Air Bag Not Deploy problems of the 2008 Kia Motor Optima

I was driving southbound on sepulveda blvd on Sep 6 at 0800am and I was over halfway through the green light when I was struck by a Toyota making a left turn on a green light who did not yield. The driver daniel oscar perez struck my car on the front and left driver bumper and fender causing extensive damage. He failed to yield, lied about it and the front and side air bags did not deploy.

Tl-the contact owns a 2008 kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving 85 mph, the driver lost control of the vehicle without warning, went in to an embankment and crashed into a telephone pole. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The driver had minor injuries and the passenger had head trauma and bleeding that required medical attention. The vehicle was towed to the police impound lot. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage and VIN was unknown. Ed.

Wife was coming back from walking the dogs in the park, at the park she was feeling dizzy, when she sit down in the car she was feeling better. Has she was driving home, she past a school and seen the sign to slow down. After that she black out and she woke up after the accident, in a ditch on the other side of the street. She had hit a fence then head-on into a tree. The whole time all the air bags didn't deploy. The air bags not deploying is the reason for this complaint.

Driver on opposite side if road crossed center lane and crashed into the drivers side of my car, damaging the entire drivers side from the headlights to the taillights. It is within $1000 of being totaled, but the low mileage is what saved us by bringing the value up. The driver was going approximately 25-30mph when her car struck mine and she did not apply the brakes at all. She hit my car and the car behind me as well. My side airbags did not deploy during the impact, as I feel they should have. There were no other passengers in the car, and there have not been any issues with the air bag system that I am aware of.

While traveling at the posted speed limit of 55 mph a deer ran into the side of my 2008 kia Optima which is equiped with side air bags in which the drivers side door was pushed in on the driver and the drivers side widow was destroyed inflicting cuts on the driver and with the entire drivers side of the vehicle recieived extentsive damage including the hood of the vehicle. The side air bags never deployed to ensure the safety of the driver even with the severity of the impact of which kia national headquarters was contacted and the explination was that the vehicle was not moving sideways at impact and this is why the air bags did not deploy! this is not a valid excuse to me or I would think an consumer purchasing this vehicle with the assumption that they have side air bag protection!.

After clockspring recall/ and repair the cars air bag signal now come on with a code of b1378 in which kia has told me that there is s high resistance dsab. I have been informed that this code is for a bad or faulty airbag. The car has never been in an accident and the airbag has never been deployed.

The contact owns a 2008 kia Optima. The contact stated the air bag warning light illuminated only when someone was sitting in the passenger seat. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who stated when the light was on it indicated that the air bag may not deploy in a crash or it may deploy without a crash occurring. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The failure mileage was 69,000 and the current mileage was 75,000. Updated 06/26/12 a diagnostic revealer the oc passenger sensor mat was defective. The problem was corrected. However, three days later when a passenger sat in the seat, the air bag light illuminated on the dashboard again. The consumer returned to the repair shop again. The mechanic stated it seemed that if someone sat in the passenger seat, did a lot of moving around, or was slightly heavy in weight, it triggered the air bag light. The consumer stated the light is currently on. Updated 06/27/12.

The contact owns a 2008 kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 70 mph the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed and a fatality was reported. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was unknown. Updated 06/12/lj the consumer stated a recall came in the mail on April 12. 2012. Prior to the accident, there was a loud noise coming from under the hood. Updated 06/13/12.

I own a kia 2008 Optima. Every 3-5 days the passenger airbag sensors do not detect a person sitting in the passenger seat. I can drive for miles and have the person adjust their position and it still doesn't register. It seems to occur with people between 120-160 pounds. They are all over 5'5". I have contacted kia corporate case #[xxx] . Because it happens every three to five days they won't do anything until the computer registers an error. The computer doesn't think anyone is there. It doesn't think there is an issue. They've basically told me when it happens to turn off the car and have the person get out of the car for 3 seconds and then try it again. This doesn't work well when you are picking hs kids up from school. You can't just stop your car in the middle of the street. I've done some research. It looks like kia has been aware of the problem since 2006. I believe it is a serious safety issue. If the system doesn't identify the person in the seat and there is a head on collision the airbag is not going to deploy. I have video and pictures of it recurring. Kia will don't accept it as evidence. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

We have a 2008 kia Optima, with 12,000 miles. . The passenger side airbag indicator light malfunctions. While people are seated, it comes on, indicating the air bag is off; which means, in case of accident it will not deploy. It has done this recently on three separate occasions with three different medium to large adults. We have taken this to the local kia service twice and have been told each time, "you are not sitting correctly. " they even supplied us with a "service bulletin" instructing employees how to respond when people report this concern. . . Instructing the consumer how to "sit correctly. " after, much conversation with the local kia dealership employees, everyone, the service manager, tech, and company manager agreed that we had a problem but they couldn't fix it. Their reason was kia would not recognize it as a problem and would not cover it under the warranty. As a matter of fact, the manager reported to me that the kia rep was not pleased that the employees had used the word "problem" when referring to my situation. This is a major safety concern and it leaves me with a car, that when the light comes on, I have to stop and move the passenger to the back seat, as the airbag would not deploy in case of an accident. Upon checking the internet, I have discovered pages of others reporting this same problem with the same inane instructions of "not being seated properly. " if the kia's sensor is that sensitive, it needs to be fixed. We feel this needs to be addressed and that kia needs to admit the problem and fix it!.

Passenger air bag light comes on and reads, air bag off and stays o with an adult passenger in front seat. This is an intermittent problem which has been in different dealerships a number of times (ten) and has never been resolved. Kia said that they are not interested in making repairs because of the age and mileage on the vehicle. The light was on at one time when at the dealership and a diagnosis was performed. I was told that there was no problem found. The problem with this statement is that if the light is on and there a person in the seat, and an accident was to take place, the air bag would not deploy. I feel that this a real safety problem, one that should be address by kia and repaired or replace the vehicle because of the danger to the passenger in the front seat. I know I could just trade the vehicle in to get rid of my problem, but that will not solve the problem with the vehicle and the next owner will have the same safety issue. This condition can happen at any speed both or residential and expressways, it stays on until I turn the ignition off and stop the car. How do I know, if this system is ever working properly? . . Updated 04-16-14.