Headlights problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima - part 1

The low beam headlights on this vehicle are extremely dim. It is dangerous to drive at night. The only safe way to drive is with the high beams which endangers other drivers on the road. There are thousands of other kia Optima drivers with the same problem but kia won't acknowledge or fix the issue. This car is unsafe to drive at night.

Headlights are very dim. Reflector on the low beams are peeling and not reflecting the light to the street. Very serious safety concern. Cant see 6' in front of the car thus rendering the vehicle useless during night hours. Kia wont acknowledge or go to a recall. Dealer says nothing is wrong.

The contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact stated that the headlights would dimly illuminate while in operation without warning. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer where he was informed that his vehicle had been placed under warranty for the headlights; however, the warranty had expired. The contact had the vehicle inspected and was informed that the film inside the headlamp had melted and that the headlamps needed to be replaced. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

So one of the kia dealers in the state of maine replaced the motor in our 2011 Optima, ever since then our air conditioning system has not been working. I've had it tested and recharged. Still no acc. I have diagnosed no power to the ac pump. Also the headlights have new bulbs in low beam and are dim. . ??.

The low beams on this car are almost non existant. I have to drive with my high beams on to see anything in front of the car. It's so bad that when a car is behind me there is the shadow of my car from the headlights behind me. I brought to the gary rome kia in January who told me it wasnt covered under the lifetime headlight warranty because the foil in headlight housing is intact. It is a major hazard and I dont know what to do. I have had this problem since I bought the car but is getting progressively worse. Car has 109k on it.

The low beam headlights are so dim they're barely visible at night. The reflective coating inside the light housing flakes from getting hot. This should be recalled.

Headlights are so dim you can barely see using low beam lights and high beams are barely brighter than regular beams on other cars. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 4 times and it has never changed the problem. Engine seized up with no warning or mechanical signs when driving down the road.

Headlights are too dim. Using low beam lights at night does not illuminate the road at all. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 3 times and it does not fix the problem.

The low beam headlights have continuously become dimmer over time. After replacing the bulbs a second time, I determined that it was clearly not a bulb issue. There was absolutely no light directly in front of the car, only to the sides. The high beams are fine. After reading on line thousands of complaints, I took my car to a dealer. Bulldog kia in athens, GA told me that there was in fact a service issue (she would not say recall), but because nothing in my headlight assembly was "broken or cracked" they couldn't replace it. And since I didn't buy the bulb from kia, that was the problem. I purchased the exact bulb recommended for this year, make and model. Kia was going to charge me $1,000 to replace the headlight assemblies. The new assemblies would be exactly the same as the ones that are currently bad. Nothing has been changed! if you look at any kia Optima on the road that is more than 3 or 4 years old, you will see the same dark area in front of the car, with a lot of light shooting out to the sides. Since this is my daughters car for college, I purchased new headlight assemblies on line for $285 and replaced them myself and used led bulbs to prevent the "burning" of the chrome plating inside the assembly that apparently cause the others to go bad. This is a tremendous safety hazard. Anyone who replaces the bulb thinks that they are fixing the problem, and therefore are driving in inadequate lighting. Please, please do something to force kia to recall and replace these headlight assemblies before needless accidents happen causing injury or death. My daughter was overwhelmed by the additional vision that she now has with her new led lights. She only told me because she had friends that didn't feel safe riding in her car at night. So she brought it to my attention. I am appalled that kia is avoiding this major issue. Please take action ASAP. Thank you.

The battery indicator light came on then while driving down the road, the battery discharge kept popping up on the display then went out. About 10 minutes further, I lost power steering. I managed to get to base even though I ran a red light and stop sign because the car started spurttering and feeling like it was getting ready to stall. Once I managed to get to a parking lot, my headlights went out but I still had dash lights. All the error lights came across my dashboard. I took the battery to advance, they said it was low. They charged it and said it needed replaced. The battery indicator was still lit so I took it and they checked the alternator and said it was dead. I took it and had it rebuilt. Everything seemed to work ok.

Low beam lights are very dull while driving at night (lens covers are still clear). Kia sent an extended warranty about the lights and the dealer replaced a wiring harness for the lights, the letter also stated they will check the headlight assembly and replace if this is the problem. Kia will not do this replacement for the headlight assembly. The wiring harness for the lights did not solve the problem of very dull low beam lights while driving at night and kia will not honor what's in their warranty letter.

The wiring in the headlamp assembly is faulty. This is a known issue across dealers and aftermarket shops. Headlights appear very dim and give out low or no light. It's not the bulbs. The whole headlamp needs to be recalled for wiring issues.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact received an unknown recall letter from the manufacturer regarding the headlight assembly. The contact took the vehicle to kia of new bern (1715a us-70, new bern, nc 28560, (252) 638-6161) and they stated that the recall would not be honored because the vehicle was not under warranty. The manufacturer stated that they were not trained on this issue and the recall would not be valid. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. While driving 50 mph, the low beam headlights failed to project enough light, which made driving difficult. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the high and low beam headlights were changed, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,000.

Headlights have not worked since the last recall for engine replacement, done in August 2017. High beams are insufficient, and the normal beams are very dangerous -- doesn't appear that headlights are on at all.

Low beam headlights illuminate so little, only lighting approximately 10 feet in front of the car. This has become extremely dangerous and a major safety issue.

The low beam headlights on my 2011 kia Optima have been slowly getting so dull that it is getting dangerous to drive at night. I commute over 100 miles a day and leave at dark and get home at dark. So all my driving is needing my headlights. I started noticing the problem with not being able to see and just thought my bulbs were getting old. I went out and bought new sylvania silverstar bulbs and I also bought a set of sylvania ultra. That did not help. I ended up even trying to change my bulbs and convert over to led headlight bulbs. I did all the work and conversion and still had the same problem. Come to find out it's not the bulbs that are the issue, but the actual headlight housing is the issue. I am now in the process of getting new headlight assemblies which is really terrible. I should not have to buy a whole headlight assembly from faulty manufacturing just so I can see and be safe while driving. But I feel that it is very dangerous to be driving the way my car is right now. I feel kia should be fixing the issue and supplying a higher quality headlight housing to fix this issue.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. While driving various speeds, the headlights were dim and provided poor visibility when driving. The contact stated that the headlights projected a triangle shape, which prevented the contact from seeing the road. The contact mentioned that the sides of the vehicle could be clearly seen, but not the front. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 133,988.

Over the past 7 years I've replaced both headlights-low beam on an average of twice a year. Low beams are so low in lighting and I'm concerned if they are on when driving in the dark. Recently I changed the passenger side low beam light, 2 weeks later it went out again. However prior to changing the bulb the first time, I noticed the lens cover was so hazy on the inside, like whiteish chalky looking. I took bulb #2 out but noticed it wasn't burnt out. However the wires and the housing for the bulb prongs were melted. Fortunately it only melted the prong connection point and wires and didn't spark a fire. But now I'm left replacing the wiring and lens cover assembly. I do understand that my car is 7 years old, however the low beam lights on this car have been nothing but an issue from day one at zero miles. There have been multiple recalls and numerous issues with this car. Lesson learned. . . . Will never buy another kia.

Tl the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact stated that the headlights did not work, which caused the driver to use the high beams at night. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact called fuccillo kia of wesley chapel at 813-395-0347 (28555 FL-54, wesley chapel, FL 33545) and was informed that there was no recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

Tl- the contact owns a 2011 kia Optima. The contact stated that the low beam produced very low output. There was no warning. The contact called the jeff wyler fairfield Cadillac kia Nissan dealer, (513-682-2500, located at 5815 dixie hwy, fairfield, OH 45014) where it was stated that the headlight assembly needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The failure was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000. Fe.

My low beam headlights are extremely dim to the point we have questioned if they were even on at times. Have replace the bulbs with the same issue. There is some light to the left and to the right but nothing straight ahead indicating the reflectors are no longer intact.

The vehicle headlights are too dim to see at night. Online reports mention the chrome reflector inside the headlights fails prematurely. This has occurred with the headlights, but not the high beams. You can see the reflectors are white plastic with no more chrome coating. We rarely used the high beams since we live and work in the city, and the high beam reflectors still have a chrome reflective coating. The light bulbs are very hot and most likely burned off the chrome reflective coating. We have to drive with the high beam lights to see at night, and we are in the process of replacing the entire headlight assemblies so the low beam headlights can be used to drive safely again.

The amount of light reflected to the road from the headlights is very low and creates visibility issues at night and in the rain. This is due to the reflective coating used in the headlights being of poor quality and burning away.

Apparently my headlights have become completely useless. I bought this car used a year ago and was assure that it was just cloudy headlight covers and they would "buff" the lights before I took it home. Several trips later I was told that there was nothing they could do. The lights are so dim I've been pulled over twice and told that my lights needed to be repaired. Luckily both times I was able to provide proof that the lights have been worked on and was not ticketed. I have changed to two different brighter bulbs and still its useless. I can only drive my car at night with the high beams on. What a waste.

The low beam headlights are very dim even with new bulb replacements. Found that the reflective material inside the headlights melted. Not safe to drive at night need to use the high beams all the time.

This 2011 kia headlight bulb was replaced, however the light quit working. Was informed that lightbulb melted and entire headlight needed to be replaced. Also have to drive with high beams at night for better lighting.

(dimmed headlight) I have owned my 2011 Optima since 2013 and summer of 2016 notice my headlights were really dimmed to the point where you cant see past 10-20 feet in front of you. Replaced 2 headlight bulbs w/ sylvania silverstar bulbs and headlights are still very dimmed. Looks like they reflectors inside the beams are burnt/melted causing the lights to look dim. I would definitely consider this a safety hazard since I cant really see anything on the road. It would be nice if kia launched a warranty enhancement for headlight problem since I would consider this a design/engineering flaw since it was factory bulbs were originally in the headlight assemblies. Unsafe headlight visibility.

2011 kia Optima. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle projector headlights visibility issues at night. Consumer uses high beam lights at night. The vehicle identification number, the consumer provided is invalid.

Headlights are usless. They are so dim you can't drive the car at night at all. This is going to cause a accident.

The cars headlights continue to get dimmer and dimmer to where a driver can barely see 10 feet in front of them. I have called kia regarding solutions and although they state this is a known issue there aren't any permanent alternatives. I have to use my high beams at night to drive.

The low beam headlights look like flashlights with weak batteries, you can only see about 6 feet in front of car. The lens on the headlights are clear like new ones, but the heat from the bulbs destroy the reflective material inside the headlight. The only way to drive at night is with the bright lights on. The only fix is to replace both headlights. When you google this problem many people have the same complaint.

I have 2011 kia Optima sx with hid headlights and they have been dim for a long time. They became noticeably dim in 2015 and have ever since been dim and have had a noticeable change in the light pattern. This is not caused by foggy or yellowing plastic as the headlights have been protected by a clear plastic protective "sticker bra" ever since the care was purchased new in July 2011. The headlights are experience the same issue as other owners of the car, deterioration of the internal reflector for the hid headlight. As a result the light pattern becomes altered or dim. It is dangerous to drive at night with this car. The headlight have been replaced with no improvement in the lighting output or pattern. This is similar consistent with many owners of the same models. Kia has issued a warranty extension but the dealer needs to provide a video that shows flaking of the reflector between the space where the bulb is and the clear lens cap. This is not the reflector behind the bulb that would affect the light pattern. Dealers do not look at the light pattern as it is not part of the diagnostic steps. They only look for flaking of the reflector between the space where the bulb is and the clear lens cap which would seem to be more cosmetic then functional.

Can barley see 2 feet ahead of the vehicle after dark. Headlights are very dim. Vehicle has about 62000 miles.

My headlights have gone completely dim. I can't see more than 4 ft in front of my car so no longer drive at night. I have taken it to the kia dealership here in orlando and they stated this has happened because the heat of the bulb cause the paint in the unit to peel away. I have not had any accidents yet, but have had a few occasions where a car cut me off and another almost ran me off the road because my light to not illuminate. The dealership said since I am no longer under warranty it would cost me $1200 to fix. I have researched and found some forums where other drivers have complained of the same issue for years and nothing has been done. There is also an issue with the steering. There is a clicking noise and rattling when I drive and hit a small bump. I was told by the same dealership that it would cost $400 to fix that $3. 00 piece of plastic that holds that together. If it not fixed in time that the steering would be gone completely. I don't think consumers should have to pay for the manufacturer taking short cuts and using cheap products that cost us tons of money to fix.