This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver's side door failed to unlock. The contact was able to gain access after several attempts. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 101,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the door lock failed. In addition, the doors would automatically lock once opened with the key fob. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 125,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the front driver side door lock malfunctioned and would not unlock, which made it difficult for the driver to exit the vehicle. The contact also indicated that the rear passenger side door would not unlock when attempting to exit the vehicle. The contact indicated that the failure for the rear door was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the door locks needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.
I have a 2004 Kia Optima LX 4 door sedan, the front door on the driver side you can not lock and unlock I have to leave the door panel off so if it gets locked, you have to take a screwdriver and push up the little rod that leads to the latch. Believe me I will never buy another Kia Optima or any kind of a Kia in my eyes they are junk. Especially when this junky car only has 87,000 miles.
When trying to exit my Kia, the door locks would not unlock. I tried the manual and electrical switches on the door and all I could get was a click, and then an immediate re-lock of the doors, as soon as I pulled on the door handle. I then rolled the window down and tried the key, several times, from the outside with the same results. I managed to work my 79 year old 210 lb. Body over to the passenger seat and tried the same thing and got the same results. I was ready to call 911 when I tried the key on the outside again for the 5th or 6th time and the locks worked. This is a dangerous situation and I understand is quite common on the Kia's at about 100,000 miles, I know I was frightened. I don't know what would happen in a wreck with a fire and the doors would not unlock from the inside or outside. This has happened 4 times, twice while locked inside and twice from the outside tying to get in.
- Albemarle, NC, USA
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It started with doors will lock and unlock automatically while driving, this has been going on since 2012, then the passenger door will not unlock at times since 2012. Then on 2-28-15, the driver's side door will not unlock. I had to climb through the back seat and the console to get to the driver seat. Then on the 3-02-2015, driver's door, the passenger door and the rear back door completely refused to unlock. This is very scary, in fact, I almost broke my right foot while climbing into the driver seat from the back seat through the console, because my right leg was caught on the passenger seat head rest.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver side door failed to unlock or open. The contact had to get in and out of the vehicle by using the passenger side door. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 138,000.
Driver's door locks and cannot be opened with a key and does not open once inside of the car. The operator essentially is locked in the car. In the event of a crash or fire, the occupant may not be able to easily vacate the vehicle; the only way would be to climb over the console to the passenger compartment or the rear to exit the passenger doors. There have been numerous complaints with no action taken by the manufacturer to remedy the defect and affects multiple manufacturing years. In my opinion it clearly is a safety issue.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. Upon entering the vehicle, the doors independently locked. In addition, the front driver and rear passenger side doors failed to unlock in order to exit the vehicle on numerous occasions. The contact stated that the front passenger side window failed to open. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 10,000.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the front driver side door failed to latch and lock from inside or outside the vehicle. The contact could only enter and exit the vehicle by using another door. The dealer stated that the lock actuator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
I went to unlock my 2004 Kia Optima and the drivers door would not unlock. Repeated attempts failed. I have read numerous forums and this is a recurring problem with this car! this is a safety issue and the car is only 10 years old! if an accident occurs, I would not be able to be rescued. Kia needs to address this problem.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that after turning the vehicle off and attempting to exit the vehicle the drivers side door would not unlock and could not be opened. The contact also indicated that the front drivers side door could not be unlocked from outside of the vehicle. The door failures had occurred on multiple occasions. The air bags sensor light remained illuminated indicating that the air bag system was faulty. The failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 58,000.
My driver side locks will no longer unlock correctly. Sometimes if I jiggle everything together just so I can get it to unlock from the outside. However, once inside it is impossible to get the door open. This is a major issue, if I lock my car it takes me forever to get back in to it. I have to make sure that my children are standing out in the heat waiting on me and not baking in the car waiting for me. If I am in an area afterhours, I am more at risk of having something happen. In addition, if there is an accident or if I need to exit car quickly, it would be impossible as I have to climb out over the passenger side. I currently have a lot of shoulder and neck pain from lifting myself from one seat to another. I have looked up this problem online to see if there is something I can do and I am far from the only one that has experienced this exact issue. They have been offered no help outside of go to the dealer and get it fixed for $300 - $700. This is a faulty manufactured part, not just normal wear and tear. I replaced my brake pads a couple weeks back on the same car, that's normal wear and tear.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the front driver and passenger side doors failed to unlock. The contact opened the front driver's side window and opened the door from the outside in order to exit the vehicle. Additionally, the contact attempted to enter the vehicle, however the front driver and passenger side doors unlocked but failed to open as a result the contact entered the vehicle through the rear passenger side door. The failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,000 and the current mileage 86,200.
The contact owns a 2004 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver's side door failed to unlock. The contact also mentioned that the power lock would not unlock the door and it could not be opened manually from the inside or outside. The failure occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to dealer where it was diagnosed that the door latch assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 86,628.
When unlocking drivers side door, says its unlocked but wont open. When inside of car if U lock door U cannot get out using drivers door. Its dangerous. And it is embarrassing climbing over to passenger side to get out.
The driver's door will not unlock or open from the inside or outside. I have tried using the key, the electric locks from the inside and also manually. After researching this defect on the internet, it seems this happens a lot to Kia's around this year of car. This is a safety hazard as the driver is not able to get out of or into the car if there is an emergency. A door lock of this year of car should not fail this often or at all. I have much older vehicles that have never had a problem with not being able to get out of a vehicle.
The door (drivers side) will not unlock. When you pull the handle to get out of the vehicle it locks and will not allow you to exit the vehicle which can be very dangerous during an emergency. I have searched the internet and this has been an ongoing issue in 2003 - 2005 Kia. I can't believe there hasn't been a safety recall yet making Kia fix this issue on all vehicles. Maybe it takes an accident and someone being trapped inside the vehicle and losing their life before this is repaired. I didn't find just a few issues when I looked online for the problem I am having, I found page after page of people complaining of the same issue on their Kia.
Drivers side door will not unlock from inside or out. Only way in/out of the car is through 3 other doors. Cannot use key to manually get in door. Latch mechanism will not disengage. If you are inside the car and try to unlock the door and open it, it will make a sound like the door has been unlocked, but then will relock almost immediately.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fredonia, NY, USA