2012 Kia Optima Hybrid: jerking or lurching

Filed Apr 12, 2019 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · CA

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.

Filed Dec 1, 2017 · Engine · 116,000 miles · FL

At 116,000, while driving in city car would decelerate and jerked "hybrid warning system-do not drive" light came on. When backing out of parking space, car would jerk backwards. Took to dealer who diagnosed that it needed new transmission. Took car to my mechanic who provided better warranty on transmission work. Replacing transmission has not fixed car.

Filed Jun 14, 2017 · Engine · 108,189 miles · GA

While driving on a 4 lane highway, my car jerked and loss power, going from 60 MPH to 20 MPH. I had the car towed to the dealership and they said a threw an engine rod! The car had 108,189 miles on it. There is a nationwide recall on the kia optima already, but mine is not. It should! The bearing rods go out prematurely and that is exactly what mine did.

Filed Oct 26, 2016 · Transmission · 32,000 miles · NE

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.

Filed Mar 30, 2016 · Transmission · 86,000 miles · WA

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.

Filed Dec 14, 2015 · Acceleration · 42,000 miles · CA · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima hybrid. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated while in park and crashed into a garage door, without any warning. The contact reversed the vehicle and placed the vehicle in park. The contact mentioned when exiting the vehicle, it began to shake, jerk and attempted to accelerate. The vehicle was restarted however, the failure occurred on three occasions. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,000.

Filed May 18, 2015 · Acceleration · 39,000 miles · VA

Purchased the car used at 25000 miles from a dealership. Car was fine, smooth for about 10 months. Did oil changes as usual. Noticed some jerking recently when I would come to a complete stop but didn't really bother me at first. Then I noticed it was having trouble accelerating from a complete stop. It would sometimes take 3+ seconds for it to respond and start moving. The more I would come to a complete stop (bumper to bumper traffic) it would take longer to respond to accelerate. Couple days ago, I did the maintenance 30k service. I thought it would solve the problem but it still did its thing. I had the "hybrid system warning! Safely stop and do not drive" message happen twice..once after the maintenance. I took it back to kia and fortunately the guy did a test drive and replicated the issue with the lag. He also replicated the hybrid system warning message as well. I now have a loaner. Not sure how long it'll take but from the sounds of it from this forum, they dont know whats wrong. Hopefully I dont have to buy a new car =/ anyone with questions, email me at [xxx]@sbcglobal.net VIN unavailable information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).'

Filed Feb 16, 2015 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 18,000 miles · TX

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.