Five problems related to owners/service manual have been reported for the 2004 Kia Motor Optima. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2004 Kia Motor Optima based on all problems reported for the 2004 Optima.
My drivers side door automatic locks lock and even after manually unlocking them I am unable to open the door. Have to enter and exit the vehicle through passenger door. Many other kia Optima owners online have the same issue. This poses a serious safety risk if I can't exit the vehicle in an emergency. Please force kia to make this right!.
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.
The driver's door will not unlock or open from the inside or outside. I have tried using the key, the electric locks from the inside and also manually. After researching this defect on the internet, it seems this happens a lot to kia's around this year of car. This is a safety hazard as the driver is not able to get out of or into the car if there is an emergency. A door lock of this year of car should not fail this often or at all. I have much older vehicles that have never had a problem with not being able to get out of a vehicle.
When trying to exit my kia, the door locks would not unlock. I tried the manual and electrical switches on the door and all I could get was a click, and then an immediate re-lock of the doors, as soon as I pulled on the door handle. I then rolled the window down and tried the key, several times, from the outside with the same results. I managed to work my 79 year old 210 lb. Body over to the passenger seat and tried the same thing and got the same results. I was ready to call 911 when I tried the key on the outside again for the 5th or 6th time and the locks worked. This is a dangerous situation and I understand is quite common on the kia's at about 100,000 miles, I know I was frightened. I don't know what would happen in a wreck with a fire and the doors would not unlock from the inside or outside. This has happened 4 times, twice while locked inside and twice from the outside tying to get in.
Driver's door does not unlock when trying to enter the car and it does not unlock from the inside manually either.
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