driver side door lock does not open using the arm rest switch. wife was in the car could reach the switch but not the unlatch lever . Car was overheating with Ac on with keys in the ignition . Had to have her roll down the passenger door window to manually open the rear passenger side door . From the rear seat I could reach the lever and unlock the door. If I could not it would have been a fire hazard.
2005 Kia Optima: doors won't lock, open or latch
65 of the 144 complaints about the 2005 Kia Optima describe doors won't lock, open or latch.
- owner complaints
- 65
- of this car's complaints
- 45%
- typical repair cost reported
- $400
- typical mileage
- 88,521
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 1 service bulletin covers this area of the car. See below
Doors won't lock, open or latch by model year
What owners say
Drivers side door locking mechanism malfunction. Mechanism will not allow the door to unlock, therefore the door can not be opened. Driver must climb out of passenger side.
I am a disabled woman who became trapped in her own car because the lock mechanism on the door would not open nor could I roll down the window. This is unacceptable. I tried to climb over the gearshift to try the passenger door and hurt my back in the process. I called 911 for help
Closed driver's door and door would not reopen. I took car to auto shop and mechanic finally got door to open after about an hour and a half. He thought he had repaired the door and closed it, but when he tried to open the door for final inspection, again it would not open normally and upon further inspection he found the door lock mechanisms were not functioning correctly from the way they had been manufactured. And there was a recall on the kia door lock mechanisms including my car's year, make and model. I am concerned this is a serious hazard, especially since I transport small children, some in car seats. My car is an older car and I would like all four locks replaced with 'up to standard' locks.
Locked car after buying it used drivers door will not unlock. Multiple complaints online about this problem. My daughter was going to drive this thing. Kia dealer did not even mention this to me, but did say it was 200 minimum. I hope this gets investigated. In an accident the door will never open. I drove the car home and after 2 hours it will not unlock.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 kia optima. While in park, the automatic door locks failed. The contact attempted to use the remote for entry and heard a clicking noise. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 128,000.
Drivers side door will not open, this has happened several times. When you pull on the outside handle it will make all the doors lock sometimes. I thought this was an isolated case, but there are several other compliants with this same issue. This is a severe safety issue if the car was in a crash.
For the last few years the driver's side door lock has not worked properly. It will lock without problem but then will not unlock. It cannot be unlocked from within the vehicle at all. To unlock it from outside requires that the door be unlocked at the same time the door handles is pulled open. It requires multiple tries to get it right - usually it takes a few minutes of playing with the door handle and key to get it to work properly.
I believe this problem should be a recall. This is a safety issue and needs to be corrected by the manufacturer. We had the same problem where the driver door would not open no matter what you did,. It wouldn't open from the inside or the outside. All the other doors would open, but the driver door. If you opened it with the key it clicked, but when you pulled the handle to open the door it would lock.. In order to get out of the car my husband, who has a bad back had to climb over the center console. You wouldn't be able to get out in an emergency and this issue needs to be addressed. Another issue that we are having is we are always replacing bulbs in the headlights and taillights; about once a month. We are forever getting pulled over by the police to tell us our headlight or taillight is out. There seems to be a lot of electrical problems with this car and they need to be addressed. The repair cost for the door was $400.00 and we should be refunded as well as everyone else who has paid to repair this defective issue.
Driver's side door would not open. You could click it and it would sound like it was going to open, but it didn't. Had to drive to a kia store and have the whole assembly replaced at the tune of $450. Interestingly enough, they did not seem to think this was a common problem, but I can see there are hundreds of complaints about this problem. I had my two year old grandson in the back seat and was very worried about getting stuck in the car. If this happens again, I will sell the car. There seem to be a lot of electrical problems on this car. I replace the headlights and taillights regularly (about once a month) and I am always having the engine light come on, when there is nothing wrong. How many of these complaints do you need before something is done? Or does someone have to get killed first?
Driver's door will not open, from either inside or outside. The locking mechanism will not unlock, leaving no easy access or exit to or from the driver's seat. This is quite a hazard as the operator could become trapped in the car in an emergency (and the problem has been reported all over the internet for some years now as being very common to this particular car). Why has the federal safety agency been ignoring this problem? *tr....updated 12/09/15 *bf updated 08/30/2017
My passenger side door will not unlock, and can not be opened from inside or outside of the vehicle. The only way to exit the vehicle is to either crawl out of the window or crawl over the center console. My fear is if in the event of emergency the door would not open and we would be sick in the vehicle.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2005 Kia Optima door locks
Is doors won't lock, open or latch a common problem on the 2005 Kia Optima?
65 of 144 owner complaints about the 2005 Kia Optima (45%) mention doors won't lock, open or latch. The model year with the most reports is 2004.
How much does it cost to fix doors won't lock, open or latch on the 2005 Kia Optima?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $400 (median of 6 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2005 Kia Optima?
There are 0 recalls and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2005 Kia Optima
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