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.
Vehicle had service light on for engine. I took it to the dealership and they said it's ok to drive today until they service in the morning. They had a sensor show for the heuc. I drove 10 miles approximately half on freeway and at full 65mph the car made a very loud electrical noise and lost full drive power. I was able to safely avoid getting hit at full freeway speeds in rush hour and able to get on shoulder and exit ramp. Car turned back on and would not exceed 15mph at the light and was towed today directly to the dealership for further inquiry.
I was driving on interstate 40 in Tennessee and my car just stopped running. I was in right lane and I pulled off to shoulder. A dot emergency repair truck stopped and tried to jump my car, but nothing happened, not even a noise or anything. Called aaa for a tow.
My 16 year old son saved his money (since 13 years old) and purchased back in October 2019 the car used from a dealer with 79546 miles on the car. On February 18, 2020 on his drive home from school he noticed a loud knocking noise. He was not sure where it was coming from, no warning lights came on whatsoever. He drove the car straight home. My husband checked the oil and the dip stick had no oil on it. The car at this time only had 82794, it's last oil change back when we purchased it in October at 79546 miles. How does a car burn through synthetic oil in a little over 3K miles and 5 months of driving. We had the car towed to an independent auto repair shop which stated the engine failed and needed to be replaced due to bearing failure. After doing a lot of research online, it appears there is a pending class action lawsuit with Hyundai and Kia but it appears the hearing for preliminary approval of the proposed settlement has not been released. I wish as a parent we would have done our due diligence of researching about the reliability and safety of Kia vehicles because knowing what I know now, I would have never allowed this purchase. I feel completely screwed and now my poor 16 year old has no car because he doesn't have 6K to fix it. What a terrible first car purchasing experience for my son. Please get Kia corporation to due the right thing and get these cars off the road. They need to go back to the drawing board in regards to the design of their engine.
When taking off at a stop light or getting onto the interstate (basically when accelerating) the car feels like it has no power. You can hear a weird noise and sometimes you will smell burnt oil or something burnt. Also, I had a recent oil change and within the month I had to add oil again. There is no sign on my driveway that there is a leak. Please look into this as there are multiple people with the same issues.
- Rockledge, FL, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
My vehicle is among the vehicles registered/qualifying for a recall. My dealer was to have replaced my entire engine during the first recall my vehicle received. Within a week/some 5 days or so my check engine light was back on. Taking the car back to my dealer, it was suggested that I pay $145 just for them to do a diagnostic on the/my vehicle they had just serviced. My car is currently registered/qualifies for a recall that stems and or is related to the previous recall that my car had... as recently as a few days ago (1/8/2020), the same dealer supposedly 'fixed' the recent recall. I'd went by the dealership, they serviced the vehicle - check engine light went/was off. I'd say what was an hour or so having the car back in my possession from the dealer, the check engine light was back on. I'm appalled at the fact that I'm currently experiencing a issue that has been on going over a year. In my research on recalls I'm not to be charged anything by law surrounding rectifying a recall. On more than one occasion my dealer has suggested that I pay after feeling that they've rectified the problem concerning my vehicles recall. I have valid third party diagnostics that interestingly enough were free, unlike the diagnostics my dealer would suggest I pay for on a car that is surrounded by a serious recall issue. And more interesting is my having received a diagnostic that rendered the results that are the same codes surrounding the recall, and this after/on a day/ the last day - my car was serviced/supposedly 'fixed.' I'm appalled at the suggestion that I 'upgrade, ' into a new car, pay anything, how any car having received a 'new engine, ' though 5 days later the check engine light is back on - that's 'scary.' I have necessary documentation that can show my dealer is oblivious to public safety laws surrounding recalls due to remedies they suggested on 'fixing, ' my vehicle.
I started having issues with my vehicle in October 2019, I tried to reach out to Kia dealerships, with no help. I kept being told there were no recalls on my car and that I did not need to be concerned. My car finally stopped working, it just would not drive. It was jumping from 0-7000 rpms and then flying forward before it stopped working altogether. Around the moment it stopped driving it started smoking and I just pulled over and turned it off and then it wouldn't even go into neutral for a tow truck. I placed a brand new transmission into my car even while making a car payment on it on November 23rd 2019, it is now December 11, 2019 and I have only driven it 302 miles and I am having the same issues on it. When I call Kia I am told that there isn't anything they can do to fix the vehicle and that I need to have it diagnosed again for a charge of $170. I am now way upside down on the vehicle and am continuing to have issue after issue with it. I do not recommend this car. I have two small children and I have to have a vehicle but I will not keep paying to have things fixed that should not be an issue on a less than five year old car!!!!!
My brakes and traction lights comes on randomly. It started happening a year ago. It has happened about 5 times since last year. It happens sometimes while I'm driving, it just comes on and sometimes when I get in and start the car they come on.
Sounds like pieces of metal was left in the engine during the time of manufacturing and was never taken out, the vehicle was still running, I decided to take it to get checked, the device at Kia of essington of philadelphia said it was a grinding sound on the bottom end of the engine
Took my car into the dealership ( atlanta West Kia, douglasville, ga) for an oil change, tire rotation, etc. I was notified when I checked in that there was a computer recall for an upgrade of the computer/electronic system. They informed me that they would do that while performing the other service work. 3 weeks after the oil change I was driving on the interstate the car sudddenly lost power after a big puff of white smoke and loud noise. I worked my way over to the nest exit and proceeded to turn around to go back home. No warning/engine/oil lights came on during this time. I called the dealership and never returned my call, with no results. We checked the oil the car was 3 quarts low. Continue to notify the dealer to no avail. The car needed 3 quarts of oil everytime I checked it weekly. Let me reinterate that the car was running fine before I took it in for service in Nov 2018. I called Kia Corp. They infomed me that my car was not under recall and that there's nothing they can do becasue I had 68K on the car. They asked me to have it towed in for diagnostic test. Now they want me to provide all the service records. The service records was in the Kia dealership system as I have used that dealer (prior owner) for most of my work. I am not sure what happened to the service records. At this point they refuse to replace the engine. Kia has recalled every year but 2015 - apparently they think they got it right in 2015 since the motor was built in a different location. The engine I S pracically gone and I have had the car less than 4 years. I purchased band new off the lot 9/2015. I feel like they should be made to add the 2015 Kia Optima to the engine recall list before someone get seriously hurt either by the car stopping in highway traffic or catching on fire. Door handle on the driver's side contiues to stick and the dorr will not open from outside or inside.
2015 Kia Optima with approx 68,000 miles. Going up hill up a ramp to merge onto highway around 40 mph when the check engine light illuminated and would no longer accelerate. Shortly after, the oil and battery lights illuminated and car coasted as far as possible into shoulder as I could. Car would not restart. Sat on the on-ramp for quite a while partially blocking traffic and almost had some near miss accidents from other drivers passing and honking at me. Towed to Kia dealership same morning. Tech believes my engine has seized but no official diagnosis. They provided me with a loaner car at no charge. I am original owner and hope Kia will replace my engine at no cost and buy my car back. I am scared of the vehicle fires that are happening with these engines for other people. My car gave me no failure warning until it was too late.
I have never had any problems with my vehicle since the day I bought it brand new. I make sure to get regular maintenance and I am not a harsh driver. I was driving about 50 mph on a 2 lane road. The light ahead turned yellow and I slowed down to stop. Once my vehicle came to a stop at the red light, it made a weird noise like it was going to cut off but didn't. the light turned green and I began to press the gas and it seemed as if it was stalling and would not accelerate as quickly. The engine light, battery light and oil light popped on so I pulled over immediately, turned my car off and waited about 5 minutes. I crank the car back up and the only light remaining on was the engine light and my car started making a knocking noise every time I pressed the gas. I proceeded to go home and decided since it was a holiday I would take the vehicle to the dealership the next day. I went to crank my car up the next morning and the knocking noise had gotten louder. I started driving it to the dealership about a mile from my home but it turned off at a right light. I was too afraid to try again so I called aaa and had it towed to the Kia dealership. Since I was still under the 100,000 mile warranty, the engine was approved to be replaced. Two weeks later, I received my vehicle. This issue was very sudden and unexpected being that I have had zero other problems nor did any hazard lights appear on my dash beforehand. My VIN was checked for engine recalls and did not appear to be on the list.
My vehicle is randomly displaying 'goodbye' on the dashboard and is shutting off while driving. This started from nowhere with no warning lights or warning signals. I've only had this vehicle for 6 months and it has less that 30,000 miles on it. There are no open recalls on the vehicle, however I'll read about similar issue with the same make and model. I maintain my vehicle according to how Kia suggests. This is extremely dangerous as I am sometimes heading to work, going about 65 miles or more or the highway and the car just stops. It is now beginning to shut off immediately after cranking, and a noise is coming from under the hood, which sounds like metal in the engine. I have refrained from driving the vehicle completely, due to fear or loss of life. The sudden stopping of the vehicle has happened while I was driving on the city streets going about 30-40 mph, as well as on the highway going about 65 mph.
I have a 2015 Kia Optima with 24,300 miles I purchase my car brand new from southwest Kia. I took my car in for service because I had just recently had oil change at walmart 700 miles later my oil light started appearing. I took it to Kia because recently having oil change and car was no longer registering oil. Kia went on to tell very little oil was in my car I informed them that I had just had oil changed 700 miles ago. So from there dealership did oil change. I was back at the dealership week later with same issue. Service stated that he found sludge and I stated that I have held up my end of the deal with oil changes as well as I provided my receipt or oil changes. Dealership is not willing to hold up there 100,000 power train warranty stating that I was not getting oil changed in a timely manner which is bs. I have been researching and I found other 2015 Kia Optima owner were having the same issue as I am having with car excessive oil usage, oil sludge and engine problems as I am. I have been in contact with Kia consumer dept for help. I have also been in contact with channel 11 and channel 4 consumer justice dept. I have attached copies of other owners with the same issue. You we work hard to pay for and to have a reliable transportation for the dealership not to hold up there end of the deal. I believe that Kia is aware of these issues and neglecting to help the buyers who have purchase these cars. It's strange that I found ten other 2015 Kia Optima owners with exact same issue. 2014 models have already had a recall I think 2015 model should be included to the recall. I have attached other Kia owners complaints and issues with this model car.
Takata recall: The tire low light on he dash is always on no matter what I do. I have always had my tires changed from the dealer never from a third party. This is inconvenient for me because this is the identification for a low tire. So anytime I suspect a low tire I have to stop my vehicle where ever I may be get out and walk around the vehicle to manually test the pressure in my vehicles tires..
Recently my transmission case cracked as it passed over a manhole cover on a street being resurfaced. My dealers service department said this has happened a lot. I waited nine weeks for the part to come in. I lost $1,100on car rentals. Car's transmission case is too low to the ground.
When I am driving my 2010 Kia Optima and go to slow down at 20 mph (only at 20 mph and only when slowing down) my car does a jerk or lurching motion, with a hard down shift to 1st gear.this happens no matter where im driving. From what ive been told theres a transmission update software which when updated. After being updated the dealer has to rset/lear the relearn procedure. Both steps must be done to eliminate the lurching/jerking. I feel there should be a recall for this problem.
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while in park with the vehicle turned off, the vehicle rolled away into a lake. After retrieving the vehicle from the lake, the contact noticed that the gear shifter was no longer shifted completely into the park position. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,680.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hampton, VA, USA