Dt: 2002 kia optima lx. There is an electrical problem with the vehicle. The lights will start to flicker, and then the vehicle will lose power and shut everything down. When the temperature was around 80-90 degrees and at long distances this problem will happen. The dealership changed the battery twice, the alternator twice, the main wiring harness, and the main computer for the vehicle. This still did not fix the problem. Consumer took vehicle back to the dealership when the power wentout on 7-14-05. This caused consumer's vehicle to run a stop sign , and hit another vehicle, causing both vehicles to be totaled. The brakes went out as a result of the power outage, and could not stop the vehicle. Also, there was no steering. The vehicle was not overheating. The airbags did not deploy. Everything electrical failed with the vehicle. The fire department disconnected both batteries to prevent fire from happening. When they did this it deleted all the codes that would have told dealer what the problem was. The mechanic said that there was battery acid all over the computer, they still were unable to identify the problem. The electrical problems have been happening since purchase. Consumer has contacted the kia manufacturer at least ten times, complaint numbers for the first was 24306, on 7-18-03, and the last was on 9-13-04, complaint . 56482. When the consumer contacted the manufacture after the accident they said they wanted a copy of the police report and pictures of the vehicle after the accident.
2002 Kia Optima airbags complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 19 of 19, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving an accident occurred. The vehicle flipped after hitting a pole. Upon impact, the frontal/side air bags did not deploy. *ak *sc the consumer had a diabetic emergency and collapsed at the wehel.
While driving at any speed air bag warning light illuminated. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
My 2002 kia optima was in an accident on august 30th 2004. My daughter was driving west bound, a school bus driving east bound made a left turn in front of my daughter. She hit the bus at about 50 MPH. No air bag deployed. I am interested in knowing if this has happened before. It was a full frontal impact. Thank god for seat belts.
The air bag warning light came on 7 times while driving. Dealership replaced the driver's side seat that contained the side air bag because it was faulty, and installed a new air bag control module. Also, they reprogrammed the air bag sensor several times, but the light still came back on. Vehicle was involved in 2 frontal collisions in which the air bags did not deploy.
While at a complete stop because of road construction, the consumer's vehicle was rear ended by another vehicle at 40 MPH. Upon impact, none of the frontal air bags deployed, and the driver's side seat belt failed to retract. Also, driver's side seat back reclined backwards onto the rear seat. Driver sustained severe bruises to chest/breast bone/lungs/heart/lower abdominal, and left leg. *ak
Purchased car brand new on april 30, 2003 - incident #1: july 15, 2003, I was traveling about 30-35 miles per hour exiting the mass pike exit at route 30. All traffic was slowing to exit - I applied the brakes - went all the way down - realized that the breaks were not working - panicked - impacted the vehicle in front of me. The airbags did not work. Incident #2: august 8, 2003, when vehicle was repaired the owner of bucci's auto body took the car in the parking lot for a test drive. At about 15 miles per hour - when brakes were applied the front freezed up and the back pushed forward to create a lunge forward effect. I contacted kia motor america in irvine, ca and have a complaint file number. After about 1 month of doing nothing I demanded, on august 8th, that they tow the car from the body shop to boch kia (where the car was purchased)and check out the master cylinder/proportionate value system. They did so and on august 12th I was told that an engineer looked at the car and found nothing wrong. Kia refuses to stand accountable and alledges that the vehicle has no problem. I am forced to drive a car that has bad brakes until 2 more incidents happen in order to proceed under the massachusetts lemon law. Every model of kia in 2002 has had hydraulic as well as ABS break failure. Seems to me that kia needs to redesign the braking system - or - perhaps try this new tag line in advertising: kia - buy our car - just don't ever have to stop fast!
Problems with air bag equipment on 2002 kia optima. *mr a large piece of rubber had come off the tire of a semi-truck and when the consumer tried to avoid hitting it, he lost control of the vehicle and hit a wall divider. *scc
The vehicle was involved in a frontal collision, and the air bags did not deploy.*jb....
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2002 Kia Optima?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history