Less than 30,000 and my engine is shot! I took my car for service in January 2016, told them I was seeing black smoke and I was told it was nothing. I actually was told to put fuel injector cleaner in with every fill-up. I continued to have the problem and took it back in February 15, 2016. Now they say I have sludge in my engine and warranty won't cover, because we used the wrong oil doing our own oil changes. I provided copies of the pages from the owner's manual showing that we used the correct oil, but no luck. After a week I was told the engine would be replaced via a "goodwill gesture", but a rental will not be covered. I was also told my car would be out within 7 days....ffwd 35 days...still no car and when I get someone on the phone from the service dept, I'm given the run-around and promised that I will be called back within a few hours with an update. Well, it's been 96 hours this time and I'm still waiting. Not only do you not have calls returned, emails are not responded to either. This has been the worst experience with a service department ever. Thankfully I only kept the rental that they made me pay for 15 days. (I still believe I deserve reimbursement for it.)

- Orange Park, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. While the vehicle was in motion, black smoke appeared from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but they were unable to provide a permanent remedy for the repair due to excessive sludge. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

- Statesville, NC, USA

Car cuts off while driving, doesn't matter if going 40 mph or 80 mph.......engine tach drops to "0"........foot feed doesn't respond........you keep trying to give gas up and down.......finally will buck as trying to respond......as cutting in and cutting out.....finally will then drive as normal........you may coast down to from 80 to 20 mph before it goes again. No dash lights indicated, do not have to turn key to start, does not......cause a check engine light, no codes indicated...........daughter almost got rear end on the interstate......someone is going to get killed!!!! without a doubt a major "safety issue"..................reading numerous complaints of other Kia models having the same issue.................this needs to be looked into, how many lives have been lost from Kia's cutting off while driving"????"

- Winterville, GA, USA

Vehicle experiences the same issues that are also happening on Hyundai sonatas with their engine recalls. While traveling at highway speeds of 50-60 mph and then accelerating, the engine may sometimes jerk/sputter as if about to stall. This may be due to the fact that the engines were not cleaned properly while being manufactured, leaving mechanical debris within, as stated by the Hyundai engine recall investigation.this can become a major concern as the car could potentially become unresponsive on the highway or even slow down/ stop suddenly in the case that the engine may stall.

- Upland, CA, USA

I was in a parking structure, stopped at a stop sign. I continued a few feet to my designated parking stall and when I turned the wheel the car accelerated at what felt and sounded like full throttle on it's own. The surge of the vehicle forced the car to crash into a concrete wall causing extensive damage to the vehicle and bodily injury to myself. The vehicle is only a few months old. This car has some very serious safety issues. Someone could have been killed. Now I am terrified to ever drive it again.

- Mckinney, TX, USA

I pulled off a frontage road on to the highway into a construction zone. While driving about 25-30 mph my hazard lights clicked on when my blinker went off, I realized my power steering was gone and I was loosing control. I coasted to the side of the road and realized my engine had shut off on its own. Scared me to death! if I would have been driving faster or going around a turn I would have been in serious danger! I gathered my thoughts as to what happened, called my husband and he said to try and simply restart the car. It started on the first turn w/ no hesitation. I took the car to the dealer the following day and was told that there were no codes showing and it was probably just a glitch and they tried to send me home in it! that is a major problem to me! I believe I deserve an explanation and a fix for the problem rather than told it probably wont happen again, so don't worry about it! after spending 4 hours at the dealership they decided to keep the car for another few days and put me in a rental. I pray they find the cause since I don't feel safe until they do.

- Carterville, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate and would attempt to stall. The contact mentioned that the failure would accelerate independently. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who could not duplicate the problem. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

Purchased my new Optima on 4/14/2014 (Monday) and later that same week and first of the following week heard a noise best described as a diesel engine idle sound at startup. Took it into my dealership on 4/24/2014 to find out it was in need of a new engine. After looking on a forum for these cars, this site and others, this seems to be an issue with the turbo model of this car and year. I believe that Kia needs to address this issue due to it's severity.

- Cumming, GA, USA

I had my car kid Optima 2014 2 weeks (800 miles on my new ).the engine was making a knocking noises took it back to dealership it was the piston not working fully they said I was going to have to have engine replaced.I don't want the car ! I'm not happy.

- Winter Haven, FL, USA

My Kia Optima 2014 started a noise near the engine that sounds like a clapping noise. The first Kia dealer I took it to said that it is not to worry and is part of the Kia engineering design. The second Kia dealer I took it to said that the noise is bad news and after further diagnostics, they determined that the entire engine needed to be replaced. Just 5,000 miles into the life of my brand new Kia Optima 2014. I want people to be aware that if you hear a clapping noise near the top of the engine than please take it into a Kia dealer immediately while it is still under warranty. It is not currently a Kia recall but I feel it should be since this can lead to replacing the entire engine. Thank you.

- Victorville, CA, USA