KIA Complaints

Yesterday [XXX] as I was driving with my wife present, suddenly warning popped up: Stop the car, hybrid break system safety, not safe to drive, or something close to that, I don't recall exact words. The car started to sputter , the brake pedal lost power meaning no brake, I quickly looked at the rear view mirror, luckily there was no car coming up close to me, the car lost speed and I slowly drove into an almost vacant parking lot across Lowe's, turned the engine off. Waited 30 minutes and start the car and the issue was gone. The same thing happened almost a month ago but that time the car was parked and hybrid brake system safety popped up as I tried to start the car and went away after 45 minutes of the engine being off. Had yesterday's episode happened while I was driving on the highway two weeks ago to visit my grandsons in Fontana, I would have surly killed in an horrific accident. My vehicle is Optima Hybrid. Thank you. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Car is making a knocking sound. Car is going thru more oil than normal. Causing the motor to get hot.

On April 22, 2025 my Kia Carnival Ex would not accelerate more than 30 mph after pulling away from a traffic light. A warning appeared on the dash display saying The Speed Limit Was 30 mph and the Kia Carnival would not go beyond 30 mph. The Speed limit was Not 30 mph. I took the vehicle to the Boniface-Hiers Kia dealership on April 24, 2025. They could not find a problem but did re-set the computer for the transmission. I was very fortunate not to have been rear ended by another vehicle.

My carnival is only a few weeks old. The first week of driving I was on the freeway and I was suddenly unable to accelerate. The started slowing down and pressing the gas did nothing. I was able to get off to the side of the freeway where I turned off the car. Once the car was back on it was fine. However later in the drive while street driving the same thing happened and I again had to pull over and turn off then on the car again. I explained this to the dealership on the phone thinking it may be an issue with the mode I was driving in. The dealer told me he had heard of this before and I need to switch modes. I have since switched to smart mode where it goes in and out from economy to sport and it failed to accelerate again twice this weekend where I had to pull over and turn off the car. I have an appointment with the dealer however I have no seem posts and complaints of others with this same issue and no resolution. This is extremely dangerous.

My engine failed in a2016 Kia Soul.It is available upon inspection. My safety was at risk because the engine went bad all of a sudden. The vehicle has been inspected by a repair facility.Yes I went to a dealership and ask about knocking noise they didn’t say anything about ksds and made me an appointment a week later.

Valve 3 does not have compression sent to private mechanic. Sent to KIA was told this is not covered under warranty for new engines went to say that intrest rates are down for new used cars. After some research this could be caused by engine recall.

My vehicle has stranded me twice due to the same issue—error code P1326, which I am regrettably too familiar with. It is apparently associated with the Knock Sensor Detection System and the possibility of defective piston oil rings

Very often, when I put my car into park, it doesn't seem to fully engage, and I either can't remove the key (until I put it back into drive, and then park again), and in some instances I experience a "rollaway" as soon as I remove my foot from the brake pedal. I believe there is already a recall for the Kia Telluride model for this issue.

Once again, the ICCU on the car failed requiring intervention / towing. This is the second outage of the ICCU. This issue happened in early April 2025 (April 8th I believe). My car was parked at work. I entered my car after work and turned on the car. I heard a pop from the rear passenger side identical to the issue as it had happened last January (2024). Shortly thereafter, the check electrical system warning came on. I briefly attempted to drive car to move it to where would likely be an easier spot for the purposes of towing (one parking lot over that is not gated). During that brief drive (roughly 1/4 of a mile), the car immediately began issuing warnings requesting that I pull over and stop. I entered the nearby parking lot and parked the car where it was towed the next day to the dealership.

My car has been recalled for faulty piston oil rings which can lead to engine fires. I took my car to the Kia dealership on 4/14/25. It is still there and the engine replacement still has not been approved. I was told by the dealership that my car did fail the vibration test. I was told by a Kia technician at another location that since the vibration test failed that is an automatic approval for a new engine per Recall Flow Chart. The only time it should go through Kia Techline for assistance is if it passed the test and needs additional investigation. NOW, Kia Corporate is stating I need to provide oil change receipts. THIS IS IRRELEVANT. If I drive that car off the lot with the current engine and have my engine cleaned out to their satisfaction and then a week later my engine catches fire because they refused to replace the engine, that's a lawsuit whether I live or die in that scenario. Oil change receipts and maintenance records should play no part in this. I did buy my car used, but all the original parts are still inside. There have been no modifications. The dealership can attest to this. Bottom line is the Kia manufacturer owes me a new engine because this is a safety issue. I am attaching a copy of the Flowchart that was sent to me by the Kia tech at another location. There is no reason that this should not have already been approved and ordered for my vehicle 2 weeks later. I want this done and I need your help, please! I do not feel safe driving a car around that could at any time burst into flames.