Headlight Switch Problems of Kia Motor Optima

The headlights will go off no matter if the switch is on auto or normal on. The lights cut off while driving, it happens on the street, highway, and even if the car isn't moving. It started about a month ago. There hasn't been any damage or wrecks to my car.

See all problems of the 2017 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

I have reason to believe that my car has been hacked due to an incident that occurred approximately one week after being aggressively followed by a mysterious black Nissan SUV with pitch-black tinted windows at my work location. During the incident in question, I was on the phone with 911, with the bluetooth of my car and phone on and connected, calling about a red car that appeared to be following me. I drove around my block and lost the red car but when I returned back to the street where I live, I slowed down as I noticed a slow-moving black SUV with pitch-black dark tinted windows (reminding me of the black Nissan SUV that I encountered a week prior at work). I remember its headlights being off. This time, I was in close proximity to the black SUV- it was on my left side driving the opposite direction and it also appeared to slowed down and got parallel to my vehicle). When my car and the black SUV where almost next to each other, all the interior lights of my vehicle turned on and I heard a sound that sounded like all the doors unlocked. As a petite female who was driving alone at 10pm or later that night on an empty back street, I got terrified and quickly pushed on the gas to get away from the black SUV. With all the interior lights on while trying to drive at night, I had no visibility whatsoever, so I kept pushing the light switch by the driver's side, but no matter how many times I moved the switch, the interior lights did not turn off. After driving, I estimate, 1000+ feet, the interior lights turned off and I regained visibility. At that point I could see my apartment was coming up so I quickly drove into the gated parking area of my apartment complex. As I recall the incident, the light switch was on "door" when I was attempting to turn it off while driving. This incident reveals security/safety vulnerabilities in my vehicle.

See all problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

My head lights have turned off and on by themselves three times in the last two weeks while the car is in motion. Each time it's happened has been in different areas in the city I live in. I always keep my car's headlights on auto. The first time was at night when they randomly turned off by themselves. I looked at the dashboard and the screen for the headlight function was switching from auto to off by itself, so I jiggled the trigger for the headlights and they came back on. Same thing the last two times. Scary for me because my route home from work is pretty scarce with street lights.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

While driving during the day the lights randomly go off by themself while in auto mode. I've always let it go until I was driving at night and the headlights went out also while in auto mode. If you switch to manual it works properly, but in auto it's totally random. It is very dangerous when this happens at night on busy roads. I also noticed that all the lights on the dashboard went out too when the headlights went out. I've seen where others have the same problem.

Tl the contact owns a 2016 kia Optima. The contact stated that the headlights failed. While driving at night with the headlights activated, the headlights shut-off without warning. The headlight switch was manually shifted to the on position. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to kings kia (9600 kings auto mall road, cincinnati, OH 45249, (513) 677-6700) however, the mechanic was unable to provide a cause for the failure. The mechanic checked the headlight switch but found no issues. The contact was informed to notify the dealer whenever the failure recurs. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 69,500.

Whilst the vehicle is in motion on any road the headlights will shut themselves off for a few seconds and then turn back on. This happens when the switch setting is set to auto or is in the on position. When I google search the issue I see that there are many people with this issue. The display on the dashboard which displays the light switch settings pops up and highlights the "auto" position and then disappears. I am not sure if the same thing happens when the switch is in the "on" position. When it happens I will sometimes move the switch and the lights come on again, and sometimes this does not help and I am driving down the road with no headlights and it is extremely dangerous especially on very dark roads. When driving in the daylight I will see the display for the light switch position appear on the dashboard indicating that this condition is happening during the day as well. This is happening more and more, it happens almost every time I drive the car.

The headlights randomly turn off at night when I'm driving with the auto headlight feature on. Turning the switch to on manually and back to auto turns them back on.

When on automatic mode, the headlights suddenly shut off. Sometimes they come back on after a moment, but sometimes they do not come back on until you turn the headlight switch from automatic to on. This is very dangerous. It has happened numerous times while driving, in both day and night conditions.

While driving at night or during the day at random times the exterior headlights will go off and sometimes come back on without any changes from driver. The setting for my headlights are set to auto. In order for light to come on at night once they have automatically turned themselves off I have to switch the control to on. This is continuing to happen at random times while driving.

Oil is completely empty before 1000 miles after an oil change. Have switched to synthetic oil and used additives. Nothing has helped and I am adding at least 6-8 quarts for 3000 miles. Also the headlights are horrible. I can not see 10 feet pass my front end at night. This is extremely dangerous and new bulbs do not help. It is a known problem, but kia could care less. Not only can I not see but I'm driving a death trap that will most likely catch fire like thousands of the 2013 have already. How do these car companies get away with this?.

See all problems of the 2013 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

Headlight malfunction shut off problem. At night when in motion on various city streets the front and rear lights will, suddenly and randomly, with no driver input whatsoever, shut off completely both in the back and in the front of the car! the headlamps and rear lamps will, at that point stay completely off with absolutely no exterior lighting function except the brake lights!! the only way to get rear and head lamps back is to turn the headlights switch off and then on again. This malfunction so far has occurred when headlight switch is in auto mode. This mode of lighting detects environmental lighting conditions to activate either daytime running lights or headlights. This has happened five times since I purchased this car brand new in 2016. The dealer has been notified and the car has been inspected several times but they have repeatedly insisted that the system is working �as designed� or shows no problems. Fortunately, I have the front and rear cameras installed with videos to prove it. My vehicle mounted cameras have captured this malfunction as has my iphone video. I will need a way to send you the video files as they are too large. I believe this is a very dangerous situation. After many attempts and communication with the company, the car was kept for two weeks and was returned with repair to what they are calling the "multifunction switch".

While driving at night the headlights will go off by themselves while I have the switch in the auto mode. This has happened several times on both highway and back roads. I then brought the car to a kia dealership for repair but they failed to find the problem and said they were unable to recreate the situation. This problem went away for a few months after that visit but has since started up again. I also recently started experiencing a new problem where the parking lights will go on by themselves while the car is parked in my driveway with the engine off overnight. The lights then go off by themselves several hours later.

Bought 2011 kia Optima new. Wife driven to work during daylight hours. Recently drove it at night and noticed dim low beams as well. Took car to dealer for crankshaft recall and had them look at headlight low beams. Surprise, we need 2 new headlight assemblies plus installation. . About $1000+. Reflective material melted/deteriorated. Dealer claims ignorance and tries to say we hit a bump causing issue . Deny, deny, deny. I won't wait for any recall or restitution, I'm gonna trade the problem down the road. Buyer beware !!! btw , we have replaced interior lighting switch at $300+ and also a/c compressor at $1700. The car has 68,000 mi on it and has cost us $2000 out of pocket in what I consider premature failures. Not to mention the headlight cost. Not happy with kia ,,!!!!.

See all problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

Bought 2011 kia Optima used with 75k miles on it. Did not realize immediately that there was an issue with the passenger side headlight being really dim. I bought the extended warranty and called the kia dealer and mentioned my issue and the service advisor said it was probably a wiring issue or a ground issue and that it probably would not be covered by the warranty. The car is not safe to drive at night without the high beams on. When driving at night visibility is good with high beams on, when switching to low beams for oncoming car, you are driving blind, holding the wheel steady and hoping you stay on the road until the oncoming car passes and you are able to turn your high beams back on again. Took the car to a mechanic and he tested the electrical, ground and bulb and there were no issues. Upon putting a scope inside the headlight assembly where the bulb goes, he found a pile of chrome shavings so the headlight reflective housing deteriorated. Only way to repair is to replace whole headlight unit assembly. After searching online, realized there are many complaints for this same issue on this model of car for multiple years now. Owners beware of this safety issue and don't let people rip you off by charging you to go down the wrong/electrical path to fix. Potential buyers beware: if you have to pay to have this fixed at a dealer it can cost between $500 and $800 and it may only be a matter of time before it is an issue again. Seems like this should be a safety recall by kia.

I purchased a 2007 kia Optima lx last Friday [8/5/11] and when I drove it that night, it was impossible to see the road. The headlights are a dangerous and possibly a fatal hazard, while driving at night. I am writing to inform you about this matter. I would like to explain what the problem is and a solution to the problem. I sent an email to kia on 8/5 addressing this issue. I haven¿t received a reply yet. Please let me explain. The kia model I purchased, has two headlights on each side. There is a top light and a bottom light. The top light is the low beam headlight on the car and the bottom light is the high beam. The bottom light points out in the correct direction, as with cars that only have one headlight on each side. The low beam light is located¿up and to the side of the car! it is absolutely impossible to have lights work correctly, when the low beam light is located¿up and to the side of the car! there is a ¿black spot¿ area¿on the road, anything in front of the car, to cars in front of you, and to the sides of the road is impossible to see. The ¿black spot¿ area means just that¿everything in that area is black. The black area is in all the places where you are supposed to see when you are driving with the headlights on. In order for the lights to work correctly, here is an uncomplicated and inexpensive way to fix them. Here is the idea, for the headlights to work correctly: the top light (low beam) stays on all the time. The bottom light switches from low beam to high beam! the top light is aimed toward the beam in the bottom light. This gives extra light when the low beams are on. The location of the bottom light will provide the correct lighting when using headlights. Having the bottom light switch from low beam to high beam will correct the problem. How were these headlights ever approved? a response and reply would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration.

See all problems of the 2007 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

The back turn signal, back lights and front low beams continue to burn out. They have been replaced multiple times by professionals and continue to blow. I would guess there is a short some place. Recently the right low beam headlight went out, had it replaced and it blew fuses. Once the fuses and relay switch had been replaced the left low beam light will work if the right one is disconnected. I have come across multiple complaints about this, I contacted the dealer and they claim this is not a common issue, and want $115 to run test. Also the blower motor for the heat/air makes lots of noise and I was told that is just the way it is, I know that's not true. When its cold out the car makes lots of squeaking noise and I was also advised that's is "normal". I purchased the car new in 2008 I have approx 67,800 miles and have had to replace the tires 3 times.

Both low beam headlights blow out simultaneously. When this happened, high beams (separate bulbs and switch) would only work sporadically (switched 'on', nothing. Switched again, may come 'on', turned 'off' then 'on' may or may not come on). Dealer states 'it happens, they burn out', yet said the battery needed to be replaced. (?) non warranty, so you pay. Another complaint on the same car year/make/model, same issue, has already been filed with you. In addition, 'google' search shows many entries for this same problem on kia and Hyundai vehicles (same manufacturer) over many models/years. Signs point to possible defective charging of battery by vehicle's electrical system (maybe why they replaced the battery at the same time). Battery was previously fine. I've had many electrical problems with the car, things stop working, then work on their own (power window won't work, sticks part open. Switch does nothing. Then suddenly later window lowers/raises without switch being touched. Trunk suddenly pops open). Definite electrical problem on these make of vehicles over many years which neither manufacturer is going to address themselves. Unless you do something, many will be paying for service caused by their negligence. . Also, seat belt does not retract all the time. My vehicle was purchased new.

See all problems of the 2005 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

While driving my 2002 kia Optima, my stereo,headlights,dashlights would cut out while driving. I took it in to a kia dealership, the instructed me to get a new battery. I did, and that did not fix the problem. On Saturday, January 1rst,2005 I was driving down the freeway doing about 60 mph, my car lost all power and stalled in the middle of the freeway. I could not warn other drivers behind me because my hazard lights would not turn on, I had no electrical power to my car. It almost caused people behind me to slam into me. Since the dealership was closed on Sunday, I took the risk of going to the store, and once again I lost all power to my car hitting a near by garbage can and denting the front left side of my car. I took it into kia of tacoma, they told me to get a tune up. Not liking that answer, I had it towed to kia of puyallup. . They are unable to find the problem and want me to come pick the car up and drive it around again. After researching this on the internet, I found there are many other people that this is happening too, and there has not yet been a recal on this car. This car is a danger to my life, and others around me. Something needs to be done about this right away before it costs somebody their life.

See all problems of the 2002 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.

The contact owns a 2004 kia Optima. In June of 2004, the exterior lighting failed while driving at an unknown speed. In addition, the driver's side door would not lock and the check engine light consistently illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the exterior lighting was repaired; however, the door was not because it was not under warranty. After the repair was made, the exterior lighting continued to fail as well as the other issues. She took the vehicle back to the dealer approximately four times to repair the same failures, but the issues kept persisting. The vehicle has not been repaired since. The current mileage was 93,000 and failure mileage was 19,195. Updated 10/05/08 the headlights and brake lights were replaced several times. The dimmre switch also failed. Updated 11/06/08.

See all problems of the 2004 Kia Motor Optima 🔎.