Kia Optima Complaints

7,843 consumer complaints on file.

#11531041July 8, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
On July 4th, my vehicle lost engine power and flashed a quick prompt of "engine warning" before turning off completely, smoke from under the hood which resulted in a fire. I was able to extinguish it fortunately. I have since discovered there are three open recalls, which I received no notification about. I frequently check for recalls and all sites say there are none.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530790July 7, 2023
POWER TRAIN
On Friday 6/23/2023 on my way home from work, one of the clutches went out on my DCT Transmission without any warning. I was at a stop light in front of all of the cars in a busy section and wasn’t able to go. I was able to get it to a safer location, but new something was wrong with my transmission. My mechanic was able to tell me that I’ve lost the 1st & 3rd gear. We drove around a few blocks with his diagnostics computer hooked into my car. My car isn’t safe to drive due to the faulty DCT Transmission Kia had installed into this model.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530954July 7, 2023
ENGINE
I have to put 4 quarts of motor oil in every 2 weeks (approximately 600 miles) no black spots at all on the concrete drive at all. So it’s definitely burning it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530999July 7, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Paint is peeling off in substantial amounts. The door pillars/roof rails are almost completely bare metal. There is a large paint bubble on the trunk that will come off soon. The roof, hood, doors all have paint delaminating and coming off. Its all getting worse by the day. I've discovered that this is a common issue with Kias in my year range (2014), model (Optima) and color (white) particularly. The paint started to delaminate about maybe a year ago and I let my local Kia dealership know and they said there was nothing they could do. It got so bad I went to a body shop in my area about 4 months ago, JJ paint and body shop in Bakersfield, CA, and he told me it should be covered by Kia, so I went through Kias customer care program with them intaking my information, getting photos, quotes and service records, only for them to take 10 weeks to deny rectifying this paint issue citing that the paint was out of warranty (3 years 36, 000 miles). I appealed to the BBB Auto Line and they took several weeks as well to come to the same result citing the warranty. This widely known paint defect is Kias fault, I know Toyota has had paint issues of the same type and they warranty it for 10 years. I wash my cars regularly and keep them up to date on service. It is unfathomable to me that I should bear the financial responsibility to repaint my vehicle. There's more damage than I could show, being limited to only 10 pictures. I'm hoping that this organization can give me recourse.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530469July 5, 2023
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder however, the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 143,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530493July 5, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Paint peeling appears to be a defect in paint it is the Pearl White Paint
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530105July 3, 2023
ENGINE
Engine failure just like all the other optima’s.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530179July 3, 2023
VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the sunroof fractured without impact. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the sunroof needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact learned of a lawsuit regarding the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530188July 3, 2023
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car stopped at a light and didn’t want to turn back on. Tried to have it jumped with no luck. The car turns on but the engine won’t turn over at all.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530211July 3, 2023
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle decelerated and stalled. Additionally, the check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that there were metal fragments inside the engine and that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530251July 3, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have problem for the color white pearl is pealing the car front car side an doors
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529972July 2, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:IMMOBILIZER/PROXIMITY:KEY/SENDER
Car was stolen because of kia issue
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529991July 2, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
This will be the second time this has happened to my vehicle my vehicle just randomly stopped while driving and will not start back up. It keeps showing on the dashboard “check hybrid system stop car and turn off engine” this happen 4 years ago and then a safety recall came out for it to get fixed this should have been fixed from the safety recall and never happened again unfortunately it happened again. The dealership is booked with appointments so my car will not get fixed for about a month or two. It is very dangerous for the car to just caught off in the middle of the road.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529870July 1, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint peeling off
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529924July 1, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Snow white pearl paint on my 2013 Kia optima isn't sticking to the primer. Started to flake off in 2019 on the metal that goes around the top of the side windows, both sides. Also flaked off on truck. I've repainted spots several times but it continues to peel off in the above areas and on the passenger rear door. I've seen many Kia snow white pearls -different models with the same issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529803June 30, 2023
STEERING
2013 Kia Optima, 45K miles, owned in family since new and regularly maintained -- steering clunks, feels loose and "broken" when moved left and right, so driving may be unsafe. We believe this is due to the CS1604 Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS) Flexible Coupling issue previously identified. However, the extension has just now expired and we can't get Kia dealership nor Kia itself to extend coverage further. No warning lamps or messages show, and yes, the vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Kia case number is available upon request.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529845June 30, 2023
ENGINE
Merging onto the highway & the car had rod kncok & went into limp mode very dangerous & a good thing we weren't hit by traffic. This is the SECOND engine kia has installed after allegedly "FIXING" thier issues the first time!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529346June 28, 2023
ENGINE
Driving 2015 Kia Optima on expressway at night when car lost power and died. We almost got hit by cars and trucks trying to get over to side of road. Dash lights went crazy as did headlights and nothing worked. Had car towed to Kia dealership and they confirmed that engine locked up. Kia refused to cover because ksds updated (that we did not know about)was not done even though this engine is known to be manufactured faulty and are failing at astronomical rates. Kia knows they should be recalled. They refuse responsibility even after they settle lawsuit after lawsuit.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529458June 28, 2023
ENGINE
My engine failed on a busy road on my home after a long day of work. I was at a red light when my car failed and was terrified a car was going to hit me. I was the first car in line and had barely made it past the light. Thankfully, I was able to have my car pushed into a nearby lot by complete strangers. I had just gotten off of the freeway, I easily could have been killed or hurt. My car was towed to the dealership where I purchased it from where it was confirmed that my engine seized and I needed an engine replacement. My car started knocking the day before it failed (Friday, May 26, 2023). This is the only symptom my vehicle had. I took it to Kia the same day and they told me to return on Tuesday morning after the holiday weekend for a diagnosis. It failed Saturday afternoon (May 27, 2023). I have not had it inspected by KIA because they insist that they will not honor the lifetime warranty on my car because of a pre-requisite system update that was not completed. However, once again, the dealership I purchased it from has done a diagnosis and concluded that my engine seized due to faulty manufacturing. I am the second owner of the vehicle. The previous owner received both of the recall notifications in the mail regarding the system update that was required to be covered under the lifetime warranty. I knew nothing of it and Kia refuses to hold themselves liable for an engine that would have inevitably failed — and could’ve cost me my life.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529481June 28, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
For the last 2 years, my pearl white paint has been chipping away. Over the last 6 months there are actual chunks of paint missing. I’ve never seen anything like this before.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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