Everything NHTSA's vPIC database knows about this exact vehicle:
Decoding from NHTSA…
Vehicle history — accidents, title & owners
The decode above is what this vehicle is. For what it's been through — accidents, title brands, odometer, theft/total-loss and previous owners — pull a full history report.
NHTSA publishes the first 11 characters of the VIN with every complaint — that identifies the plant, model year, body and engine. So these are reports from cars built exactly like this one, not an average across the whole model.
5XXGT4L33GG••••••2016 Kia OPTIMA
This build draws 3.2× more complaints than the average 2016 Kia OPTIMA build (30 vs 9).
30on this build
737on the model
79builds in total
2involved a crash
2involved a fire
Most reportedEngine 19Steering 5Electrical System 4Fuel/propulsion System 3
What owners of this build wrote
StructurefireMar 2024
I was told that my engine had a recall on it so I had an upcoming appointment with Kia in like 2 weeks for them to check my engine but the car didn’t make it. I was driving my car on interstate 20 my car had began to have a bad chemical smell and started smoking so I pulled over…
SteeringcrashJul 2023
I was driving and the car’s electrical completely cut out and locked my steering wheel up and ran us off the road and we hit a big rock on the driver side and then the power kicked back on and the steering yanked super hard to the right about 4 times and caught a fallen tree on…
EnginefireAug 2019
The contact owned a 2016 kia optima lx. While driving at 25 mph, the contact had made a turn and their vehicle exploded. The contact and their wife jumped out of the vehicle as it exploded. The fire department did extinguish the fire. A police/fire report was not able to be made…
Exterior LightingJan 2026
The engine is a problem and all I’m ever told us “ this vehicle is know to have engine problems. This is dangerous to have in the road. Kia is aware of this. Why sale the vehicle knowing this and not disclosing this info to the consumer upon purchase. There is no truth in…
Power TrainMay 2025
Several safety-critical systems failed on this vehicle. The engine (Theta II 2.4L GDI) failed due to rod bearing wear, causing sudden power loss on the highway. The vehicle entered limp mode, once at 50 mph in 2018 and again at 70 mph in 2025, and had to be pulled over quickly…
Read all 30 complaints on this exact buildFull text, search by keyword, and the systems that fail most on cars built like yours.Unlock with Pro →
Owner complaints…
Now the whole model — all 79 builds of it, not just this build. Same NHTSA reports, wider net:
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Exact value for this VIN, adjusted for mileage
The original window sticker and factory options
Full research report as a PDF you can hand to a mechanic
Decoded via NHTSA vPIC. Recalls, complaints and safety from NHTSA; MPG from EPA fueleconomy.gov. Full history reports from our partner. VIN 5XXGT4L33GG017239 · decoded Oct 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by Denis Kataev, founder of ForCar.