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.
My husband and daughter were involved in an accident where they struck a tree. The car was totaled and their was extensive damage to the front of the vehicle. The impact was more on the passenger front of vehicle. My daughter was the passenger and she is full grown so she should of been detected in the seat. The driver side airbag did deploy the passenger side did not. I am very grateful that she did not suffer serious injuries (just lacerations from seatbelt). I notified Kia motors and was given a case number. Somebody did follow up with me and asked that I send photos and told me someone else would be calling. I sent the photos. I did receive the second call from Kia and was told that the engineers incharge of the airbags would be on vacation for a couple of weeks and as soon as they came back and examined the photos, I would receive a call back. That was five weeks ago. No follow-up as of today Aug. 6, 2014. I was also told they do not have any other complaints. I told them they should go on safercar.gov and start reading. I do hope that this car gets recalled. My husband and daughter were very fortunate with no serious injuries, but someone may not be as lucky next time.
TL * the contact owns a 2008 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing, but was not repaired. The VIN was excluded in NHTSA campaign number: 12V014000 (air bags). The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 95,085.
Driver on opposite side if road crossed center lane and crashed into the drivers side of my car, damaging the entire drivers side from the headlights to the taillights. It is within $1000 of being totaled, but the low mileage is what saved us by bringing the value up. The driver was going approximately 25-30mph when her car struck mine and she did not apply the brakes at all. She hit my car and the car behind me as well. My side airbags did not deploy during the impact, as I feel they should have. There were no other passengers in the car, and there have not been any issues with the air bag system that I am aware of.
Passenger air bag light comes on and reads, air bag off and stays O with an adult passenger in front seat. This is an intermittent problem which has been in different dealerships a number of times (ten) and has never been resolved. Kia said that they are not interested in making repairs because of the age and mileage on the vehicle. The light was on at one time when at the dealership and a diagnosis was performed. I was told that there was no problem found. The problem with this statement is that if the light is on and there a person in the seat, and an accident was to take place, the air bag would not deploy. I feel that this a real safety problem, one that should be address by Kia and repaired or replace the vehicle because of the danger to the passenger in the front seat. I know I could just trade the vehicle in to get rid of my problem, but that will not solve the problem with the vehicle and the next owner will have the same safety issue. This condition can happen at any speed both or residential and expressways, it stays on until I turn the ignition off and stop the car. How do I know, if this system is ever working properly?..updated 04-16-14
The air bag light came on in dash. The car dealer said it came from the passenger side seat and that the air bag is defective and will not deploy in a crash. He said that it would be $1600 to $1700 to fix if I wanted it fixed. My wife just pulled into her mother's driveway when the light came on and it will not go out and right now is scared that the bag will go off with her mother who is 92 in the seat. I think the price is steep and if anyone should pay to have it fixed that it should be Kia to fix it.
- Susquehanna, PA, USA
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The Kia 2008 Optima's had a recall on their air bags. We took the car to Kia to have the clock spring replaced. A short time after we got the car back I was driving to an appt. When my air bag deployed on it's own. This caused me to crash into a parked van, totaling both vehicles. I was taken to the hosp. By ambulance. The police officer came to give back my cards and papers he needed for the report. I was not charged he said because of the recall on our car, it was not my fault. We informed Kia of what happened. They said they needed the blackbox info, but they never checked it out. Kia kept ignoring our calls and emails. They said they needed a special team to look at the black box, but they kept telling us the team wasn't together and it would take time for them to get together. When my 2008 Kia Optima got towed to a Ford dealership garage my brother went to get pictures of the damage and to retrieve my belongings. 3 mechanics stood by my brother watching and asking what happened. 2 of the workers said the clock spring didn't look how it should have if my air bag went off. They said either the clock spring was a faulty one that Kia replaced or that the mechanic did not replace it right. A guy named [xxx] at Kia that we talked to wanted me to make a $63,000 settlement. I said no because I didn't know how bad my injuries would get. Telling [xxx] this, is when he started to ignore me and my insurance comp. Calls. I went a year before a doctor (150 miles away) removed a herniated disk in my back because of the accident (it took that long because they tried everything else before they would do surgery). My back is better but my shoulder isn't. doctor's in my city want me to go 150 miles away to see a doctor there and that is hard to schedule and keep going there. Today 3/23/2014 Kia will not do a settlement or talk to us. Car was under warranty still. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
While traveling at the posted speed limit of 55 mph a deer ran into the side of my 2008 Kia Optima which is equipped with side air bags in which the drivers side door was pushed in on the driver and the drivers side widow was destroyed inflicting cuts on the driver and with the entire drivers side of the vehicle received extensive damage including the hood of the vehicle. The side air bags never deployed to ensure the safety of the driver even with the severity of the impact of which Kia national headquarters was contacted and the explanation was that the vehicle was not moving sideways at impact and this is why the air bags did not deploy! this is not a valid excuse to me or I would think an consumer purchasing this vehicle with the assumption that they have side air bag protection!
My car was hit in the side by another car going approx.40 mph. None of the airbags deployed. This model had a recall on the airbags 6 months previous. We took it in, they said a sensor needed to be replaced. They gave us a paper saying it was repaired and returned our car to us.
After 50,000+ miles on our 2008 Kia Optima the passenger "air bag" light would come on (meaning the air bag was automatically turned off by the car's computer system) while driving with a passenger in the front seat. It would intermittently happen...sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn't. we had it checked by a dealer and even though they saw the problem (passenger sitting in front seat and air bag was "off") it did not register a code in the car's computer system. This was reported to Kia by the dealer but as of this date (09/11/12) Kia has refused to repair the issue under warranty because it did not register a code. This poses a safety risk to passengers in the event of an accident. Failure to repair this issue could result in serious injury and even death. Kia has had this problem in other models and has even issued recalls but at this point has refused to fix our vehicle under the warrant contract we received when buying this car new in 2008.
The contact owns a 2008 Kia Optima. While driving approximately 25 mph, the air bag inadvertently deployed with substantial force and struck the contact in the face. The impact of the air bag deployment knocked the contact unconscious for several minutes, which resulted in the vehicle crashing into an unoccupied parked vehicle. The contact sustained injuries to the head, neck and shoulder. The vehicle was completely destroyed and towed to an authorized dealer. A police report was filed of the incident. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 43,040. Updated08-30-12 updated 09/07/2012
As the driver's side air bag assembly is under a recall, the passenger side system should also be investigated. About 10-15% of the time the passenger side air bag will indicate that it is off after an adult sits in the seat. This requires that the person will need to get out then back in, or the car needs to be shut off and restarted and that doesn't guarantee that the system will operate properly. Last week the passenger side air bag off light has now been coming on while the car is in motion. It will appear for a few seconds, then go off, reappear then go off.
After clockspring recall/ and repair the cars air bag signal now come on with a code of B1378 in which Kia has told me that there is S high resistance dsab. I have been informed that this code is for a bad or faulty airbag. The car has never been in an accident and the airbag has never been deployed.
We were hit in the passenger side and the entire side of the car was crushed and none of the air bags ever deployed and the passenger side seat belt did not lock. I had reported the fact that when someone was sitting in the passenger seat that the airbag light was not coming on to the car dealership that I purchased the car from but they just made excuses that the person sitting in the seat was not heavy enough even though they weighed over 150lbs.
The contact owns a 2008 Kia Optima. The contact stated the air bag warning light illuminated only when someone was sitting in the passenger seat. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who stated when the light was on it indicated that the air bag may not deploy in a crash or it may deploy without a crash occurring. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was 69,000 and the current mileage was 75,000. Updated 06/26/12 a diagnostic revealer the oc passenger sensor mat was defective. The problem was corrected. However, three days later when a passenger sat in the seat, the air bag light illuminated on the dashboard again. The consumer returned to the repair shop again. The mechanic stated it seemed that if someone sat in the passenger seat, did a lot of moving around, or was slightly heavy in weight, it triggered the air bag light. The consumer stated the light is currently on. Updated 06/27/12.
Summary: The contact owns a 2008 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the passenger side airbag sensor would not identify that a passenger was sitting in the vehicle, causing the airbag to indicate that the air bags were off. Complained to the dealer 4 times. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure, but denied any wrong.. the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was first reported 30,000 now has 49,000. They should recall these Kia. Last time at the dealer was February, 2012.
The contact owns a 2008 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the passenger side airbag sensor would not identify that a passenger was sitting in the vehicle, causing the airbag to indicate that the air bags were off. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure, but denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 10 and the current mileage was 36,000.
December 28, 2011, I noticed that my airbag light located on the dashboard continuously stays illuminated. I have taken it to the dealer to get it checked out. I was told that the airbag sensors are located in the driver/ passenger seats. The mechanic at Kia dealer tried to fix the problem, but was unsuccessful. The service representative informed me that they would have to replace the sensors. I've viewed the complaints of people that own Kia Optima 2008. It states that these cars were recalled because of significant amount of defects. (I only have 43,000 miles) in addition, a week ago I've started hearing a ticking noise coming from the engine area when I accelerate going up in a roller coaster climbing position. Thank you for your expeditious response.
2008 Kia Optima. Passenger air bag light stays off even when 175 pound person is sitting in seat. Taken car in 4 times to be fixed. Kia says we are probably sitting in the seat wrong. Finally they replace seat. Still didnt solve problem. Doesent matter what speed.
When front seat passenger sits in the passenger seat of the 2008 Kia Optima, the airbag "off" indicator doesn't switch to on. I was told by dealer that the steps is that the car needs to be off, passenger sits, then turn the car on. This automatic feature is going to get someone killed... not turning on the passenger restraint. Unless the car is off. True situation - my wife gets discharged from hospital from having a baby, I pull car around, get out, load items in the car. My wife gets in the car. Half way home, we realize the front passenger airbag is "off."
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- West Haven, CT, USA