2013 KIA OPTIMA Complaints

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, she heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. The oil warning light illuminated. The contact stated that she depressed the accelerator pedal however, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The contact stated that she was able to drive the vehicle however, the vehicle was shuddering while driving and stalled several times. The contact stated she was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to schedule an appointment for diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they could not cover the repair of the vehicle because the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN tool showed that the VIN was included in the recall. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

KIA replaced the low fuel line under campaign number 20V100 November of 2020 and the replacement part has now cracked causing gas to spray out onto my engine less than a year later. KIA is refusing to warranty the part. This is a huge life safety issue for myself and my family that travel in this vehicle. I feel these replacement parts need to be checked and replaced before someone gets seriously hurt.

2013 KIA Optima Pearl White paint began chipping and flaking exposing bare metal to rust and corrosion.

I bought my pearl Kia Optima in 2013 and the paint started chipping in 2018 or so. It started on the side by the windows, then my hood, then it went with the top portion of the vehicle (now rusty) then it began in the trunk area. It gets worse when the weather changes to cold temperatures or rain.

Low pressure fuel tube leak. Gas leak through quick connect clamp, factory defect on part. Recall was done and still has same problem.

While driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle began to stall and as I tried to keep going, I did get to 60 MPH and the car completely stalled and turned off in the middle of the highway as I tried to get off to the side. All of the warning lights illuminated. The car would not start up and the steering wheel locked. I had to be pushed off the road. I was unable to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The battery seemed to still have power at the time, but still would not start. Someone pulled over to try to jump start the vehicle, but it would not start. I then went and purchased a new battery to see if that would help and it did not. The car had absolutely no power to it, would not click over and would not shift into gear. The week prior, my check engine light had came on and I did stop at autozone to have them run a diagnostic. When it ran it pulled up a manufacturer code P1004 and they were unable to tell me what it meant. I do have the documents from that visit. My vehicle has been well taken care of and I have kept up to date on recalls and maintenance. Approximate mileage when this happened is 122k. I had the vehicle towed to AAMCO who then determined the engine was damaged and I then had it towed to Peak Kia to see what we needed to do.

My car suddenly turned off while driving and would not restart. I had it towed to the dealer to find out that the engine seized and the starter failed. I had the engine replaced under warranty but they would not cover the starter even though the dealer told me that the starter failed as a result of the engine seizing up. Within 2 days after the engine was replaced, the check engine light started to come on when accelerating from a stop and would start bucking. This was very dangerous, and I was almost rear ended a few times while merging into traffic because the car was very hesitant and would buck. I think the starter should be covered because it broke as a result of the motor seizing up. I also believe that my transmission was also damaged when the motor seized now causing the check engine light and bucking. I now have to bring my car back to the dealer to get checked out again.

The paint on my car is chipping off. It is a Snow White pearl and I read online that this is very common for Kia’s with this color of paint.

The contact owns a 2013 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 60-70 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The brake warning light and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated she was able to partially veer to the side of the road as the steering wheel was difficult to turn. The contact stated she was unable to restart the vehicle after several attempts. The battery was jumped with some assistance and the vehicle restarted. The contact stated she drove the vehicle to the dealer however, the failure reoccurred as she was pulling into the parking lot. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 152,000.

My Optima has a crack in the low-pressure fuel line. I detected a very strong gas odor last week and immediately notified the dealer but due to needing the knock detection sensor from a recall being installed, I had to wait until one of the lead techs was available to inspect it yesterday. The dealer has ordered the part needed but they said that it might be weeks before they get the part in because it is on backorder and due to the safety risk, my car is undriveable. They will not release my vehicle to me without signing a waiver releasing them of liability. Kia recalled 2013-2014 Optimas with the same Turbo engine last year, for this exact reason but the dealer said my vehicle was not included in the recall and this repair will be nearly $600 out of pocket even though this is a known issue. I absolutely cannot and will not sign a waiver when I know my vehicle is dangerous to drive. I have systemic mastocytosis and that alone can cause anaphylaxis to be triggered by the gas odors. There were no warning lamps, no other signs or symptoms until I smelled gas last week.