Millions of recalled Hyundai and Kia vehicles with a dangerous defect remain on the road

By TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — In September, Hyundai and Kia issued a recall of 3.4 million vehicles in the United States with an ominous warning: The vehicles should be parked outdoors and away from buildings because they risked catching fire, with the engines on or off. Six months later, most of those autos remain on the road — unrepaired — putting owners, their families and potentially others in danger of fires that could spread to garages, houses or other vehicles. Hyundai and Kia have acknowledged that there’s little hope of repairing most of the vehicles until June or later, roughly nine months after they announced the recalls. The companies attributed the delays, in part, to the huge number of vehicles involved.