2013 Kia Optima: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Nov 7, 2025 · Brakes, Electrical · FL

While I was driving on this day [XXX] all of a sudden my car started to shut down and I couldn’t give my vehicle any gas really. I got a hybrid system warning, and my red brake light came on, and I got indicator for me to check the brake. My brakes felt like they were grinding and hitting the ground. I managed to get my Kia into the dealership where the service manager, Jose looked at my car briefly. Of a visual inspection he said that the brake pads looked good, but your brakes are hitting the ground. He charged me a diagnosis. I told him to check to see if there are any recalls active, he said I do see a recall, but this doesn’t have anything to do with your car. The next day I heard from the service manager told me I have an update. I have attached the diagnosis of my car. This is what they say needs to be repaired in my vehicle. I asked my service advisor questions about how related the recalled part was to the issue. You can see the conversation in the pictures. At this point, I created a case with you all when he started to argue over terminology. I had a conversation on the phone with Jose and my service advisor later where they then told me that there is no recall that is showing up. I said I need to look over this because I saw a recall there. I verified this and messaged the advisor back. There were no further conversation conversations over the phone. Everything was done over messages and you can see them below. I was being threatened to be charged storage fees. And they said that they performed the recall, but the car was not confirmed to be in drivable condition. I did not go by to pick the car up. I called corporate numerous times. I was told on one day any additional information from text messages is not needed. Until Alicia gave me the email and said to please send over the info. I called the corporate office, the corporate office did not do anything to solve the situation. My car is still not drivable condition. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S

Filed Jan 15, 2025 · Brakes · UT

Was driving home and the brake light came on and dash said to pull over brakes started to grind as I pressed on them took it in and couldn’t find the problem looked online and a lot of people with my car are having the same problem read that there was a recall for the brake module 21V331000.

Filed Feb 27, 2024 · Brakes, Electrical · CA · crash

I was driving up the [XXX] north and where [XXX] merges to [XXX] I'm going 65mph on the far left side, and my dash starts beeping and reads WARNING STOP VEHICLE CHECK BRAKES. MY brakes go out, pedal to the floor sounding like grinding gears and doing some major damage, my acceleration stopped working. The [XXX] is merging on the left side so i had to avoid major traffic. I am a driver with skill as i dodge slowed and stopped vehicles, and get to the shoulder before [XXX]. I call for roadside assistance because kia says its free and its not. I was looking around the engine to see what the heck and unplugged the hybrid fuse and battery from back and suddenly it worked again and drive it home and right before I park I made a right turn, and it started beeping again, and this time it stayed this way. I almost lost my life, and I did lose my job because of it. GLENDALE'S CARSPRO KIA SERVICE DEPARTMENT IS THE WORST DEPARTMENT EVER!, they would not help me get a tow, I paid for the tow. THEY CHARGED CLOSE TO 5 GRAND FOR A REPAIR, Hydraulic brake booster module, AND A COUPLE HUNDRED FOR THERE HIGHEST SERVICE OPTION (Changing fluids, wipers, wash, detail, etc) this was a huge mistake and took nearly two months! My car had dust on it THEY DID NOT EVEN CHECK THE PRESSURE I HAD IN MY ALL 4 TIRES (EMPTIED UNTIL 25PSI) I started the vehicle and it started to hiccup as I idle I asked for the manager (a tall husky middle eastern guy with long hair and glasses). He replied "DOES YOUR CAR HAVE A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON" I said "no" he said "comeback when it does." I have received paper work from KIA corp stating that i could be reimbursed. I sent that document in and never herd from them again. I call customer service i even went to the Service dept and THEY ERASED MY SERVICE RECORD! Finally happened, with my car still Hiccuping, Rare ShutoffAlarm. I exit fw on green Light, made left; Alarm, No brakes, No gas, Hit curb, Near PEDESTRIANS, Trans Leaks, Part Recalled, No Results, New problem! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FR

Filed Sep 20, 2021 · Engine · CA

I was driving my 2013 Kia Optima on the freeway. Perfectly functioning until the vehicle just stalled while driving 60-70 mph. All the lights came on including the check engine light. I had to pull to the side and turn off my vehicle. Then it turned right back on and continued driving perfectly. Until the next day, I was driving on the highway and it was running perfect. Until I turned in a corner and my car stalled once again. This time the check engine light stayed on when I turned the vehicle back on. Then it started making this loud metal grinding noise. So I had to drive slow and the car almost shut down. I got it towed 70 miles back home. My car was running perfectly fine until that happened. It is a engine bearing knocking noise every time I start the car. It could be in the oil pan of the engine that is making that noise. This put my safety at risk on the highway because I couldn't get more speed when my foot was on the petal and my car was slowing down slowly. There was lots of traffic so I had to avoid slowing down to quick before I got stuck in the lanes. So I had to put my blinkers on and pull to the side. The side was a little narrow because the cars were driving right beside mines and it was a busy highway. I thought I'd get hit but thankfully I didn't and pulled safely to the side. I researched about this problem and it is pretty common with people that have the Kia Optima 2013. And its recalled for that problem. So my confirmation is from researching it on the internet. Yes the problem has been confirmed by Kia because they got law suited for it and that's why they had recalls. My vehicle will be inspected by the manufacturer on September 28th. There was no warning signs or symbols of the car before that problem happened. It just happened instantly and it had me worried. The car was running perfectly fine getting to places. There was no problems prior to this. It first appeared on September 12th, 2021.

Filed Dec 17, 2020 · Brakes · 163 miles · GA

First I had to replace my transmission then I started getting a warning message stating hybrid system warning safety. Followed by check brakes warning. This occured while I was at a stop light.the breaks completely go out and begin to make a loud grinding sound. Once I shut the car off fir about 30-60 minutes the light goes out until the next occurance. Prior to losing all break control the car is fine. This persisted to a point that I cannot driive the vehicle. The dealership finally diagnosed the issue as a hydraulic problem and could be fixed for $2700. This is a kia manufacturing issue and kia should be responsible to fix it. I did submit a complaint to kia consumer affairs to no avail. Please help with this issue or put this on a recall list. This is a safety hazard.

Filed May 26, 2020 · Acceleration, Engine · 84,000 miles · MO

On may 10, 2020 @7:32 am I was driving home from work and came to a stop light when the light turned green my car stalled and all the lights on the dashboard turned on. I pulled over and started the back up and made it home. The next day I drove about 10 miles and the car seemed fine but as I get to the stop light the car started making a grinding sound like metal and I couldn't accelerate so I pulled over and the car died in a residential area. The next morning I call aaa and had car towed back to my home. The next day aaa came out again and checked my battery, starter, and system something and they were all working good. I called steve schmitt kia on halls ferry road and asked was there another recall on my car for the engine, the lady paused and then said "we don't have the parts yet, " she then said hold on and came back and said "we don't have any recalls on this car. On october the 1 , 2019 I took my car to kia for a recall on my motor and looking at the receipt they replaced element air filter, adjusted alignment four wheels, mount and balance 2 tires, replaced cabin air filter plus a oil change which I paid for. My car has been sitting since may 13, 2020 . I frequently go out and check it and it starts and I hear a knocking sound .( engine fail) *tr *bf

Filed Mar 16, 2020 · Fuel system, Transmission · 115,000 miles · MO

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 kia optima. Contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to cable dahmer of kansas city located at (555 w 103rd st, kansas city, mo 64114 (816) 284-7240) where, the contact was informed that the transmission was defective. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the turbo oil feeder line was fractured and needed to be replaced. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 20v100000 (fuel system, gasoline) as a possible solution to the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted or notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

Filed Mar 15, 2020 · Acceleration, Engine · 86,337 miles · IL

I was on the expressway and went to move to the second lane it was fine except I my car began to stall and slow down making this grinding noise when I tried to gain speed... All the lights came on and I couldn't go faster than 30 miles per hour. All while incoming traffic was coming at me going about 60 miles per hour I had to gain composure. Put on my hazards and pull over... It wouldn't let me go above 20 when I pulled over.... I was freaking scared once I pulled over I was shaking and crying had to gain composure... I believe I caught this on my dash cam. I [xxx] hate this kia... It by grace my kids weren't in the car with me and that the van behind me switched lanes at the last second.... I have taken my kia 2 times to the kia repair dealership, the first one was free the second time I had to pay 145 just to be seen. Mind you I went to the kia repair dealership in berwyn and they say it's fine.... It's not fine that my car couldn't go above 30 miles on the express way, it's not fine that I was almost in a collision it's not fine. Kia will not repair these cars until someone dies.... I can't take this chance with my children. I will borrow my mom's toyota until this problem is rectified. I am a single mom my kids only source of income and support I don't have time to be off from an injury that may occur or lack of reliable transportation. I will have to see if my dash cam caught the incident before my car shut off... I will send it later if it did. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Mar 6, 2020 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · RI

I had the engine replaced around 85000 miles, at dealer with recall. Now at 140000 the transmission is making a bad grinding noise when accelerating and slowing down, noise starts about 15 MPH all the way to highway speeds. At highway speeds if I put the car in neutral, the sound goes away. As I put car back in drive the grinding noise reappears. The noise does not change while gear changes, only when put in neutral.

Filed Sep 12, 2019 · Engine · 112,500 miles · FL

I was driving home a few guys I work with and had no previous issues with the engine before, and on my drive home I was sitting at a red light as the car started to shake uncontrollably. The light then turned green and I casually followed the speed of the traffic no more than 150 ft before the motor started squealing and knocking, come to find out it's a recall the regular kia optimas have, it's spun a bearing in the 3rd cylinder and kia refuses to replace it saying that it isn't covered because it's the hybrid with the same issue. Kia needs to own up to it. I used this vehicle as a work transport and has always had its maintenance done. Now I'm out a vehicle and kia is ignoring my messages to them. I'm very unsatisfied with the way kia has treated me. No one has reached out to me, just ignoring me as a customer. Dissatisfaction, major dissatisfaction.

Filed Feb 5, 2019 · Engine · 85,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 kia optima. While the vehicle was undergoing an oil change at montrose kia in sheffield (5033 detroit rd, sheffield, oh 44054, (440) 934-6699), the contact was informed that the VIN was included in an unknown recall regarding the engine. The dealer inspected the vehicle, stated that everything was fine, and removed the recall from the VIN. Afterwards, the contact heard a grinding noise coming from the engine when driving and accelerating from a complete stop. The contact was waiting to schedule a follow-up appointment with the dealer. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 85,000.

Filed Jan 28, 2019 · Engine · 79,105 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 kia optima. While driving approximately 40 MPH, the check engine warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that there was a grinding noise coming from the engine while attempting to restart the vehicle. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 12631362. The approximate failure mileage was 79,105.