 or Hyundai Genesis with memory seats falls outside it.
