2016 Kia Optima complaints

Vehicle uses about 4 quarts of oil every 1000 miles. I have to get oil changes every 1500 miles and add oil every 1000 miles. The car is not reliable and oil light comes on every 1000-1500 miles after oil change. Today the emissions light came on and I could not drive over 60 mph, after taking it to mechanic it was over 3.5 quarts low of oil but no oil light came on. The mechanic put 3.5 quarts of oil in and I had to pay for oil and labor, also to put the car on the computer to see the issue. I will never buy a Kia again. There should be a recall on this 2016 Kia Optima.

I was on [XXX] and had already traveled over 300 miles with no previous issues at all on the trip. I had just stopped at a gas station and there were no odd smells or sounds. There also no warning light on the dash. Suddenly, I lost all power and at the same time my engine light and oil light came on. Before I could make it from the inside lane across two lanes of 70-80 mph traffic at a rapidly declining speed, my motor started knocking. My engine is seized up because of lack of oil when I just had an oil change less than 1,000 miles ago. I'm lucky [XXX] traffic didn't run me over before I could get out of the way. How is this same issue not a recall yet when people are at risk. Had someone not been paying attention to people In front of them my lack of ability to drive my car could have caused a horrible accident! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I was told that my engine had a recall on it so I had an upcoming appointment with Kia in like 2 weeks for them to check my engine but the car didn’t make it. I was driving my car on interstate 20 my car had began to have a bad chemical smell and started smoking so I pulled over on the interstate and my car was in flames. Me and my daughter was in the car we could have lost our lives thank God we were able to make it out just in time. The fire department came and made a report on the incident. It wasn’t any engine light on at the time. I have contacted Kia about the tragedy that has happened but nothing has been resolved yet.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. The vehicle was restarted several times; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with oil leaking into the spark plugs causing an engine misfire. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed with engine failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

Vehicle is defectively unsafe, and unreliable due to PCM not functioning properly!!!

Our ac keeps blowing relays. every month. and they other day we have to force power bank to the blower motor just to get it to work. half the inside and sometimes the even the outside lights works.

Was on highway, engine seized, flashing engine light and knlocking noise, car went into limp mode, took to dealership code p1326 was thrown which is engine failure, I have had the knock sensor installed thru kia prior which put me in lifetime warranty for the engine, kia dealership did a diagnostic BCT, which is a 4 to 5 hour job at the most, kia called me in less than 2 hours and told me is passed the BCT ! there is no way they did the testing in less than 2 hours, and no way it passed with engine light blinking and knocking, that's what the sensor detects is engine failure, they are refusing to honor my warranty for the new engine , picked up my car from. Dealership, soon as I hit the end of the parking lot engine seized and loud knocking noise, was barely drivable but yet the lied on the paperwork and said it drives as designed and was fine, put in a new knock sensor which they already did a month ago! went right back in to dealership and they told me because it supposedly passed there was nothing they could do! R u kidding me!? They were rude and not wanting to help or honor my engine replacement, so here I am with a seized engine and they tell me nothing they can do till it fails the BCT! THE DAM CAR IS IN ENGINE FAILURE! In the last 3 months I have put 3k in this car! What is it gonna take for them to honor the new engine? Gonna take me, my kids, or someone else getting hurt before they do what they said they would do? I have been in contact with corporate as well and t

UNKNOWN

Vehicle first went into “limp mode” and dealer said high voltage recall needed to be done. Worked ok for a while then again “limp mode” dealer said knock sensor recall was happening and knock sensor was replaced. Few weeks ago limp mode again, all during car was moving in traffic. Car currently sitting at a Kia dealer, knock sensor again, haven’t heard from Kia regarding engine replacement

The Hybrid Battery continues to malfunction and, randomly shuts down at any speed (even after short engine block was "repaired" by Kia Dealership). Also, an odor of burnt oil happens often while driving the car. It is available for inspection, if need be. Safety of all drivers at risk because car shuts down on freeways and highways. It's dangerous where cars driving at speeds of 65 mph are unable to break and avoid collision. Kia calls their RECALLS "CAMPAIGNS". The Kia dealer has acknowledged this problem and has performed maintenance, however the problem still persists. I have the recent receipt of service/ maintenance on my 2016 Kia Optima Hybrid on hand. The first time it happened was on September 25, 2021. There were no warning lights or messages, the car simply shut down and had no power and was not drivable. I took it to a hybrid mechanic who ran a diagnostic test. The hybrid mechanic repaired my car. 6 months later, while I was driving my car seized on me while I was driving on the freeway going 65 miles an hour. This time a warning on my dashboard showed that there was a problem with the hybrid control system on the car. We took it to a Kia dealership and they performed a diagnostic test and said that I needed a new short engine block and hybrid battery replacement. (I have the receipts for the maintenance performed by Kia Dealership) It took 3 months for The Kia dealership to rebuild the engine block and replace the Hybrid battery. On March 7, 2024, my 2016 Kia opti

The Car has been to the dealer several times for a transmission judder update under TSB: TRA 083 and Recently TSB TRA 098 - Both Times they have done a Anti-Judder Logic Improvement. The Car still Judders and Its a big safety concern. Many times I will go to pull out into oncoming traffic and the judder can be so bad the car wont take off. This happens several times a month. I have complained about this since I bought the car and primarily they blamed it on being a Dual clutch transmission. Years later they have now 2 TSB and the issue is not solving the problem. The imparticular dealer that I use has told me they have never had to change out the clutch on this car and dont have the tools. They also said the way that kia uses software to monitor the judder never warrants a change in the dual clutch. I believe that Kia should take responsibility and install their new updated transmission into this car.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH, the passenger side drive shaft fractured. The vehicle stalled and was unable to be restarted. The vehicle was pushed to the side of the road and then towed to the local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired as of yet. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving in the rain at unknown speeds the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle did not respond and began to hydroplane. The vehicle swerved left and right, when the vehicle in front moved to the side, the contact's vehicle continued to roll until the brakes responded. The vehicle came to a stop and no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they did not diagnose or repair it. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was stated that new tires may help and the tires were replaced. The failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Lost power while driving. Likely seized engine.

While driving home on the interstate the vehicle had a sudden loss of power. No warning lights or check engine lights were on prior to this incident. The vehicle would not start and I had it towed to a dealership who told me that the engine was low on oil and that KIA would not be covering the engine replacement. I provided the dealership/KIA with all of my service records showing that I had performed all maintenance to my vehicle at KIA dealerships and that I had never skipped any recommended repairs. I also pointed out that there was never any notes made that I should be monitoring for excessive engine oil consumption or that I had a leak anywhere to be found. Despite having all of my records in order, all of my services performed at a KIA dealership and in a timely manner, no low oil lights that came on to notify me that it was dangerously low on oil, and the known issues and recalls to these engines for this exact issue; KIA stood firm that this was not their problem and they would be doing nothing to assist me in the matter. This sudden loss of power on the interstate fortunately did not, but easily could have caused a fatal accident for me and those around me at the time and also could have caused a fire to start in the vehicle which could have been fatal as well.

The engine almost caught on fire. Windows are all down .

Engine failure; oil consumption, misfire, smoking, losing sped, no acceleration. Problem has been diagnosed by 3 mechanics in a mechanic shop. Only warning was the check engine light

My engine has been consuming oil since 30,000 miles. It consumes in excess of 1 qt per 500 miles. There's zero dripping oil from under my car, it's all being consumed. I've lost power and gone into limp mode because it's consumed too much oil and ran dry in between regular oil changes. Kia has not helped me. I've done more than 5 consumption tests with a Kia dealer. And now Kia says that it's a warranty event. However they will not accept my warranty event without evidence of every self oil change such as receipts for oil filters or oil. I don't have all of these records so Kia refuses to repair my vehicle.

Snow White Pearl paint is flying off of my car in big splotches.

Heavy oil consumption , unintended acceleration , car jerks . Back window occasionally won’t roll down .

The high voltage battery and the ability to drive or turn on completely

I'm noticing that I'm burning oil frequently. I started to notice this becoming an issue summer of 2023. Once when I get an oil change about 3-4 Weeks later my oil light comes on. Then I would have to put oil and my car. The dealership always ask me if I'm sure that I want an oil change because I haven't hit my time for an oil change. 26th Feb 2024 I spoke with Kia Customer Care and they stated that this is not an issue and that oil consumption is not under warranty. I stated that I didn't inquire about the oil consumption. I repeated my question asking if it's a known issue that the Kia optimas burn oil. Angel the customer care representative stated that it isnt. However, I started how is when I took my car to numerous dealerships and mechanics that they all said the same thing. That I spoke to a Kia dealership before I called and they stated that it was a known issue. Once when I said that, Angel changed her story and said yes that it is a known issue but all cars burn oil. I asked was there a solution for this issue. Angel then repeated the same thing and I said thank you for your time and got off the phone. Needless to say there was no solution made.

My 2016 Optima started burning a quart of oil at 60000 miles I am now burning over 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles. I took it to the dealership where I bought it from and was they would change my oil to do an oil consumption test and I was to drive it no more than 1000 miles. I brought up my warranty for engine replacement and was told yes I do have warranty. I drove it just under 1000 miles took it back, was told I was burning oil but I would need to do an engine flush 1st, for the cost of $600. I told the young women that was not what she said. I have been dealing with this issue since 2021. I don’t know if you can help me or not , if not can you give me any advice Thank you (I am not sure of the exact dates that it started)

Engine is burning 2qts of oil every 500-900 miles. Risk of engine seizing during drive.

Oil light continues to come on only after 1 month of a 5 quart oil change. Only driving about 300 miles a month. Have taken it to a kia dealership where they said there was no oil leak. Took it to a private mechanic for a second opinion where I monitored my miles after an oil change and they found that it is an engine problem and the engine is burning my oil. This has been happening for the past 6 months. I did not have the mechanic fix the issue as it should be covered through the manufacturers warranty.

When I was coming home from work my car lost power and didn’t accelerate anymore when I was on the freeway. I almost didn’t make it to the shoulder when trying to pull over. Every single light I could imagine came on when I was trying to pull over, It said check hybrid system, BSP system failed, etc. All the lights came on at once. My car didn’t start, so I had to wait on the side of the freeway at 4am for a ride and a tow. Kia told me that I need service records to prove that I was up on my maintenance and that the reason my engine failed was at no fault of my own, But I am up on maintenance. That same dealership had my car in February 2023 and said my car was in perfect condition and up on maintenance, I just needed a new transmission. Now just a year later, Suddenly my engine failed and they are saying it might be because I didn’t get oil changes. There are recalls on Kia engines made in 2016 but for some reason my car isn’t included in the recall even though I know I took car of my car and that engine just wasn’t good.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the turbo booster sensor and turbo charger. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 114,000.

Since 08/07/21 I’ve been having intermittent issues with my oil light and engine light coming on. I have had all repairs recommended by the Mark KIA Scottsdale, AZ dealership yet my oil consumption has increased significantly and the oil light continues to come on: On 02/14/24 I took my car to a local auto repair shop to get a second opinion due to the oil light coming off and on; they found the engine oil very low and only 1 quart came out when doing the oil change; they also recommended injection induction service which I’ve had done twice previously with the KIA dealership

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the camshaft sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The camshaft sensor was replaced but the failure persisted. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 125,000.

Engine is burning 2qts of oil every 500-900 miles. Risk of engine seizing during drive or engine compartment fire…both very dangerous for occupants of vehicle. Case opened with Kia…no response back.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she became aware that the driver's side window was not functioning. After which, all the windows in the vehicle failed to operate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with all four window regulators. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.

Constantly burning oil every 500 - 1,000 miles. There is a huge issue with these engines there needs to be a recall to replace or fix these engines.

I’m having oil consumption problems. I had this car since 2022 every time I get an oil change and drive 1000 or less miles my oil light comes on when braking or turning vehicle. As well as a knocking sound and the car runs very rough. I put more oil in every time even getting oil change done before I’m supposed to spending extra money and time just to ride in this car. I took it to serval shops no leak was spotted in fact they said my drain plug may need to be replaced. I changed the drain plug twice as that’s not the issue but I’m still having a low to no oil in vehicle. I also was told that i have a cloud of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe when I hit the gas another problem. More recently after an oil change I’ve noticed a small oil leak spots on the ground. This should be a recall as a lot of Kia owners are dealing with this issue. Help

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle began sputtering. The check engine warning light was flashing. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact pulled over and heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed her that the code P1326 (Knock Sensor Failure) was retrieved. The mechanic informed the contact that an engine replacement was needed. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

Earlier this week, I went to the grocery store and noticed that the antenna cover had fallen off my car during the drive. Nothing unusual had happened on the way. In fact, the only thing unusual over the last few weeks was some rather cold temperatures for Georgia. I did look up recalls and saw that there was a recall for this item for Kia Optimas from 2016, but a service technician said that the recall did not include my vehicle. Is it possible that the recall is not inclusive of all vehicles with a problem? This is a surprisingly expensive repair for me otherwise. Thanks for your consideration and I appreciate any guidance you can give me.

I see there is recall on some Kia Optima with the oil being loss and knocking of the engine. I keep up the maintenance on my car and this particular issue is happening with my car. Why is there only some optimas recall for this issue.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the oil pressure switch. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin Number: 237. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 45,000.

Starting to burn oil started it at 40,000 miles it burns 3 quarts in less than a 1,000 miles worrying that it might be one of this that catch on fire

2.4 motor burns excessive amount of oil, has a serious loss of power. The dealer informed me the only way to get a new motor or get it fixed is for motor to blow. The dealer informed me that this is a common problem with 2016 kia 2.4 motors. Currently burning 5 qts of oil every 2-3 weeks. Fouling spark plugs every 4-6 months. Car hesitate to take off even with accelerator to floor

Engine failure . Engine failed on highway car wouldn’t go past 15 MPH. Then suddenly accelerated

My 2016 kia optima shut off on me and would not start on December 20th 2023. I had the vehicle towed to bergeys kia and they looked at the vehicle and said that it was the engine and it would cost between $6,000-10,000 to replace the engine. The vehicle has never had any problems. I do not bring my car to kia for oil changes because it is really expensive so we do that at home and kia is telling me they can’t fix my engine because I do not have a receipt of the maintenance. The engine has a recall and I was never notified about it. My vehicle was in their shop on September 6th 2023 and I was not notified then either. I am a single mother and I currently do not have a vehicle to take my son to and from school or to get to work. The engine is recalled so I think Kia needs to fix this.

My car burns lots of oil also hear motor knocking with oil in it.

Engine light is blinking

While we were driving home (3 people in my car), with no notice, my car lost complete acceleration and broke down while we were on the highway. We hardly had notice to understand what was happening, let alone the other cars/people behind us on the highway where we almost got hit before being able to pull over to the side of the highway. We then had to wait for a tow-truck, again, on the shoulder of a very busy highway. Later, I came to find out that this was "sudden and unexpected engine failure" that occurs in multiple models of Kia and Hyundai that was included in the Hyundai and Kia Engine Litigation, Case No. 8:17-cv-00838, and Hyundai and Kia Engine Litigation II, No. 8:18-cv-02223-JLS-JDE, New Theta II Class Action Lawsuit. Unfortunately, this was the first time I had heard of this, as I'd never received any recalls or notices for my car around this, even though my car is a part of this. As I am in contact with Kia Customer Care attempting to resolve this issue - which has been an awful experience so far - they have informed me that the RECALL CAMPAIGN PI1802B - PI1802 ECU UPGRADE - is a "product improvement" instead of a safety issue, in which I COMPLETELY disagree! This put the 3 people inside my car at the time of the engine failure in danger on the highway with zero notice except for when it happened, as well as the other people/cars on the highway surrounding my car. Clearly this has been a much wider issue for Kia and Hyundai that has called for class action lawsu

My Kia Optima randomly stops working while driving. I get a notice that says, "HEV: Check Hybrid System. Stop Vehicle and Turn Off Engine." Also the gas pedal stops working, leaving me to try to coast to safety. The car essentially stops working in the middle of driving, without warning. Once this happened and blew out the spark plug, requiring a new one. Then, a day or two later, the car returns to normal. The Kia dealership could not reproduce the problem, nor could my service center. They say it's fine. I took my car in for previous recalls, and it is currently "up to date." This appears to be the same electrical issue as a recent recall for electrical failure, but the dealership told me the spark plug was fine and that I should change the battery. I did and this still happened. I do not feel safe driving this car, and Kia won't help me find the problem.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle decelerated and went into LIMP Mode. The vehicle failed to go over 2,000 RPM. The vehicle was shaking and shuddering violently. There was a loud knocking sound detected at 1,500 RPM. There was an abnormal odor detected from the exhaust pipe. The check engine warning light was illuminated and flashing. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The engine was replaced on three occasions. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer, who replaced the engine and catalytic converter. The vehicle was taken to another local dealer, Kia Coughlin of Lancaster (784 N Columbus St., Lancaster, OH 43130), where it was diagnosed and determined that an engine replacement was needed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the local dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 144,635.

I bought this car with just under 48k miles September 2023, it had a very small chip on the bumper that I assumed was from a rock. After driving this car for a while, I noticed that chip got bigger and eventually other parts of my bumper and hood started bubbling and chipping as well.90% of my bumper is now lacking paint and it’s starting to chip on my hood more. I’ve only driven it an additional 12k miles since I’ve bought it. Auto body shops are saying it’s delaminating and it’s common in this color.

Loss of power. Was driving across a 4 lane intersection and the vehicle lost power. The engine light came on. I stopped and check the oil and it was 2 quarts low. We had just changed oil less than 2,000 mikes ago. I tool the car to parts store and they said it was a p0309 code. That #4 cylinder misfire. It was either coil or spark plug. I replaced both coil and spark plugs 15,000 miles ago. The plug was covered in oil had black oiley substance covered on the spark area. I had similar loss of power due to oil burning 15,000 miles ago. The car has 97,720. This is an ongoing safety issue.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop immediately. The contact depressed the brake pedal harder and the vehicle stopped. The vehicle was taken to the dealer the following day and the dealer was not able to identify a failure with the vehicle brakes although the transmission was adjusted. The contact stated that the failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. There were no warning lights illuminated at the time of the failure. The dealer contacted the manufacturer, and a field inspector was sent to the dealer to inspect the vehicle. The failure mileage was 92000.

The contact owns a 2016 Kia Optima. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle after several attempts, the contact checked the engine and checked the oil level and found that the oil was extremely low. The contact added 3-quarts of oil and was able to start the vehicle. The contact observed that the vehicle would intermittently lose power and nearly stalled. The contact became aware that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil and was adding 2-quarts of oil every two weeks. The contact checked for oil leaks and found none. The contact stated that the check oil warning light had illuminated once. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where an oil consumption test was conducted. The consumption test determined that the vehicle was consuming a high amount of oil. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 165,000.