2011 KIA OPTIMA Complaints

ENGINE DIED WHILE DRIVING ON PUBLIC STREET AND WOULD NOT RESTART AND WITHIN MINUTES FIRE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT. DESTROYED FRONT OF CAR AND DAMAGED INTERIOR

DRIVING ON INTERSTATE, OUT OF NOWHERE ENGINE LIGHT STARTED FLASHING AND ENGINE SEIZED, CAR LOST ALL MOMENTUM, HAD NO "GET UP AND GO" PUSHING ON THE GAS PEDAL DID NOTHING, GOING UP HILL WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. TOOK CAR TO LOCAL AUTO SHOP, THEY COULD HEAR SOME NOISE BUT WEREN'T SURE WHAT. PER INVOICE 7/26/19: CHECKED CODES: P0011 A CAMSHAFT POSITION TIMING OVER ADVANCED, P00114 B CAMSHAFT POSITION TIMING OVER ADVANCED; P1326 ENGINE DAMAGE ALERT FOR DRIVER. ENGINE WAS NOISEY AND RAN VERY ROUGH, OIL LEVEL WAS LOW AND BLACK (WE SAW NOWHERE THAT IT WAS LEAKING OIL, NO SPOTS ANYWHERE). CHANGED OIL AND ADD LUCAS ENGINE STABILIZER, ENGINE QUIETED AND RUNS MUCH SMOOTHER. CLEAR CODES, TEST DRIVE, WATCH SCAN DATA. NO CODES, POSSIBLE EARLY STAGES OF ENGINE DAMAGE IF CODES RETURN INSPECT TIMING CHAIN AND CONTROL DEVICES. TOOK CAR HOME OVER THE WEEKEND DROVE LESS THAN 50 MILES, SUNDAY 7/28/19 AGAIN, ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND CAR HAD NO "GET UP AND GO" AND A VERY LOUD CLANKING NOISE COULD BE HEARD. TOOK CAR TO SHOP ASAP. PER INVOICE 7/31/19: CHECK CEL LIGHT AND LOSS OF POWER, CHECK FLUIDS, ENGINE HAS INTERNAL NOISE/DAMAGE; COMPUTER DATASCAN, CHECK CODES, DIAG, P1326; ENGINE DAMAGE ALERT FOR DRIVER, RECOMMEND FURTHER DIAG EVAL, INSPECT LOWER END AND TIMING CHAIN. AUTO SHOP CONTACTED LOCAL KIA DEALERSHIP, WAS TOLD THEY WARRANT ENGINES WITH THESE CONDITIONS. THEY HAVE A NUMBER OF VEHICLES WAITING TO BE REPAIRED ALREADY, SUGGESTED CALLING A DEALER OUT OF TOWN FOR REPAIRS.

LOW BEAM LIGHTS ARE VERY DULL WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT (LENS COVERS ARE STILL CLEAR). KIA SENT AN EXTENDED WARRANTY ABOUT THE LIGHTS AND THE DEALER REPLACED A WIRING HARNESS FOR THE LIGHTS, THE LETTER ALSO STATED THEY WILL CHECK THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY AND REPLACE IF THIS IS THE PROBLEM. KIA WILL NOT DO THIS REPLACEMENT FOR THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. THE WIRING HARNESS FOR THE LIGHTS DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF VERY DULL LOW BEAM LIGHTS WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND KIA WILL NOT HONOR WHAT'S IN THEIR WARRANTY LETTER.

OIL IS DISAPPEARING NO LEAKS!! WHEN DRIVING THE CAR GETS A VIBRATION THEN YOU BETTER CHECK THE OIL . EVERYTIME AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK WE ARE ADDING AT LLEADT 3 OR 4 QUARTS OF OIL. SEEMS TO BE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ON HERE SAME PROBLEM WITH KIA. THIS CAR IS NO LONGER SAFE FOR US TO DRIVE HAVE AN APPT NEXT WEEK HOPE WE GET RESULTS

I WAS ENTERING A HIGHWAY, ACCELERATING TO GET UP TO THE SPEED OF THE TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY. I NOTICED THE CAR WASN'T ACCELERATING LIKE NORMAL AND A SHORT DISTANCE AFTER ENTERING THE HIGHWAY, MY ENGINE FAILED. THE BATTERY AND OIL PRESSURE LIGHTS CAME ON AND THEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER AND TRIED STARTING MY CAR. IT WOULD START, BUT WOULD DIE AGAIN EVERY TIME I GOT TO ABOUT 20 MPH. I GOT IT INTO A GARAGE, WHERE THEY LOOKED AT IT THE NEXT DAY AND COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT. I CONTINUED TO DRIVE IT BUT THE NEXT DAY, THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT FLICKERED A COUPLE OF TIMES AS I WAS DRIVING. I CHECKED THE OIL LEVEL AND IT WAS NEARLY EMPTY. I LOOKED TO SEE HOW MANY MILES IT HAD BEEN SINCE MY LAST OIL CHANGE AND IT WAS ABOUT 1,500 MILES. IN ALL THE TIMES I'VE HAD MY OIL CHANGED, NO ONE HAS EVER TOLD ME THE OIL WAS LOW. THERE WERE NO OIL DRIPS ON MY GARAGE FLOOR. IT SEEMS TO BE BURNING THE OIL IN THE ENGINE. WHEN I ADDED 3 QUARTS OF OIL, STEAM WAS COMING OUT OF THE OPENING EVEN THOUGH I ONLY DROVE APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE.

WHILE DRIVING (IN FORWARD MOTION), WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE BEING APPLIED TO EITHER THE BRAKE OR PARKING BRAKE, THE VEHICLE BEGINS TO SLOW ITSELF RAPIDLY LOSING ACCELERATION.; A RUMBLE CAN BE HEARD THERE IS CONSISTENT BEEPING NOISE AND THE VEHICLE BEGINS TO VIBRATE SLIGHTLY. A YELLOW TRIANGLE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT AND THE WORDS CHECK BRAKE APPEARS IN THE DRIVERS DISPLAY; ATTEMPTS TO ACCELERATE INCREASES THE RPMS BUT THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO SLOW RAPIDLY. NOT IDLE AS IF IT WERE NOT IN GEAR, BUT JUST AS IF THE DRIVER WAS BREAKING SUDDENLY. THE ONLY KNOWN METHOD OF CORRECTING THIS IS TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND RESTART IT. HOWEVER, THIS STOPS WORKING AS A SOLUTION AFTER A FEW DAYS AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. WHEN THE VEHICLE RESTARTS YOU CAN FEEL THE BRAKE PEDAL RELEASE. THIS HAS OCCURRED RANDOMLY AT LEAST 20 TIMES IN THE PAST BEFORE UNTIL EVENTUALLY IT COULD NOT BE DRIVEN AT ALL. AT SPEEDS RANGING FROM 25 MPH ON NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS TO 70 MPH ON BUSY FREEWAYS. I SINCERELY FEAR THAT IF NOT CORRECTED IT WILL LEAD TO A (POTENTIALLY FATAL) VEHICLE COLLISION. I ALSO TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A NEAR-BY KIA DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT IN CA. AFTER MONTHS THE CAR WAS RETURNED AND IT CONTINUED TO HAVE THE SAME ISSUE WITHIN A DAYS. THEY WERE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR DUPLICATE THE MALFUNCTION AS ALSO. I HAVE VIDEO OF THIS AS WELL. THIS NEEDS TO IMMEDIATELY BE CORRECTED AND THE TECHNICIANS NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND HOW TO FIX IT RATHER THAN EXPERIMENTING ON OWNERS VEHICLES FOR MONTHS OR WEEKS TO THEN RETURN IT WITHOUT RESOLUTION. WHY SHOULD I OR ANY OTHER KIA OWNER BEAR THE BURDEN OF THESE UNNECESSARY COSTS, INCONVENIENCE, AND EXTREMELY UNSAFE CONDITIONS. KIA NEEDS TO RESPOND I AM SURE OTHERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME ISSUE AND SHOULD COME FORWARD IMMEDIATELY FOR THE SAFETY AND WELL BEING OF ALL. *TR

THE WIRING IN THE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY IS FAULTY.THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE ACROSS DEALERS AND AFTERMARKET SHOPS. HEADLIGHTS APPEAR VERY DIM AND GIVE OUT LOW OR NO LIGHT. IT'S NOT THE BULBS. THE WHOLE HEADLAMP NEEDS TO BE RECALLED FOR WIRING ISSUES.

SOMETIME TOWARD THE END OF 2017, I NOTICED THAT MY DOME LIGHT NO LONGER ILLUMINATED WHEN THE DOORS WERE OPENED. I CAN STILL USE THE INTERIOR LIGHTS MANUALLY, THOUGH THIS USUALLY LEADS TO FORGETTING AND LEAVING THEM ON. I LIVE IN WA, IT IS OFTEN DARK AROUND 4 PM AND GREY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. I FEEL THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE, AS I CANNOT SEE WHO IS IN MY CAR BEFORE ENTERING WHEN IN A PARKING LOT. ALSO, MY 5-YEAR-OLD HAS A HARD TIME BUCKLING HER OWN CAR SEAT BELT SINCE SHE CANNOT SEE THE BUCKLE. THIS IS AN INCONVENIENCE AND WITH CRIME RATES RISING, IT MAKES ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE GOING OUT ALONE, KNOWING THAT NOBODY CAN SEE WHAT IS GOING ON WHILE I AM BUCKLING HER IN. THE CHANCES OF BEING MUGGED OR WORSE GO UP, MY SAFETY IS WORTH THE $400, HOWEVER, I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY TO HAVE A MALFUNCTION IN THE VEHICLE FIXED. THE REASON I FEEL THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL IS BECAUSE OF THE 3 KIA'S WE OWN, 2 OF THEM HAVE THIS SAME ISSUE OF THE INTERIOR LIGHTS ONLY WORKING MANUALLY AND NOT ACTIVATED WITH OPENING THE DOOR. MY WIFE'S 2014 KIA SORENTO DOME LIGHT STOPPED WORKING WHEN THE DOORS WERE OPENED AROUND DECEMBER OF 2018. BOTH OF US HAVE OVER 60,000 MILES ON OUR VEHICLE AT THE TIME OF THE MALFUNCTION. I WAS QUOTED OVER $400 TO HAVE THIS REPAIRED. WHEN LOOKING AT FORUMS, IT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT IS A CONNECTION THAT WIGGLES LOOSE. I AM SURE THAT IF 2 OF OUR KIA'S HAVE THIS ISSUE, IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY MANY MORE KIA OWNERS HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. KIA SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE TO FIX THIS SAFETY ISSUE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 KIA OPTIMA. THE CONTACT RECEIVED AN UNKNOWN RECALL LETTER FROM THE MANUFACTURER REGARDING THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO KIA OF NEW BERN (1715A US-70, NEW BERN, NC 28560, (252) 638-6161) AND THEY STATED THAT THE RECALL WOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THEY WERE NOT TRAINED ON THIS ISSUE AND THE RECALL WOULD NOT BE VALID. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE.

THE VEHICLE WAS MOVING AND STARTED TO SHAKE AND CHECK ENGINE STARTED FLICKER AND HEARD RATTLING. THE CAR THEN STARTED TO SLOW DOWN AND JERKING. I'VE READ ABOUT SEVERAL RECALLS INVOVLING 2011-2015 KIA'S HAVING ENGINE RECALLS BUT MY VIN HAS NOT HAD A RECALL FOR MY CAR, WHICH I AM VERY UPSET BECAUSE MY IMPRESSION OF KIA IS RELIABLE UP TO THIS POINT. I HAVE KEPT UP WITH ALL MY MAINTENANCE SUCH AS REGULAR OIL CHANGES AND PERFORMING DIAGNOSTIC TEST TO ENSURE MY VEHICLE IS RUNNING SMOOTHLY AND SAFELY. I HOPE YOU GUYS CAN RESOLVE THIS ISSUE AND MAKE A RECALL FOR MY ENGINE FAULTY, WHICH IS ESTIMATED AT 6K TO FIX.