Seats Related Problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima

Table 1 shows two common seats related problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima.

Table 1. Seats related problems of Kia Motor Optima

Problem Category Number of Problems
Front Seat Head Restraint problems
1
Seats problems
1

Front Seat Head Restraint problem #1

The owners manual, section 3, page 8 describes the "forward and backward adjustment" of the headrests in the 2011 kia Optima. The head rests do not adjust as described in the manual. Kia customer service explains this as a "typographical error. " the problem is that the head rest is designed so that it thrusts dramatically forward. If the seat is sitting upright one must tilt ones head forward to accommodate the head rest or the seat must be leaned backward such that an individual who is 5' 2" tall can not see out the front of the vehicle.

Seats problem #2

I bought a brand new 2011 kia Optima hybrid and the car pulls heavily to the left even on straight roads. I took the car to the dealer and they did an alignment and they say it is within specs but it acts the same. If you let go of the steering wheel for a couple seconds you're on the shoulder. This is a very serious safety issue. Second issue is that both driver and passenger seats were bolted down in one bolt out of four. The dealer installed the missing bolts but this makes me really worried about the quality control at kia. What else might they missed? I don't even want to think what might have happened had I been involved in a collision before noticing this. Unacceptable!.


Seats related problems in other Kia Motor Optima model year vehicles:



Safety Ratings of Optima Cars
Fuel Economy of Optima Vehicles
Optima Defect Investigations