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 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary in a parking lot, she was unable to close the sunroof and heard an abnormal noise. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with needing the sunroof to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called the local dealers; Kia of East Hartford (99 Ash St, East Hartford, CT 06108:(860) 291-7000) and Gary Rome Kia (809 Enfield St, Enfield, CT 06082:(860) 253-4753) and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,500.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. While driving 60 mph, the panoramic sun roof glass fractured and fell onto the rear passenger seats. There were no injuries. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 101,119.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. While driving approximately 55 mph, the contact heard a loud pop and the sun roof shattered without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. While driving 50 mph, the sun roof glass exploded with a loud bang. The contact was uninjured. The manufacturer and dealer were made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,050.
- Lacey , WA, USA
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I was driving down the I77 North at 70mph with the sunroof and shade shut when there was a loud explosion and the shade started going through the sunroof and glass came raining down on myself (I am 7 months pregnant) and my 13 year old daughter. There were no cars around us. It was sunny around 80 degrees.
Driving down the freeway at 70 mph, sunny clear weather, temp 85. No overpasses or other vehicles in sight. The sunroof exploded showering an enormous amount of glass on top of my head resulting in a few minor cuts. Either I was struck by a meteorite or Kia has defective glass. The dealer replaced it for $550 and no explanation. As there are several other posts with similar descriptions I feel Kia has defective glass and this should be investigated.. I very nearly lost control of my car at freeway speeds.
I was driving on the highway with the sunroof open. I heard an extremely loud pop, as if someone popped a balloon right next to my ear, and I was showered with glass. The sunroof had exploded. I wasn't around a bridge or overpass, and there weren't cars around me. I don't recall seeing anything on the road in front or me. There was no damage to the sunroof prior to my trip. It was about 80-82 degrees outside with clear skies. I've read that this has happened to other people with Kia Optimas, Hyundai velosters, and other car manufacturers. My car is at the dealer now, and Kia is aware of the issue and is investigating. Luckily I remained calm and pulled over to the side of the highway to clear off the glass and go to the dealer. That sound and shower of glass could have easily startled someone else and possibly caused an accident. I do have a picture of the sunroof prior to breaking away the additional, broken glass. Please contact me for it, should it be needed.
I was parked in a secured police parking garage that no one has access to except police officers. Upon getting into my car, placing it into drive and beginning to move forward out of the parking space, there was a loud noise that sounded like glass shattering. I exited my vehicle to find that my sunroof had exploded into thousands of pieces. There was nothing that struck the glass that caused this to happen. Upon doing research, I discovered that this is a problem that the Kia vehicles sunroofs have. Kia is aware of the problem and is telling me that I will have to pay for the replacement. My vehicle is still under warranty which does not seem to matter to Kia. Kia is telling me that this incident occurred because there was an object that caused this to happen. I told them that I was in the vehicle barely moving when this happened. They do not want to take responsibility for the problem.
Wife was driving home from work in early evening on normal daily commuter router when very loud explosion noise. Incident scared wife enough that she called husband for advice on situation. Sunroof shattered. No overpasses within several miles at time of incident. No flying road debris. Nothing unusual about circumstances. Reported incident to Kia dealership and took car in for repairs. Repairs took about 2 weeks because "no sunroof in stock". received call from Kia corporate office regarding incident after 2 or 3 days asking for details. Just after picking up the repaired car, received call and suspicious letter (email) asking for us to sign and return essentially a liability release. We did not sign it. Suspect that Kia corporate intended to have us sign letter before returning the car to us.
The sunroof exploded while I was driving down the highway shortly after 7am et. It sounded like a gunshot. I pulled over and looked at it and then drove straight to the dealer.
I was driving on highway during rush hour when I heard a loud explosion and sound of glass rattling. At first I though I had a blowout on one of my tires, so I manage to pull over to the emergency lane. I then did a walk around of my car and saw the busted sunroof. There was nothing overhead nor did I see any flying rocks or debris at the time of the explosion. There was nothing other than the explosion. The glass was bubbled up like it blewout and not in. There was a hole the size of a basketball in the middle of the sunroof. There were no rocks or anything inside the flap between the glass and interior. Also the flap cover is very thin and flimsy, if something had fallen on it, it would have hit me on the head because it is just a thin material cover. Furthermore, it was a sunny day, at roughly 73 degrees. All I can say is for a sunroof to explode outwards, the glass has to be defective in some sort of way. It scare the living lights out of me, it was such a loud explosion. If I had the cover undone, I would have been hurt by the broken flying glass. I took it to the dealer and the manager there took pictures and then made a comment that he would forward the pictures to the dealer but that it would be denied because the last Kia that came in with the same problem the dealership claims person he was planning on forwarding the pictures to had denied the claim and it looked the same! this shows me that Kia is very aware that their product (sunroof) is defective and has a potential to explode but of course they will not claim their product has any defects because it would cost them too much. I am not the only one with this incident obviously. I need for you to begin an investigation into trying to determine if the glass is not tempered enough to withstand certain temperatures or if there are other defects that cause it to explode.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Vernon, CT, USA