Kia Optima Complaints

7,843 consumer complaints on file.

#11427761August 4, 2021
SEAT BELTS
The contact's ex husband owned a 2013 Kia Optima .The contact stated while her ex-husband was driving at an undetermined speed a 2009 Jeep Liberty cross the center line and crashed into the vehicle. The driver succumbed to his injuries at the scene. There was a report of the driver being located leaning towards the front passenger seat. The air bags deployed. The seat belt was extended and locked but, was torn. The contact stated the driver of the Jeep was intoxicated however there were no reported injuries. The vehicle was towed to a police lot. A police report was filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
1
#11427800August 4, 2021
ENGINE
On May 28th I was on my way home and out of nowhere my steering wheel locked up and the car died while in motion. A week later we notified Kia about it and they had me tow my car so they could find out what was going on with my vehicle. We waited 12 days to find out was wrong with it and they told us the engine was seized and we had just found out that they had a recall for seized engines. After finding that out we tried to get the vehicle fixed through them and they told us that they could not fix it because it doesn’t no longer have an warranty and that they sent out an report about the recall on my car. We never received any information about a recall and we bought the vehicle March 2020. We have been making phone calls to Kia and they denied to fixing my vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427512August 2, 2021
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 78 mph, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into limp mode. The contact pulled over and the vehicle was able to be restarted however, the vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427323August 1, 2021
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Driving at night, was getting onto the freeway. Entrance to the freeway was on a curved street, as I was taking the turn leading into the freeway the lights turned off, Then suddenly turned back on and then off again all while I was merging onto the freeway. I quickly took the light out of “AUTO” setting. Very scary as I almost got hit by the truckers already on the freeway. I’ve had issues with the blind spot warning as well. It fails all the time so of course I never put my trust on that. The lighting situation is very scary, as it was happening you could see the dashboard setting itself to AUTO and randomly going up and down the list of options as if it was being controlled by someone else. I could’ve caused an accident. Please check this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427270July 31, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was at a stop sign when my car shut off. Now it won't start. Took it in to check it out and found out that the motor seized up. I know that there is a recall on the engine for the same problem on other models. Not safe to be driving the cars. Could cause a major accident resulting in possible loss of lives. This model needs to be recalled before this happens to anyone else.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427282July 31, 2021
ENGINE
Rod Bearing caused the engine to Cease , my Car was at Ray Skillman from 6/28/21 diagnosed 7/28/21 KIA denied claim, after all recalls have been performed on vehicle. Engine still should've been under warranty to replace engine a 2nd time. Engine replaced 3/2015 at 38,905 before recall in 2017 ceased 6/28/2021 we had towed to Dealership Able to get to safety on side of interstate 65 could've been a bad situation on highway if in middle of road No lights or warnings came on prior to car stalling
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11427080July 29, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I started driving to work drove a mile went to accelerate to get on the highway, all my dash lights came on and and i pulled over, my break was stiff so i figured it died, it started to smoke, at first the door wouldn’t open for me to get out, i had to manually unlock it which is weird because if my car is put into park the door automatically unlock normally, when i got out i saw the smoke getting thicker, so i backed up within minutes the car was in flames. I called 911 right away. There was really no warning at all!
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11426637July 27, 2021
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Brake pedal stopper breaking apart causing the ESC indicator to come on and loosing acceleration while driving. I contacted dealer and no recall on th.is issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11426493July 26, 2021
ENGINE
Driving down highway and lost engine power. The gas engine seized up causing the vehicle to stop suddenly. Towed to Kia and the said the engine is seized up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11426508July 26, 2021
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle starts smoking from under hood after driving for awhile. Not sure if its coming from the turbo or another part.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11426019July 22, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I DONT KNOW IF IS THE MOTOR OR WHAT IS IT BUET I WAS DRIVING THE CAR ON THE FREEWAY WHEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN THE CAR SHUT DOWN N IT DOESNT WANT TO START BACK UP AGAIN
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11426043July 22, 2021
POWER TRAIN
2016 kia Optima will not go in reverse. It will only work in drive. Tried to drive out of my driveway today. 07.22.2021 and the car would not go in reverse. Pulled back in the driveway and will not drive due to safety hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425746July 21, 2021
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Brakes tend to lock up suddenly when applying minimal pressure to the pedal then jerks out of complete lock and then normal brakes. Engine HVAC system and AC suddenly stopped working and I have taken it to a shop for electrical testing with no luck.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425804July 21, 2021
VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated the passenger's side and rear driver's side window became inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact called the local dealer however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact removed the door panels and noticed that the power window regulator was corroded. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425710July 20, 2021
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, there was grayish smoke coming from the engine. The vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact was able to steer the vehicle off to the shoulder of the highway and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer where they also diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure and stated that the vehicle was not under recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425720July 20, 2021
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, SEATS
I have a flashing check engine light while driving my vehicle was not trying to give gas or anything
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425740July 20, 2021
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
UNKNOWN.. but the first time anything actually happen i was driving on the highway and all of a sudden I started to smell something weird and all the safety lights turned on the engine started smoking my acceleration wasn't working I can't put it in neutral nothing else is working I got lucky I was able to pull off to the side of the highway we where in a very dangerous spot the car wouldn't start back up at all and I have no communication we were stuck there for 3 hours until my dad found finally found us because he knew something was off why we weren't home for so long a close friend have to my house and that's words been parked ever since
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425620July 20, 2021
VISIBILITY/WIPER
I have owned my kia optima for several years and I've had issues with the windshield wipers not going fast enough. I work from home so I do not travel that often but just recently went on a trip & was on the interstate when it started raining very hard. I could not see the car in front of me at all, not even their tail lights. I understand visibility is always worse when it rains but all the other cars were still going at a steady pace & passing me. I had to pull over on the side of the interstate until the rain slowed down to just a sprinkle before I could see well enough to drive. This caused me a great amount of anxiety because i didn't know if I was going to run into someone or if I was even in the right lane. I have several friends that also have the kia optima 2015 & 2016 models and they have said the same thing. The speed on the windshield wipers is extremely slow compared to other cars we tested this on & I feel this is a major safety concern. I pulled up google reviews on this issue & there are a lot of people complaining about the speed not being fast enough.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425704July 20, 2021
ENGINE
The contact's mother-in-law owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated while his mother-in-law was driving 65 mph, she heard an abnormal loud clinking sound coming from the engine and the vehicle suddenly lost power and stalled. Several unknown warning lights along with the check engine warning light were illuminated. The contact stated as he opened the hood of the vehicle to determine the cause of the failure, he noticed the engine pistons had fractured and there was a hole in the engine. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence, then to the dealer who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but advised the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) as it was out of warranty. The contact was awaiting a call back from the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 165,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11425517July 19, 2021
STRUCTURE:BODY
The Snow White Pearl paint is peeling off of the hood and roof of the car (delamination).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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