Owners have filed 6,930 complaints on the Kia Optima, covering 2001–2020. The system named most often is Engine (1,480 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2015, 2012; cleanest: 2010, 2002, 2009. 275 reports describe a crash, 376 a fire, 18 a death. On average the car was 6.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Kia Optima
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 6,930 Optima complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 1,480 Read
While driving on a road with my little cousin. All my function lights came on and and my car began to stall and slow down so started to press on the gas for acceleration a block down the way we started smelling smoke I panicked trying to get over and ran up on the curve and came off it pulled to a safe spot and me and…
My vehicle is a 2013 kia optima and today a very horrible and scary situation happened to me on highway I-25. I was driving home at night and going around 68mph I noticed my oil light start flickering, at this point I tryed to slow as much as I could but thwre was heavy traffic. Almost to the nearest off ramp I heard…
A recall was issued to me by kia in 2017 when we had the vehicle's engine totally replaced. On may 16, 2019 my son was driving when passerby's were honking and flashing their lights at him. He noticed that the engine was on fire, when he lost steering, and breaks. He jumped out of the car while moving and then the car…
Electrical System 417 Read
The car as a fire hazard
I was notified by kia earlier this year that my vehicle was involved in a recall because the engine could seize causing a safety issue. On 6/12/17 I took my optima to camelback kia for recall work and inspection. On 8/1/2017 as I was driving northbound on az sr51, my engine stalled while moving about 40 mph in rush…
Almost died in an accident tate kia did not allow me to leave the through my door. I was hit one my passenger side not allowing my escape through that side of the vehicle and I needed to crawl through to the back of the vehicle to escape. My drivers side door lock malfunctioned because of wear on a commonly know part.…
Steering 286 Read
There is a viral trend spreading throughout the country that shows how easy it is to steal a key-start Kia or Hyundai. The perpetrators bashed my back rear window, dislodged the undercarriage of the steering wheel, and used something as simple as a USB cable to turn a knob and start the ignition. My safety was put at…
On 6 June 2022 I was driving Eastbound Interstate 80 passing Fairfield, CA. Traffic was moderate, average traffic speed 65. The Kia’s Adaptive Cruise was enabled and set to the maximum amount of safe distance. I recall the car directly in front of me changed lanes to pass a truck towing a trailer. I remember the Kia…
Steering wheel locked causing vehicle to hit curb and damage wheel well. Veh possibly will need new rim
Power Train 241 Read
2020 kia optima caught on fire in gallipolis ohio after insurance paid to fix car it continues to leak oil stall and is dangerous to drive12/24/2022
While I was driving my vehicle on the streets; its an 2018 kia optima.on august 2,2019 my car engine caught on fire.people walking on the sidewalk and other drivers stop to alert me that they saw fire from the bottom of the car.then while driving I start to notice extreme smoke coming from the hood so much I couldnt…
The cv axle assemblies snap like the 2016 models do kia's recall number sc139
Structure 231 Read
I was driving on the freeway and all of a sudden the check engine and all lights came on. I could not accelerate or stop the vehicle the brakes did not work I coasted off to the side of the freeway and hit the guard rail because I had no breaks. Then I had a tow truck come and pull me off the freeway to see if I could…
My husband was driving a 2011 kia optima when the car veered off the road and burst into flames. My husband was killed upon impact with a tree
I was rear ended while stopped in breakdown lane of a secondary highway (40 mph) problem that I would like to address is the inadequate cushioning in the headrests of this car and probably many others. Suffered a concussion the effects of which are still ongoing. I think that there needs to be standards applied to…
Service Brakes 214 Read
ABS module is faulty. Confirmed by professional auto shops and it’s a safety risk. Without this working properly, my car refuses to brake sometimes. Will not automatically stop when it needs to due to the spongy, unresponsive brake pedal. Kia / Hyundai have known about this for years and continues to sell these…
I was in two low speed rear ended crashes because the cib didn't engage and I had no breaking power. One who on the high way and once in an exit ramp
My car didn't stop the brakes wouldn't stop i hit a stationary Tractor i got a ticket due to me hitting the light pole too
Air Bags 168 Read
Air bags did not deploy. Vehicle was in motion and struck by another vehicle.*dt*jb*dt*dt
My vehicle was moving when a ford 150 pulled out in front of me. Forward collision worked & slowed the vehicle to 35mph. I hit the truck doing severe front end damage to my car. The airbags did not deploy what so ever
The contact owned a 2020 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the vehicle crashed into a guardrail, causing her to hit her head on the steering wheel and lose consciousness. The vehicle came to a complete stop in a ditch. No air bags were deployed upon impact. The contact later received medical…
Engine And Engine Cooling 112 Read
Driving on highway 54 all of a sudden vehicle seized up on me at 75 mph in the dead of night, steering was difficult to control and hit an object while trying to stop off the highway IN A BLIND CURVE! Was stranded for 6 hours until local shop towed vehicle and replaced condenser-radiator-fan ( object was debris on…
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact's daughter was driving at approximately 60 MPH when numerous lights on the dashboard illuminated. The contact stated that her daughter said that the vehicle stalled, however, she was in the right-hand lane and pulled over. The daughter said that smoke was being emitted…
The contact owns a 2015 Kia Optima. The contact stated while the daughter was driving at approximately 80 MPH and attempting to pass a tractor-trailer in the left lane, the vehicle behind her aggressively merged into the same lane causing a crash to the passenger side of the vehicle. The other vehicle fled the scene.…
Optima years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 19 | 6 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 9 | 10 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 4 | 9 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 25 | 18 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 30 | 68 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 18 | 39 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 43 | 106 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 20 | 68 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 20 | 31 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 4 | 4 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 17 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 10 | 2 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 14 | 3 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 10 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 851 |
| Average complaints per series | 8.1 |
| Worst single series | 50 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.3 years |
A model average of 8.1 hides a worst series at 50. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Optima?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2015, 2012 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Optima years are the cleanest?
2010, 2002, 2009 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Kia Optima have?
6,930 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2001–2020. Of those, 275 describe a crash and 376 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.