general problems of the 2003 Kia Motor Optima - part 1

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the passenger side door failed to unlock from either side of the vehicle. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact also mentioned that the same failure occurred on the driver side door prior to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 147,433.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver's side door failed to unlock and could not be unlocked from the outside or inside of the vehicle. The contact mentioned that she had to enter the vehicle through the passenger's side door. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the mechanic stated that the latch was not working properly. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 85,000. The current mileage was 86,500.

I parked my car for the day to go to work. At that point in time there were no issues with the car. Upon returning that night I found that the driver's side door would no longer unlock. I must now enter and exit my vehicle through the passenger door. The door will not unlock with a key, the unlock-all button, remote entry, interior unlock button, or by turning the car off.

Door lock for the drivers side does not work and also does not unlock. This presents a huge safety concern, driver cannot exit the drivers' door! we have been able to unlock the drivers' door but it will not open! I reviewed the issue online and found hundreds of the same complaint. Kia needs to address the drivers door issue ASAP as it is a huge liability since it is an extremely common problem.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that he was trying to exit the vehicle but the doors would not unlock. The contact stated that he would have to climb out of another door in order to exit the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 175,000.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the doors could not be unlocked and he had to exit the vehicle by climbing through a window. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 116,000.

Kia Optima 2003. Can not open driver door. Lock does not disengage with key or power lock button. Lots of complaints and I am sure there lots more unreported. Does 15 or twenty of us have to die before kia is forced to fix this issue. No injury, crash or fatally yet. . . . . . . .

I own a 2003 kia Optima. I have been unable to unlock the driver side door. I have had to either climb out the window or the one of the other doors in order to exit the vehicle. When I lift the outside handle to enter the car all of the doors lock. When I unlock the door from the inside you can push and push on the door and it will not open. I see that several others have had this issue it needs to be corrected as if I get in an accident I will not be able to exit the car.

Drivers side door lock locks unattended, traps driver inside car. Can not open with key or switch. Safety issue. Also; air bag sensor light activated for the second time, has to be a defect.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that she was unable to unlock the driver side door. The contact stated that she had to either climb out the window or the one of the other doors in order to exit the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the locking solenoid was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 102,000 and the current mileage was 106,000.

Passenger side door did not unlock. This forced passenger to come out from the driver side door.

The front driver and passenger door locks are defected. When I push the automatic switch to unlock the doors, the driver side door stays locked and have to push it on and off a few times for the passenger side door to unlock. I took my car to a kia dealer for a diagnosis and was given an estimate of $807. 00 for both door lock latches. I still have not had it fixed, being that I cannot afford it right now, so now I have to get in and out through the passenger side door. I researched this problem online and discovered that there are similar complaints with the same car make and model. The door lock latch should be recalled and repaired by kia. Are there any new solutions to this problem? please let me know. . . .

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver side door lock was inoperable and the contact was unable to enter or exit through the driver side door. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 44,000.

Once you lock the doors on a 2003 kia Optima, you cannot unlock from either the inside or outside for long periods of time. If you keep locking and unlocking from inside, they will eventually stay unlocked. Very unsafe if you need to get out of car quickly.

Owner of 2003 kia Optima - driver door won't open from inside our outside. Owner must use passenger door to gain access to vehicle. Exterior door handle seems loose. Unable to open door to remove door panel.

Passenger side door locks started having problems opening aprox 6 mo. Ago. It takes about 3 or 4 tries to get the door to open if you are using the key. If you are just the passenger and the driver opens the door for you with the driver side door lock it may take several tries as the door will automaticly relock by itself and you will be locked out. On 10/29/11 the driver side door started to have issues. I went to get into the car and it took about 20 tries to open the door. The lock felt very tight and was hard to turn. I had to fight to get the door to open. I have never had a problem with the driver side locking system. Once I get into the car, I was confused but didn't think anything of it after that and drove to my destination, when I tried to get out of the car I couldn't. I was locked in the car. It took ten minutes to with me fighting witht the locks to get out of the car. I only got out by my daughter getting out through the passenger door and taking the keys to fight with the driver side lock. I have my car now scheduled to be fixed at the kia dealership on 11/7/11.

Door locks stop working ,can,t open the car.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the drivers side door locked and she was unable to unlock it manually or by using the key fob. She was forced to climb into the back seat in order to exit the vehicle. When the failure recently recurred all of the doors failed to unlock. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the technician replaced the locks; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 90,000. Updated 2/11/cn the consumer stated the trunk and ignition would not unlock. The ignition and trunk lock was replaced. Also, the alternator, fuel tank sensor and timing belt were replaced. The high beam lights would come on, when she made turns.

Driver's door won't open. Failed in shut position.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that she was unable to unlock the doors manually or by using the key fob. The contact mentioned that once she finally open the door and enter the vehicle the doors would lock automatically locking her in. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnose that the key fob was defective and needed to be replaced. The remedy failed to repair the problem. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who referred her to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 58,000.

2003 kia Optima driver side door locked and won't unlock. Cannot open door and I'm locked in vehicle. Must climb through window or passenger side. Key will not unlock drivers door. I cannot lock the rest of the doors to vehicle in fear I will be locked in or out for good.

The doors on my kia Optima (2003) lock by themselves after I unlock the car. When I go to open my driver side door is when the car locks by itself. I am afraid of locking my kids in the car because of this problem. The other day I couldn't get the driver side door open at all.

Have 2003 kia Optima. Car stops while running. Looks into google. Is common problem. Camshaft position sensor. Also locks on the driver side not working ,locks self inside the car.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the door latches on both the driver and passenger side were not functioning properly; the contact was unable to open the doors to get in or out of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the latches needed to be replaced. The contact called the manufacturer who stated that she would be responsible for repair costs. The consumer also stated the cv joints needed to be replaced, but the parts were not available. Updated 02/16/11 updated 3/8/11.

For the 2003 kia Optima , the door locks fail and the doors cannot be opened from the outside or inside. This is a very common complaint about the car in the 2000-03 generation.

The door locks would not work properly. Sometimes the doors would unlock electronically and sometimes not. Several times we could not unlock manually either. A few times the passenger had to climb over the center console and exit the car on the passenger side. I was able to take it a kia dealer January 28, 2010 and they replaced both door latch assemblies. The locks were working until this week, may 6, when there seems to be a problem beginning to appear. I understand that there may be a problem with an electrical component but the door should be able to be unlocked manually.

The contact owns 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that the driver and passenger door locks failed and the contact was unable to unlock the doors from the inside or use the key to open the doors from the outside of the vehicle. The contact had to climb into the driver seat from the rear in order to enter and exit the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 66,196. Updated 01/31/11 the consumer stated the vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs on November 17, 2010. However, the doors were still locking on their own. Updated 03/11/11.

The driver door on my 2003 kia Optima will not unlock with my key, even though the inside lock would move to the "unlock" position. It will only open with a combination of turning the key and pulling the door handle at the same time or having my son push down on the inside lock while I turn the key and pull the door handle. This solution to the problem only works about half the time. If the door will not unlock, I have to enter the car through the passenger door and the driver door will still not unlock, even from the inside.

Everytime I try to open the front passenger side door, from inside the car or outside, the entire car locks down. I can only open this door from the outside, with the key, while catching the locking mechanism between cycles. This takes a lot of timing and several attempts. No one can get in or out on the passenger side. This has been going on for about a year now. I bought the car used 2 years ago and it only has 41,000 miles. The 10 year 100,000 mile warranty only applies to the 1st owner.

Locking system failure causing all doors to lock on the vehicle with no means to get out of the vehicle. Can not get out by the windows and the motor will not shut down for quit some time. We believe it also triggered or malfunctioned the anti-theft causing it to ingage which would prevent you exiting the vehicle as well.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated the interior door locks were inoperable. When exiting the vehicle, the contact would have to reach outside the window and unlock the doors from the outside latch. Once the doors were unlocked, they would independently relock within seconds. The dealer was not able to provide a reason for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 107,000.

Driver side lock defective. Driver get locked in. 2003 kia Optima.

The contact owns a 2003 kia Optima. The contact stated that she became locked inside of the vehicle and was unable to exit. The locks had malfunctioned and she had to exit the vehicle by crawling out of the window. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure persisted for two year before the dealer was contacted. The dealer referred her to the manufacturer and the manufacturer agreed to assist with repairing the locks for the driver side door only. The contact stated that all four door locks were affected by the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The current mileage was 73,442 and failure mileage was unknown.

Re:2003 kia Optima power door locks stick & won't release, necessitating driver to crawl over console in order to exit. In the event of a fire or other emergency serious injury could result.

***safety issue*** 1) under normal operating conditions without abuse or consumer modification. 2) door locks frequently fail to unlock or will automatically re-lock when attempting to unlock either manually or electronically. This could cause an inability to escape the vehicle in a reasonable amount of time or may result in being unable to access children trapped inside. Thus, leading to heat stroke, death, or other physical harm. 3) had to pay to replace door latch assembly, but still intermittently fails to unlock as of the date of this report. There is no manual override to unlock the doors with this mechanical/electrical failure.