10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 0 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Received the voluntary recall notice to have the underbody components sprayed with what might be called a rust inhibitor or preventative, so I made an appointment and took the car in for service. Car was at the dealership 8/24/15 for the application when the service manager came into the waiting room and said that the left rear lower control arm is completely rusted through, split and deemed the car unsafe to drive. Took a look and sure enough, rusted completely through and split down the back side. Glad Kia decided to do the rust inhibitor recall or I would have never known about the problem until the arm actually disintegrated and broke. This volunatry "recall" is like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, and to continue to build a car with inferior parts, a coating isn't going to help the rust problem.
- Stockton, NJ, USA
Earlier this year we purchased a new 2008 Kia Optima LX/ex 4D. Yesterday my husband was driving South on Florida's turnpike he was slowing down to get off on an exit when the car made a loud noise and it started pulling to the right. He tried very hard to gain control of the car but it kept on pulling right. He crashed into two parked vans that were on the side of the road (county workers). When the car finally stopped he noticed that the driver's side wheel was facing forward while the passenger side front tire was facing completely to the right. Since the accident I have contacted the Kia headquarters and reported the defect. They told me that it first had to be evaluated by a Kia service center but they are refusing to pay for the towing. They do not want to provide a rental car and they told me it will be at least four days before they can evaluate the car.
- Homestead, FL, USA
- Horizon City, TX, USA