Kia Optima Complaints (2014)

622 consumer complaints on file.

#11531696July 11, 2023
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Today, 7/11/23, I was traveling on the interstate with no issue. Upon exiting the interstate up a slight hill, there was one car in front of me, I let off the gas and began to roll backwards I hit the brake and didn't think anything of it at first. The car in front of me pulled forward and I took my foot off of the brake and began to roll backwards again, I hit the gas and nothing happened, during this I also heard what sounded like a clunk noise. At this point I put my flashers on and looked at the dashboard, I saw three lights that have never appeared before. (Oil light, battery light, and check engine light) I placed the car in park and sat for a moment. The car was still on but not running, I pressed my start button and the car turned over the lights went off and I drove about 3 miles down the road to a lot. Once the car cooled I checked the oil and the level was fine no smoke nothing strange. I went to pull out and drive again and the same exact thi g happened again. However, a few hours later my fiance drove it home and had no issue. If my car had rolled back I could have hit someone or been hit. It's something unknown and is dangerous. This all just happened today and it has not been taken anywhere yet.
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
#11528810June 26, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Paint is white peeling on my 2014 Kia, after googling looks like a lot of others are having the same problem with the white color paint peeling
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11528770June 25, 2023
ENGINE
Rod knock on the engine
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11527667June 19, 2023
ENGINE
Vehicle has been burning oil consistently since 100,000 miles and Kia dealership denied coverage. Now I have a knock sensor code and the Dennis eakin dealership in Killeen is claiming it’s a bad rod bearing and denying their 200k mile warranty coverage due to me not being able to provide 10 years worth of receipts even though this was a known issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522587May 18, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have a snow white pearl painted Kia optima that has peeling paint on the pillars by the windshield. It started out really small but now it’s almost down the entire pillar.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522619May 18, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STRUCTURE:BODY
Vehicle paint is chipping / peeling off in large parts . Mainly roof and area surrounding windshield
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522461May 17, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC, FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V331000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) and 22V093000 (Fuel System, Gasoline), however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact had taken the vehicle to two dealers for the recall repairs. The contact stated that one charged her a fee for the recall repair however, there was no evidence that the recall repair was completed. The contact was referred by the manufacturer to another dealer who did not perform the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521313May 10, 2023
ENGINE
The car was last inspected/service on 11/23/22. There were no warning lights, no noises, no odors, no indication that anything was going bad or anything. Drove car over 600 miles to visit family. Upon leaving to return home, the car stalled after about 100 miles. We pulled over and restarted the car. Now it began making a noise and the engine came on then started blinking. This was around 5am on the side of the highway in pitch black with two young women traveling alone in very isolated/low population area. Long story short-the engine failed and had to be replaced (had the car towed to the nearest dealer in Rolla, MO). The engine was replaced by Kia and covered completely by Kia. This was at 78,000 miles. This is the 3rd engine for this one car. First replacement occurred just under 10,000 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521327May 10, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The contact's sister owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked unattended, it spontaneously caught fire. The ABS warning indicator light had previously been turned on and off. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. A police report was filed. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. There were no reported injuries, crashes, or air bag deployments. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V100000 ( Fuel System, Gasoline). The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520433May 4, 2023
ENGINE
My car was unable to accelerate and ultimately had a broken rod, which required total replacement of the engine. Since I am the second owner and the original owner or dealer did not request the warranty extension in 2017, KIA refuses to reimburse any amount towards the repairs.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519643April 30, 2023
ENGINE, SERVICE BRAKES
I was driving the Kia Optima 2014 down the highway. Without any warning or indication that something was wrong my tires locked up, causing the car to chirp twice and then the engine just died. I had to pay 250$ for a tow company to pick up the car and bring it home. The whole situation was very dangerous. Now I am having trouble with the Kia owner website. It will not even let me report the issue or schedule a maintenance appointment with any Kia Dealer to determine if this is due to a recall issue, or anything.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518985April 25, 2023
ENGINE
Since August of 2021 Ive experienced engine oil burning that results in me having to add oil every 10 days after a Valve Cover Gasket replacement 8/11/21 . Ive gone into Lokey Kia in Clearwater FL numerous of times for this issue, and numerous recalls. There is no visible leak, but that had me pay for the Valve Cover Gasket replacement 8/11/21 - Lokey Kia told me again today 4/24/23 that I needed the same repair done again. Over the phone the Lokey Kia service rep. told me he could not find my previous repair in the system and that I should NOT have to fix this repair this soon, but when I came in with a receipt, they stated "oh, things wear our=t faster than we think". Ive taking my car across the street to Fitzgerald Hydauni, tried to explain to them. Paid for vehicle check, completed oil change, found no visible leak, but within a week I had to go back because my car was literally almost out of oil. I called Kia claims today claim# 14751760, on hold for 2 hours and they say I have to spend several hundred dollars 3 times for a oil consumption tests before I can qualify for engine replacement because the recall for this DEFECT is not attached to my VIN, but is a KNOWN issue for the 2016. Ive sat in the waiting area and other consumers have gotten engine replaced, but for me Im brushed to the side. AAA states they've so many Kia's like mine breakdown due to this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518245April 21, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My car was nearly stolen. My neighbor interrupted the thieves before they could steal my car. They broke my rear driver side window by smashing the window frame 4 times, climbed inside, opened the driver door from the inside and broke my steering wheel column cover.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515909April 7, 2023
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive oil consumption with the check engine warning light constantly illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local service center who diagnosed that the engine and catalytic converter were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 151,111.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515618April 5, 2023
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
March 15, 2023 I Ania Covington as well as my mother Ramona Allen went to the Kia dealership in Southern Pines, NC at 10am to get a recall fixed on my car (fuel line), an oil change, air filters changed, as well as a valve gasket replacement (recall was free, everything else paid out of pocket). I received my car back at 4pm the same day, when I pulled off the lot not even a mile away my car was smoking from the exhaust pipes. I went back to ask them was it going to continue to do that, the mechanic as well as the advisor told me it’s just the old oil burning off. As I was driving home I began seeing smoke come from my engine as and still from the pipes I was still thinking it was the old oil burning off hence that’s what I was told. I decided to go to the gas station to get gas for the remaining of the week, and my car burst into flames while I was pumping gas. The fire had originated from my engine. I went back to the dealership the following day to show them pictures, the service manager(Thomas) told us to reach out to Kia corporate. It’s almost one month later, no one has been answering calls from me nor my mother. We went back to the dealership 3/31 the service manager took our information again and told us he’d reach out and still haven’t been informed on anything.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515667April 5, 2023
ENGINE
My 2014 Kia Optima engine started seizing on 03/25/2023. I called to the Kia dealership and explained to them what my car was doing was told they could not get to my car until Monday 04/03/2023. I had my insurance tow my car to Kia on Monday 04/03/2023. The service guy called me and said he couldn't start the car due to the engine being locked to update the KSDS system, and with that being said Kia would not cover the engine. I told him I never received that KSDS recall because, I was not the previous owner who had this car. He gave me an estimate for $5422.17. He said to reach out to Kia Headquarters and talk with them to see if they would approve for the engine to be replaced. I call Kia Headquarters and spoke with a lady and explained to her what my car was doing. She then stated that she would look over the claim and she put me on hold. She then came back to the phone and said unfortunately my engine would not be covered because the previous owner they sent the letter to about recalls never responded to the recall in reference to KSDS, I was not the previous owner. She also stated they only send the recall letter out once. She also stated when you buy a used car you buy all the issues that come with it. So that was her way of saying Kia still not replacing the engine. I purchased my car on 02/01/2021 from a used car dealership. I did not know anything about a recall on the KSDS. I'm trying to understand how I can be held accountable for something the previous owner did not do. Kia needs to be held responsible for these defective engines. Thank God my son and I were not out on the highway when the engine start seizing. How can Kia get away with this is beyond me? Something needs to be done about this ASAP before somebody gets killed in one of these Kia Optimas while driving and the engine locks up. Please investigate this!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514559March 30, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
The car caught fire last night and burned up while parked.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514566March 30, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint on vehicle on top of trunk has chipped off like a whole section out of no where.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511674March 13, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The Pearl White paint has begun to peel and flake off. This vehicle has been well cared for and has 96k miles. It appears a defect in the paint has resulted in a lot of paint issues for Kia and Hyundai vehicles. This needs to be investigated and a resolution is warranted.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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