Kia Optima Complaints

7,843 consumer complaints on file.

#11453004February 19, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
Vehicle lots brakes while driving, smell of gas and caught fire under hood. Engine had been completely replaced due to recall in January 2022 Vehicle was a complete loss, luckily son was able to get out.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452786February 18, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STRUCTURE:BODY
Basically my paint just started peeling off in spots I have pictures and video showing the paint just come off as we blow on it
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452790February 18, 2022
POWER TRAIN
I was driving down hwy 60 in Lake Wales, Florida, passing a car at 70 mph. While passing, all of the alerts and indicators came on my dash, and I lost the ability to accelerate. To get off the road without getting rear-ended, I drove off into the grass in the median and stopped on the paved crossover. When I stopped the car, it shook and the engine died. The "hybrid warning/turn engine off" light came on in the middle of the display, so I turned off the car. I waited a few minutes and turned the car back on, no alerts were showing, but when I shifted into drive, the hybrid warning came back on, and all the lights/alerts on the dash were lit. The car had to be towed to the dealership. On Tuesday, Feb. 15, the dealership told me they performed a software update and the car was running again, but they wanted to keep it another night. On Wed., Feb. 16, the dealership called again to tell me the same situation that occurred on 2/14 happened again. They told me the codes that were given were related to the transmission. They said the transmission had to be replaced. The car is 5 years old. I asked about the transmission control module, and they said the entire transmission had to be replaced in order to replace the TCM. I took the car in after a recall notice was received in January 2022. I was told the recall only required an inspection, so there was no software update at that time. The tech told me that the original software update was done in April 2021. We received a 2nd recall notice this week saying the prior software update had an error and needed to be updated. The tech told me this is the update they did on 2/15. The dealership is telling me I need a new transmission. I'm having a hard time trusting anyone at the dealership.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452917February 18, 2022
POWER TRAIN
The car lurches or jerks when slowing down or stopping at about 20 mph . Lurch or jerking is enough to jerk to the driver . Has anyone got answer to why the Kia Optima 2010 does this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452234February 16, 2022
ENGINE
Battery, Fluid and Engine light came on and all the sudden car stop and died in the middle of the highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452262February 16, 2022
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that after refueling, the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 04V180000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452094February 15, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Kia has replaced the Hybrid battery, which said that would fix the warning light "Hybrid System Failure - Do Not Drive" and the light came on again. This is the second battery that I have replaced. The safety issue caused the car to lose power in the middle of an intersection on the way and barely had enough power to park the car safely.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452120February 15, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Smell fuel and smoke inside the vehicle
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452140February 15, 2022
ENGINE
[XXX] While driving my vehicle it looses power and becomes inoperable at any time and any speed. The brake, engine and oil lights come on simultaneously and there is no longer power to the gas pedal. The vehicle then has to coast to safety off of the road. This is extremely hazardous and could potentially cause an accident. When applying the brakes during this time it makes a grinding sound as if the emergency brake has been engaged. My vehicle has been to the dealership and numerous of time but they say it’s not a problem. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451807February 14, 2022
STEERING
In 2013 we were driving to NC it was raining the steering just left the car completely un steerable thank God it had came back to be able to control the car ...told dealership about it they acted like I was crazy ....needless to say we don't drive it when it's raining ...if we get caught in rain we use extra caution and very slow speeds ..at this point it was a new car hadn't even had 150 miles on it
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451922February 14, 2022
ENGINE
My car was put down for a recall awhile back i took it to kia because i was recently have a problem with it so i thought it could be the recall, but it wasn’t i told them since my car has already been there 2 weeks can they just replace the recalled engine they said no they wouldn’t do it unless my car actually malfunctions so they put a knock sensor and updated my vehicle ever since then i’ve been having problems and my car sometimes on the high way will not accelerate and will stall and jerk badly which is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS also recently my car is malfunctioning error “ old codes “ which didn’t make sense to me or the repair service people at KIA
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451784February 13, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VISIBILITY/WIPER
Window regulator failed. Broke while it was 4 degrees outside and middle of snow storm. Seen this is a common problem that should be recalled . As repairs will cost me $600 that i dont have . !!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451755February 13, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I’ve been smelling smoke inside the vehicle coming from the engine compartment while driving the vehicle this is a Kia Optima lx. I don’t know what causing it but worries me a whole lot. What should I do in this case
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451759February 13, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY
The paint on my white 2013 Kia Optima is starting to flake off on the hood and the passenger side rear door.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451563February 11, 2022
STEERING
The contact owns a 2011 Kia Optima. The contact’s daughter stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would produce a clicking noise and shaking coming from the steering column. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing the flex coupler replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 252,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451577February 11, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
I put gas in my car and my hand and mileage did not move and my brakes feel stuck after I release my foot and press the gas aldeco put a protective cap Over something when they change my oil and I keep having to have my brake fluid flushed and refilled
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451589February 11, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My Kia has been chipping it’s paint off for years now. I have paint chip marks all around car. Car looks like it’s 15 yrs old due to bad paint. It’s down to the primer bare of the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451302February 10, 2022
POWER TRAIN, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I purchased my Kia optima brand new I believe it had 7 miles on it when I purchased it, shortly after it was purchased it started having a problem with the transmission, I would go to takeoff and it was lunch and jerk pretty hard to where it was very noticeable. I took it into the shop they thought that it was something a computer program could reset they performed that I did not fix it, I don’t drive my Kia very much I barely have 25,000 miles on it right now I am a real live in care provider so I don’t drive very much my job is at home. I have taken the car into several dealerships repeatedly to have it fixed, IA really was at a loss and did not know what to do because I had taken it to two different dealerships and the problem was never resolved. I contacted an attorney they got nowhere because apparently I needed to take my car in one more time within a timeframe for them to be able to do anything about it? And any right, still to this day the car does the same thing it’s been in the shop four or five times for this problem. One time I took it to Kia and Elk Grove they kept it looked at it said they couldn’t find the problem. Every time I’m renting a car paying for the insurance going through the inconvenience of renting a car paying extra insurance etc. just to have nothing done with my car. When I went to pick up my car from the Elk Grove dealership I threw a fit because I was tired of it and I said look somethings wrong with the car I’m not a mechanic I can’t tell you what it is but I need this car fixed, the service manager came out and said I’ll take a a ride with you and we’ll see if maybe I can see what the problem is we didn’t even get out of the parking lot and it jerked so hard at the service manager noted it in the file had me drop it back off and leave it it’s still wasn’t fixed. I took it in again after that the new service manager took it on an hour drive on the freeway hooked up to a computer with Kia and of course it didn’t do anything while h
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451376February 10, 2022
STEERING
The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel left or right, there was an abnormal clicking sound coming from the steering wheel. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451400February 10, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
The anti lick brake symbol is showing on my dash board this has happened for about 4 weeks
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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