2014 KIA OPTIMA Complaints

AS MANY OTHER DRIVERS HAVE STATED, 2014 KIA OPTIMA DRIFTS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. TAKES CONSTANT CORRECTION TO KEEP IN LANES > 55 MPH. HAS HAPPENED SINCE I OWNED CAR, BUT HAS WORSENED AS OF 2016. JUNE 08, 2016 - COMPLAINED TO DEALER THAT CAR DRIFTS AT HIGHWAY SPEED. REPLY WAS IT IS OK. APRIL 4, 2017 - DEALER TEST DROVE, SAID THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE. APRIL 19, 2017 - CONTACTED KIA USA AND OPENED COMPLAINT. # K3421611 NO HELP. KIA SAID AS LONG AS THE TECH FELT IT DID NOT DRIFT, THEN NOTHING THEY COULD DO. MAY 3, 2017 - PURCHASED 4 NEW CONTINENTAL TIRES TO SEE IF THAT WOULD CORRECT PROBLEM TO NO AVIAL. SO IT IS MY WORD AGAINST THE TECH AND I AND 35 OTHER CONSUMERS HAVE CARS THAT DRIFT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS.

DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WHEN MY 2014 KIA OPTIMA STARTED TO MAKE A KNOCKING SOUND WITH SMOKE COMING FROM ENGINE. PULLED OVER AND TURNED VEHICLE OFF AND NOT LONG AFTER ENGINE CAUGHT ON FIRE. MY CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. FOUND OUT AFTER THE FACT THAT CAR HAD RECALL ON IT. CONTACTED KIA CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND THEY DID NOTHING TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. * (RECALL RELATED INCIDENT) TS

ON SUNDAY 02/11/2018 MY CAR DIED GETTING OFF THE HIGHWAY DOING 70MPH. I WAS ABLE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE CAR IS A 2014 KIA AND HAS 46,763 MILES ON IT. HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. IT'S ALSO PART OF THE RECALL NOTICE I RECEIVED 10/04/2017, 17V224. CALL KIA 3 TIMES ON 02/19/2018 FIRST TIME I WAS SAYING THAT MY CAR STILL WASN'T FIXED FROM THE LONG BLOCK THAT WAS REPLACED ON THURSDAY THAT WAS STILL MAKING FUNNY NOISES AND THAT THERE WAS A SWEET BURNING SMELL. WAS TOLD BY THE 1ST PERSON I TALKED TO GIVE IT TIME AND IT WILL WORK ITSELF OUT. THAT SWEET SMELL WAS THE OIL BURNING OFF OF THE ENGINE THAT THEY JUST REPLACED AND THAT IT WAS NO BIG DEAL. I CALL BACK NOT EVEN AN HOUR LATER TO SAY MY HEAT STOPPED WORKING THEY TOLD ME THAT I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC RUN ON IT AND THEN IT WILL COST ME $99 AND IF THEY DETERMINE WASN'T PART OF THE ENGINE WORK THEY HAD JUST DONE. THAT PERSON MADE A 10 A.M. APPOINTMENT FOR 2/20/2018. SINCE MY HEAT WASN'T WORKING I HAD TO KEEP USING MY WIPERS AND FLUID, BECAUSE THE DEFROST WASN'T WORKING. WHEN HOME I WENT TO PUT MORE WINDSHIELD WIPER FLUID IN THE CAR I NOTICED THAT THEY DID NOT PUT COOLANT IN THE CAR WHICH IS NEEDED TO COOL THE ENGINE SO IT DOESN'T SEIZED UP STALL OR BLOWUP. SO WHEN THEY REPLACE THE ENGINE THEY DIDN'T PUT COOLANT IN THE CAR WHICH IS NEEDED. SO NOW I'M HAVING THE CAR TOWED BACK TO KIA SO THEY CAN MAKE SURE THAT THIS ENGINE ISNT SHOT NOW ALSO. THAT'S ALSO THE REASON THE HEAT STOPPED WORKING I'M SURE. I'VE BEEN DRIVING THIS CAR SINCE I GOT IT BACK ON 02/15/2018 WITH NO COOLING PROBABLY DRIVEN IT 20 HOURS SINCE I'M A LYFT DRIVER. SO AFTER THEY PUT IN A REPLACEMENT LONG BLOCK BECAUSE OF THE RECALL THIS THURSDAY 02/15/2018 THEY DIDN'T PUT COOLANT OR ANTIFREEZE IN THE CAR SO II BLEW THE NEW ENGINE AND ALSO MESSED UP MY STARTER. HAD IT TOWED BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP 02/19/2018

A REPUTABLE AUTO SHOP NOTICED. WHY MY STEERING WAS NOT CORRECT. BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS WITH INTEGRATED BALL JOINT IS CAUSING THE STEERING TO BE EXTREMELY LOOSE AND NOT EVEN AN ALIGNMENT CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM. BOTH CONTROL ARMS WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED.

ANTENNA COVER CAME OFF. RUSTED AND BROKEN SCREWS. APPEARS TO BE A DEFECT IN MANUFACTORING. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON COMPLAINT VIA THE WEB.

MY KIA ALERTED ME TO A HYBRID CHARGING ISSUE BEFORE STALLING AT AN INTERSECTION AND REFUSING TO START AGAIN. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST KIA DEALER WHO DID EXTENSIVE DIAGNOSTIC WORK. THEY DETERMINED THAT A 125 AMP FUSE HAD FAILED IN THE HYBRID SAFETY PLUG AND THE APPROPRIATE REPAIR RESPONSE WAS TO REPLACE THAT FUSE WITH A 150 AMP FUSE (PART # 375F2-4R150). I AUTHORIZED THE REPAIR AND MADE SEVERAL PHONE CALLS TO KIA CONSUMER AFFAIRS REQUESTING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AS IT SEEMED UNLIKELY THAT REPLACEMENT OF A FUSE WITH A LARGER FUSE WAS THE NEEDED REPAIR. I FINALLY REACHED SOMEONE AT CONSUMER AFFAIRS WHO HAD DEALT WITH A SIMILAR ISSUE WITH THE EXACT SAME FUSE. SHE INFORMED ME THAT THERE HAD BEEN A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED ABOUT THIS. SHE STATED THAT THE FUSE WAS DETERMINED TO BE TOO SMALL AND THAT KIA HAD DECIDED TO USE A LARGER FUSE TO PREVENT FUTURE PROBLEMS IN THE SYSTEM. I ASKED WHY I WAS REQUIRED TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR AND SHE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THUS MY CHARGE. IF THE WRONG FUSE WAS PLACED IN THE VEHICLE WHEN IT WAS MANUFACTURED, IT SHOULD BE REPLACED BY RECALL OR WARRANTY. SHE WOULD NOT GIVE ME THE TSB # BUT DID STATE THAT IT IS LOCATED IN TSB-PS-515 AND I WAS WELCOME TO HAVE A KIA DEALER PRINT IT FOR ME.

CAR WILL NOT START OCCASIONALLY- THERE ARE SEVERAL INTERNET COMMENTS ABOUT THIS HAPPENING TO MANY KIA OWNERS- SOME REMEDY IS TO START IT IN NEUTRAL- SHIFT GEAR FROM PARK TO DRIVE BACK TO PARK AND THEN TRY TO START IT- WIGGLE GIFT SHIFT ETC- DEALER CLAIMS THEY NEED TO REPRODUCE IN ORDER TO REPAIR BUT THEY ARE IGNORING THE FACT THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE IF SOMEONE GETS STRANDED - I HAVE EXTENDED WARRANTY YET THEY REFUSE TO TRY TO REPAIR

DRIVING HOME AND MY ENTIRE BACK WINDOW SHATTERS OUT OF NO WHERE. LOOKS LIKE IT CRACKED AROUND THE EDGE.

VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON A ROAD WITH POSTED SPEED OF 50 MPH. I HAD TO BRAKE SUDDENLY, AND THE CAR STALLED IN THE FAST LANE. I IMMEDIATELY PUT FLASHERS ON BECAUSE OF TRAFFIC COMING BEHIND ME. IT TOOK ABOUT TWO MINUTES TO RESTART THE CAR BECAUSE OF THE PUSH BUTTON START AND THE POWER SEATS HAVING TO POSITION THEMSELVES. VERY SCARY SITUATION AND VERY UNEXPECTED. I'VE ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WHEN SLOWING DOWN, AND THE CAR HESITATES IN THE TURN. I'VE ALMOST BEEN HIT TWICE BECAUSE OF THIS.

WE STARTED REPORTING ISSUES THIS PAST JULY TO OUR DEALERSHIP, KIA RIVERGATE IN MADISON, TN. THEY HAVE HAD OUR CAR IN THREE TIMES AND KEEP TELLING US THERES THINGS "WE" NEED TO FIX.MY CAR IS STILL ON WARRANTY AND IS UNDER A TOTAL ENGINE RECALL. THE CAR STARTED WITH A KNOCKING SOUND IN THE ENGINE AND HAD ISSUES WHEN WE WOULD ACCELERATE. THE CAR DID NOT WANT TO ACCELERATE AT ALL CAUSING US TO STALL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY SEVERAL TIMES. THEY TOLD US NOTHING WAS WRONG BUT THEY REPLACED A SENSOR. THE CAR CONTINUED TO KNOCK AND STALL. I ASKED THEM IF IT WAS MY TRANSMISSION AND THEY SAID NO, IT'S FINE. THEY SAID WE COULD TRY REPLACING THE BATTERY AND THEY CHANGED THE OIL (AT OUR EXPENSE). THE CAR HAS HAD BATTERY REPLACED THREE TIMES BECAUSE THEY TOLD US THAT WAS THE ISSUE THE FIRST TWO TIMES. THE CAR HAS GOTTEN MUCH WORSE IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS. THE LAST TIME WE TOOK IT IN TO THEM THEY ARE NOW SAYING THAT IT MIGHT BE THE FUEL INJECTOR. ONCE AGAIN THEY ARE STATING THAT WE MUST PAY FOR IT. I'VE CALLED THEM BECAUSE THE CAR HAD HUGE CLOUDS OF SMOKE COMING OUT THE BACK AND IS SHAKING EVEN WORSE. ONCE AGAIN THEY SAID THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I TOLD THEM WE ARE HAVING TO ADD OL 3 TIMES A WEEK WITH NO SIGNS OF A LEAK. MY CAR IS ONLY 3 YEARS OLD AND I REPEAT, MY CAR IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY AND IS ON A RECALL FOR SEVERAL ISSUES INCLUDING THE ENGINE. NOW MY CAR ISN'T DRIVABLE AT ALL. IT STARTED SHAKING TO THE POINT OF THROWING US FORWARD IN THE CAR AND SMOKES LIKE IT IS ON FIRE AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WILL NOT GO OFF AT ALL, SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S NOT AN ENGINE ISSUE? [XXX]. EVEN A FUEL INJECTOR WOULD BE CONSIDERED PART OF THE ENGINE BECAUSE IT HAS TO RUN THROUGH THE ENGINE TO MAKE THE CAR RUN. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHY KIA IS NOT HONORING THEIR WARRANTIES OR RECALLS. MY NEXT STEP IS TO CALL AN ATTORNEY AND SUE KIA. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).