general problems of the 2004 Kia Motor Optima

Unable to open passenger door due to door lock actuator stopped working. Unsafe to drive.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle keyless entry ability has not work for three years, but today the rear doors would not unlock even utilizing a key or manually. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for a diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact also stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer in 2005 but could not duplicate the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 87,000. Bp.

On several occasions, when manually unlocking the power door locks, they will immediately lock again and will go into a loop of unlock-relock, whether using the manual door lock or the power lock switch (the relay clicks but nothing happens when using the switch). This happens about 10% of the time.

All doors lock and won't unlock, have to climb out window then play with key in locks. Cannot get in or out of car. Not good in emergency especially since my three grandchildren are with me in the car 90% of the time, we do not feel safe. Looked the problem up and seen numerous complaints on it plus the dealer won't fix free of charge and the parts are plastic. I'm not a mechanic and do not believe I should pay for repairs since my warranty is up.

The contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. While driving approximately 5 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The failure recurred four times and failed to restart on two separate occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the fuel pump. The failure persisted after the repair was performed. There was a recall according to NHTSA campaign number: 03v067000 (electrical system) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

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. This should not be considered normal wear and tear considering my 1967 camero still has functioning locks and 50 yrs older. I see not reason as to why a 11 yr old vehicle has non functioning locking equipment and I have owned various other cars without a problem like this malfunction that seems only too obvious of an american safety concern. This seems like a mandatory recall for such an important function of a vehicle to be able to even "get in" or "get out" of the car. Simple concept! won't even be able to operate the vehicle if I can't get in it or sleep in my apartment if I can't get out of it. Huh? the web is full of these complaints and near life diasters because of this malfunction. Seems like this is a problem that people want resolution including myself! if there are so many people aware of this problem online and they have regular jobs no slated to the task of highway safety. How is it that your agency slated with the task of this important job has not done anything to fix this problem. This issue has now span several years of these vehicles and various models. Seems to me that someone, referring to your agency is not doing their job very well at all and needs to wake up concerning this issue with the kia manufacturer to fix this very dangerous problem. Get to its boys and girls and get this done, because families depend on you to do the right thing for our well being. Scenerio: car starts on fire. . . . . . . Can't open door. . . . Dead. . . . . . . A duh!!!!!!!! make sense? yeah! good! they have created a death trap. Fix it!!!!!!.

Power door lock locks when unlocking from outside with key. Replaced the door latch. But it still does it. Also the headlights stay on when turning off the car. Have to manually turn off headlight switch.

My car completely turns off while im driving it, most of the time when I used it the first time of the day and try to used it again it turns of and loose power, I can't turn it on again in that moment I need to wait and then it works again but if happens really frecuently and its really dangeros because im on the freeway and cars are behind me and I can cause an accident or anything worse. I went to the dealership so they could inspect my car but they couldn't find anything at that moment.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. The contact stated that the drivers side door failed to unlock from the outside and the inside. The contact mentioned that the doors could not unlock the door s manually or by using the key fob. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who diagnosed that the door actuator switch failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. Pam.

The driver side door will not open. It shows that it's unlocked. I can use the key and continuously pull the handle from the outside and it was opening. Now it doesn't work at all. Took it to kia in holland they quoted me a minimum of $300 to fix the problem but told me they had no clue what it could be. I will not allow an ignorant person to touch my vehicle. I can at least tell you that it is the latch. I live in michigan. If I am hit on my passenger side and am in need of help I might as well close my eyes and die. No one would be able to get me out without having to drag me out of the window which they would have to break. This could easily be an issue that could result in death.

When I was getting off of work on the night of 7/12/2014, I went to my car to unlock my door with the key. My driver side door will not open. I had to get into the passenger seat, climb over the center counsel and into my driver seat. Once I got home, I could not open the drive side door from the inside. Therefore, I did the reverse above. This is the second time this incident had happen to me. I've taken this to the dealership on 9/25/12 and they had to replace the front door latch, which cost about $200. Reading the information on here this is a common problem on these cars. Kia must place a recall on this issue because this is a requiring problem that needs to be address ASAP!.

Driver side door does not open from inside, even when in 'unlock' position. I drove to work, having no problems opening the door to get into the car, nothing unusual happened during my 15 minute commute. I arrived at work, and was forced to exit the car through the passenger side door. The driver side door will now only open if you use the key and can randomly find the perfect timing of turning the key and pulling the door handle. It is nearly impossible to perform this maneuver from inside the vehicle. Having no ease of access from the driver side front seat of the vehicle poses an extreme safety concern to all those driving similar vehicles. Having performed just cursory research over the past two days, I have come across hundreds of similar accounts from other kia owners. This is obviously a manufacturing defect, and should be handled as a recall.

Accerlated to get out of snow embankment and engine light came on then car locks went out of wack and locked doors. Could not exit, continued to relock and time you touched locks or door to get out! very unsafe!!! locked in vehicle only exit rear doors, electrical not ok after reset battery. I ordered new part, not even sure it will fix it. Driver door will not open at all!!!!!!!!!.

Driver's door does not unlock when trying to enter the car and it does not unlock from the inside manually either.

When I started to leave for work this morning; I could not get into the car from the driver¿s side; the door would not unlock; I could not get it to open. This has never happen before so I looked carefully and saw no damage was done to my car so I tried again to unlock and open my door. I put the key in the keyhole as usual but I notice that it felt like it was not fitting correctly and as I turned the key and it was harder to turn but I could hear the sound of the doors unlocking so I pulled the handle to open the driver¿s door again and it still would not open. The other three car doors works fine; locking and unlocking like they should. I was then forced to get into the car from the front passenger door. There I attempted to open the driver¿s door from the inside but my efforts there also failed; which was very alarming. I could feel my anxiety building (feeling trapped & not able to open my car door at anytime) I was running out of time and have to go to work . I tried to open my door from the inside several times but nothing worked. I was able to start the car and let down all the windows. I could breathe some fresh air. All day I had to get in and out of my car form the front passenger door. I tried to open the driver¿s door several time throughout the day but nothing would work. My door being stuck shut is a horrible feeling to have when driveling knowing that one of my ways to escape from the car gone almost helpless at first so I hope this problem is not a small matter to you because it is putting our life in a serious situation; so please treated this as such. Think of this: if there were fire marshall¿s for cars, would they ever tolerate a front door that can¿t be open when people are inside? no.

Driver side door will not open, stuck in locked position. Can't get out of car unless go over to passenger side door.

Drivers side door latch failed and would not unlock from inside or out side. Had to exit the vehicle through passenger side door. Very dangerous if there were an emergency. I have seen many complaints online about this issue with the same make, model and approx. Mileage as mine. Kia needs to issue a recall before some one gets hurt.

The car was running fine until after a few hours of driving it just stopped running. This is the second time this has occurred. The engine rpm dropped to zero and the car coasted. After sitting for less than an hour the car started up again. I took it to the kia dealer and they said, even though the car had less than 60,000 miles, they would have to diagnose the problem and charge us $200 to do so, and the electronic parts were not covered.

The driver's side door will not unlock from either the inside or outside. The key won't work. I had to crawl over the passenger seat risking potential injury . This is a safety issue. I notified the dealer who said basically that it wasn't his dealership's problem and to call kia consumer number. I did call and he also said basically that it is not kia's problem, it is not a safety issue, and too bad for you. There are many documented instances of this door latch failing. It is a safety issue despite what the consumer rep said at kia. $50. 00 diagnosis cost plus , when the part finally comes in, another $230. 00 dollars. It is unacceptable for kia to ignore this safety issue.

I own a 2004 kia Optima purchased brand new. I have been unable to unlock (or open) the driver side door. The vehicle has never been in an accident. The problem accorded a few weeks ago when I attempted to unlock my car door. Once I removed my key and lifted the handle to get in all of the doors lock. I had to enter through the passenger side door. The drivers side door will also not open from the inside. This is a safety hazard as if I get into a car accident I will be trapped inside and could die!! I am not the only person with this issue for this make and model. And it appears that the 2003 model has the same issue. . Read more...

I have been taking my car to kia of orange park in jacksonville, florida for the past several months because of issues with stalling and hestitation at start and the car has stopped on my while in gear with my foot on the brake (three or four times). Each and every time I take it to the dealership they seem to say the vehicle will not duplicate the concerns I am having. I have been afraid to go a long distance with the car because of these issues. I recently switched to southside kia in jacksonville, florida and they convinced me the car was fixed after replacing sparks plus, fuel pump, gas tank valve, and on one ocassion they found the tps sensor loose from the previous kia dealership doing a throttle body service. I am very dissatisfied with kia right about now and have not been able to get any help.

The drivers door will not open from the outside or the inside. I have to crawl in from the passenger side and then when I want to get out I have to crawl over and exit from the passenger side. Tried to unlock it with my keyless entry and now it doesn't work. Replaced batteries but still not working. My son kept turning the key in the door and finally got it opened. The next time I drove it the same thing happened. I am tired of having to crawl in and out of my car. I always enjoyed driving my kia but not anymore.

Drivers side door will not open with the power lock or by key, I have been getting in and out of my car by using the passenger front door. My husband found a way to unlock my driver side door, now I can not lock my car again.

I have a 2004 kia Optima and my key or fob won't open the drivers door. The key has finally stopped working at all, I have to climb over the console to get in and out of the car. I'm almost 57 years old and don't need this in my life. The dealer want $52 to check it and see if it's under warranty. I do have the extended warranty which I guess I paid for nothing. I' have found many people with this problem and I myself are very tired of this . I hate the day when I have to get out of my car in a hurry. When it first started I could use the key only when pulling hard on the handle at the same time. I believe kia needs a recall on this problem and soon!.

Driver side door will not open, accidentally locked door now it will not open, have to climb over from passenger side to driver side, will not open from inside or outside, I am disabled and it's very difficult to have to climb over to driver side, for a long time now I have left the car unlocked for this reason, seems I am not the only one with this problem, a lot of people have placed posts about this issue. It's not only an inconvenience but a safety issue. I feel this is a major recall that needs to be addressed and fixed. Anyone in an accident (god forbid) is trapped, more so if there disabled, people should not have to pay out of pocket for this issue. Thank-you.

My car doors do not open either inside or outside. This problem started with my front passenger side door and now is affecting my drivers side door. The problem appears to be electrical and will happens randomly. The pass. Door is now 100% affected and the drivers side just started today. So the end result is I am locked inside my car unless I crawl through the window. I googled this problem online and apparently this problem is rampant. I called kia customer service and they said that there is not a recall and because my car is a 2004 (with only 39,000 miles) they will not cover it. I told him how dangerous this type of problem was and he really didnt seem to care. Ii asked him who issues recalls and he said it was your organization, when I said that I would call you to try and get a recall he then said "well you could bring it into kia and see what they find, although no gaurantee I would get it paid for by them even though it has happened to many kia cars. I then told him I would be contacting your organization and he didnt seem to happy. * when my passenger door started with this problem approx. 2 months ago I called the local dealer and they said that there was nothing they could do for me. I should add that the nearest kia dealer is approx. 2. 5 hours one way away from me.

The contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. Upon entering the vehicle, the doors independently locked. In addition, the front driver and rear passenger side doors failed to unlock in order to exit the vehicle on numerous occasions. The contact stated that the front passenger side window failed to open. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 10,000.

Hello I have a few issues with my 2004 kia Optima that I have been unable to get resolved. The 1st is my air bag light is constantly on. I took the car into the shop for this while it was under warranty and was told that it was fixed. The light came back on and now the car is no longer under warranty. I was told that in order to have it fixed I have to spend a couple hundred dollars to have my passenger seat removed and some wires would have to be spliced to correct the issue. I'm not comfortable paying to have a problem fixed that should have already been fixed and the response I get as to the solution involves splicing of wires for my air bag. I have been on several websites and heard multiple complaints about the same issue with this year/model. Issue #2 involves my headlights. I have owned my car since I purchased it in 2005. I have blown at least 5 sets of headlights in the vehicle. This is sets and not just bulbs. My most recent one has blown and has not even been installed for 3 months. In order to get this fixed I will have to take it to the shop and spend almost $100 just to have somebody test the system and tell me what's wrong and then pay to get it fixed. It has been bad enough that once they both blew at the same time and left me with no headlights at all except for my high beams. I have also seen multiple complaints about this issue also with this make/model. If somebody could please take a look at these issues and assist me with getting them addressed. My car currently will not pass an inspection due to the airbag light being on.

While driving, a fire started from the dashboard. The cause of fire was undetermined.

While I was driving my vehicle my passenger noticed that there was smoke coming out of the dashboard area. In an attempt to get off the road the smoke had turned into flames at which time I stopped the vehicle and I and my passenger got out of the vehicle and called 911.

The contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. In June of 2004, the exterior lighting failed while driving at an unknown speed. In addition, the driver's side door would not lock and the check engine light consistently illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the exterior lighting was repaired; however, the door was not because it was not under warranty. After the repair was made, the exterior lighting continued to fail as well as the other issues. She took the vehicle back to the dealer approximately four times to repair the same failures, but the issues kept persisting. The vehicle has not been repaired since. The current mileage was 93,000 and failure mileage was 19,195. Updated 10/05/08 the headlights and brake lights were replaced several times. The dimmre switch also failed. Updated 11/06/08.