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.
Car will not get out of immobilization phase, with either key fob will not unlock to use push to start. Also common issue is waste gate activator failure, caused us to almost crash dealer said it is a exstremly common issue but Kia won't issue recal.
Driving at the speed of 55 mph on two lane road coming down a mountain and Kia Optima sx 2.0L turbo started losing power then at 45 engine shut down. Coasted to shoulder of the road and will not start. Towed to home then towed again to shop waiting on repairs. Kia says no recall and not part of the 618000 Kia Optima sx turbo 2.0L recall
I was driving my car on the expressway and all of a sudden it started making a knocking sound. When I was getting off my exist I notice the car was not allowing me to start it up and move. I knew it wasn't my battery because I just got I knew one, but I notice how my engine light would come on. So I was stuck in the middle of the street with no way to move my car out of the intersection. I heard their was a recall on my car so I'm checking to see why I haven't heard any information from Kia.
At first it started with my engine oil burning quick, and having to do an oil change every 15 days. Now it started doing the engine knocking noise when I drove it 20 miles away from my house in the middle of a busy city street. It had to be towed to my house and I am unable to drive it now. I haven't drove it since the beginning of December because I'm still waiting to go to the dealership for my appointment next week.
As my stepdaughter was driving home from work on a highway, a loud knock noise came from the engine compartment. At which time she was scared to drive it anymore, so she parked alongside road and waited for someone to come get her. The car was then trailered to the house and then to the Kia dealership. When the car was started to load onto the trailer, there were no warning lights of any kind on the dash but there was an obvious noise that something wasn't right with the car. Unloading it at the dealership, the noise began to get louder and again, no lights of any kind came up as a warning. Before taking it to the dealership we called Kia and spoke with robert on 12/9/2020. Robert said there were no recalls on this car and they would not honor the current recall that is all over the papers and news stations. I asked if there were any other recalls on this car and he said no. Today when the dealership called to let us know that the cars engine needs replaced because of the rod bearings, again we asked if there were any open recalls on this car. We were again told no. After viewing your website, we have learned that there is, in fact an open recall for the airbag. I know the airbag has nothing todo with the engine, but considering Kia was not honest about that recall it would lead someone to believe that they aren't being honest about anything else. I opened a case with Kia and that number is 13909518. We aren't asking for anything but the right thing to be done. We just purchased this car 3 weeks before this happened. We were already struggling to purchase her a car and will now have to somehow find a way to purchase another one. Please help us!
- Franklin, NC, USA
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I was driving to work one morning just got on the freeway and my Kia Optima with 107K miles decided to shut off out of knowhere. I decided to check the oil and noticed it was pretty much empty when it shouldnt have been. I check it regularly and keep it in good shape also had it changed a month or so back. I had it towed to my mechanic because it would not start at all. It took them 2 weeks and various test including a compression test and installing new spark plugs. After almost 700$ spent they got it running for 15mins and the car shutoff again. They told me it needs a whole new engine...so after I get it towed all the way back home I hear that Kia has a massive settlement going on for thier engines failing. Not sure if I will get a recall but I have my fingers crossed. I hope that anyone has this problem can find a way to solve this. Not to mention I just payed it off and it forced me to purchase another vehicle.
I was driving to pick my kids up when I slowed down to turn a corner the car started making a weird noise and kind of jerked some. I picked up 1 kid pulled out of the parking lot when the car jerked again and barely was moving, even though I was pressing on the gas. Then my display flashed hybrid system failure and I was able to drive another 200 yards to park safely and that was it. My husband went to pick it up later with a trailer and oil was pouring out of the under carriage although I didn't hit anything and there was no reason. This is the replacement motor in my car, in 2017 we had an engine failure as well due to some kind of bearings. I haven't taken it in yet, it's in my driveway waiting to see what the newest recall is. Seems to be a common failure with Kia.
The car started to stall and wouldn't go it began smoking and caught fire luckily I was driving right past purrfect auto and turned around and pulled inside the service area before the car was able to catch full fire. I thought maybe the car got hot and that's what I told purrefct auto because I was not sure so I thought that the car was running hot and that maybe it just got a little bit too hot and decided to catch on fire but the car was stalling before the fire and didn't want to go I took it to Kia to have it repaired and they told me that I would have to pay out of pocket they said that the car needed a new engine after perfect auto basically took the whole engine out of the car to try to see why the car wasn't working right and they still couldn't figure it out I paid them $3,000 almost $4,000 and the car still wasn't working correctly so I when I took it to Kia they denied me because they said my car was not in warranty and that I needed to buy a new engine.
I was driving down the road and about 25 miles an hour accelerating when all of a sudden my vehicle just stalled out I was able to put it in neutral and coast to the nearest driveway entrance or I was safely able to stop the vehicle and put it in park attempted to start the vehiclei was driving down the road and about 25 miles an hour when all of a sudden my vehicle just stalled out I was able to put it in neutral and coast to the nearest driveway entrance or I was safely able to stop the vehicle and put it in park I attempted to restart my car and all I heard was a faint click of the starter the engine would not turn over I contacted my roadside assistance via my insurance company to request a tow truck about half an hour to 45 minutes later the tow truck showed up an my battery was almost completely dead the tow truck unloaded my car into my garage where I attempted to restart my car and all I hear is a faint click of the starter the engin will not turn over I did some research and some looking up and found that there is a massive recall by Kia on multiple models of cars with the same engine. Mine is a 2012 Kia Optima LX 2.4L and I did find out that anything from 2011 up to a 2015 Kia Optima has engine recalls for the vehicle stalling out an the engine seizing up because of a manufacturing defects in the engine
I was driving home from work on the highway, when I noticed my 2012 Kia Optima ex making a loud clicking/tapping noise coming from the engine suddenly the car turned off and I was able to pull over to the right lane. When I pulled over the car was off so I turned it on and continued to hear the loud clicking/tapping noise.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving he heard a loud popping sound coming from the vehicle. The contact stated that the engine seized while merging onto the highway. The contact pulled off onto the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to stokes Kia (202 S. goose creek blvd, goose creek, SC 29445, (843) 572-7300 to be diagnosed. The contact was informed the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 136,000.
I just bought the this car a few months ago. The vehicle was in motion on a residential street. The car appeared as if it was trying to die the engine completely turned off without warning. I pulled over to a safe area turned the car off. I waited a few minutes before trying to restart. My car wouldn't start. After several mechanics looking at the car they believe it's the engine and told me the car had a recall. I called Kia dealership I was told that the recall has been addressed on top of that the turbo is leaking fluids. This car is a mess.
I bought my car 3 months ago. Never had any issues, make sure I do my oil and all, no lights have come on on my dash board except the airbag light as of recently. I was driving it to pick up my son and my car started to slow down and I noticed my check engine light was on so I pulled over to the gas station and checked my oil. No issue I just got an oil change the week before. My engine is knocking now. With no warning or anything.
When accelerating, engine seems to have a power loss and then it continues to accelerate again after a few seconds. I am in motiong when this happens on the highway/street.
Recall info shows it was repaired but Kia found metal shavings again in the engine and so either the recall was not repaired properly or the replacement engine has the same issue. I was going down the 59 freeway and all the sudden my engine light started blinking so I attempted to very off the freeway but my car would not accellerate. I have had this car only 8 months and Kia said the motor has to be replaced. My dad and my brother are both mechanics so I am familiar with what causes metal shavings to be found in the engine. I have not drove the car not neglected the maintenance that would cause this problem. There is a recall where they found metal shavings in the engine. I think it was not repaired properly. I am requesting for investigation to be done on the work performed for that recall. And I am requesting for Kia to pay for this 2nd repair due to metal shavings found again. I also need a rental car to be paid for during the time Kia still has my vehicle. At family parkway Kia in kingwood, Texas. Also I got a claim form mailed to be to be paid for any repairs I paid for out of my pocket. The Kia dealership has all the documentation.
Engine puts off a burning oil smell and seems to need oil added in between it's 3,000 mile oil change. It happens at all times of car running, either stopped or moving. Have heard about engine failures and cars burning with this make, model, and year.
I was driving 75mph, I was coming up over a hill, and the vehicle cut out, there was a loud noise that came from the engine, and I was told to pull over, the light was flashing hybrid battery low, please check and advise. I tried to start the car but it wouldn't come on. Warning light on dash stated to not start the vehicle. The mileage on the vehicle is only around 110,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Anoka, MN, USA