general problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Optima

When the brake pedal is pressed on the brakes will grab. It snatches the car kinda hard. Also when you give the car gas it will hesitate and will not accelerate. Another with the gas is that you can be driving at a higher speed such as 45 to 55 or so and you press down the gas pedal like your going into passing gear and it will not accelerate it’s like it’s trying to stop. Feels like the car is gonna fall on down onto itself and it loses power.

While in park and driving the instrument panel will show, "check brake" and "hybrid system warning! safely stop and do not drive". This is accompanied by the engine not responding to the gas pedal. The brake pedal will also loose pressure and once pushed the brakes will lock up making a grinding noise. The problem has not been able to be duplicated by the dealer. However there are multiple forms and online communities dedicated to try to resolve this issue since it's so prevalent. This issue causes a major saftey hazard as the car comes to a grinding halt and does not respond to the driver. From online sources it seems the problem is prevalent across years and models and only tied to hybrid vehicles.

Because the brake stopper or brake switch are messed up and my brake tail light stays on all night causing it to drain the battery if the car is braking while I’m driving it and the traction control light comes on and the speed is decreasing as I’m driving because the car is braking on it’s own it has nothing to do with the lights nor the battery the root of the issue is the brake line because the tail light will not cut off because the brakes are still engaged even when the car is off causing the tail lights to stay on so the lights is what is draining the battery the lights stay on all night in a car the battery dies but the battery nor the lights is the issue it’s the brakes.

Here I explain the problem better, when the car is at a low speed, such as when parking, the gasoline engine starts and it starts to rev up to 6k rpm and after that it brakes and hits hard, this would be dangerous on the highway and another problem is that when accelerating it has a delay of 1-3 seconds, and I want to report this problem to see if there is any solution.

My airbag light is on and I have no power to my steering wheel controls including my horn.

Brake pedal stopper breaking apart causing the esc indicator to come on and loosing acceleration while driving. I contacted dealer and no recall on th. Is issue.

Tha car shut down in the middle of the road would not start all lights came on and could not steer gave the car gas on gas pedal nor could I brake to get out of the road. Has been towed to demontrond kia to see if under warranty for repairs almost lost my life on highway.

Car will not start up. When turning key I hear clicking noise from under the god from fuse box and thinking it's starter relay but I replaced it and still nothing eventually by keep trying turning key to start for 18 minutes it starts up finally. No clue what it could be. Maybe starter solenoid.

Most recently while driving my car with vehicle in motion on city street (a straight road) it all of a sudden drops power and I am unable to get the car to accelerate without push down very hard on the pedal until it finally decides to speed up, once this occurs the traction control light appears on the dash and does not disappear and will not disappear until the car is shut off and restarted and the loss of power continues to happen until the car is powered off. After realizing this issue I turned off the car and let it sit a few minutes and when I powered back on and drove again the same issue occurred and the traction light reappeared on my dash. I am concerned this could be a faulty programming issue that is telling the car the traction is needed when it is in fact not. This is a safety hazard as there is no way to predict when this power loss will happen and does so in the middle of driving which slows the car way down and could cause an accident and also having to continuously keep the accelerator down until it decides to regain power is dangerous because it will suddenly ramp up the rpm and take off. This is a major concern and could be happening to other consumers.

Vehicle's abs brake activate randomly illuminating the abs brake signal on dashboard,while in motion and without touching the brakes. This causes the vehicle to decelerate and has made the vehicle come to a near complete stop. Even if the gas pedal is pressed to accelerate the vehicle will not increase speed, only decrease. The issue happens 8/10 times while making turns and approx 5/10 while driving straight on freeway . This happened on 11/08/2019 in the evening, I immediately took my vehicle back to kia and they claimed to have driven my car for 20 miles and didn't see or experience any issues. My car is a 2012 and only has 58, 388 miles. I demanded they keep looking but they caught an attitude like I made the scenario up and any stated that I should drive the car with their mechanic as they "cannot replicate my driving", like I'm driving in the damn indy 500. Since it is now Sunday, and the dealer is closed it will be sitting in their service center Monday morning!.

Idk who is going to read this but hopefully someone can tell me a little something about my kia op. Hybrid! about 2 months ago, a truck hit my car and my abs light came on. My car was taken to hubcity hagerstown MD they fixed the body repairs, then they took it to kia hagerstown MD to get the abs system fixed (which my warranty company had to pay for it). About a week ago I took it to kia letting one of the service managers know it's having some push back when I'm driving that it wasn't having before he accident such as on the highway it will feel like it doesn't want to go. I'll be going a certain speed for a while, it'll give push back rev all the way up to 5rpm acts like it doesn't want to keep going then it goes back down to a lower number and acts fine. Then a few times now I'll be at a stop light or stop sign I'll press on the gas it didn't go I'll let go of the gas it revs up, jerks and goes by itself!!!!!! almost making me hit the vehicles in front of me. He drove my car felt how it was driving and said certain things could have been from the car accident and to bring it back ASAP. I was driving on the highway on the 14th of this month I was driving about 65 70 it was actin a little jerky and wasn't going anymore then the dashboard light came on again and said hybrid system warning do not drive and the car literally wouldn't let's me go anymore. I got stuck middle of the highway and fredrick MD highway patrol had to assist me. Out of all the troubles I had almost hitting a few cars in front of me (which wouldn't of been my fault each time it's happened) and my car just turning off in the middle of the highway has been the worst since I've had it. Mind you this is all within a 2-3 month time frame and my car wasn't like this before. June 14th was the day my car got hit since then has been hell with this car.

I have a 2012 kia Optima hybrid at 80,xxx, and have always kept up with the scheduled services/maintenance. I barely drive my car nowadays, and just ride my bicycle to take public transportation that is 1-mile away. My wife and I were driving on the freeway, going 65mph, 47-miles into our drive, our car started jerking. We have about 3-4 miles left to our destination. When you pressed on the gas, it sounded like it was just accelerating and not shifting to the next gear. There were no warning lights or notification as to why that was happening. We exited from the freeway and stopped at a local plaza to try and reset the car, and gave the car about 20-mins before driving again. When we tried driving about the last 10-mins, even at 20mph, it was still jerking and still sounded like it wasn't shifting to the next gear, and still no warning lights. We ended up towing our car back home because we didn't want to risk getting stuck on the freeway at 1-2am. Unfortunately, I am the 2nd owner, however, I do have extended warranty, so I hope this issue is not that serious. I will definitely contact kia and raise this concern because it is a safety hazard.

The gas peddle stops working and the vehicle decelerates as you are in motion. After stepping on the peddle a few times it begins to accelerate again.

Takata recall, I was driving my vehicle and when I went to speed up the engine seized, causing me to pull over in the break down lane on the highway and turn the vehicle off completely and when I tried to turn the vehicle back on it would not fully turn back on, all the lights in the vehicle started flickering, I tried jumping my car and it did not work I had to get it towed to the nearest kia dealer.

I have a 2012 kia Optima hybrid. Drove great at first now the car is off and on. . While driving the car lunges often and as others have said there is a delay 2 second from pressing the gas to the car actually accelerating. The car also loses power when driving on the highway. I've noticed the engine will not charge the hybrid battery when it is getting low and the car become immobilized unable to accelerate. I have had dash lights only appear once and when the car was taken to the dealership they were unable to find the cause. This issue is extremely dangerous to myself and others. Attached are a few pictures you can see the hybrid battery had 1 bar it appears to be charging but then goes to 0 bars because the battery is trying to power the car while only the engine should.

I was driving on the highway and while doing 70 mph the vehicle suddenly decelerated and and could not accelerate. My traction control light came on and off. A couple of miles it did it again. I then placed my foot under the brake pedal and my car drove fine. After inspecting my car I noticed that the brake stopper was worn. I did some research and found out that while you are accelerating and the brake stopper is bad, it can cause your car to go into a safety mode because it thinks you are braking and accelerating at the same time. This affects the power and can cause a rear end collision.

On January 24, 2019, my car had to be towed to shakers kia in watertown CT again. I had been in CT visiting family when I got stuck there due to car issues. I dropped my car off December 7, 2018 for an engine replacement due to a recall and I got it back December 31, 2018. I drove my car home to nc on January 4, 2019 and came back 2 weeks later for my son's surgery scheduled for January 23. On January 22, three weeks after I got my car back, my check engine light came on and my car went into limp mode while driving and had to be towed to shakers kia. They texted me at 9:08am January 23 with a link to a video saying my car was ready. I picked it up around 5pm after my son's surgery. I didn't have the car 4 hours when it did the same thing again and had to be towed. Shakers told me that I was gonna be responsible for replacing my throttle body because I still have old components from my old engine and my throttle body was part of that. I didn't understand how I have old components if my engine was replaced, so I called kia headquarters. Shakers replaced my throttle body, no cost to me. Well, when I picked my car up on January 30, I asked about the fuel leak recall and if my car was inspected as kia told shakers to check mines even though my VIN number wasn't included because my car needed to be checked because my engine was replaced due to the recall. I was told by the technician hector that my car was fine and it didn't need to be inspected because he was very confident in his work. He stated that people were having engine fires because mechanics don't know what they're doing and are installing the engines wrong. My car doesn't run the same after having my engine replaced. It runs and idles rough. I put in numerous calls to kia about issues with my car and I'm told over and over again that my case manager will call me but it's been weeks and she hasn't called yet.

Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia Optima hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle experiencing electrical failure and intended acceleration. The contact stated that the vehicle would accelerated and decelerated. The head lights also failing. The contact also stated that the vehicle launch forward while driving. The vehicle was taken to power kia dealer, (3705 market st ne, salem, or 97301, (503) 585-7333) and was informed that the battery needed to be replace and was replaced however the failure recurred with the acceleration and was taken back to the same dealer and informed that the headlamps light switch was causing the battery to drain and was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure recurred. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the same dealer four times. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 77,874. Aw.

�takata recall� I'm currently buying a kia Optima 2012 and everything was working fine and had maintenance up to date at kia of orange. Then I did full service which I payed 600$ or so and after the car started giving me problems, I went to my friends house and my boyfriend got off to get tools from the house it took him ten minutes to come back. The car was on and I was windows up and ac on when he came out he saw fire under the front left light. It got on fire and we were scare for our life's and we manage to run around and find anything that will help we had water and it wouldn't turn off, we didn't know it was electrical so it was melting plastic until we manage to find a fire extinguisher while I was calling 911 we thought the car was going to blow up. Second of all we fix it insurance cover. We call kia they told us our insurance had to pay it. So we did next I took it to get maintenance update and oil change, we took for a drive to chino hills California and then the car turn off by it self on the freeway I was 65 speed limit and my steering wheel got hard and all the lights were on. I could of lost my life. I manage to move it slowly to the side and it was on fire when I open the hood something was burning again. A sheriff help us turn it off with his fire extinguisher. The engine had blew up a wrot blew maybe because of no oil or idk I'm not mechanic that's why I take it to kia. I believe they didn't do their job right and my insurance doesn't wanna cover it, now I'm careless and I have a daughter to feed and I need help to get this out there if anybody has the same issue please make this go viral. Highway 91 east.

Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. The contact stated while his wife was starting the vehicle, when warning message "hybrid system warning safety stop and do not drive" showed on the dashboard. The contact stated when depressing the accelerator pedal the vehicle made an abnormal noise and would not accurate more then 10 mph. The vehicle was taken to local dealer san francisco Honda new & used sales located at 1595 van ness Ave, san francisco, CA 94109, (415) 687-0174, where unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle has not been repaired as of yet. The manufacturer has not been informed of failure. The failure mileage was 89,979. Dp.

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. While driving downhill with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle abruptly accelerated. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact was able to engage the emergency brake, but the vehicle decelerated and returned to normal after the accelerator pedal was applied with caution. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or local mechanic for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 23,538.

Tl-the contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph the vehicle was going in and out of gear and finally it lost acceleration. No indicators illuminated. The contact had to pull over to the side of the road to a complete stop and restarted the vehicle. The contact drove the vehicle to work and back to the residence and it worked fine. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for a diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened number: k32q8186. The approximate failure mileage was 42,900. Bp.

My kia Optima abs system will randomly make a crunch sound when I step on the brakes, and I lose some engine power immediately after to the point that my car will not accelerate past 40 mph. It has happened several times on busy highways where I have to fear causing a major accident. Kia dealer cannot figure out the issue, they had my car for a day and repaired the steering column and sent me home, only for the problem to occur again the following week.

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. While driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle would surge and then slow down. The failure recurred numerous times without warning. The vehicle was taken to an unknown independent mechanic, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 17v224000 (engine and engine cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.

On April 5th 2017, my kia Optima started to make a horrible sound. I was on hwy 26 headed into portland or. Going through the tunnel, as I was going into the tunnel the horrible knocking noise started. There was cars in front of me and cars behind me. This was at 4:30 am. . All the lights on the dash came on, I had no brakes, no steering and no way to accelerate. Drifted to the side and had it towed.

Vehicle loses acceleration when driving, have to let go of gas pedal and push again to gain acceleration again.

When cranking up car engine makes loud noise, then if driving at a normal speed the car slows down on it own,also the dash board lights goes from bright to dim to almost no dash board lights at all, driving.

I noticed on Monday that the car seemed to be struggling with acceleration. It seemed to be slow and sluggish. I drove the car home not exceeding 40 mph. Next morning when starting the vehicle the dashboard is lit up with an indication of engine malfunction. I only had to drive the car a mile so I continued on to work but I had no power at all. The car was struggling to make it up a small hill and I had no speed on level ground. I am afraid to drive the vehicle at this point. I have scheduled an appointment but the next question is how much is this going to cost? wow I have only owned camry's for the past 15 years and thought I would try a kia. They look nice. Not sure I will keep this vehicle much longer.

While driving my 2012 kia Optima sx t gdi I lost accelerations on the highway. I was driving at 55 mph because the car wouldn't accelerate, but it did decrease in speed to a dangerous 20 mph. I tried to use my paddle shifters in hopes that would work, to no avail. I depressed the gas pedal to the floor and the speed did not change. I eventually reached a safe place and shut the car off, waited several minutes and attempted re-starting the car. The car sputtered and paused before eventually starting, then allowed me to drive approximately 100 yards before having the same decreased speed situation again. I was fortunate to drive home at 45 mph and avoid being run off the rode or rear ended by another vehicle or worse . . . A truck. The next morning I took the car to the dealership and after a diagnostic was informed that the fuel pressure sensor needed to be replaced. Not such bad news but I was shocked that the price quoted to me, by the service manager, is $900. 00. Unbelievable!!! I searched all over the internet and found all the parts that are related to this type issue and nothing, not one part, cost $900. 00. The proposed cost to repair my car is greater than the car payment. As a matter of fact, it cost more than the car payment for my wife's ml500. I have visited kia forums that speak to problems with the kia and it seems that a manufacturer is in order. Incidentally, the part is no longer covered by the warranty because I recently passed the 60,000 mile mark. I feel like I am being ripped off to have the car repaired for what will be less than an hour of work to replaced a minor part, that incidentally has a cost of $900. 00. I will be willing to provide any other additional information related to my experience with my 2012 kia Optima. I should be purchased and Audi.

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. The contact stated that when applying the brakes, the vehicle would surge forward and the engine rpms increased to 6000. The contact stated that the floor mat was not source of the surging. The contact did not take the vehicle to a dealer or mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The contact did not contact the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 4,800.

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. While driving approximately 5 mph with the economy mode activated, there was a delayed response upon engaging the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was able to continue in operation. The failure recurred on two different occasions. The contact eventually deactivated the economy mode. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer however, the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle remained at the dealer for further investigation. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 200.

Was sitting at light and went to take off car felt like it didn't want to shift into gear and had a loud rough grinding noise, all lights on the dashboard came one. Brake light, check engine light, coolant, etc and none of the gauges were working. I stopped at the store and went to leave the car would start up but wouldn't go into gear, it was stuck in park. I had to get it towed to the dealership to have it looked at. I had just had this same problem 1 week ago where all the lights were on and the gauges weren't working and the dealership had supposedly replaced the fuse panel box but that apparently didn't fix the problem. I think that it's a computer or engine issue.

For 3 to 5 seconds, no response from engine at idle when accelerator depressed and the car is stopped (e. G. , for traffic signal). Then, without warning, the engine went from idle (about 800 rpm) to rapid (surging) acceleration, often with screeching tires. This occurred each time I started from a stopped position during a 493-mile trip. There was no problem after I reached my target driving speed.

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima. The contact stated that the floor mat on the driver side of the vehicle bunched up around the brake pedal and made it hard for the contact to apply the brakes. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was given winter floor mats with teeth to help the floor mat grip the floor of the vehicle. The contact stated the standard floor mats were not safe because they would move around too easily. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 250 and the current mileage was 2,000.