general problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid

The contact owns a 2012 kia Optima Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving the rpm decreased to 1,000 rpm. The check engine and brake warning lights were flashing. The contact was able to pull over to a safe location. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer and diagnosed with engine failure. The mechanic retrieved dtc: p26. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 126,000.

Some of this cars was on fire and we want to know if its safe.

This vehicle is dangerous and extremely faulty. I have had to replace the transmission due to the car traveling at no more than 55 mph. In addition, there was extreme knocking within the steering wheel in which the steering wheel had to be replaced as well. Then my car started drifting again with white smoke coming from under the hood and exhaust. Now kia is saying that the engine is faulty and needs to be replaced. My car is not being serviced for a recall on the engine because it is a hybrid, yet non-hybrid kia cars have a recall for it. This is the same thing. What a disservice! kia needs to quit making cars altogether if the internal work has no endurance. I'm still paying on this vehicle. This car is a danger, waste, and disservice. Several complaints have been noted in reference to the same thing. What if the car exploded? then what? this car could have harmed me or others. Please recall the engine and anything else this car has that is unmanageable or unhealthy. The opportunity cost is pisspoor.

I was driving at 45 miles per hour in all sudden my car shuts off and says hybrid safety issue check break. The car shut off on me and my brake went right to the floor and I could not stop. So I ran into a field thank god that was right there and I had my four year old kids in the car. I turn the car back on and everything went back to normal started driving it did it again and my brake went right to the floor and said the same thing. I have saw four other complaints about this. It is in the dealership I do not know what it is yet but this scared the crap out of me it could have killed me and my four year old. I was going 45 miles per hour when this happen. It said hybrid cyst safety issue check brake in the brake one tree to the floor and I could not stop. Prices on the main road not a highway. I was in fort lauderdale florida on 19th street when this happened in lauderhill florida.

The engine shifts really hard and my car will shut down in the middle of the highway and today while driving several of my warning lights came on in the car and one advised me to stop the car and do not drive.

We first took it to edwards kia in council bluffs, IA on 2/11/15. When I originally took it to them, the service engine light had just come on and the car had just started doing the lunging and hesitating when shifting in lower gears. It was as if the accelerator was sticking. They downloaded a couple updates and turned the service engine light off. They advised the light came on because of the update that was needed and said that the shifting /idling issue was better. As soon as I drove it, I noticed it was still doing the same thing. On 2/23/15 I took it back in and they advised that there were two parts to the download and that they had put the second part on and thought it was better. They also gave me a kia tech support sheet on how to address the problem. This included warming the car up for 10-15 minutes, driving with the eco on the start of the trip, and to depress the accelerator 10 % more. They advised that was the nature of the hybrid vehicle in the cold weather but it didn't do it the year before. We then took the car to h&h kia in omaha, ne on 3/3/15 and the car is still there 7 weeks later. They have replaced the transmission twice with remanufactured transmissions. I am not sure why they wouldn’t put a new one in since the car only has $19,663 miles on it. The have replaced the generator now and still hasn’t fixed the problem. The car still isn’t showing any codes on the computer and they are waiting for the kia “experts” to arrive. I have not had my car for 8 weeks and they want me to take the car home until the experts arrive but I do not feel safe with it lunging and shifting erratic like it is.

I was driving in a residential neighborhood and a lady pulled in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and swerved to the right so I would avoid hitting her. The next thing I knew I smacked into a pole. For the past year I have been trying to figure out how and why I had so much damage to my car when I was only going 25 mph. I finally realized that this happened because I couldn't stop my car even when applying the brakes. The accident happened July 10, 2013 and one year later on the same day July 10, 2014 my brakes failed on my car while I was waiting for a gate to open. I heard a terrible crunching noise, a warning sign came on saying hybrid system warning safely stop and do not drive and the only way I could stop the car was to use the emergency brake. The same warning sign came on during the accident. I remember my car wouldn't stop and actually seemed like it gained a little speed. I hit the pole and the car still wouldn't stop so I had to use the emergency brake to stop it. I sat there in shock over what had just happened. I couldn't understand why I hit that pole and why there was so much damage to my car. Now I completely understand why this happened. It was due to my brakes not working that day. On July 10, 2014 when the brakes failed for the second time, I had my car towed to the kia dealership down the street and they kept it for 7 weeks and said they couldn't find anything wrong with the car so I picked it up. I could tell something was still wrong with it but they wouldn't listen to me. Not even 1k miles later the brakes went out for the 3rd time. This time kia picked up several error messages. They still have my car and its been 4 weeks. They said they need to replace the hydraulic power unit. This is what they told me 2 weeks ago and its still not done. This is not a safe car to drive and I do not feel comfortable driving it anymore!.