general problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Optima

The engine is a problem and all I’m ever told us “ this vehicle is know to have engine problems. This is dangerous to have in the road. Kia is aware of this. Why sale the vehicle knowing this and not disclosing this info to the consumer upon purchase. There is no truth in lending. It’s plain sight robbery. What if I’m far from home and stranded because vehicle set fire or broke down in hazardous condition weather. I constantly needing oil changes because of this engine. The dealership is aware. They tell me to trade it in or get rid of it because it’s going to go for a fact. I’ve never missed oil changes. I put oil every time the oil indicator light comes on. Now for the 3rd time the check engine light is on. 2 times for misfire code. The vehicle engine holds sludge no matter how much you get oil changes. The mechanic told me this year make and model is known for this very fact. I want my money back. Kelly blue book don’t give enough. I was scammed into this car but I managed to pay it off. A car the sales person scammed me and wouldn’t take the vehicle back. I complained to the general manager. They always act like he wasn’t available. They kept claiming new ones started. After almost a year of those games I had to move and the case never got solved. But even when I complained their maintenance person stole my rims. They told me prove it. Just all bad experience. I just want my money. Even if they gave me another engine. It’s still going to be the same problem. A bad engine. 2016 kia Optima’s should not have been continuously sold with them knowing it has bad engines. Even the headlights don’t work. Very dim. Car smells like burning fumes when driving. Please please help. This isn’t fair lending practice. People trust them and they are dishonest sellers.

Unknown.

The headlights and brake lights have been very dim for a while. I've had to replace both headlights and brake lights an excessive amount in the last several years. This year alone since December 2024, I've had to replace my headlights 3 separate times. I do not drive more than 10,000 miles per year, or use my vehicle on roads that would lead me to believe the issue is from road conditions.

Driving in the dark, my auto headlight selector only works when it wants to. Like it’ll just just my headlights off at random no matter how dark it is.

My high beams and low beams are starting to shut off randomly. When it happens, my dash shows that I am trying to turn my headlights from auto to another setting, which is not the case. It has happened at night and that poses a danger because I cant see the road and people cant see my car. I have not had it looked at yet. I do see multiple complaints online for multiple different kia models and years. There is no recall and I do not see a TSB.

Headlights will randomly turn off when driving. I then have to quickly turn the headlight switch from auto to off to on to get them to come back on. There are numerous complaints online regarding this very same problem with kia Optimas and other kia vehicles. This is extremely dangerous.

At 95000 car had problem accelerating and then all of a sudden on the side of the road did that 2 had 2 engine rebuilds done no but the problem is still there and the fuses all look burnt and half my lights don't work.

The headlights failed and yes it can be inspected . The headlights while my 16 year old daughter was driving at night. She could not see the road there were no streetlights. She had to hit her brakes turn the car off and restart and the lights came back on . This put her life in danger I cannot believe there are no recalls . We have called numerous mechanics to fix and they have not heard of the problem. I do not trust kia to fix this . She could have died . Before this happened the dash showed the lights changing themselves from auto to on to off . This also happened to me while driving at night . We now do not drive this car at night out of fear .

I was driving at night when both of my lower beam headlights went out at the exact same time. My high beams work but not the low beams and it wasn't a blown fuse. Also, my engine has been consuming 2 quarts of oil every 1,000 miles since it hit roughly 58,000 miles. The excessive oil consumption started about 2,000 miles before my next oil change was due. The oil indicator light never came on to indicate my engine was low on oil. The oil indicator light flashed on and off one time as I was slowing down to turn which is what prompted me to check my oil because I knew something wasn't right that the oil indicator only flashed but didn't stay on.

Kia Optima hybrids from 2014-2016 and most likely the two previous model years all have defective taillights. I know this because I've had two Optimas and I've had to replace 9 taillights in 4 years. The kia dealer service department told me that that was quite typical of these cars. The light assemblies are not water tight and they fill with moisture on rainy days. This eventually causes the led ribbons to fail and then the light has to be replaced. Kia will replace them under warranty for the first 60,000 miles but after that the car owner is on the hook for a part that costs approximately $500. A taillight that will not light up is obviously a safety problem. Kia should be forced to replace these pieces for free for as long as these cars exist. I tried to attach two photos but the system wouldn't allow me to continue until I removed them.

Headlights will randomly turn off when set on automatic lights. Turn signal might be part of the issue. Headlights will turn off when driving on winding road or randomly when you turn on the turning signal. I was driving rounding on the hillside when my headlights randomly turned off. So scary because I could have driven off the cliff. No specific dates because it happens consistently. I will enter the most recent but it goes back about 2years. I should add for safety sake, that it also happened when I was driving on a relatively straight-smooth road.

My oil light would flash on when coming to a stop. I was notified my car was low on oil my last oil change. However I was not made aware as to how much. About 2000 miles afterwards when checking the oil it looked to be empty. The oil light would again flash on when coming to a stop but then go back off seconds later. The dipstick was dry. I added the appropriate amount of oil to show in the safe zone on dipstick and again about 1500 miles later the oil light is flashing on when turning/stopping. Separately, the headlights have randomly turned off while driving at night and set on auto on multiple occasions.

There have been 2 occasions while driving at night with the headlights on auto that the lights have gone off for no apparent reason. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. I was driving on a major highway and was not able to get to the side of the road. The entire dash went out. This was very dangerous as I could not see anything in front of me. After jiggling the turn signal switch the lights did come back on. I have taken the car into a dealership and also into an independent service center to have the problem addressed. Neither location was able to reproduce the incident. The best guess from the dealer was a headlight switch and from the independent service center their guess was possible an ignition switch. Both of the estimates were unable to confirm that replacing the switch would correct the problem. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the failure.

Headlights, set in auto, randomly will briefly go dark at night while the vehicle is in motion, putting driver at risk of night-time crash. Headlights can be re-illuminated by turning the lights off and back on. This issue has not been by dealer, service tech, or any other party. The issue occurred twice 9/15/2021, and once previously on an unknown date. There were no warning signs, dashboard lights, or any other indication of malfunction.

My dash told me I have a headlight out. The headlight seems to come on and off from time to time. Now it says both are out. Every now and again they both come back on. It seems as though I have an electrical issue going on all of a sudden. But could be due to the engine running poorly causing disconnections in the wiring harness. The engine is shaking pretty bad and awaiting my scheduled appointment.

About 3 weeks ago my headlight auto dash notification would flash on and off for probably 8 times. It was day time so I didn't think anything of it. Last week I was driving in the dark and my head lights turned off completely. I was able to get them back on. I started doing research and other people have had the same issue stating that it is the multifunction switch. Again this morning driving in the dark they turned off completely again. This is dangerous for not just the driver and passengers of the car but also other drivers if you can not be seen. This needs to be recalled and needs to be fixed sooner than later. Please help.

The cars headlights turn off while driving under normal conditions. This has happened at least four times in a one month period. This is extremely dangerous as some areas are not well lit or an oncoming car may not see us. I have looked online and I see that this very same issue is occurring with this make and model dating back 6 or more months. It makes no sense that the bulbs would be defective since all lights go off and come back on randomly.

Headlights turn off and on randomly when headlight switch is in auto mode. Dangerous in the dark when suddenly the light disappears.

While driving with lights in auto mode they will randomly come on in daylight and go off in darkness. If you switch to manual it works properly, but in auto it's totally random and happens with no change in outside lighting conditions.

While driving with lights in auto mode they will randomly come on in daylight and go off in darkness. If you switch to manual it works properly, but in auto it's totally random and happens with no change in outside lighting conditions.

I just bought this car a month ago and have not been able to work in it as a lyft driver because there is always something wrong with it it's been in the shop more than I've drove it it makes a knocking noise and I'm not safe in the vehicle I did a history check on it and come to find out their are a bunch of recalls on it can anyone help me please?I was driving on a city street and highways.

We bought this car brand new and for the past two or so year it has started to consuming oil like crazy at least 3 to 4 quarts every thousand miles and they wont do anything to see what is causing the issue its not leaking anything at all. Secondly with the head light turned to auto we will be driving down the road and all of a sudden the lights shut off and you have to flip the light to on to get them to turn back on huge safety issues there but they will not do anything for this issue either. I should have to do what im doing to a very well taken care of vehicle and its only 6 years old I get it if it was 10 years old but to burn this much oil this not right.

When. I'm driving the car shuts off but comes right back on and sometimes the radio just shuts off and comes back on plus all the lights inside goes off.

So I just took my wifes car to our local mechanic who normally does our oil changes. The prior weekend I moved her car to mow the lawn and her oil light came on then went right off. I let it go because we where due for an oil change and didnt think anything of it( considering it's a 2016 and thought maybe the oil light would come on stating it needs an oil change). So the next week my wife tells me that her oil light came on twice in 1 day, I said ok I'll check the oil after work and engine has cooled down. I checked it and had no oil, great! so I brought it to our mechanic and he said that I need to call kia because it had 1/2 quart of oil in the pan and something just isnt right. Called the dealership and nobody has heard of these engines being known for drinking oil. So I researched this and found all these stories leading to an engine replacement. But every now and then( getting off subject) her lights will just turn off while driving down the road. Thankfully I was driving when this happened and was able to not run off the road. Called kia and all they said was bring it in, we will look at it and go from there. I was told nothing was wrong, got an oil change and went on my way. It happened 7 times after that. It's a great car! we love it but now knowing we will be looking at an engine swap isnt setting well will me at all! this is not right and regardless if we are the original owner or second owner, kia should bite the bullet and replace all 2. 4 engines and wiring harnesses.