2017 KIA OPTIMA Complaints

The contact owns a 2017 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the oil warning light was frequently illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that oil had leaked into an engine cylinder. The mechanic informed the contact that a Technical Service Bulletin had been placed on her vehicle in relation to the failure and referred the contact to a dealer for assistance. The contact called Pride Kia of Lynn and Herb Chambers Kia of Burlington and was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 122,000.

Kia fuel rail spurting gas out. Kia dealer said it’s not under warranty and no recalls. Gas leak is so bad car can’t be driven.

Complete engine failure while driving 70mph down the freeway. No lights came on before engine started shaking, knocking, and failed. We were stranded at a gas station. We checked oil and there was none. (This was shocking because we changed oil regularly and car had just received complete oil change several weeks prior) We bought enough oil to drive it to nearest auto mechanic shop. He inspected the car and said complete engine failure and that we needed to contact KIA immediately. Spark plugs were burnt and melted more than he had ever seen. He said this is a recurring problem with their engines. (A few months prior to this incident, check engine light came on and car had a slight sputter during acceleration. We took the car to local repair shop. Car received complete tune up weeks prior to incident and check engine light was resolved.) Car was taken to Kia dealership in Little Rock, AR. Diagnosis: Major oil consumption caused engine to overheat and lose pressure/fail. Engine is non-repairable. New engine will cost $10,000. Kia will not back their product. After investigating further, I have found a Facebook group with tens of thousands of people with similar incidents in their Hyundai/Kia cars. This is a dangerous problem and KIA needs to be held accountable. The most recent class action settlement DOES NOT cover engine failure due to major oil consumption, only rod bearing failure. Where is the oil going? There were no leaks detected, no oil light to warn me. Where does the oil go? Burning up through exhaust? Surely that violates some sort of environmental standard that car manufactures should be abiding by. These cars are dangerous to consumers, and bad for the environment. I’m stuck with a car that I still owe money on that is worthless. If I spend $10,000 to repair, they will put the same engine back in the car and I will repeat the cycle of engine failure and loss.

Headlights will randomly turn on and off throughout while driving. Radio has the same issue

My car does not accelerate easily and struggles with basic speed. I took it to a mechanic and am being told that my turbocharger has failed and must be replaced because there is fuel in my oil and there may be damage to my engine as a result that would require me to replace the engine. This is the second time in less than 2 years that this has happened since I have owned this vehicle. The mechanic says the engine could seize up or catch fire at any point and that I will have to have the oil drained, flushed, and replaced, hopefully have the fuel leak found and repaired, then the turbo replaced. Only once all of that has been done will I know if the engine will still be operable. The first time this happened it was repaired at a Kia dealership in Denton TX under warranty. The vehicle is no longer under warranty and should not have this problem every year.

Twice while driving in rain my front end collision warning has taken control from me and slammed on the brakes bringing my car to a full stop. There was no vehicle or object in front of me either time. The second time I narrowly missed being rear ended.

Oil burning faster. After an oil change I go about a month before I have to add more oil again. There is no leak as every time I get an oil change I make sure they check. But around the month period I have to check to see if I am low on oil again. Very frustrating and starting to become costly

Engine needed to be replaced as part of the recall for knock, however they said because the repair was done on a subsequent work order and the first one was for a failed AEB module that none of the repairs are covered. I'm out over $13,000 for what should have been warrantied

I was driving at night and the headlights suddenly turned off for about 5 seconds and then it will come back on. Don't know whats going on with its headlight.

My vehicle came up with a check engine light blinking. I took it to a Kia dealership where they put the ksds update in. A week after driving it, I started experiencing loss of power and the check engine light came back on. But this time not blinking. My car accelerates slowly, it is a struggle to get to 30 mph. My engine is making loud noises as if I am flooring the gas pedal when going 10 mph. Hills are impossible and dangerous to drive up. I took it in where the man told me my oil was empty, when just the day before it was full. I ran the code reader which came up p0010 for a camshaft. Now I’m being told it’s the entire top motor needing replacement due to “no oil”. I saw online recalls for this exact issue on the engine. It states of a lifetime engine warranty for this qualifying engine problem. I called the dealership where the lady informed me that there is a third party company that makes warranty coverage decisions, and that they make the decision on if it’s covered based on how much they will have to pay. If it’s a lot, it’s on me. Basically my engine failure qualifies but they don’t want to pay the amount of repairs. So I’m stuck with paying thousands for a hazardous car that I’ve only had for 8 months.