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.
When turning left or right, the steering wheel makes a noise, seems to get stuck. " when stationary or in motion the horn does not work. When in motion the cruise control does not work. When stationary or in motion, the steering wheel heater does not work and the radio volume control does not work. Airbag light is on.
Car has not wanted to start 5 times. First started in November 2018. While driving on the highway, is has completely shut down twice in the middle of traffic and would not start. Once mid December & early January. Battery discharge warning came on so I got a new battery but still continued to have the same problem. At random times it acts as if it does not want to accelerate and stalls
I thought my key fob stopped working I took it to the dealership had it tested and they said it was fine. They said it had to be the wiring in my car for my alarm system. About 4 months ago I was going to get into my car. I put my key in the dot unlocked it pulled my door open and my car alarm started going off. I tried everything possible to get it to turn off. Finally after about 3 minutes it just stopped. Never happen again until a week ago. Same scenario. Then 2 days ago same scenario. I'm read online it's a common issue people have and I'm wondering if it's related to the car fire thing and wires shorting out.
While on the freeway at approximately 75 miles per hour my vehicle started smoking out the rear end and lost all power. When I pulled onto the shoulder and stopped, flames came from under the hood towards the windshield. My vehicle continued to burn until the fire department arrived and extinguished the flames. Once extinguished the fire captain said in his experience this appeared to have been an electrical issue. Kia also has claims about spontaneous fires in several models including mine due to metal shavings from the factory in the oil causing a fire.
This vehicle has an electrical burning odor quite often, after having driven short or long distances. Please require Kia to source the issue and repair, at their cost, the issue before this vehicle starts a fire!!!
- Orem, UT, USA
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My 2013 Kia Optima displayed several electrical issues with radio panel, warning lights on dash, seat belt warning on while buckled and driving, and doors would lock on their own weeks prior to the car giving out on me after a quarter of a mile drive. It would not start at all. Mechanic thought it was a starter issue but turned out that the engine locked. I purchased the car in 2015 and had some fuel system issue a year after purchase, costing over $900 to repair. Now this...there was no smoke or other warnings right before it stopped. I had noticed the smell of wires or some type of electrical components burning after driving the car a few times over the last few years but wasn't sure of where it may have been coming from. Would be great if I didn't have to spend a lump sum to repair motor while still paying off the car!
My 2013 Kia Optima caught on fire just short of driving it for about 15-20 min on 9/23/18. We got no warning on the dashboard we heard a light pop noise, the vehicle turned off when we got off there was fire coming out from the hood that fastly spread throught out up to the whole front of the car destroying the whole engine. The car never had any mechanical issues. We had just driven from AZ to ca the night before with no problems. I still have no explanation why my 5 year old car with just a little over 86K miles caught on fire.
My car is parked in the driveway at my job. It had been parked there since 2:50 pm. At 11 pm I went outside after clocking out and it would not crank. However, all my lights in the inside and on my dashboard remained working. Upon trying to turn over my key, my car would make a clicking sound. After ab 10 minutes other things began to fade out such as my lights. I also could not use my remote key anymore to lock or unlock my doors. I only had this car a month, and it is still in the condition it was bought in. I'm not sure what the problem is or what could have caused this problem.
2013 Kia Optima sx. Car loses power while on the road, engine warning light comes on. Car can't be driven past 20 mph or so no matter accelerator position. Car has been taken to dealer sevral times and a cause still unknown. Dealership changed engine cable harness and reset comuter (apparently settings were scrambled) and car then is functional. Last time, car lost power in highway and almost got rear-ended. Dangerous.
Push the start button and car did not start tried the 30 second rule car just sizzled after about 10 tries car start but cut it off does same thing my car was parked in driveway or at work and it cuts off in traffic engine was replaced last year due to recall battery has been replaced parking light on one side is out when replacing it car also would not start
My problem has occurred 5 separate times. My car won't crank after sitting anywhere from 2 minutes to all night. I stop and park my car, put gear in park and press the button to stop the engine. When I try to get back in if my door is locked, sometimes I can't get in with my key fob. I have to open the hood, charge the battery and then the key fob works. If my car is not locked, I get in and no lights come on, pressing the start engine button does absolutely nothing. I cannot operate any part of the car, trunk, lights, seats, windows, it is all dead. There is nothing wrong with my battery. Why is this now happening" I have around 42,000 miles and I have a Kia Optima 2013 with all bells and whistles. I love my car but as a widow, I don't want to get stranded somewhere with a dead battery / engine. What could possibly be the problem. I have been reading that a lot of other owners are having the same problems. What do we need to do? the dealerships just charge exorbitant amounts of money and the problems still are fixed. Should there not be a recall on problem, especially since it is an electrical issue"
Car losses power suddenly and lurches. This has happend when car is cruising at highway speeds or when started, stationary. Once that happens car may have to be restarted to work again. Sometimes that works, sometimes it does not. When it persists for a while, maximum speed is about 5 mph if started from a stop. Engine warning light comes on and the code P2118 (throttle actuator motor current range) is shown by an obd. The problem has ocurred before. Dealer initially changed throttle but problem recurred. The issue was eventually tracked to a faulty engine cable harness. The whole engine harness had to be replaced. However, problem is ocurring again a year later.
While I was driving the car, I stopped at a stop light, and realized that my car was on fire from the engine area. The electrical shorted out and I was locked in the car, I had to manually hold the electric lock to be able to escape from the car. It was engulfed in flames.
I have had two head on collisions with my 2013 Kia Optima, neither were major but impact was above 30mph in both cases. During both incidents neither time did airbags ever deploy. One would think airbags would have deployed in those situations, but they did not. Additionally since I purchased the car I have had electrical problems that the manufacturer could not fix. After hearing about airbags and electrical issues relating to the Kia forte and Hyundai sonatas I believe this airbag issue could be effecting a wider range of vehicles possibly including 2011 Kia sorrentos as well.
Intermitenly.car won't start all electronic signals off, nothing dead. Engine ticking after I stop & park it. I hear a loud ticking. Burning oil. At least 5 times, while excelerating car takes off real fast. Hard to control, keep it on the road. Pulls to the right. Had to replace tires only have 41K miles. Paint chips.fobs do not work. I have complained to dealers at least 6-7 times. Please note* I purchased vip premier ultimate protection plus & glass coat & teflon interior protection.$ $1850 estimate. Extra. Covers everything I reported.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was involved in a front end collision after losing functionality of various electrical systems. The failure occurred without warning. The air bags did not deploy. Prior to the crash, the vehicle was taken to valley hi Kia (14673 civic dr, victorville, ca), but the failure was not diagnosed until the second time it was brought in for driving abnormally. The dealer diagnosed that the electronic system, motor mount, and transmission were defective and needed to be replaced. The dealer banned the contact from returning. The contact took the vehicle to Kia of orange (210 w katella ave, orange, ca) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the contact did not receive a recall notice. The recall was remedied, but no other repairs were performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed. There was one injury that required medical attention. The contact suffered lower back, hip, and head injuries. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.
The issue began approximately mid-may '17 while my car was in motion on the highway (55mph speed limit, same speed limit for each time I experienced the issues in this summary). I honked my horn and pressed on my brakes (due to another car making an unsafe lane change into my lane). Simultaneously, as I honked the horn the engine light displayed on then went off immediately after I lifted off of the horn. Additionally, the RPM gauge immediately dropped down to zero, the car drastically slowed down, my A/C stopped working as well as the cooling system for my seats. My car had the ability to still accelerate but, it was extremely slow to pick up speed. Furthermore, every time I had to slow down or come to a complete stop my car was extremely slow to pick up speed. Every symptom lasted until I parked my car that day. I returned to my car hours later and turned it on and it was like the car reset itself. The RPM gauge, acceleration and A/C was back to normal. This issue has occurred multiple times and most recently on 9/28/17. This is a link to a video I found that shows similar issues I have been experiencing (https://youtu.be/qulsdy-umdk).
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 60 mph, the vehicle experienced a loss of engine power. The contact also noticed black smoke and various electrical functions operated independently. Also, the check engine and oil warning indicators illuminated. There was no fire. The vehicle was towed to carmax and then towed to Kia southside (9401 atlantic blvd, jacksonville, fl) where it was confirmed that the vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine and engine cooling). The contact was never notified of the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and asked why a notification was not received. The manufacturer provided case number: 12476138 and informed the contact that NHTSA was supposed to notify the contact of the defects on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 70 mph, the steering wheel went from loose to tight and the traction control, auto hold, eps, check engine, tire pressure, and ABS warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to southwest Kia (located at 39650 lyndon B johnson fwy dallas, tx 75237, 877-363-9542) where the vehicle was unable to be diagnosed due to no failure codes. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer opened case number: 12456964 and advised the contact to pull over and have the vehicle towed to a dealer if the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 85,873.
The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle stalled and all the lights in the instrument cluster illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The contact called fuller Kia (540 auto park dr, chula vista, ca 91911) and was informed to bring the vehicle in the next week. However, the failure recurred. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and saw smoke coming from the engine compartment. There was no visible fire. The fire department was not contacted and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the contact's house and then to fuller Kia where it was diagnosed that the starter failed and the engine seized. Both components needed to be replaced. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17V224000 (engine); therefore, the dealer agreed to replace the engine free of charge. The dealer stated that the starter failure was a result of the contact attempting to restart the vehicle. The starter failure was not covered under the recall, so the contact would be required to pay for the starter replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and agreed with the dealer. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Smithfield, NC, USA