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.
Whenever traveling over speeds of 45 miles per hour the steering system starts sticking at the 12 O'clock position, and causes you to make over adjustments which makes you weave across the road.
While driving at any speed but most dangerous when at freeway speeds the steering becomes jerky and not responsive and forces you to turn the steering wheel aggressively then it will start to work again causing the vehicle to swerve. At slower speeds this is not nearly as dangerous and the swerving is minimal but still present. When it happens at freeway speeds, the swerving is very significant and very dangerous. This has caused several near misses of potentially very dangerous accidents and will eventually cause a serious accident.
Cannot control steering. Seems to want to hold in the 'center' position. When trying to correct the steering, left or right, I get a 'sticky' or 'dead spot' in the steering wheel. A few months after I bought this car, the dealer replaced thew steering column because it was 'undriveable', now a few years later, the problem is recurring. Many complaints about 'sticky' steering for Kia Optimas.
If I push the proximity ignition button accidentlally the car will shut down, no brakes, not power steering. I am wondering if this should happen when I am travelling 70 mph on the interstate. The dealer did not give me any satisfactioon..."told me not to push the button" and "trade it in on a 2019." Some makes will not shut down if going over 5 pmh unless the button is pushed twice. Others, you must hold the button. I could not find anything in the manual and their customer service was no help. There have been deaths related to this problem according to some websites. I can't test the car myself. Was hoping the dealer would or tell me the situation with the button and speed. Can you help me?>.
Steering wheel sticks at the 12 O'clock position. It takes some additional force to get over the 12 O'clock hump clockwise and counterclockwise. This occurs during all driving conditions
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. While driving at any speed and attempting to make a turn, the steering wobbled and lost power without warning. The vehicle was taken to redding Kia (888-778-5635, located at 418 E cypress ave, redding, ca 96002) and kept for diagnostic testing while the contact was provided a loaner vehicle. The technician diagnosed that the yoke in the steering box was fractured and needed to be replaced. The part was back ordered. The contact was later informed to return the loaner vehicle because her vehicle was safe to drive while waiting for the part. The failure recurred. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not safe to drive and promised to follow-up with the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
The steering has become difficult, jerky, sticks and requires much effort to control. This occurs at all speeds but of course is more prevalent at highway speeds. Kia indicated that the motor driven power steering is defective and the entire steering column has to be replaced. The car has been in for similar issues multiple times. As the car is out of warranty Kia is refusing to repair this at their expense. I consider this to be a major safety issue that has the potential for injury or death to me and my family. I would like Kia to resolve this issue in good faith to us as a loyal customer. Kia claim # is 12961775. The car is currently at jim butler Kia in chesterfield mo awaiting an escalation to Kia Consumer Affairs. This issue has been going on for some time, most likely since the car was new, but has recently become more noticeable and more dangerous to drive.
Bought a brand-new 2015 Kia Optima in February 2016 - 2.5 years and 34,000 miles in, it died on me while going 70mph on I85N in atlanta in morning rush hour. No prior problems with the car and no warning signs whatsoever - I went to change lanes and accelerate around a slow-moving vehicle and all of a sudden my gas pedal no longer worked and all of the lights on my dash lit up - the engine was dead and I was coasting. Could not get off to the right side of the road due to traffic, so had to put it as far to the left as I could, which ended up halfway in the hov lane - extremely dangerous. Would not restart, had to get it towed to the dealership. Luckily all of my services and oil changes had been done at the dealership I had bought the car from (rick case Kia in gwinnett, ga). So they had no way to try to wiggle around the warranty. I am seeing this exact issue being described at the exact mileage range for dozens and dozens of 2015 Kia Optimas on carcomplaints.com. It appears that Kia and the dealerships are getting around paying for what obviously is an engine defect by asking that the drivers prove they had the oil changed by producing receipts for every service. When/if they can't, Kia is negating the warranty and asking the driver's to pay $7K-8K for a new engine. It's despicable. My dealership couldn't get around the warranty since I had done every recommended service and oil change at the dealership where I bought the car. This am they informed me that the engine has been approved and will be replaced (not before trying to milk money out of me by trying to blame the issue on a faulty battery first, which wasn't covered by the warranty). Kia issued a recall for this same issue on their 2011-2014 and 2016 Optimas, and excluded the 2015 models. It's painfully obvious that the 2015 Optimas are also defective, and a recall should be issued.
At highway speed the car seems to wander both left and right and when attempting to correct the steering wheel will "stick" and requires abnormal amount of effort to get it to respond to driver input. Once it responds it over corrects slightly which causes to car to weave (within it's lane). The car now requires constant driver input to keep the car within it's lane. We bought the car new in late 2016 and don't drive it a lot as it now has only 11,000 miles and this problem has gotten progressively worse since about 5,000 miles.
The vehicle was purchased new in 2015, the steering box on this vehicle was replaced in November 2016 under warranty as the steering wheel would have a hesitation (felt like a brief sticking) regardless of driving conditions but more dangerous at highway speeds. Now May 2018 I am having to have it replaced again as the steering is very loose and wanders for no reason, again, regardless of driving conditions but more unpredictable at highway speeds and requires a great deal of concentration to keep the vehicle in the lane. The vehicle is 36 months old with 78000 miles and is having the 3rd steering box installed. The technician has deemed my vehicle unsafe to drive and stated that the tech support from Kia acted as though they weren't surprised. I do not feel comfortable driving this car knowing that this mechanism is failing at an unsafe rate. Kia knows of this problem and apparently feels fine with it though they deem the car unsafe to drive due to a part that they knowingly are installing in these vehicles. A brief search on the internet (god love the internet) will reveal that this is a problem that many people are having. Please look into this, these vehicles are unpredictable on the road and by their own admission unsafe. My case number with Kia for this problem is 12711641
When driving on freeway "65 mph and above" the steering wheel sticks in the 12:00 position causing the car to swerve from the pressure applied to correct drift. It steers fine if you constantly move the steering wheel back and forth. It happens when your driving straight and making minor steering wheel adjustments. When it breaks loose it causes you to swerve which could end up causing a crash.
I have noticed that as I am driving on the the interstate that my steering is sticking, this too me is very uncomfortable and this should be noted as a safety concern, this problem should be looked into before T turns deadly.
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. While driving 65 mph, the steering wheel locked up and the vehicle could not be steered. The dealer (beck & masten Kia, 25503 tomball pkwy, tomball, tx 77377) was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 57,000.
Steering seems to get tight as if the power is going out. Steering wheel will shift from left to right and it makes for an exhausting drive. I drive 160 miles to and from work daily and this has become a very dangerous and scary drive for me. I have read numerous complaints from other consumers with the same issue. It is disheartening that nothing is being done about this as of yet. I feel as if someone will have to lose their life before the manufacturer will take this seriously. Something is definitely wrong here, when you spend so much money on a vehicle and are unable to use it because of a manufacturer flaw. Please, someone hear what we are saying before something tragic happens.
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..
Takata recall. As I was driving on the highway, my car stopped on me during traffic flow. This has happened more than five times and I was almost killed with my small children in the vehicle. We have been suffering with this issue for over a whole year. On July 3,2017 my mother and I was coming home on the fwy and once again, during traffic flow, my car shut off while driving on the road. Luckily, I was able to pull over to get a safe spot before I crashed because there were so many cars coming behind me so fast and the side ramps we're very narrow. I have taken it in for servicing but for some reason, they are not able to find out what the problem is. I have taking it in and even left with them for almost a whole month at one time and still no diagnosis. Rental car after rental car. They installed a data recorder in my car and the first time they found no data, then they installed it again for another week and they claim that it was the fuel pump relay. So they installed a new fuel pump relay in my car. A few weeks later my car shut down again on the way coming home and in the freeway with my mother and 2 year neice. We we're almost killed. The car just shuts off while driving and says "goodbye" with no warning while driving this is how I know that this has something to do with the engine. Please help if you can. I do not feel safe in this car and we are in danger. Sometimes the lights in the car cut on and off too.
Vehicle tends to steer itself and can at time of freeway speeds be hard to keep vehicle in a staring line. Vehicle steering wheel can get stiff and with and movements the vehicle tends to over correct itself. While going down a freeway or long straight away the vehicle tends to swerve back and forth when steering wheel is being held tight on one place.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Montevallo, AL, USA