Power Train Problems of Kia Motor Optima Hybrid

While driving during colder weather the car will show hev (hybrid system) warning and tell you to shut it off. I was in a construction zone with no where to pull over when the car died and lost all propulsion and brakes. This seems to be a common problem on kia Optima Hybrids from 2012-2015.

See all problems of the 2014 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

The contact owns a 2013 kia Optima Hybrid. The contact stated that while her daughter was reversing the vehicle, the hybrid propulsion system message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 159,636.

See all problems of the 2013 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

Hybrid warning light suddenly came on indicating that I should pull over while I was driving on the freeway. I immediately veered to my left to get to the shoulder, as the car had already died, and I was moving only on momentum. I was almost hit by a car behind me. I waited a while, and the car restarted. The engine light came on and went away later that day. This was a Saturday, and I took the car to the dealership on Monday. This was not the first occurrence. The first time I experienced the same scenario and also almost got hit by a car as I was trying to get to the right shoulder. My car did not start in that incident, and I had to get it towed. The second time was again the same scenario, and it did restart. Each time I took it to the dealership. Each time they said they couldn't replicate the problem, and they made ancillary updates, which didn't help. The third time it happened, I was adamant that they fix it because they were at risk of serious liability because I was being placed in extreme danger. Further, it brought about much anxiety knowing that this could happen without warning at any time while driving. My car is still within the 100k warranty. The first time, they refused to address it under warranty, and they argued with me about it only to concede later that, in fact, it was covered under warranty.

The hybrid system broke down at 85k. Was replaced by kia after threatening legal action. At 103k. We never missed maintenance or a oil change. The engine through a rod on a 5 lane interstate doing 65mph, blowing and destroying the engine. Putting my family of 5 at serious risk. Kia wants 4500k or 8000k to replace the faulty engine. Optima engines were recalled for this exact reason. The Optima Hybrid engines were not recalled despite suffering the same failures as normal optima engines. Joining the class action.

See all problems of the 2012 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

When driving through a neighborhood between 20 - 25mph the hybrid warning light illuminated with overhead voice stating to pull over and not drive the vehicle any further. In the process of pulling over the car proceeded to lose all power. Electrical within car (lights, radio, etc. ) remained on but car was unable to accelerate and engine was completely off. The cause of the power loss is still unknown, however, we were running on hybrid power at the time. This, with the hybrid malfunction indicator light lead me to believe this is a problem with the hybrid system.

See all problems of the 2015 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

I literally just had my engine replaced (blew in August at 85k miles, dealership had my car for six months while I waited on an engine, cost $7k). I got my car back in mid-February. On March 25th, I was at a stop light, and when I accelerated, the car lagged and lurched forward. This continued any time I shifted into d or r, or came to a complete stop. I was out of town and the car was parked for two weeks. My partner drove it yesterday (4/11/19), checked fluids, and observed the lurch. As he was arriving home, the car lurched to a stop and gave a "hybrid system warning! safely stop and do not drive! we dropped it at the dealership. I bought the car for $9k, sunk another $7k into the car, and am now expected to pay $5k more on a transmission that didn't have any issues before. Kia has already stated that repairs at their dealerships aren't being performed correctly. This is getting ridiculous. I had to vdeal with massive economic hardship over the six months I didn't have a car, and now its going to start all over again and I will be $20k in the hole on this car. This is not how good, safe vehicles are built.

The vehicle has had a hybrid safety warning lighting up. It goes on and then the vehicle powers down to 25 mph. This happens at random when driving specially in cold weather.

Driving normally, hcu error popped up on nav display as well as drivers display. Told to pull over immediately and turn off engine. I was traveling on once he interstate, by the time I got into the emergency lane the car completely lost all power. Turned on emergency hazard lights and after 5 minutes the car was completely dead. Called a tow truck and brought it to rock river kia in rockdoed, IL. Later was told that the engine had seized and the hybrid battery was no longer holding a charge. Estimated 14,000 repair cost.

Engine oil leaking.

I was driving to drop off a friend and jumped on the highway. Everything was fine until I stopped at a stoplight coming off the highway and heard a knocking sound. I never got a check engine light or anything still to this day. I had it taken to the nearest kia dealership and they said 3 connecting rods are out and it has a cracked block. They quoted me $7600 to fix it. Its been 6 months and I havent been able to do anything with with. My insurance said they cant do anything and I had an extended warranty but I went over the mileage. I have gap insurance but the insurance company wont do anything about it. I know the other optimas are having the exact same issues but kia hasbt released a recall for the hybrids.

From a stop at a light or intersection, over seven (7) times the car has jolted forward and stopped abruptly, losing most power to the motor at that point. Audible alarms ring and the dashboard has read both "hybrid system warning! immediately stop and do not drive" and "check charging system". This has happened during left turns with oncoming traffic that then has to slow as I slowly creep out of the intersection.

Car stalled all of sudden with shudder on route 7 in virginia and then immediately was yaken into parking lot for safety reasons. In trying to park car would not shut off. The car was on for about fifteen minutes then randomly stopped. After another ten minutes car would not start and then randomly started. Car was ASAP driven with engine shudder back to home drivieway and parked for safety. Car now again would nit shut down and kept running. On bith times while car refused to shut down the gauge showed cehck engine eps light and indicated that car needs tk be put in park mode even though car was jn park mode. Gearbox would not shift and car did not recognize lower gear modes as it kept saying car is not in p. Dealer was contacted and they said they were closed due to weekend. Will now need to tow the car as it will not start since previous inability to shutoff probably has killed battery.

See all problems of the 2011 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

Takata recall: car at 35k mileage and displays �hybrid system warning, safely stop and do not drive�. Have been in and out of dealerships who still can't seem to figure out what the issue is. Also, seems like the battery is discharging while driving on the highway which is completely unsafe!! issues have yet been fixed!.

Without warning the engine overheated while driving in the highway. The engine made a loud noise and began smoking . . . The vehicle became immobilized I pulled off to the side of the road and opened the hood. There was so much smoke. The car turned on afterwards but the engine did not start. Within seconds the battery shutdown.

When driving my kia, as I approach a stop and the automatic transmission downshifts, the car will lurch forward - almost as if a car is hitting us from behind. It is forceful and happens frequently. Now, after only 5 years of ownership, the car has serious transmission problems. It is no longer safe to drive on the streets.

The orange square wrench light on the dashboard came on but as soon as the car was turned off would go away. No trouble codes showed up. It happened 3 times in a week so once it popped on, went to the dealership to diagnose while it was still running. While driving there, the car had very little power-making the left turn into the dealership (crossing heavy oncoming traffic) was scary since the gas pedal was to the floor and the vehicle was barely moving. The dealership said the drive motor temp sensor in the hybrid system was going out and the car was in safe mode and had code p0a2b in the history. Because I am the 2nd owner of the car, kia will not cover the repair under warranty even though the car is under 100,000 miles. They designed this part so the sensor cannot be replaced-the entire drive motor must be replaced at a cost of $6251. This is absolutely ridiculous that a customer can be left footing the bill for a faulty and unsafe design. This is not something that a owner has any control over.

Over the last month, I have been experiencing many transmission issues where the my 2012 kia Optima Hybrid is hard shifting between gears 2-3 and 5-6; same when down shifting. I have had to break extra long because of the downshifting, the car 'lurches' forward, and I fail to get sufficient power in the proper gear when I accelerate.

The contact owns a 2016 kia Optima Hybrid. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle stalled and lost power. The vehicle was towed to kia downtown los angeles (1945 s figueroa st, los angeles, CA 90007) where it was determined that there was an issue with the hybrid system. The dealer replaced the transmission, but the failure recurred and the vehicle was towed back to kia downtown los angeles. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Additionally, upon starting the vehicle, the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to kia downtown los angeles where the dealer stated that some wiring inside the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to potentially replace the vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 10,000.

See all problems of the 2016 Kia Motor Optima Hybrid 🔎.

Approaching a stop light, the automatic transmission started downshifting. As it went through each gear there was a short pause followed by a jerking car motion. Accelerating through the intersection, the engine started to rev like the clutch was out on the transmission. As I was on a busy state highway, this put me in danger of being hit. I managed to pull my car onto a side street, and the transmission continued to behave in this manner. There were no warning lights on the dash, or any sort of indication there was a problem with the car. I put the shifter into manual mode, and found that I could control the gear shifts well enough to get the car to the dealer. After 3 days at the dealer, they tried a reset to the relearn system and updates to the ecm/ecu as suggested by kia. The problem remained. Now they are talking about replacing the transmission, but kia cannot tell them when the transmissions will be available. The dealer has another car that has already been waiting for more than 3 weeks to have the transmission replaced. Failing transmissions are a serious safety issue, and when drivers have no warning that the system is failing it makes it even worse. The lack of available transmissions would indicate to me that they have a known problem that should be investigated.

Tl- the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated while in park and crashed into a garage door, without any warning. The contact pulled the vehicle out from the garage door and parked it again, but as she attempted to get out of the vehicle, it began to shake, jerked and was about to accelerate. At that point, the contact turned the vehicle off. The failure recurred a third time, but the contact was able to drive home and immediately notified the manufacturer of the failure. The contact was told to expect a call back within twenty-four hours. The failure mileage was 42,000. Fe.

I was driving down a city street (35mph) when I was cut off by another car making a turn in front of me and we collided. I t-boned his car and my air bags didnt got off. My car stalled completely and nothing about the vehicle safety equipment reacted to the crash. The system (cluster and screen) didnt show that there had been any impact and the car was ready to drive. I reported this to kia of downtown la (the dealer) and kiausa corporate where they offered to check the car out and see if the car reacted the way it was suppose to. At the end of their inspection they claimed that my car did what it was suppose to and didnt deploy the airbags as the car determined that is didnt need to. I asked why didnt the car show anywhere that there was impact and if the sensors even detected anything as there was no messaged anywhere. They claim it doesnt suppose to. A few weeks after it was repaired I started getting messages in the cluster "check air flap system". Took it back and fourth to the dealer where I finally opened a bbb claim. In my claim I also reported a delay reaction when accelerating and was told that hybrids work that way and the response time is slower than regular gas cars. The problem is when turning after a complete stop the car doesnt move for a few seconds and then takes off. Occasionally, the car wont turn off, and asks me to shift to p (park) when it is in park. When that happens I am forced to take it to the dealership where they have to "reset" the car to force it to turn off (no actual solution but to unplug the battery and plug it back in is what they do) according to kia I cant prove that the airbags dont work as I am not an expert and same with the drive train. Unfortunately the only way of finding out is if this car is involved in another accident. Thank you for your time.

While trying to accelerate, the car randomly has a 2-3 second delay before action. When the problem occurs, the car will coast out into traffic, which may be moving at high speeds. This leaves me exposed to getting hit on a frequent, but irregular basis, and I am afraid to drive the vehicle. The car can also have jerky motions and lunges when accelerating from a stop on an incline, posing a danger to pedestrians and cars nearby.

Upon acceleration from stop or low speed, brake warning message displayed instructing me to safely pull over and stop the vehicle. Additionally, essentially all warning lights displayed on the information screen. Warning lights began flashing and door locks began clicking on/off. Car became disabled after a short distance and car would not move forward when in drive. Required tow to dealer for service. Dealer scanned the vehicle and found over 20 history codes pointing towards a can issue. After vehicle was serviced and road tested, history codes were cleared by dealer on 5/24/2014. Same problem repeated under similar conditions on 5/28/2014 and again on 6/4/204. During the third incident, the car became disabled immediately after entering an intersection at low speed and could not be moved out of the intersection under its own power, creating a safety hazard with cross traffic waiting to enter the intersection. After the second occurrence, dealer service department was unable to diagnose the problem or repeat the conditions. After the third occurrence, the car became operable a short time after the incident after turning the car off and on again a few times. After each occurrence, the passenger air bag warning light remained in the history code. Currently awaiting response and diagnosis of problem by kia district parts service manager.

This car severely hesitates/stalls after coming to a stop at intersections (red lights, stop signs, yield signs, and etc). Car hesitates/stalls for 2-3 seconds before accelerating while at a dead stop. This has causes several near accidents and scares to my family, friends, and myself. This morning, I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and the car did not accelerate/respond until 2-3 seconds later. This is serious and dangerous problem, while pulling out into traffic incoming cars can close the safety gap quickly in 2-3 seconds. Cold weather causes the car to hesitate/stall more often than warmer weather. I urge the federal government to step in and force kia to find solution to this problem before this issue cause a fatality. Fuel economy is another issue in this car (hybrid), I typically don¿t get the estimated 35 mpg/city that the dealership sold me on, it is usually 28-30 mpg/city.

When applying gas pedal to pull away from a dead stop--such as a stop sign or red light---car stumbles and hesitates. At times car will not even respond when gas pedal is pushed. Push the gas pedal and nothing happens--then you push pedal a bit more and it jerks and shoots forward. Not a comfortable situation when trying to pull into traffic from a intersection. Happens virtually every time. Cold or warmed up--same problem--except a lot worse at cold start. Once above 30 mpg things smooth out--but the big danger is trying to pull out into traffic. I have been to the dealer several times. They do a re-flash or whatever--then tell me it drives normal. No fault with the dealer at all--they have been excellent really--but--can't fix the hesitation. But driving normal--that's not true. They know they have a problem with this hybrid system--there is a web page that addresses this problem---everyone has the same problem. I can't even allow a friend or one of my kids drive this car. If you don't know how the cars going to react---your open to a serious accident. I have had a camry hybrid and two prius hybrids--no problems. I know how a hybrid car should drive. This car is unsafe for the driver and other mortorists on the road. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).