What 916 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Kia Optima

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder however, the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 143,000.

NHTSA ODI 11530469

The engine is knocking and stalling out. Lawrence Kia has had my car for three weeks, and nothing has been done. After investigating the issue, the failure is related to NHTSA Campaign Number 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The recall is to replace engines. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 104,000.

NHTSA ODI 11525688

We have tried numerous times to get Vanguard Kia in Arlington, TX to address the recall on the engine. They have only updated a short term fix which is a software update. It will be 2 years in October that we have been trying to get the recalled engine replaced. They updated in their system that they replaced the engine but the same old engine still remains in the vehicle. They have charged us for many other repair issues and now tell us they don’t know what is wrong with the vehicle and can offer no solutions. We have repeatedly asked for them to correct their error and they refuse. I believe individuals working for the dealership may have fraudulently reported addressing the recall engine and may have kept it. We have reached out to Kia and have not heard a response. Is this legal?

NHTSA ODI 11525467

I tried to speak with Kia about a recall the engine on my making model I remember seeing it on your guises website this issue was never fixed and I’m currently having issues with my engine and they’re refusing to replace it. I’m trying to avoid a lawsuit and a serious accident because of the way my car is acting up. It is accumulating me a check engine, light, as well as a oil light I’ve brought the car in many times to vanguard kia and they could not figure out what was wrong with the car , and holding it for week the two times i brought it in and it seems as if you’re continuing to drive it is creating more issues because I had to pay $1300 out of my own pocket because my engine started overheating because it has a problem that kia could not find but is showing signs of the recall that was on this year make and model , VIN and everything the car currently will jerk whenever I’m going let’s say this speed limit 60 it will downshift all the way to 30 now this can cause a horrible, horrible accident

NHTSA ODI 11525147

My engine went out on my 2012 Kia optima hybrid in 2022. I was not aware of a recall on the engines. We paid for repair. Can we get reimbursed? Also we are now having issues with the braking system and the abs light is coming on. I see that there is a recall on this. Can this get repaired? I uploaded receipt well bank statement showing purchase from Martin imports in the amount of $1391. And we were charged $700 to put motor in.

NHTSA ODI 11522556

the engine failed at 152000. it had a recall .so i took it in at 91000 and complained of the rod nock.and was told they checked the rod bearing clearance .and found nothing .i again took the car in again at around 111000 miles and complained of the rod nock again.and again was told they see no problem now im with out a car

NHTSA ODI 11520278

Unknown

NHTSA ODI 11520052

.I recently have actually found out about the recall concerning my engine. Manufacture SC148. NHTSA recall 17V224m I called a dealership. When I asked them about the recalls this one was not mentioned. I wanted to ensure I was reading that properly. Can you explain what that means as far as the engine

NHTSA ODI 11516568

I was driving down the highway going 75 mph and all of a sudden my car tells me pull over safely do not drive and it shut down while I'm driving. It never turned back on. It started smoking and you could see orange light coming through the vents. I was stuck on a [XXX] bridge for 4 hours and I missed court that day. I called Kia and they came to pick up my car. They said it was free because my car has been recalled but ever since they've had it, they stop answering my phone calls and emails and now they are trying to charge me 5000 to get my car back and fixed. Before any of this happened, I noticed an oil leak at the gas station but was unsure whether it came from my car or not. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11509246

After careful inspection by certified auto mechanics at the service shop, "American Muscle" it has been determined that my Kia Optima 2012 2.0L Turbo has metal shavings in it from prematurely-worn bearings. While driving, my car suddenly went into limp mode from a knock sensor alarm while on the freeway. I took it to a professional repair shop, and they looked in the oil pan and found metal shavings from the bearings, both gold in color and silver in color. There was no engine light on prior to this event. It happened suddenly under normal, safe operation. It seems very similar to engine recalls of the same year and model due to metal shavings that resulted from engine manufacturing process causing premature wear of bearings. I have photos and video of the vehicle, the engine and oil pan with metal shavings present. The vehicle shows 100,667 miles at the time of the vehicle inspection.

NHTSA ODI 11503539

My car keeps slowing down while driving. The breaks are squeaking and rubbing and making a loud sound. The lights keeping coming up on the dash board

NHTSA ODI 11501398

My engine has blown. No check engine light warning was given. Now the dealer says they will not replace the engine and it will cost me 10,000 for the repair.

NHTSA ODI 11499013

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving up an incline at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact became aware of smoke coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the knock sensor had failed and needed to be replaced. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

NHTSA ODI 11493513

Oil leaking out top of engine causing it to smoke could cause a fire

NHTSA ODI 11493366

New engine installed in 2018. New turbo installed in 2020. Started to loose oil daily. Checked it daily to add oil. The week before engine failure it had no power. Took to a mechanic who replaced the air filter and the sparkplugs. The next day, 10 miles form my house the oil light came on and then the engine light came on and died. I pulled over to the side of the highway. Diagnosis: Needs new engine and Turbo.

NHTSA ODI 11492271

Blown engine

NHTSA ODI 11491721

I had a recall on my engine back into 2018. They replaced my engine due the engine block being defective. Check engine light came before it stalled out. Now currently the vehicle is undrivable due to the head gasket blowing out on same engine that was replaced. They're telling me there's warranty on the engine they can't fix it.

NHTSA ODI 11490362

The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and the power steering and power brake assist also failed. The contact stated that the check engine, check oil, and battery warnings were illuminated. The contact pulled over, stopped, and had the vehicle towed to his residence. The vehicle had not been taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.

NHTSA ODI 11489332

I am original owner of car. I recently noticed the car start to burn oil at a dangerous rate. The car ultimately at one point stalled in an intersection with my daughter driving. The mechanic stated the solenoids were clogged. There are no oil leaks. There was a recall for certain types of engine issues for this car but I never received a recall. The dealer states there is nothing they can do.

NHTSA ODI 11481880

The contact's daughter owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that her daughter inserted the key in the ignition and attempted to start the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to start. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the VIN was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11479008

After the rod bearing engine replacement was preformed. My engine light came on a few days after picking it up from dealer. I immediately reported it to the dealer that I need to bring it in mainly for smog check, and no response. 2 weeks later I told them about it again. No response. 3 weeks later began a fuel smell and I immediately reported that as the smell got stronger. No response. 3 days later the fuel smell was really bad and I was really worried about a fire. This time I called general manager and he never provided any advice or return call. 3 hours later the engine caught on fire. Car is totaled and I could of been seriously injured. I sent pictures and thanked them for their negligence. He finally gave me a phone number for consumer affairs. showed no remorse and claimed that the new engine they just put in has no warranty and they are not responsible. If they would of directed me to bring back in. Or bring it somewhere. Or tell me not to drive it. But completely ignored me. And had the nerve to let me know that was their 4th fire this week. Kia management needs to step it up. I was denied a loaner or rental. And they will try to get back to me by Friday. You must put a stop to this behavior asap!

NHTSA ODI 11478723

Engine light keeps flashing and car stalls and will not go over 45 mph. One incident happened on a busy highway as merged on and was almost hit by a tractor trailer from behind.

NHTSA ODI 11477311

Vehicle suddenly cut off and lost power. Upon cutting back off check engine was blinking as well as oil light. Was left to sit over night as it wasn’t safe to drive home and would not restart. The following morning the car started but was hesitant driven less than 20 miles home which struggled to accelerate and check engine light was illuminated along with oil light coming on . Oil was in the car at the time. Parked in front of home additional oil added oil light then oil light cut off until ac is turned on . Car was turned on and sitting and a knocking noise began . Left to sit the next day then taken to jiffy lube where a reading came on the scanner that it was the crank shaft was then ordered to go to a repair shop where it was diagnosed the engine is blown and that oil was basically being burned even with a maintain of oil changes therefore this caused metal to metal contact . The engine is now seized up and the vehicle is sitting outside of home. Vehicle is unsafe to drive upon further research cars 2011-2019 with the same engine have caught fire or failed . Due to this there is now a class act suit theta ii with Kia .

NHTSA ODI 11476459

My car caught on fire while driving from somewhere near the engine. The fire was so severe that fire department nor my insurance company were able to determine cause of fire and I’d only had vehicle for 45 days, it was a single owner with no accidents and maintained its entire life up to that point. I am requesting someone to examine vehicle and tell me how this possibly happened.

NHTSA ODI 11472604

I was driving my 2012 dia optima approximately 55 mph and without warning the engine died killing power to steering and brakes.....tried starting it back up heard the fuel pump kick on good ground all the basics then I began to google possible issues and saw there were serious engine issues where the car either spews high pressure gas and potentially catches fire or bearing wear where the engine will shut off without warning.....I typed vin in said my vehicle was part of the theta II GDI engine recall so I called the 800 number where they told me that there were 2 recalls that needed to be done "before" the engine fails and that my vehicle had only had one of the two so I would have to pay to have it towed (315$) to local dealership to have diagnosed and tech line opened. I dropped it off on Saturday the 28th of may and was told due to holiday weekend it would be Tuesday the 2nd they would call well finally yesterday june 15th they finally called and the fella told us it wasn't covered and it would cost 8000$ for them to put an engine in or I could sell it to them for 300 or 400$. I called corporate immediately after speaking with ole dude the lady asked what the diagnostic came up with because my car is covered under lifetime warranty for the bearing issue in fact and doesn't matter about the fuel issue. She seems to think that he never even put on diagnostic machine she tried calling him 4 times from headquarters and was ignored each time. They never tried contacting me which was a registered owner or my wife who is now and even as far back as my little brother who I bought the car off of it was still registered in original owners and according to what I read they were supposed to actively seek out vehicle owners through registration etc because of danger and then in my opinion dude tried to hustle me knowing the car was actually covered telling me no and giving 400 then turn it in get new motor and make 10k....I did not smell fuel when I popped hood so I know

NHTSA ODI 11469516