Kia Sportage 2011–2014 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin PS329 · NHTSA communication 10109694 · issued Jul 3, 2016
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Structure
component
2011–2014
model years
4
vehicle entries
Official summary
PITSTOP: ADJUSTING REAR HATCH CLOSING EFFORT - When encountering a customer concern related to excessive rear hatch closing effort on some 2011MY to 2014MY Sportage (SL) vehicles, first, verify the customer concern by comparing the closing effort on the affected vehicle to other like vehicles. Make sure all windows are rolled up and use minimal effort to try and close the hatch. If more effort is required to close the hatch than on like vehicles, perform this following procedure.
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.