Headlights Problems of Kia Motor Optima - part 1

The contact owns a 2017 kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 40 mph, the "check high beam assist system" and "check lane departure system" messages were displayed. The forward collision avoidance warning light and an unknown warning light were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the front view camera needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened; however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 39,715.

See all problems of the 2017 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

The contact owns a 2013 kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at night, the low beam headlights were failing to illuminate properly and preventing her from seeing the roadway. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact made various local dealers aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 53,000.

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When I was driving at 4:45am it was total darkness still out my exterior headlights shut off and I could not see. It is always set on auto. It just happened out of no where and I could not see. I could have had an accident. Now I have read that a few people have had this same problem. About a month ago they kind of went off then on again bit I thought maybe they were switching to daytime lights. Now today they just shut off in total darkness. This needs to be looked into! especially if many people report same problem. Now I did pull over where I could then switched the lights to just the on mode and they worked fine tell I got home but I don't know what's happening. Does this mean they will work on the on mode or lights eventually wont work at all?? is it a fuse or relay? idk please check onto this.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

When I turn on my blinkers my headlights sometimes flash off (without turning them off). Then come back on when I turn off the blinker. My trunk has also lost power and will no longer unlock.

The low beam headlights on this vehicle are extremely dim. It is dangerous to drive at night. The only safe way to drive is with the high beams which endangers other drivers on the road. There are thousands of other kia Optima drivers with the same problem but kia won't acknowledge or fix the issue. This car is unsafe to drive at night.

See all problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

My headlights have gone out 3 times in the last four months. I've never encountered this type of problem with any other vehicle. This car is s 2016 kia Optima and had left me without headlights . I notice others have complained about the same exact problem. This safety issue needs to be investigated . Very dangerous to drive without headlamps. Someone please make note of this serious situation immediately!!!!.

Every time I turn my headlights on my break lights stay on and the traction light comes on. People think I am riding my brakes.

See all problems of the 2015 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

Headlights are very dim. Reflector on the low beams are peeling and not reflecting the light to the street. Very serious safety concern. Cant see 6' in front of the car thus rendering the vehicle useless during night hours. Kia wont acknowledge or go to a recall. Dealer says nothing is wrong.

The contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact stated that the headlights would dimly illuminate while in operation without warning. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer where he was informed that his vehicle had been placed under warranty for the headlights; however, the warranty had expired. The contact had the vehicle inspected and was informed that the film inside the headlamp had melted and that the headlamps needed to be replaced. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Mid September, 2020, I began to notice that my headlights would turn off as I was driving. They would cut off for no more than 15 seconds and turn back on. I didn't think anything of it, until I started having issues with other components of my 2016 kia Optima. On 11/30/2020 I was driving at 30mph through a residential area. As I was approaching a stop sign, my engine light came on. When I tried to accelerate, the car began to jump and hesitate. No matter how far down I pushed the gas, the care was jumping/shaking and wold not accelerate over 20mph. I pulled into an autozone where they ran a diagnostic test on the vehicle. Error code p1326 (knock sensor) came up. The next morning, I called coastal kia of wilmington in north carolina and explained to them what had happened. They sent an employee to pick up my vehicle (12/01/2020). They inspected my vehicle and informed me that the protocol was to perform a bearing clearance test and ecu upgrade. I picked up my car on 12/02/2020. A week later, I called the dealership again and informed them that although my engine light had not come back on, the acceleration issue was still occurring. I asked if they would look at the car again, to which they said no, that they cannot take a further look at it until the engine light came back on. On 12/20/2020 I was driving 40mph when my car began to stutter uncontrollably. The following morning I called kia again to inform them what had happened, and they agreed to take a look at it. On 12/22/2020 they called me and said that my car was burning oil and smoking excessively. They opened a tech case with kia and informed me that they could not do anything to the car until they heard back from them. On 12/23/2020 they called me again to tell me that the issue was not covered under a recall, and that my next step would be to replace my engine.

Lowbeams seem weak/dim. Research showed via kia"2011-2013 my Optima/optima hybrid headlamp assembly new vehicle limited warranty extension" that the reflector in the low beam headlamp housing may deteriorate over time, resulting in a gradual dimming of the low beam headlamp. Unfortunately, it only pertains to vehicles manufactured in korea. My vehicle was assembled in georgia, but I believe the headlight housing is the same for both locations. Bottom line, my low beams have the same issue and driving at night is unsafe due to the limited visibility. I personally completed the procedure's inspection as outlined in the TSB (attached) and determined my vehicle has this problem, but since mine was assembled in georgia they won't replace at no cost to me.

See all problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

The contact owns a 2013 kia Optima. The contact stated that the low-beam headlight was not providing proper illumination while driving, making it difficult to see the roadway. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 176,000.

Headlights randomly turn off when set to "auto" position when signaling. Does not happen frequently but any time it happens is too many times for your headlights to randomly turn off. Happens while driving at night and happens when signaling to change lanes. - headlights set to "auto" - driving at night - signaling to change lanes - issue occurs the lights will turn off and the interior indicator goes dark for a split second and then comes back on and is still indicates "auto" as the setting. Does not occur frequently enough for dealer/mechanics to identify the issue.

The headlights will randomly turn themselves on and off in day and night time. This only happens in the �auto� option for the headlights. I have seen numerous other reports on this on here. In addition to that the car doesn't respond to the key fob most of the time even with brand new battery in the fob. Step dad has the same car with same issues with the key fob.

While in motion the headlights turn on by themselves at random times during the day. Abs warning light, bsd warning light, and traction control warning light all came on at the same time. On the way to the dealership they all went off. The technician said he sees that the warning light were on, but their computer is not detecting a problem. If it happens again bring it back. Well, they're on again. The car has been stationary since Friday afternoon, Sunday evening my son sends me a pic of my car, the lights are on!.

I was driving down the highway at 9:40pm and my headlights turned off by themselves. They were set to auto. I pulled over and turned them to on and thankfully they stayed on until we made it home. This is very dangerous! I had my son in the car. We are lucky to be alive.

While driving at night the headlights go off. This has happened on several occasions.

So one of the kia dealers in the state of maine replaced the motor in our 2011 Optima, ever since then our air conditioning system has not been working. I've had it tested and recharged. Still no acc. I have diagnosed no power to the ac pump. Also the headlights have new bulbs in low beam and are dim. . ??.

The low beams on this car are almost non existant. I have to drive with my high beams on to see anything in front of the car. It's so bad that when a car is behind me there is the shadow of my car from the headlights behind me. I brought to the gary rome kia in January who told me it wasnt covered under the lifetime headlight warranty because the foil in headlight housing is intact. It is a major hazard and I dont know what to do. I have had this problem since I bought the car but is getting progressively worse. Car has 109k on it.

Bought my kia 1� ago & always had a problem w/headlights always turning on & off when in auto mode. Trunk latch had to be replaced due latch not locking when trying to close trunk. Dealership said they get 20-30 latch issues w/my make & model of kia every week. After vehicle starts car just dies & engine light comes on. At times car will stay on but stutters like its going to die.

Headlights very dim no matter what bulb you put it. Cannot see more than 3ft in front of you when driving at night. Visited do not stay up fall down blocking view.

See all problems of the 2007 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

The low beam headlights are so dim they're barely visible at night. The reflective coating inside the light housing flakes from getting hot. This should be recalled.

I have recently purchased a 2014 kia Optima lx, and the headlights are so dim on low beam it is unsafe to drive. Bright lights work great. Low beam when you meet another oncoming vehicle you can barely tell if you are in your lane or not. Also if your by yourself on the road, you cannot hardly tell if anything is up ahead in the road or on the sides of the road.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

2012 kia Optima ex with 48000 miles now driver-side headlight stopped working, so as of now I am driving with passenger sidelight in combination with parking lights. Buying kia Optima is the biggest mistake I have ever done, it seems every month something goes wrong with this vehicle. Surprisingly NHTSA has not taken any action as per kia Optima well known defects.

Headlights are so dim you can barely see using low beam lights and high beams are barely brighter than regular beams on other cars. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 4 times and it has never changed the problem. Engine seized up with no warning or mechanical signs when driving down the road.

Headlights are too dim. Using low beam lights at night does not illuminate the road at all. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 3 times and it does not fix the problem.

The headlights on this vehicle is extremely dim. I have changed the bulbs and you can not see out of this vehicle at night. I have checked to see if there is a recall or something. A lot of people have issue with this year make and model of this vehicle. The other problem I am having is the paint peeling with the snow white color of my vehicle. Large spots of paint is coming off and missing. This vehicle is kept under the carport. Yet, large spots of paint comes off.

The low beam headlights have continuously become dimmer over time. After replacing the bulbs a second time, I determined that it was clearly not a bulb issue. There was absolutely no light directly in front of the car, only to the sides. The high beams are fine. After reading on line thousands of complaints, I took my car to a dealer. Bulldog kia in athens, GA told me that there was in fact a service issue (she would not say recall), but because nothing in my headlight assembly was "broken or cracked" they couldn't replace it. And since I didn't buy the bulb from kia, that was the problem. I purchased the exact bulb recommended for this year, make and model. Kia was going to charge me $1,000 to replace the headlight assemblies. The new assemblies would be exactly the same as the ones that are currently bad. Nothing has been changed! if you look at any kia Optima on the road that is more than 3 or 4 years old, you will see the same dark area in front of the car, with a lot of light shooting out to the sides. Since this is my daughters car for college, I purchased new headlight assemblies on line for $285 and replaced them myself and used led bulbs to prevent the "burning" of the chrome plating inside the assembly that apparently cause the others to go bad. This is a tremendous safety hazard. Anyone who replaces the bulb thinks that they are fixing the problem, and therefore are driving in inadequate lighting. Please, please do something to force kia to recall and replace these headlight assemblies before needless accidents happen causing injury or death. My daughter was overwhelmed by the additional vision that she now has with her new led lights. She only told me because she had friends that didn't feel safe riding in her car at night. So she brought it to my attention. I am appalled that kia is avoiding this major issue. Please take action ASAP. Thank you.

Low beam headlights do not work on my 2015 kia Optima. They don't work in motion or sitting still. Ihave to keep high beams on at night. Seems to be a common problem with all kia vehicles, yet the problem isn't being addressed.

The battery indicator light came on then while driving down the road, the battery discharge kept popping up on the display then went out. About 10 minutes further, I lost power steering. I managed to get to base even though I ran a red light and stop sign because the car started spurttering and feeling like it was getting ready to stall. Once I managed to get to a parking lot, my headlights went out but I still had dash lights. All the error lights came across my dashboard. I took the battery to advance, they said it was low. They charged it and said it needed replaced. The battery indicator was still lit so I took it and they checked the alternator and said it was dead. I took it and had it rebuilt. Everything seemed to work ok.

Low beam lights are very dull while driving at night (lens covers are still clear). Kia sent an extended warranty about the lights and the dealer replaced a wiring harness for the lights, the letter also stated they will check the headlight assembly and replace if this is the problem. Kia will not do this replacement for the headlight assembly. The wiring harness for the lights did not solve the problem of very dull low beam lights while driving at night and kia will not honor what's in their warranty letter.

I was driving to work at night time for about a week straight my head lights would randomly turn on and off by their selves while I'm driving and then my car would be sitting in my parking space and my neighbors told me my lights would just be on all night and my car would be locked and everything and one day I went out to start my car and I couldn't even unlock it to get in it so I thought it might've been my car remote battery died and so I asked a neighbor that works on cars to see what it could be they popped my hood and checked my car battery and it was completely dead, they tried to give me a jump which was just enough to allow me to unlock and get into my vehicle but my car battery was completely fried due to headlight sensor.

The wiring in the headlamp assembly is faulty. This is a known issue across dealers and aftermarket shops. Headlights appear very dim and give out low or no light. It's not the bulbs. The whole headlamp needs to be recalled for wiring issues.

I have the kia Optima sx with the technology package that comes equipped with the auto-leveling and auto-bending led headlamps. I believe that the auto-leveling function is working incorrectly. When weight is added to the car (more passengers) the beam pattern auto adjusts itself to point even lower instead of higher. This causes an adverse effect. Think of it this way, the beam has a default setting to where it points to when there is no weight added to the car. When two passengers sit in the car, the beam should not point lower, instead it should auto-level itself to a higher position to accommodate for the fact that the vehicle is now lower when weight is added to the vehicle. I also believe that the headlights by default are pointed a bit low, I went to the dealership (concord kia in concord, CA) to have them re-adjusted. Alas, no better result was achieved due to the fact that they are auto-leveling. Often when driving in the car with my fiance (a combined weight of about 600 lbs distributed to the front seats), the led low-beams appear to reach a max distance of 40 ft on level land, and around 70 ft. Going up a hill. When one is going downhill, the projected led light reaches a distance of around 25 ft. I understand that the 2017-2020 kia Optima sx models equipped with the auto-leveling and auto-bending lights have received a fantastic rating. I am sure when the lights are working at Optimal conditions (1 person in the car who may weigh under 200 lbs) the lighting can be great. However, I encourage the nhsta to re-conduct a thorough test under the following conditions: seat two people in the front who weigh at least 200 lbs. First seat one person, notice the beam pattern against a wall about 50 ft. Away, then seat another person in the vehicle and notice how the beam pattern is lowered. I also encourage the testers to drive the around a bit.

See all problems of the 2018 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact received an unknown recall letter from the manufacturer regarding the headlight assembly. The contact took the vehicle to kia of new bern (1715a us-70, new bern, nc 28560, (252) 638-6161) and they stated that the recall would not be honored because the vehicle was not under warranty. The manufacturer stated that they were not trained on this issue and the recall would not be valid. The contact had not experienced a failure.