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What 107 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
1 of 107 complaints match · Brakes · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters
Jun 14, 2018Electrical systemBrakesCrash
TODAY I JUST GOT MY CAR BACK FROM THE DEALERSHIP YESTERDAY FOR THE BRAKES FAILING IN THE HYBRID SYSTEM THEY TOLD ME EVERYTHING WAS FINE BUT THE MECHANIC SAID TO ME THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CAR SO THEY LET ME LEAVE WITH IT I WAS IN LAKE WORTH TODAY DOING 45 MILES PER HOUR AND IT DID IT AGAIN AND SAID CHECK BRAKE CAR SHUT OFF MY BRAKES FAILED AND I RAN INTO A MEDIAN TO STOP MY CAR. KIA CORPORATION IS NOT DOING NOTHING ABOUT THIS THE DEALERSHIP DOES HE EVEN HAVE AN ANSWER FOR ME AND THAT IS GUNTHER KIA. I BELIEVE THAT I AM GOING TO DIE IF I DRIVE THIS CAR ANYMORE AND I HAVE A 4 YEAR OLD CHILD THAT THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT I HAVE COMPLAINED TO THE KIA CORPORATION 5 TIMES ALREADY
NHTSA ODI 11101949
Working with the data? Download all 107 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid verdict →