The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while at a complete stop at the traffic light, she noticed that there was smoke coming from underneath the driver's side of the hood. Additionally, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact exited the vehicle. The contact stated that there were flames coming from underneath the hood. The fire department extinguished the fire but declined to provide a copy of the report to the contact. No police report was filed. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was pushed into a parking lot. The vehicle was then howled to the residence the following day. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V652000(Service Brakes, Hydraulic) and 17V224000(Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent a field inspector, who inspected the vehicle at the residence. The field inspector informed the contact that a complete inspection of the vehicle could not be performed because the vehicle was not lifted. The contact stated that the inspector mainly inspected under the hood of the vehicle and took photos. The manufacturer later informed the contact that the vehicle repair could not be covered because the incident had not occurred due to the recalls based on the field inspector report. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 222,100.

- Richardson, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while his granddaughter was driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that his granddaughter was not aware of any warning lights being illuminated. The contact stated that he had the vehicle towed to his residence. The contact stated that the vehicle had not been diagnosed by a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

- Houma, LA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while her grandson was driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started hesitating before the vehicle stalled in the middle of the roadway. The driver was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts, but the vehicle was idling rough. The contact stated that the near-stalling failure had occurred several times. The contact stated at the recent failure the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was diagnosed by the contact's son-in-law who retrieved DTC: P1326 (Engine). The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 77,210.

- Watauga, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the check engine warning illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the engine was running however, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact pulled off the highway into a rest area. The contact stated that the engine and the vehicle were shaking abnormally. The contact turned the vehicle off and noticed gray smoke coming from underneath the hood on the driver's side near the windshield. The contact stated that he opened the hood and checked the fluid levels, and the oil and coolant were at normal levels. The contact restarted the vehicle and the vehicle started to shake. The contact shifted into drive(D) and depressed the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed the vehicle and retrieved fault codes P0303 and P0404, related to engine misfire in all cylinders. The mechanic stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact had the vehicle towed to a dealer, who declined to replace the engine. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact was advised by the manufacturer that he had five recalls associated with the VIN. The contact researched online and found that he had three recalls associated with the VIN and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving up an incline at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact became aware of smoke coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the knock sensor had failed and needed to be replaced. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

- Gilbert, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The vehicle was previously serviced at the dealer under NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle would not accelerate above 35 MPH. Additionally, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into limp mode. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

- Monroe, UT, USA

The contact owned a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that while driving at 30 - 35 mph, the vehicle loss motive power without warning. The oil warning light was first illuminated then all of the warning lights were illuminated. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road. The contact tried to restart the vehicle when she detected a smoke odor and saw there was smoke coming from under the hood. The contact exited the vehicle with her daughter. The contact then opened the hood and saw that the engine had caught fire. The contact had a friend from nearby come help to put out the fire with water. No medical attention was received. No police report was filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired and remained on the side of the road. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 203,000.

- Kite, GA, USA

I was stopped at a stoplight on a small street when a very loud hissing noise started coming from my air conditioner vents. As I accelerated through the intersection, the hissing noise got quieter, but as I stopped at the next intersection, it got louder. By the time I pulled into a nearby parking lot and stopped, my air conditioner was no longer blowing cold. The heat index is currently well over 100 degrees here, so driving home with no air could be very dangerous to many, especially if we had taken the car out of town, as we were intending to do just a few days later. Luckily, I was close to home and did not have my children with me, so I was able to endure the ride home, but others may not be so fortunate. After returning from my out of town trip (for which I had to use another car), I took my car to the dealership, who said originally that fixing a broken A/C was under warranty, but then he returned and said a rock or debris had put a hole in my condenser, and it would not be covered by my warranty. Instead, I would need to file an insurance claim or pay almost $900. I emphasized that this happened as I was sitting still at a small intersection, not while driving at a high speed. He claimed that it is possible it could've happened earlier but was just then under enough pressure to push through the hole. I have found hundreds of Kia owners online with supposed "punctured compressors" that couldn't see the puncture or couldn't explain when or how it could have happened, and many in cars owned for less than a year. Kia has been receiving complaints about this since at least 2011 and refused to cover it in the warranty. This could be prevented with a cheap wire mesh to protect the compressor, but they have instead chosen to get paid $800+ each time it happens and leave customers vulnerable to being stranded in 100+ degree heat with no A/C due to faulty design.

- North Little Rock, AR, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. While driving approximately 65 mph, the temperature gauge went to the hot side and smoke started to emit under the hood. The contact stated that the engine stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the coolant clamp on the radiator was not properly fitted, causing the engine to fail. The engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

- Winston-Salen, NC, USA

Strong smell of exhaust inside passenger area of car. Smell by 4 of 5 passengers. Car was a rental, so I do not know the VIN ore even the model year. With < 10,000 total vehicle miles, it may have been a 2012. I did find this note online regarding a similar problem wtih Hyundai sonata, that may or not be related. ( fyi-my 2011 sonata smells like exhaust inside the cab of the car unless I keep the button pushed for "inside air circulation". I called the dealer and as it turns out, this is a common problem with this model. A hose has to be replaced on the exhaust system.Hyundai is aware of the problem because many people have complained about the same issue.

- Davis, CA, USA

I was driving the vehicle on city streets with the check engine light on, when all of a sudden during a turn in an intersection the engine shut off. The car stopped in the middle of the intersection and I could not restart the engine though the vehicle had power. I had to exit the vehicle and manually push it to safety through the intersection and to the curb on the other side. I was safe during this incident only because it was a small intersection with little traffic. If the problem had occurred in a major intersection or on the freeway, then my safety could have been in serious jeopardy. The dealership fixed a bad coil and some bad wire in the spark plug, but they are not confident on what the origin of the problem was even after speaking with Kia technicians. Yet they have asked me to take the car and continue to drive it to see if it happens again. I don't believe that this is a minor problem and if it happens again this problem could possibly cause major injury or bodily harm. I do not feel safe continuing to drive this vehicle without extensive testing so I have asked Kia for a replacement vehicle (car only had 200 miles on it when incident occurred) but they have refused to do so.

- Downey, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact was driving approximately 60 mph when the front driver side rear view mirror detached from the housing. On a separate occasion while driving, there was a reduction in the engine power and immediately the vehicle stalled. The engine restarted and the contact was able to resume normally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated a rock struck the mirror which caused the detachment and they refused to repair the vehicle at their expense. The technician was unable to detect a trouble code for the engine malfunction. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 3,653. The VIN was unavailable.

- Little Elm, TX, USA