2014 Kia Optima Hybrid problems
NHTSA has received 51 complaints about the 2014 Kia Optima Hybrid, and 31% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (22%) and cruise control (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 51 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 31% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 12 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 41,000 miles 47 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 | 18 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 7 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 47 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 41,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 52,000 miles (16 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 12 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 6 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2014 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the Kia Optima Hybrid with enough data (44 complaints in that window).
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.
While trying to park the car in the parking lot structure, the car accelerated beyond control on it's own and hit the wall head on. I was already in my parking spot and only few feet away when the car accelerated. The passenger air bag was deployed and body damage occurred. Everything happened so suddenly, I am not sure about the speed at the time of impact.
I was at a stop light waiting my turn, the light turned green, and I took my foot off the brake to put it on the gas. As I pressed the gas my car started to shake, no acceleration, and my dash lit up stating "hybrid system not charged pull over and turn off engine" I turned off my car, tried to restart it and it stated that my hev system (hybrid electric vehicle system) has failed. I luckily was beside a gas station and I threw it into neutral and was able to push it just into the parking section.
Tl* the contact owns a 2014 kia optima hybrid. While driving various speeds, the check engine, hev, tire pressure monitoring, and oil change warning indicators illuminated. In addition, the engine stalled. The contact pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road. The dealer recalibrated the hybrid electric starter generator. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred four other times. The vehicle was taken to the same dealer all each time where they recalibrated the charging system.