Front passenger side door will mot open from the inside or outside causing you to be locked in the vehicle. Also when you try to open the door from inside the vehicle automatically locks the car. This is a safety hazard that needs to be address.
2006 Kia Optima body problems
12 complaints (8% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 61,300.
- owner complaints
- 12
- of this car's complaints
- 8%
- typical mileage
- 61,300
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Body6
- Body: door3
- Body: trunk lid1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Kia Optima body problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2006 Kia Optima owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Driver's side door will not open from either the inside or the outside. This is the second time that this has occurred but I was able to finally get the door open before and disengaged the actuator. As long as no one locked the door, it worked fine, however; mother recently had work done on her car and when they returned it, they locked the door. I've spent numerous hours trying to get the door open so that I can replace the mechanism and actuator but have been unsuccessful. After looking online, this seem to be an ongoing issue with kia, this is a dangerous condition and needs to be looked into. Not sure how little elderly people are expected to safely get out of their vehicles in case of an emergency. (this happened while stationary on a flat, paved road).
Once the doors are locked, they can not be unlocked from the inside. The key must be inserted into the drivers side lock cylinder (outside) and manipulated for several minutes back and forth while at the same time pulling on the handle until the right combination of force and timing allow the door to be opened.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia optima. While attempting to exit the vehicle, the front driver side door failed to unlock from the inside. The contact had to roll down the window and use the exterior door handle in order to unlock the door. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 40,000.
I can not open the passenger door.
It is a well-known issue with kia optima cars that the door latch is faulty, and after various lengths of time, it will stop unlocking. By no longer unlocking, I mean under any condition. Using a remote, using the key, even sitting in the vehicle pressing the button on the door or manually moving the indicator by the handle. This is a severe safety issue. In the event of a wreck or other emergency situation, it is impossible to exit the driver's side door on my kia optima. No matter what you attempt, the door will not open. When you unlock it using any of the aforementioned methods, the car will automatically re-lock the door as soon as you touch the handle, either interior or exterior. While I can understand normal wear and tear eating away at the component, there is absolutely no reason for the car to default to the lock position in the case of such wear and tear. A simple solution would be to have the latch default to the open position, which will allow persons to exit the vehicle in case of emergency. If this has not already cost individuals their life, I am sure it is only a matter of time. This needs to be corrected immediately, before it costs me my family.
The drivers side door lock will not unlock with the electrical button or manually. The lock only opens half way - pull handle to open - door automatically locks. Can't open door with key from outside. Must enter in passenger side door and climb over. Big danger as driving with children in the car.
I was trapped inside the car when the drivers door would not open by activating the inside door handle, the inside door unlock lever or the remote key fob. When I used the door handle nothing happened. When I pressed the inside door unlock lever I could hear the power unlock mechanism activate but the door would not open. Nor would the door open when the remote key fob unlock was pressed even though I could hear the unlock mechanism activate. The door latch would not release and allow the door to open. I had to crawl across the front console to exit the car thru the passenger door. Due to the small size of the car this could easily have been impossible with an injury or for an elderly person. In case of a fire where the only exit was thru the drivers door this would be a fatal component failure. After exiting thru the passenger door I tried to unlock the door with the key but the latch would not release the door. I tried pressing and releasing the remote unlock with and without the key multiple times using multiple combinations of the door handle, door unlock lever and remote key fob, nothing worked. This is a very dangerous situation. The door handle and door key should always function to allow exit from the car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 kia optima. The contact stated that he was unable to unlock and open the front driver's side door from the interior or exterior. After approximately twenty attempts, the contact was able to successfully unlock and open the door. The failure had since recurred on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was not taken to have the vehicle diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000.
Door jam on right back door and sun visors on right passenger over view just drops down in the passenger or child view thats causes one to become fearful.
Questions about the 2006 Kia Optima body
Does the 2006 Kia Optima have body problems?
Owners have filed 12 complaints about the body of the 2006 Kia Optima, 8% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2006 Kia Optima body problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 61,300 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2006 Kia Optima body?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Kia Optima have the most body problems?
The Kia Optima model years with the most body complaints are 2013 (127 complaints), 2015 (76 complaints) and 2014 (48 complaints).
Other 2006 Kia Optima problems
Airbags 46Locks 27Electrical 23Engine 16Lights 16Transmission 14Visibility 13Fuel system 9Acceleration 7Suspension 6Tires 5Seats 4Steering 2Seat belts 1Wheels 1
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