Body problems of the 2002 Kia Motor Optima

Locked the car as most people do, then went to unlock the car heard it unlock but the door would not open. I could hear the door sound like it was locking/unlocking like it was stuck. I tried to climb through the passenger side to open the door from the inside and it will not open. The door appears to be "unlocked" but it is not and will not open creating a hazard if in an accident there is no way to get to safety. In researching online this is a common problem and there is a part in the lock mechanism that gets stuck so the door does not unlock and cannot open. It appears it has been reported several times on the year of my car and other years but nothing has been done. There is no warning that this will happen, you just lock the doors and then it doesn't unlock.

Driving down the road, stepped on brakes and front frame broke into two pieces, in the middle of the road, nearly caused a pile up on the road.

A fire started inside the drivers side door panel filling the car with heavy black smoke my wife opened the drivers side electric window to ge rid of the smoke out of the car. She drove the car into her back yard and started screaming for help since the drivers side door would not open. Her husband ran to the back yard and was able to open the passenger side door and she had to climb over the gear shift and the emergency brake to get out of the car. She was on oxygen at the time. Her husband got a water hose and put out the fire. The investigation led to the fire starting in a electrical actuator kia number act " r assy kmc 9530-3c000. The door had to be replaced. I notified kia corp headquarters at 1-877-220-3189 and sent pictures my case # is k2735460. As of this date 07/24/2014 kia has not got back with me.

Front door fails to unlock after multiple attempts. Door must be unlocked with a key, using the power locks or manually flipping the door lock doesn't do it, and the key only unlocks it approximately 1 out of every 20 tries. . Read more...

My 2002 kia Optima, veered of the side of the interstate due to a flat tire. The tires had been replaced that morning and within 130 miles on the highway the right front tire popped. As I took a closer look I noticed my wheel was slanted in. I then had it towed to the nearest repair shop who informed me the engine cradle was rusted and corroded. When I contacted kia about the issue they basically said sorry about your luck. There is a recall for this problem but my VIN is not included. No action has been taken by kia in any of my attempts to have them resolve this problem. I am, and have been, stranded out of town for 3 weeks now waiting on them to make some kind of decision. They have overlooked every word I have said to them about the salt in my location and the cars previous locations which causes such corrosion to a poorly make vehicle. The car originates from southern California where salt is presently in the air. It then was registered in oklahoma and the texas panhandle, both having harsh snowy winters. The car clearly has been exposed to enough salt to have been included in the recall. This is kia's responsibility, yet they are doing nothing about it. When I crashed my car into the ditch on the side of the highway, my life was put at risk. There very easily could have been a car to my left or right or a pole in that ditch. Kia should have fixed this problem in all Optima's put out during the year of the recall. It is a serious danger to any unaware driver of a 2001-2004 kia Optima. Legal action needs to be taken against kia.