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.
I was sitting in my car and it caught on fire under the hood, the fire department thinks it was something electrical. It was in park while I was dropping someone off who was getting out of my car
Turner Kia diagnosis my vehicle of overheating condition revealed combustion gasses getting into coolant. Internal issue allowing combustion pressure to get into cooling system which is hampering cooling efficiency as well as causing areaction off coolant. When I drove the car half way on the highway it started to smoke after I just got it back from turner Kia after fixing what they said was the problem after that I took it back to turner Kia and they diagnosis it as needing a new engine.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 mph, the horn was depressed and the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was restarted and operated as designed. The contact contacted taylor Kia of lima located at 2100 N cable rd, lima, oh 45805, (567) 712-6604) who were unable to retrieve a diagnostic fault code for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The approximate failure mileage was 92,000.
I was driving on a main road about 50 miles an hour when car lost ability to accelerate, lights and everything were still on. I was able to coast to a side street to pull over and park the car. I shut it off and then when I tried to restart it black smoke with an electrical type smell came from under the hood. Kia dealership said motor was seized and replaced it under a recall. Then they said it needed fuel pump and battery (which battery was only 6 months old), so I had both replaced. I drove for 2 days and had trouble starting the car so I took back to dealership. They said it needed a starter and an electrical assessment for a short, as starter began smoking with the vehicle not even running. Now they are saying it needs a new junction box/fuse box over $2900 and may have been related to other problems but not covered and I will have to pay. I have already paid $900+ dollars for fuel pump, I exchanged the battery where I originally bought it, and $493 for starter. I dont understand why the junction box would randomly fail or short and need replacement, unless it was part of the original black smoke electrical smell that happened when engine seized in the first place.
- Littleton, CO, USA
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The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving a long distance on the highway and the vehicle slowed down on its own as all the warning lights flickered. The contact mentioned that he saw smoke and fire through the rear view mirror. The contact merged to the shoulder of the road and exited the vehicle. The contact stated it was difficult to exit the vehicle since all electrical functions failed. The entire front of the vehicle was quickly engulfed in flames. The fire department arrived and extinguished the flames. It was unknown if a police or fire report filed. The fire department informed the contact there was a electrical failure within the engine. The vehicle was towed to a salvage yard. The dealer and manufacturer had not been contacted yet and contact was unaware if the vehicle had been declared totaled by his insurance. The failure mileage was 84,800.
When istart my vehicle, sometimes the radio does not come on, so I have to pull the fuse and place it back in. Also, I cannot excel past 40mph, otherwise it stalls. The dealership stated I needed a new engine. I was stranded in Wyoming, so I had to lease a new Kia. I still owe on my 2013 Optima, which is not drivable. I did not want a new vehicle. I'm very frustrated.
I was driving then the car shutoff almost causing an accident. It stated hybrid system warning do not drive. The car will not start and gets a few gauge lights.
So from the start I bought the car $5000 cash from a dealership who promised a 3 month warranty 3 weeks into having the car I decided to take a road trip for my graduation party from high school I'm about 2 hours out from my city going down the highway car just stops accelerating and flashing a engine light while I'm on a one way highway tractor trailers and cars are going 80mph behind meanwhile my car can't accelerate luckily I was able to pull over without losing my life so I call the dealership and he hangs up and says there's nothing he can do there's no warranty at all and I'm just in shock I'm stranded on the highway with no one near me that I know so I end up paying the tow truck $600 to go back to my city take the car to mechanic he says it's the knock sensor he ' fixed' it on the way home from picking it up from the mechanic I was driving on the highway again the car does the same exact thing but this time it was worse because cars was right behind me almost hit me and swerved and almost took there own life and my car just won't accelerate anymore and sounds horrible knocking sound while cars are coming straight behind me I pulled over eventually got it towed back to the mechanic after paying him he says he's still trying to fix it I honestly just want to be safe in my car that was supposed to get me to college now im out of a car and college funds due to fixing the car and can't even go due to lack of safety on vehicle it was very traumatizing and impacting on my life.
While driving on the turnpike the car completely shut off. Prior to shutting off, the battery, oil and transmission icon appeared on the dashboard. Thankfully I was able to merge over into the side lane safely because the breaks along with the steering suddenly became difficult to control. After placing the car into park and removing the keys from the ignition, I attempted to restart it. It started, so I continued heading home. Approximately driving another 12 miles, the same thing happened again. The only difference this time was upon restarting it, a weird knocking noise came from underneath the hood, so I shut the car off. I waited about 5 minutes to restart it and it started right up, so I continued heading home. Today, once again while driving, the car shut off. Same knocking, and dashboard lights. After waiting about 5 minutes, I restarted it, only to continuously hear a loud knocking noise and a vibration coming from under the hood. While accelerating, it barely moved and the noises became louder along with the vibration.this time the car was incapable of being driven. I had to get it towed directly to a Kia dealership. Good thing my car was still covered with easy care or else I wouldn't have been to get it towed. I don't even know how I am going to be able to afford whatever needs repaired. I did receive a recall notice and will attach it below.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the door ajar warning light remained illuminated with the doors securely locked. The contact stated that the failure caused the battery to be drained. Sparks Nissan Kia (1100 auto mall dr, monroe, la 71203, (833)255-2570) was contacted by phone, and the contact was informed that the dealer was unable to offer the repair due to the body work that was required to fix the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
I was headed to work and found my self frustrated because it took so many times to try to turn on the car. So, I had to find someone to give me a boost to get the car started because I didn't have any luck starting the car. I brought my battery to get check, perfectly fine. I brought the car to Kia and they said perfectly fine. I'm still having this problem where my car starts when ever the car wants. I don't want to drive on the highway and it shuts off when it wants, it's going to cause and accident. I need a solution
On 12/11/2019, I was driving my 2013 Kia Optima sx turbo when suddenly it started to sputter, as I was attempting to pull over the engine completely shut off/ seized in the middle of the road.. I was forced to put the car in neutral and push it onto the nearest sidewalk ramp onto a storage parking lot.. after that the engine wouldnt turn.. the battery wasnt dead because the radio, lights, dashboard would all turn on, but the engine would not turn over, it would not even make a sound as if it were trying.. I towed it to the nearest mechanic to see what was going on and they said the engine froze/ seized and they found metallic particles in the oil... I did some research and it looks like some Kia Optima engines have a certain recall for premature bearing wear and tear inside of them that causes the engine to seize, this sounds exactly like what happened to my Kia... the mechanic also advised me that there was a shortage that caused my computer to burn out... not sure if related but the issue with my engine definitely sounds like a common recall issue with 2011-2014 Kia Optimas... I looked up my VIN # nothing pops up but when I search for general info on Kia recalls, engine seizing is one of them.. please advise on what to do..
My car keeps having some kind of an electrical glitch where it seems my battery is dead completely wipes the memory from the car then it'll start 1 minute later, tires keep getting eating from the inside just above the rim, motor has been making a ticking noise since I got the car it was looked at as one of the recalls and said it was fine, I feel this car is unsafe for me and my family, the has even shut off as I was driving down the road acted like it was the battery was dead and it started a couple minutes later
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated and the horn failed to sound. Kia of irvine (located at 45 oldfield, irvine, ca 92618, 949-612-9514) was called and stated that the failures were not covered under NHTSA campaign number: 18V363000 (air bags). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 66,000.
Drove to get ice cream and car was running well, without any problems. Shift the car off to order ice cream, and when getting back in the car, the car would not start. All the lights would come on and my music would play as well as the ac turned on, but nothing more than an almost silent ticking sound coming from under the hood. Had my husband try to jump the car to see if that helps, and nothing happened. I had the car towed home and the next morning, my husband and I replaced the ignition sensor fuse and the car started. Then a couple hours later I tried to start the car again, and it was doing the same thing. Car has been disabled ever since and is going on 1 week now. Car broke down on Wednesday 31 July, 2019. Not to mention that I just had my radiator cooling fan replaced two days prior to this breakdown. I also had my replacement recall engine placed in just about a month ago. All of these problems are happening after the recall has been placed, and the only thing I get is kick back when I say this cannot be coincidental. I get told that my car has many miles on it so things are expected to break. Unacceptable and unappreciated and just down right wrong.
When attempting to start my vehicle everything turned on in the car except the car itself. Brake pedal was stiff and nothing would turn the engine on. It took over 10 minutes and was finally able to get the vehicle to fire. Has happened twice today 7/13/19. The vehicle is a push button start with battery charge of 95% and new batteries in the fob.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Humble, TX, USA