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What 136 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Kia Optima

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.

All (136)Crash / fire / injury (8)Engine (91)Transmission & drivetrain (25)Electrical system (12)Fuel system (9)Engine & cooling (8)Airbags (7)Brakes (7)Speed control (6)Driver assistance (5)Seat belts (4)

1 of 136 complaints match · Driver assistance · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jan 11, 2023BrakesDriver assistanceCrash

ABS module is faulty. Confirmed by professional auto shops and it’s a safety risk. Without this working properly, my car refuses to brake sometimes. Will not automatically stop when it needs to due to the spongy, unresponsive brake pedal. Kia / Hyundai have known about this for years and continues to sell these vehicles that WILL kill myself or someone else on the road.

NHTSA ODI 11501369

Working with the data? Download all 136 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 2020 Kia Optima verdict →