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 problem has occurred 5 separate times. My car won't crank after sitting anywhere from 2 minutes to all night. I stop and park my car, put gear in park and press the button to stop the engine. When I try to get back in if my door is locked, sometimes I can't get in with my key fob. I have to open the hood, charge the battery and then the key fob works. If my car is not locked, I get in and no lights come on, pressing the start engine button does absolutely nothing. I cannot operate any part of the car, trunk, lights, seats, windows, it is all dead. There is nothing wrong with my battery. Why is this now happening" I have around 42,000 miles and I have a Kia Optima 2013 with all bells and whistles. I love my car but as a widow, I don't want to get stranded somewhere with a dead battery / engine. What could possibly be the problem. I have been reading that a lot of other owners are having the same problems. What do we need to do? the dealerships just charge exorbitant amounts of money and the problems still are fixed. Should there not be a recall on problem, especially since it is an electrical issue"
Car losses power suddenly and lurches. This has happend when car is cruising at highway speeds or when started, stationary. Once that happens car may have to be restarted to work again. Sometimes that works, sometimes it does not. When it persists for a while, maximum speed is about 5 mph if started from a stop. Engine warning light comes on and the code P2118 (throttle actuator motor current range) is shown by an obd. The problem has ocurred before. Dealer initially changed throttle but problem recurred. The issue was eventually tracked to a faulty engine cable harness. The whole engine harness had to be replaced. However, problem is ocurring again a year later.
While I was driving the car, I stopped at a stop light, and realized that my car was on fire from the engine area. The electrical shorted out and I was locked in the car, I had to manually hold the electric lock to be able to escape from the car. It was engulfed in flames.
I have had two head on collisions with my 2013 Kia Optima, neither were major but impact was above 30mph in both cases. During both incidents neither time did airbags ever deploy. One would think airbags would have deployed in those situations, but they did not. Additionally since I purchased the car I have had electrical problems that the manufacturer could not fix. After hearing about airbags and electrical issues relating to the Kia forte and Hyundai sonatas I believe this airbag issue could be effecting a wider range of vehicles possibly including 2011 Kia sorrentos as well.
Intermitenly.car won't start all electronic signals off, nothing dead. Engine ticking after I stop & park it. I hear a loud ticking. Burning oil. At least 5 times, while excelerating car takes off real fast. Hard to control, keep it on the road. Pulls to the right. Had to replace tires only have 41K miles. Paint chips.fobs do not work. I have complained to dealers at least 6-7 times. Please note* I purchased vip premier ultimate protection plus & glass coat & teflon interior protection.$ $1850 estimate. Extra. Covers everything I reported.
- Shenandoah Heights, PA, USA
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The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was involved in a front end collision after losing functionality of various electrical systems. The failure occurred without warning. The air bags did not deploy. Prior to the crash, the vehicle was taken to valley hi Kia (14673 civic dr, victorville, ca), but the failure was not diagnosed until the second time it was brought in for driving abnormally. The dealer diagnosed that the electronic system, motor mount, and transmission were defective and needed to be replaced. The dealer banned the contact from returning. The contact took the vehicle to Kia of orange (210 w katella ave, orange, ca) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the contact did not receive a recall notice. The recall was remedied, but no other repairs were performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed. There was one injury that required medical attention. The contact suffered lower back, hip, and head injuries. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.
The issue began approximately mid-may '17 while my car was in motion on the highway (55mph speed limit, same speed limit for each time I experienced the issues in this summary). I honked my horn and pressed on my brakes (due to another car making an unsafe lane change into my lane). Simultaneously, as I honked the horn the engine light displayed on then went off immediately after I lifted off of the horn. Additionally, the RPM gauge immediately dropped down to zero, the car drastically slowed down, my A/C stopped working as well as the cooling system for my seats. My car had the ability to still accelerate but, it was extremely slow to pick up speed. Furthermore, every time I had to slow down or come to a complete stop my car was extremely slow to pick up speed. Every symptom lasted until I parked my car that day. I returned to my car hours later and turned it on and it was like the car reset itself. The RPM gauge, acceleration and A/C was back to normal. This issue has occurred multiple times and most recently on 9/28/17. This is a link to a video I found that shows similar issues I have been experiencing (https://youtu.be/qulsdy-umdk).
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 60 mph, the vehicle experienced a loss of engine power. The contact also noticed black smoke and various electrical functions operated independently. Also, the check engine and oil warning indicators illuminated. There was no fire. The vehicle was towed to carmax and then towed to Kia southside (9401 atlantic blvd, jacksonville, fl) where it was confirmed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling). The contact was never notified of the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and asked why a notification was not received. The manufacturer provided case number: 12476138 and informed the contact that NHTSA was supposed to notify the contact of the defects on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 70 mph, the steering wheel went from loose to tight and the traction control, auto hold, eps, check engine, tire pressure, and ABS warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to southwest Kia (located at 39650 lyndon B johnson fwy dallas, tx 75237, 877-363-9542) where the vehicle was unable to be diagnosed due to no failure codes. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer opened case number: 12456964 and advised the contact to pull over and have the vehicle towed to a dealer if the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 85,873.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle stalled and all the lights in the instrument cluster illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The contact called fuller Kia (540 auto park dr, chula vista, ca 91911) and was informed to bring the vehicle in the next week. However, the failure recurred. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and saw smoke coming from the engine compartment. There was no visible fire. The fire department was not contacted and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the contact's house and then to fuller Kia where it was diagnosed that the starter failed and the engine seized. Both components needed to be replaced. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine); therefore, the dealer agreed to replace the engine free of charge. The dealer stated that the starter failure was a result of the contact attempting to restart the vehicle. The starter failure was not covered under the recall, so the contact would be required to pay for the starter replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and agreed with the dealer. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that all four wheels and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to Kia of clovis California, but the cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that further testing was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 10 mph, the engine stalled and the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the Kia dealer (fred anderson Kia of raleigh; 9209 glenwood ave, raleigh, nc 27617; (919) 785-4500) where it was diagnosed that the battery, the fuel kit, and the filter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to another Kia dealer (chris leith pre-owned superstore; 11000 capital blvd, wake forest, nc 27587; (888) 482-1325) where it was diagnosed that the control valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was still with the Kia dealer. The manufacturer was contacted at 800-333-4542 and stated that they would get back within 2 or 3 business days. The contact stated that the manufacturer did not call back. The contact also stated that they were not willing to provide a loaner vehicle. Case number: 12360215 was provided. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Sunroof is not closing properly; Kia is unwilling to fix it under their warranty. Fog light switch broke and they will also not fix it under their 60K warranty. Both of these items occurred before the date selected; this was the date that Kia notified me of their decision. Also, the mileage at which these occurred was before 60K and just after 60K were on the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 60 mph, the rpms increased rapidly without warning. In addition, the remote push to start stopped working and the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,000.
The backup camera failed. It stopped working when backing up in the driveway. Kia did not cover replacement under warranty even though Kia issued a technical service bulletin saying to replace the camera in areas that have high humidity and cold weather with an improved part. There should be a recall for this safety issue.
My steering has been loose since 65K miles and continued to drift. However this bieng my 4th car I let it slide and was waiting for time to do a wheel alignment. However at 73K miles the eps sensor went off and now is hard to drive. The eps on all my vehicles never had issues up till its death way over 250K miles. The eps sensor came on after a stop sign. Then I heard a snap then the car went into manual steering mode. Now the eps sensor is off and the car is working fine.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while the vehicle was reversed, the rear camera failed to illuminate. The contact was concerned that due to the failure it could result in a crash. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the diagnosis was undetermined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000. The VIN was not provided.
Difficult to keep car centered while driving. Steering wheel makes a clunking noise and has become jerry with small movements. Tendency to pull hard to the left or rights. Steering wheel jenks when traveling on error any size bump in road. Back up camera cuts in and out. Never obtain epaulets fuel milage estimates.
When first buying the car there were times it would start really hard and have a long crank. It seemed like after starting and driving a short distance and shutting it off the car would long crank with a hard start. Took to the dealership multiple time with no fix. I logged the occurrence for almost 2 months when the field technician came out he could not duplicate the concern and said everything looks good. 8 months later it is still doing it and now has started a new problem off not starting when push button and brake are pushed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Rockmart, GA, USA