2013 KIA OPTIMA Complaints

View complaints related to 2013 KIA OPTIMA. The complaints found here are submitted by actual consumers with first hand experience. There are more than 1,340 complaints submitted for the 2013 KIA OPTIMA. You can submit your own complaint to the NHTSA or call the Hotline, Monday-Friday 8am to 8pm at (888) 327-4236, TTY: (800) 424-9153.

  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Tujunga, CA

    The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was stalling despite depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that there was a fuel smell and that she repeatedly needed to refill the engine oil. Additionally, the contact stated that on three different occasions while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to restart, and had to be towed to her residence. The check engine and the engine oil warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was then towed to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle failed to restart and the contact stated that there was smoke coming from under the hood. The vehicle was towed back to the local dealer where it remained awaiting diagnosis and repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 94,000.

    Source: HOTLINE VEHICLE OWNERS QUESTIONNAIRE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID
    - Cleveland Heights, OH

    The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima Hybrid. The contact stated that while her daughter was reversing the vehicle, the Hybrid Propulsion System message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 159,636.

    Source: HOTLINE VEHICLE OWNERS QUESTIONNAIRE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Houston, TX

    The engine was just about to explode when me and family riding the car Kia Dealer does not want to fix the car despite that it has an engine recall The car was not inspected yet, but I am ready to get it inspected there were not any sign warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Omaha, NE

    I was driving on the interstate in rush hour traffic to pick up my kids from school. The engine light came on, and immediately after that, the gas pedal would no longer accelerate the speed of the car. I pulled over on the side of the interstate to call my fiancé, and within minutes the front end started smoking. I grabbed my work belongings and stepped out of the car and the entire car went up in flames on the interstate. The car has been deemed a total loss with Insurance. We filed a claim with Kia and waiting for someone to inspect the vehicle. This car had engine failure back in 2017, and had an entire engine rebuilt inside of it. Part of the Theta ll engine recall. Police would not create report due to not injuring anyone or any other vehicles.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Clinton, NY

    The pearl white paint pealing in 4 different areas in the body of the car to include the front and top of the car above the windshield; both sides of the outer body framing of the windshield and now the hood of the car.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - chicago , IL

    The system that failed was my engine. I sent my car to One Stop Collision Auto Repair in Chicago Ridge Illinois. Once the mechanic did his diagnostic, I was told i had “no oil” in my car which caused my engine to fail. However I had gotten an oil change July 12th , 2022. There is a sticker on my windshield in the top left corner by the drivers side stating when my oil was changed. My oil notification became to come on July 9th which let me know i needed an oil change.For this specific problem with my vehicle, the mechanic told me “you won’t get an oil notification because it has nothing to do with your oil. It is a known problem with these types of cars.” I then began to question if there was a recall. I then look onto the My Car max app which lets me know if there was any recalls. There were 2 recalls with MY SAME VIN NUMBER. I don’t know if it is available for inspection.My safety was at risk because I was not aware of any issues on my dashboard or any recalls as i was buying the car. My car began jerking with my inside of it driving which almost caused an accident. My car was sent to a auto repair shop to find out the problem. Once he let me know what the problem was, My car was then sent to International Kia for their own diagnostic and a repair when they find out the problem. The car should be going under inspection now that it is at the manufacture (International Kia). There were NO warning lamps,messages,or any symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. I’ve had this car only since March 17, 2022 (6 months).

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Ramseur, NC

    Started with oil light flashing, then the other lights came on. Started losing speed, then lost all power to the engine, will not start back up with the engine, when trying to start it, the engine started smoking.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Chula Vista, CA

    The chrome finish on the inside of the low beam headlight reflectors has disintegrated resulting in very dim, almost unusable headlight light output. The dealer states while the manufacturer has a tsp and warranty extension (WTY014) on Korean-built Optimas for this MY it does not apply to American-built Optimas - despite the headlight being manufactured in Korea on the US models and it having the exact same issue. This extension should apply to all Optimas during the covered MY that have this issue.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Winder, GA

    The vehicle’s headlights have been extremely dimmed for years and my wife has just “dealt with it”. We’ve had all the bulbs replaced and the issue persisted. Given recent medical conditions paired with this technical oversight, this could lead to severe injury or death if not resolved. Let me also add that the headlights no longer turn on as of this morning and Kia refuses to acknowledge or claim responsibility for this because “the issue stems from identical vehicles manufactured in South Korea and not Georgia” … even though the symptoms very identically line up to TSB Number: WTY014.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE
  • 2013 KIA OPTIMA
    - Spring, TX

    While driving the vehicle on a two lane highway passing an eighteen wheeler the car engine suddenly died prior to overtaking the truck. Very difficult and dangerous especially since the vehicle behind me followed to overtake the truck at the same time. This was a very uncomfortable situation especially since in the meantime there was oncoming traffic heading in the opposite direction that had to drive on the grass shoulder to avoid a head on collision since I had difficulty merging into now much faster moving traffic that was stacked up behind the eighteen wheeler. The reason the engine died was because it locked up due to oil starvation due to a known manufacturing defect that should have been covered by the extended warranty that was put into place from to a lawsuit from NHTSA. The vehicle is a 2013 Kia Optima with 60k miles. According to Kia customer care the extended warranty wont be honored because the car was previously involved in a collision to the right rear corner of the vehicle that took place years ago and thousands of miles ago. The service advisor advised against purchasing a used engine because they are all bad and they will all fail sooner or later and wants almost $6000 to replace the engine.

    Source: NHTSA WEB SITE