2012 Kia Optima Hybrid problems
NHTSA has received 155 complaints about the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid, and 48% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (14%) and brakes (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 155 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 48% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 87,000 miles 139 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 12 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 12 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 6 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 26 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 33 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 24 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 10 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 11 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 139 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 87,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 95,000 miles (71 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Kia Optima Hybrid with enough data (65 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On 11/3, my wife was in accident in our optima, wherein she was t-boned. She was driving approximately 30MPH, when another driver drove through a stop sign and, presumably, accelerated into the middle of the driver side of our car. None of the airbags deployed, and we're convinced that one should have. After speaking to the body shop, they tell me that "the sensors are designed to deploy only when the car is hit just the right way." likewise, kia responded that, "it's our opinion (based on a photograph I provided)…
(my report is exactly the same as id 10552403) this car severely hesitates/stalls after coming to a stop (red lights, stop signs, yield signs, and etc). Car hesitates/stalls for ~2-3 seconds before accelerating while at a dead stop. This has caused several near accidents. When it happens, I push the gas pedal to the floor and the car doesn't respond at all for about 2-3 seconds. This seems to be a serious problem when pulling out into traffic as incoming cars can close the safety gap quickly in 2-3 seconds.
Takata recall I just recently purchased my hybrid in december. With it being winter, I of course did not use the air conditioning unit. Now as it is summer, I have used the AC. Each time I use the AC the motor starts making an extremely loud noise, and the AC at times stops working. With that, the temp gauge goes out of control. The vehicle may be stationary or in motion, and at any speed the motor will increase in noise.