Kia Optima Complaints (2016)

764 consumer complaints on file.

#11641797February 10, 2025
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle lost automotive power. The check engine and the engine oil warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle warranty had expired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11640837February 5, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Was driving going 50mph and all of a sudden with traffic accelerator stopped working. The oil engine and battery light all came on. When I tried jump starting it it began to smoke.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11640624February 4, 2025
ENGINE
My 2016 KIA Optima is burning 5quarts of oil very fast every 2,000 miles. When I put oil in my car then 2 weeks later or a few weeks past, my car empty from oil
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11638652January 26, 2025
ENGINE
The car has been burning a qt of oil every 4-5 days. Now it stalls when changing gears and won't go faster than 45 MPH.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11638667January 26, 2025
ENGINE
Driving vehicle down the highway and engine seized up without any warning. According to Kia cooperate the vehicle could have experience a "bent rod failure". This was confirmed by a nearby Kia dealership service tech.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635964January 14, 2025
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Driving down the road trying to accelerate. My rpm's wouldn't go over 2000. The engine started fluttering and the accelerator stopped working. Went to take to local repair shop and they stated it was an issue with the engine. problem listed after a scan: OBD P1326 Recall NUMBER: PI1802W/X (Rev 2, 01/28/2019) With this stated. My vehicle under the same Year, Model, Engine, and Production Date are all calling for a recall but my VIN doesn't have a recall. So I am wanting to enquire why my vehicle doesn't have this recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11634302January 6, 2025
ENGINE
The car is leaking a massive amount of oil. This was accompanied by a warning light for low oil levels. Problems started in the summer/fall of 2024. It is available for inspection upon request. An independent mechanic has confirmed the leak and replaced the spark plugs in September 2024 ago, and the oil was changed as part of regular maintenance in October 2024, but the car is still leaking oil (just had to add 2.5 quarts of oil after the check oil light came on again). The mechanic suggested I check for related recalls and report the issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632732December 27, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
While driving on the highway, the roof antenna assembly flew off our car. Inspection of the area shows that the screws that were supposed to hold the antenna on had all become sheared off. It looks like there is a recall for this exact issue covering 2016 Kia Optimas produced through June 1, 2016 (SA272), but our Optima was produced on June 23, 2016 and is therefore not covered according to Kia.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11631191December 17, 2024
ENGINE, SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that after having a routine oil change and tire maintenance, the vehicle began making an abnormal clunking sound. The vehicle failed to start. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The message that the automatic brake was disabled was displayed. Additionally, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact called an independent mechanic and was referred to the dealer. The contact called the local dealer, and the vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where an unknown diagnosis was made. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer declined to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 149,020.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11628213December 2, 2024
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who confirmed the engine failure and informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 110,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11627922November 29, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The windows will NOT stay up, front passenger window has come completely loose from its track and has fallen down in such away, that it slams against the inside door panel, the only part of the window you can see is the triangle shaped edge that would normally fit in the corner of the window. I'm [XXX], with kids and this is my only transportation. Winter is here and the only window that stays up is the drivers side, and it's about to go too, it wobbles when rolling it up or down. My dad was a mechanic all his life, but he's [XXX]. I use to help him work on cars every day.. I have a torn rotator cuff from turning my now deceased husband in the month long hospital stay, been with him since I was 17, I'm now [XXX] , and can not do a lot of things I once did.. I do NOT have the money to fix this car as my husband died 2 months ago being flown in a helicopter twice to the hospital, is more expensive than ANY vehicle around here costs, i cant work due to my torn rotator cuff. No one in their right mind would buy my car with the windows.. I've done some research and my Kia optima is just one of thousands with this same issue. The only option I have is to walk the 5 miles into town to get what me and what's left of my family's essentials. I've never had a Kia before, and I'll never get another one. My car also burns oil, I know this because I was raised to know how to check to see if it's burning oil, I took it into dardanelle tire and auto, I know the lead mechanic. I was informed that in fact it was burning oil, and I knew that meant I would have to be checking the oil every other day. The exhaust pipe has SO much black burnt oil all over the entire end of the pipe.. check engine light came on 2 weeks after I bought it, something about the catalyst. The small dealership owner told me everything was perfect on this car, he lied, they have ways of turning the check engine light off, I've seen my dad do it. I think it's time for a recall already. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11626623November 21, 2024
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Engine burns over 2 quarts of oil every 500 miles due to carbon build up in engine resulting in engine ceasing up.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11625919November 18, 2024
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for a scheduled service and the contact was informed that while the vehicle was running, the engine was vibrating abnormally. The contact was informed that the rattling might have been caused by the abnormal vibration of the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the engine was replaced in 2023 under an undisclosed recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11625738November 17, 2024
ENGINE, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
On [XXX] I was proceeding to come up to the stop sign when out of no where the car started rapidly accelerating and when I proceeded to step on the brakes it wouldn't stop it only sped up more. And caused a server accident that left me with serious injuries. And I cause of the defect they found me at fault said I failed to yield at a stop sign. The car never was fixed from the 2 times the motor has to be replaced by Galena Kia in fort Myers fl. They even caused the ac to go power retarded and wouldn't work half the time. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11625269November 14, 2024
ENGINE
To whom it might concern. My car suddenly started burning a lot oil every 800 miles I had to change the oil twice a month and I have contacted Kia number of times and took the car to the dealer but no one helped me until last month when I was driving the car and suddenly the engine stops while I was in the highway and almost got hit by a truck and was a death near experience and I am still suffering from that incident mentally. Please notice Kia knew about the car problem and refused by all means to help me and now they refusing to acknowledge they defect with their cars and meanwhile I am left with near death experience and 8k dollars to buy a new engine .
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11624937November 13, 2024
STEERING
I’m financing my car from drive time and I got my car this year not to long ago, I say a couple months ago. I recently had a vehicle inspection done to keep up with maintenance. Upon arrival Firestone did a vehicle inspection and noted my roots needs to be replaced witch I’m currently working on getting that replaced and they also noted my power steering needed to be replaced witch I found odd because I don’t know how my power steering could needed be replaced when I haven’t had my car for a full year only a couple months. I have attached a copy of the vehicle inspection
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623574November 5, 2024
ENGINE
While driving my car Engine just cut off, and now it has a knocking noise, miles on the car 94739. Its my understanding that there is a recall on the engine for this reason issued in 11/2023 the car Manufacture refuse to replace engine. Car was taken to Kia New Port Richey, were the car was purchased on 01/08/2017. The safety problem is when engine shut down while driving in the middle of the road, no warning lights came on until after the engine turned off. its my understanding that the engine is blown. i called Kia Motors and they said will not replace engine because i did not take car in for the recall, and i was unaware there was such a recall
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623392November 4, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The front and rear windows come down unexpectedly. The power controls do not control the windows. This is especially dangerous when younger children are riding in the car and can reach their hands out the windows because the windows just come down. I have to manually lift my windows up
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623469November 4, 2024
ENGINE
THE CAR WAS BOUGHT WITH 88K MILES AND USES OIL BADLY AND ITS GOT 92K MILES AND ITS BASICLY NEW I SEEN RECALLS FOR SUCH PROBLEM
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623502November 4, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The window regulators in my 2016 Kia Optima have/are failing. The white drum gear that rolls the window up/down shreds and the window falls. My safety is put at risk with this due to the fact that if the window glass were to drop abruptly, it would shatter. To add to the matter, I was out of town this past weekend when another one of my windows failed and had I had not known how to pull the door apart and pull the window back up and tape it, I could have been at major risk of robbery or more. The problem has been reproduced 3/4 times on my car so far. The first time was about a year ago, I repaired the issue myself (costly). Now i have 2 more windows that have failed and i have tape holding them up until i can afford to fix them because Kia charges an ungodly amount to repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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