The engine seized. Ive been waiting for this recall. Kia has had tis vehicle for a month and I can't seem to get the approval for the current recall. It was in motion driving at 30 miles per hour smoke came from the engine and never turned on again.it was 300 downtown salt lake city. A city street. We had the vehicle towed home. The dealership seized the engine and quoted us 6500.00 to fix the entire car. Replace the engine.
2011 Kia Optima lights complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 88, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Low beam headlights illuminate so little, only lighting approximately 10 feet in front of the car. This has become extremely dangerous and a major safety issue.
The passenger airbag lights will flash, my lights won't turn off when on auto, my radio is turning on and off by itself and is doing some weird things
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 kia optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the rear brake light failed to illuminate properly with the brake pedal depressed. The traction control warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that when the vehicle was turned on, the transmission shifter became difficult to move without depressing the brake pedal. An appointment was scheduled at the dealer bob bell kia of baltimore (7900 eastern ave, baltimore, md 21224) to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 13v114000 (service brakes, hydraulic, exterior lighting) as a possible solution to the failure however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
The low beam headlights on this vehicle are extremely dim. It is dangerous to drive at night. The only safe way to drive is with the high beams which endangers other drivers on the road. There are thousands of other kia optima drivers with the same problem but kia won't acknowledge or fix the issue.
The low beams on this vehicle are dangerous. We purchased it for our daughter and now are scared to let her drive it at night. The high beams seem to be fine but when the low beams are on you can not see anything. Very dangerous
So one of the kia dealers in the state of maine replaced the motor in our 2011 optima, ever since then our air conditioning system has not been working. I've had it tested and recharged. Still no acc. I have diagnosed no power to the AC pump. Also the headlights have new bulbs in low beam and are dim..??
2011 kia optima was purchased in 2014 with low headlight beams output, has since detoriated to almost non existent. Have replaced headlight bulbs several times trying to improve light quality and has not resolved this issue in any way. Had planned on keeping this car forever as I have replaced the engine once already but I'm at a loss, u simply can not safely drive this vehicle at night! So upon research I found this is a very big and common problem for kia owners. Clearly it is a safety issue, but there has been no servicing or recalls offered to correct this for us drivers. With the suggested resolution for this problem being a new housing/assembly at $1,000 or more that is completely not a feasible resolution to be achieved financially by way of the average driver as those repairs are way to costly, kia should have already jumped in and offered some safety recalls! Also worth noting, I have changed the headlights many times just do to them burning out, not sure if that is because of whatever underlying problem there is for these lights initially or maybe because of aftermarket lights, etc. Please please address this issue soon!! My regards, *complaint form asks is there was a crash with only yes or no options to answer as. There needs to be an added field with "there is going to be"!
The low beams on this car are almost non existent. I have to drive with my high beams on to see anything in front of the car. It's so bad that when a car is behind me there is the shadow of my car from the headlights behind me. I brought to the gary rome kia in january who told me it wasn't covered under the lifetime headlight warranty because the foil in headlight housing is intact. It is a major hazard and I don't know what to do. I have had this problem since I bought the car but is getting progressively worse. Car has 109k on it.*dt*ln *tr the consumer submitted a photo of the vehicle with the dim lights. The consumer stated minimizes driving at night or if driving she would have to use the high beams in order to see at night.
Driving at night has been near impossible. I have gone to two different dealerships with no results. There was a recall, but the dealership said my car did not show signs for the recall.
My car have lot of problems in side
Dim headlamps due to deteriorating reflective coating on low beam housing.
Problem with kia door sensor light staying on when all doors are shut tight. I've gotten (3) three jumps and purchased a new battery because this sensor is draining my battery. When the sensor is on it won't allow me to secure the car. If I use the clicker it won't lock because the sensor light is on. I never know when I go to the car if it will actually start or not. I'm trying to get the dealership to unplug the sensor. Had to call tow truck on: jan 1, jan 17 and jan 19
The low beam headlights have continuously become dimmer over time. After replacing the bulbs a second time, I determined that it was clearly not a bulb issue. There was absolutely no light directly in front of the car, only to the sides. The high beams are fine. After reading on line thousands of complaints, I took my car to a dealer. Bulldog kia in athens, ga told me that there was in fact a service issue (she would not say recall), but because nothing in my headlight assembly was "broken or cracked" they couldn't replace it. And since I didn't buy the bulb from kia, that was the problem. I purchased the exact bulb recommended for this year, make and model. Kia was going to charge me $1,000 to replace the headlight assemblies. The new assemblies would be exactly the same as the ones that are currently bad. Nothing has been changed! If you look at any kia optima on the road that is more than 3 or 4 years old, you will see the same dark area in front of the car, with a lot of light shooting out to the sides. Since this is my daughters car for college, I purchased new headlight assemblies on line for $285 and replaced them myself and used LED bulbs to prevent the "burning" of the chrome plating inside the assembly that apparently cause the others to go bad. This is a tremendous safety hazard. Anyone who replaces the bulb thinks that they are fixing the problem, and therefore are driving in inadequate lighting. Please, please do something to force kia to recall and replace these headlight assemblies before needless accidents happen causing injury or death. My daughter was overwhelmed by the additional vision that she now has with her new LED lights. She only told me because she had friends that didn't feel safe riding in her car at night. So she brought it to my attention. I am appalled that kia is avoiding this major issue. Please take action asap. Thank you.
Headlights are too dim. Using low beam lights at night does not illuminate the road at all. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 3 times and it does not fix the problem.
The low beam headlights are so dim they're barely visible at night. The reflective coating inside the light housing flakes from getting hot. This should be recalled
My kia 2011 interior dome light goes on & off while driving. It's dangerous at night because the light goes on & off while driving
My college student daughter drives the vehicle and is unable to see sufficiently at night while driving. The lights are too dim to safely see at night. The car was taken to the local kia dealership and we were told it would be $1,000 to repair the wiring problem that is well known to the dealership. We were unable to afford to make the repair and the dealership told her to drive with her bright lights on while driving at night which could cause other drivers issues.
Low beam head lighting is very very poor.
Headlights are so dim you can barely see using low beam lights and high beams are barely brighter than regular beams on other cars. Have replaced the headlight bulbs 4 times and it has never changed the problem. Engine seized up with no warning or mechanical signs when driving down the road.
My electronic stability control light came on after pressing the brake on a wet street while my vehicle was in motion. The next day I went to get a oil change and noticed that my tail lights did not work when I pressed the brakes. My tail lights work but the tail lights did not. I changed the bulbs and the problem still persisted. I also changed the brake light pedal switch but that did not fix the problem. My turn signal lights fail to work all the time.
I have 2011 kia optima sx with hid headlights and they have been dim for a long time. They became noticeably dim in 2015 and have ever since been dim and have had a noticeable change in the light pattern. This is not caused by foggy or yellowing plastic as the headlights have been protected by a clear plastic protective "sticker bra" ever since the care was purchased new in july 2011. The headlights are experience the same issue as other owners of the car, deterioration of the internal reflector for the hid headlight. As a result the light pattern becomes altered or dim. It is dangerous to drive at night with this car. The headlight have been replaced with no improvement in the lighting output or pattern. This is similar consistent with many owners of the same models. Kia has issued a warranty extension but the dealer needs to provide a video that shows flaking of the reflector between the space where the bulb is and the clear lens cap. This is not the reflector behind the bulb that would affect the light pattern. Dealers do not look at the light pattern as it is not part of the diagnostic steps. They only look for flaking of the reflector between the space where the bulb is and the clear lens cap which would seem to be more cosmetic then functional.
Right low beam needed constant changing (1 every 4-6 months). Within the last 6 months, I had changed the bulb, 2 weeks later, the low beam light was not working again. Noticed a white film on inside of light assembly. Upon investigation, I discovered the wiring caught fire and melted the connector for the light bulb. I purchased a new assembly, only to have the exact same thing happen. This is a huge safety concern. Firstly, the low beam lighting is absolutely horrible in this car to begin with, now I'm running off of one light. After looking into complaints online, I see this problem is prevalent across the board with this car. Kia is a multi million dollar company, you need to stand behind your product and have the mindset of putting your customers safety as a priority. I work as a firefighter/emt and I'd hate to arrive on scene of someone that was killed due to kia's faulty unsafe product. Especially of one that could be prevented by fixing these problems that you know is a manufacturer defect. Shame on you kia for putting people at risk.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 kia optima. The contact stated that the low beam headlights illuminated too low at night. The contact replaced the bulbs; however, the failure recurred. The contact read that the housing for the low beam headlights were burning out due to the receptive strip melting when the front beams were being used. The contact took the vehicle to hagerstown kia (located at 10307 auto place, hagerstown, md 21740, 866‑404‑6114) where it was currently being diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 114,000.
The battery indicator light came on then while driving down the road, the battery discharge kept popping up on the display then went out. About 10 minutes further, I lost power steering. I managed to get to base even though I ran a red light and stop sign because the car started spurttering and feeling like it was getting ready to stall. Once I managed to get to a parking lot, my headlights went out but I still had dash lights. All the error lights came across my dashboard. I took the battery to advance, they said it was low. They charged it and said it needed replaced. The battery indicator was still lit so I took it and they checked the alternator and said it was dead. I took it and had it rebuilt. Everything seemed to work ok.
I have continued to replace my headlight and taillight over a 5 month period. I was stopped the other day because my brake light and tail light weren't working. I replaced the lights and the brake light wasnt effectively working but the turn signal was working. Now today the brake light and turn signal are working but my light that makes the car visible at night isn't and my yellow lights on the headlights only work when I press the brake.
Low beam lights are very dull while driving at night (lens covers are still clear). Kia sent an extended warranty about the lights and the dealer replaced a wiring harness for the lights, the letter also stated they will check the headlight assembly and replace if this is the problem. Kia will not do this replacement for the headlight assembly. The wiring harness for the lights did not solve the problem of very dull low beam lights while driving at night and kia will not honor what's in their warranty letter.
The wiring in the headlamp assembly is faulty.this is a known issue across dealers and aftermarket shops. Headlights appear very dim and give out low or no light. It's not the bulbs. The whole headlamp needs to be recalled for wiring issues.
Sometime toward the end of 2017, I noticed that my dome light no longer illuminated when the doors were opened. I can still use the interior lights manually, though this usually leads to forgetting and leaving them on. I live in wa, it is often dark around 4 pm and grey throughout the day. I feel this is a huge safety issue, as I cannot see who is in my car before entering when in a parking lot. Also, my 5-year-old has a hard time buckling her own car seat belt since she cannot see the buckle. This is an inconvenience and with crime rates rising, it makes me feel uncomfortable going out alone, knowing that nobody can see what is going on while I am buckling her in. The chances of being mugged or worse go up, my safety is worth the $400, however, I should not have to pay to have a malfunction in the vehicle fixed. The reason I feel this should be a recall is because of the 3 kia's we own, 2 of them have this same issue of the interior lights only working manually and not activated with opening the door. My wife's 2014 kia sorento dome light stopped working when the doors were opened around december of 2018. Both of us have over 60,000 miles on our vehicle at the time of the malfunction. I was quoted over $400 to have this repaired. When looking at forums, it looks as though it is a connection that wiggles loose. I am sure that if 2 of our kia's have this issue, it is highly likely many more kia owners have the same issue. Kia should be responsible to fix this safety issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 kia optima. The contact received an unknown recall letter from the manufacturer regarding the headlight assembly. The contact took the vehicle to kia of new bern (1715a us-70, new bern, nc 28560, (252) 638-6161) and they stated that the recall would not be honored because the vehicle was not under warranty. The manufacturer stated that they were not trained on this issue and the recall would not be valid. The contact had not experienced a failure.
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