What 228 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Kia Optima Phev

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal odor and a knocking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The issue persisted. The contact stated that the vehicle was later returned to the dealer to be repaired under a service campaign involving the engine control unit (ECU). Shortly after the vehicle was repaired, the ECU failure message was displayed. The vehicle subsequently became inoperable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 1,500.

NHTSA ODI 11745997

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a standing start the vehicle had experience sever jerking and hesitation. Also, the vehicle has experience oil consumption problems and the contact constantly added engine oil. The cause of the failures were not determine. Also, the hood latch had malfunctioned and the hood could not opened to add oil to the engine. The cause of the failures were not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failures but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 121,000.

NHTSA ODI 11736008

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal with the oil warning light flashing on the instrument panel. The contact's friend initially inspected the vehicle and discovered that the engine oil was empty. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where a diagnostic test was performed, and the mechanic discovered oil around the engine; however, the source of the leak was not discovered. The contact was informed that an engine valve was sealed and that the failure was repaired. Despite the repair, the failure persisted, and the oil light was frequently illuminated on the instrument panel. The engine oil level was checked and was extremely low. The dealer had not offered any additional assistance for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact made several attempts to reach the manufacturer but was unsuccessful. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

NHTSA ODI 11681328

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle shuddered and stalled. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road. The vehicle was able to restart but was shuddering significantly. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a fractured valve in cylinder #1. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and confirmed that the maintenance records of the vehicle were satisfactory; however, the manufacturer denied assistance and informed the contact that the failure was not a factory defect but was due to wear and tear. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.

NHTSA ODI 11649251

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.

NHTSA ODI 11631816

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the spark plugs had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine had failed and needed to be replaced. The contact was informed by the dealer that the repair could not be covered due to the poor maintenance of the vehicle; however, upon providing all the maintenance records, the dealer informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired unless the engine had fully seized. The dealer offered a trade-in offer; however, the contact declined the offer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 111,000.

NHTSA ODI 11627569

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The engine and oil warning lights were flashing on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who performed an oil consumption test. The vehicle failed the oil consumption test and determined that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, Monroeville Kia (3721 William Penn Hwy, Monroeville, PA 15146); who informed the contact there was no recall coverage on the VIN for the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11616664

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal amount of smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The contact inspected the dipstick and discovered that the engine oil level was low. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

NHTSA ODI 11590383

The contact’s sister owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The contact stated that engine oil needed to be added every 2-3 weeks. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle received an unknown repair; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with valve cover gasket failure. The valve cover gasket was replaced however, the failure persisted. The failure persisted and the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that there was an oil leak as well as there was excessive oil consumption. The independent mechanic stated that the engine might need to be replaced; however, a diagnostic result was not confirmed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 98,000.

NHTSA ODI 11590203

The contact owns a 2018 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle was losing motive power. The contact stated that there were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to stop; however, after numerous attempts to restart the vehicle, the contact had the vehicle towed to the residence. The vehicle was later towed to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle and determined that the engine had seized and needed to be replaced. The contact stated that prior to the stall, the vehicle had been consuming an abnormal amount of engine oil. The contact stated that he was adding a quart of oil every week. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.

NHTSA ODI 11570857

My engine is under a million mile warranty because it burns 1qt oil/1,000 miles. My engine burns just under 2 quarts of oil about 800 miles. For long trips, this is very unsafe because my engine is going seize or burnout on the highway at some point. This will put my life and possibly that of other drivers at significant risk.

NHTSA ODI 11546867

Car is burning to much oil and have to change oil every three thousand miles

NHTSA ODI 11541341

My car had been consuming 2 quarts every 1,000 miles for the past 3-4 months and the kia dealership told me that the best thing i could do is keep getting an oil change. So one day i tried starting my car and it starting shaking and turned off so i turned it back on and it shut off again. I jump started it and it shut off again and i jump started it again but it never turned on. All of the problems that i have has been confirmed by the dealership (Open Road Automotive) My engine is all the way messed up, my fuel pump was messed up .My engine light came on after this and i just keep having problems with my car. I seen that kia keeps having these problems but i chose to get my car anyways because I love kias cars but I will have to switch if these problems are not solved with my car and i get new parts on my car because these are failing parts not because of me. I’m having So many problems with my car right now and it’s been costing me a lot of money .It’s at the shop right now and it’s been at the shop for maybe 2 weeks now. I can’t get a rental because they are only covering $40 a day and they are charging me $200 a day. So please help me with these problems and get these problems fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11521243