Oh rear lower swing arm supporting the spring broke letting the spring come out of position and letting the wheel tilt as if flat. The lower arm had rusted in two allowing this to happen.

- Holmen, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, there was an abnormal noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact pulled over and discovered that the rear passenger side of the vehicle was dragging on the ground. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the rear passenger side control arm had fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 129,000.

- Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

Rear lower control arm rusted through and broke in half causing it to drag on the ground and the tire to push outward

- Carpentersville, IL, USA

I bought a new 2006 Kia Optima ex in Apr 2006. Sept 2006 the key fobs quit working and the pass side back seat does not secure itself in place at the bottom of the seat and stay/taken to a dealership and fixed. July 2007, the key fob again quit working/taken to the dealership and I was told a tsb was out on this problem and they would replace the receiver which was done. Nov 2007 after the tsb supposedly was taken care of, again the key fob quits working/dealership has again reprogrammed to work again and currently they continue to work. This car handles extremely poorly and in my opinion is a safety risk. It seems to have a pretty loose suspension and a lot of swaying when driving. The car pulls hard to the left causing one to have to hold the steering wheel tight to keep it from taking nearly a 45 degree left turn while driving. When applying the brakes, the car pulls both left and right/usually left. When driving over a smooth dip in the road, it feels the front tires actually leave the ground slightly causing the steering wheel to vibrate right/left quickly. This vehicle also handles extremely poorly on icy roads. This is without any question the worst handling vehicle I have ever driven...concerns me as I drive on the highway about 35 miles to work one way daily, and drive in windy as well as snow and icy conditions fairly frequently. At about 15,000 miles, the latch on the gas door doesn't want to stay closed after you fuel up and the electronics that operate the side view mirrors intermittently do not work. Feb 2008, my car reached 30,000 miles and when washing it last week, I noted an area of paint peeling off on the driver's side door trim (black), as well as the chrome paint starting to bubble. I took pictures of both of these areas. Since driving this car off the showroom floor, it has been garaged at both work and home. Last week (Feb 2008), driver's side seatbelt quit retracting.

- Newton, KS, USA