10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 4 / 5
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 26,557 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.
The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she became aware that the driver's side window was not functioning. After which, all the windows in the vehicle failed to operate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with all four window regulators. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.
- Ocala, FL, USA
My Kia Optima randomly stops working while driving. I get a notice that says, "HEV: Check Hybrid System. Stop Vehicle and Turn Off Engine." Also the gas pedal stops working, leaving me to try to coast to safety. The car essentially stops working in the middle of driving, without warning. Once this happened and blew out the spark plug, requiring a new one. Then, a day or two later, the car returns to normal. The Kia dealership could not reproduce the problem, nor could my service center. They say it's fine. I took my car in for previous recalls, and it is currently "up to date." This appears to be the same electrical issue as a recent recall for electrical failure, but the dealership told me the spark plug was fine and that I should change the battery. I did and this still happened. I do not feel safe driving this car, and Kia won't help me find the problem.
- Culver City, CA, USA
We have had two motor replacements in less than 6 months that we have owned this vehicle for the first one started started a knocking noise right after a flashing check engine light both Kia is by us totus will we can't get it in today wouldn't give us a rental and was going to charge us for a diagnostics fee right up front and told us it would still be a few days before they could get it in so we had no choice but to continue driving it not even 2 days later left my fiance on the side of the road wouldn't start wouldn't do nothing engine seized Kia dealer number one put the motor put it back together wrong and then when it seized again in less than 5,000 mi try telling us that they weren't responsible well if we did the engine again give it back to us notice that the ignition coils were not put on properly and orbital down properly You're still an electrical issue and the engines are starting to do the engine is starting to do the same as engine one and two. What I don't understand is why don't Kia just completely recall the entire car and take it off to f*cking market and replace the people replace the cars that have that still have people owning them
- Lehigh Acres, FL, USA
The body shop later informed me that there is a recall for engine fire recently, but my year/make is not listedin the info obtained online. The car started stalling while driving down the off. Smoke started coming through the vents. I pulled over to the side of the highway. A passerby told me that the car was on fire. Called 911. To note I had just picked the car up from Jim marsh Kia for battery replacement and problems with steering after the car was stolen in July. I had no previous issues with my car other than routine maintenance which I have records for.
- North Las Vegas, NV, USA
At 95000 car had problem accelerating and then all of a sudden on the side of the road did that 2 had 2 engine rebuilds done no but the problem is still there and the fuses all look burnt and half my lights don't work.
- Lehigh Acres, FL, USA
The engine was has blown twice the first day 95000 miles and again at under 6000 miles. And there is still a bad knock and major vibration and ticking noise coming from the car. We told the car we no longer have faith in this car and didn't want it no more and all he did was see if he could get us another loan to trade it in. We're now scared to really ride in to and can't get no one to help us on this my man is about to lose his job over this car
- Lehigh Acres, FL, USA
Every window regulator is broken, 2 of them in the middle of the highway and the other 2 when I parked the car.
- Clearwater, FL, USA
My high beams and low beams are starting to shut off randomly. When it happens, my dash shows that i am trying to turn my headlights from auto to another setting, which is not the case. It has happened at night and that poses a danger because i cant see the road and people cant see my car. I have not had it looked at yet. I do see multiple complaints online for multiple different kia models and years. There is no recall and i do not see a TSB.
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
I was driving and the car-??s electrical completely cut out and locked my steering wheel up and ran us off the road and we hit a big rock on the driver side and then the power kicked back on and the steering yanked super hard to the right about 4 times and caught a fallen tree on the right side then completely died with me and my young kids. Took it to Kia to be serviced and got it back and it started to do it again
- Ardmore , OK, USA
On July 4th, my vehicle lost engine power and flashed a quick prompt of "engine warning" before turning off completely, smoke from under the hood which resulted in a fire. I was able to extinguish it fortunately. I have since discovered there are three open recalls, which I received no notification about. I frequently check for recalls and all sites say there are none.
- Lithonia, GA, USA
This will be the second time this has happened to my vehicle my vehicle just randomly stopped while driving and will not start back up. It keeps showing on the dashboard -??check hybrid system stop car and turn off engine-?? this happen 4 years ago and then a safety recall came out for it to get fixed this should have been fixed from the safety recall and never happened again unfortunately it happened again. The dealership is booked with appointments so my car will not get fixed for about a month or two. It is very dangerous for the car to just caught off in the middle of the road.
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
2016 Kia Optima was towed to Kia Dealer after it became inoperable; on 10/22/22 diagnostic done and found engine failure. Kia Motors denied claim for repair/replacement. Not sure why not covered under class action settlement, and/or extended warranty, or subsequent technical bulletins regarding Kia's defective engines.
- Roanoke, VA, USA
My steering wheel locked while I was on my way to work early Monday, March 28,2022. I was driving down county road Park Avenue around 30MPH and suddenly, I was unable to move the steering at all. Luckily, I was already in the right lane =; however, it was very challenging to steer to get off the road. I called the local dealership and they suggested I bring the car in for inspection to determine what the cause is. I took the car to the dealership and I was informed the vehicle was not drivable because the Steering Wheel Column Assembly and ECU needs repair. They also informed there was no recall on the vehicle. The mileage at the time was 67,400 miles which was very surprising. I received a letter from Kia Motors in February 2022 (6 years after the car was manufactured about the recall however, most cars at this point were out of warranty and Kia was aware no car met the warrantee qualifications). I was told by Kia Motors customer service that my vehicle was out of warranty at the mileage. I paid $3386 for repairs which should have been covered years in 2019 and 2020 according to other reports of the same incident occurring to other 2016 Kia Optima models.
- Goldenrod, FL, USA
Soonroof/Moonroof closed rattle noise. When the Soonroff/Moonroof is closed at highway speeds or windy weather it make a rattle noise to inside of the car, i try to do their reset method and nothing worked, i being looking in kia forums and most of the people had complained about this issue, and that kia doesnt wants to fix. I will like an investigation of this issue and if you can start a repair campaign recall due this soonroof parts are really pricey. And i think is a manufacturer problem.
- West Wendover, NV, USA
Three power window regulators have failed over the course of a year. Without warning the window suddenly drops down and cannot be let up. On each occasion, the regulator gears appear to have just desecrated. The car windows are rarely let down. The passenger side rear was the first to fail. The driver's side rear failed 4 months later. The passenger side front was the third to fail 3 months later. It seems like this is a very common problem, but Kia has not set up a recall. Instead, they are raising the price of the window regulators. Interestingly enough, the new regulators have a blue gear instead of a white gear.
- Fort Mill, SC, USA
While driving down major highway the engine failed and the electrical system started blinking and I lost all power. No warning, dashboard just lit all up and engine seized up.
- Jamestown, NC, USA
vehicle is burning oil at a very speedy rate....much quicker than normal. Perhaps more than a quart per 1000 miles. The car is available for inspection. *Today was the second time that I was surprised to find that there was not enough oil to even register on the dip stick. I don't yet know if there was any permanent damage to the engine. My experience seems to be very similar to many other people who have posted online....a possible flicker of the oil light before finding out about the oil deficiency. It concerns me that others said that this led to their car faltering and/or freezing up while driving. That is certainly a safety risk for the drivers/passengers and other motorists. Some people indicated that their engine was ruined and needed to be replaced. was the Valvoline mechanic that told me today that there was an issue with these engines causing high oil consumption. have not yet had the engine inspected. I just emailed the Kia dealership to inform them and ask about a possible repair. Last year was the first of two instances where I experienced the low oil level. The first time, I had noticed the oil warning light flicker when I rounded a corner a few times during a week or so. I then took it in for an oil change. Today, I noticed one flicker and went right to Valvoline and there was almost not oil remaining. My second issue of concern is that my headlights have randomly turned off when I am driving at night. The first time I thought that I might have accidently touched the switch. However, it has happened two more times that I am aware of and I am sure that I did not touch the switch. I'm not sure if the headlights would have gone back on on their own because I turned the switch from on to off and back again and the lights went back on. There might have been more instances which I have not bee aware of. I just sent an email to Kia about both of these issues. This is item has not been inspected.
- San Diego, CA, USA
On Sept. 21, 2021, my Kia Optima Hybrid ex shut down and would not start. I took it to King of Hybrid EV Auto Repair where they ran a diagnostic test and found that there was an issue with the Hybrid System affecting the transmission and the High-voltage system. I paid $3,000 out-of-pocket. On October 26, 2022, while driving 75mph on Hwy 15 to Las Vegas, my car randomly shut down. The dash warning lights read "STOP VEHICLE TO CHARGE BATTERY". I was in an unsafe position with cars speeding past me. I was afraid that I would be rear-ended by another car. I had to have my car towed. I believe that these cars have issues with faulty high voltage systems and transmissions. Please investigate. Thank you.
- Hemet, CA, USA
On Sept. 21, 2021, my Kia Optima Hybrid ex shut down and would not start. I took it to King of Hybrid EV Auto Repair where they ran a diagnostic test and found that there was an issue with the Hybrid System affecting the transmission and the High-voltage system. I paid $3,000 out-of-pocket. On October 26, 2022, while driving 75mph on Hwy 15 to Las Vegas, my car randomly shut down. The dash warning lights read "STOP VEHICLE TO CHARGE BATTERY". I was in an unsafe position with cars speeding past me. I was afraid that I would be rear-ended by another car. I had to have my car towed. I believe that these cars have issues with faulty high voltage systems and transmissions. Please investigate. Thank you.
- Hemet, CA, USA
- Mesa, AZ, USA