2006 Kia Optima air bags problems
46 complaints about air bags have been filed for the 2006 Kia Optima, which is 21% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 46 22% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 50,000 miles 35 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When air bags problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 13 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 35 air bags complaints that report mileage, the median is about 50,000 miles, and 54% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 1 crash, 2 injuries.
What owners wrote
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 kia optima. On august 3, 2008, the contact was involved in a three vehicle crash. Her vehicle crashed into the preceding vehicle and the air bag failed to deploy. On two occasions, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer because the air bag light kept illuminating. During the first repair, the dealer replaced a wire shortage. During the second repair, the wiring harness was replaced. The vehicle is currently at the tow yard. The manufacturer will be notified. The contact was injured.
Airbag- we started the car up and the airbag light came on and has not went off (other than when the car is shut down). After research discovered that an airbag failure was part of a recall for this model, but only for optima's manufactured from sept 2005 forward. This one was manufactured a few weeks prior, yet has the same problem. After a google search, the issue can be found on optima's with a manufacture date as far back as april of 2005. The recall needs to be expanded to all 2006 models.
Other problems reported for the 2006 Kia Optima
- Latches & locks 27 complaints
- Electrical system 23 complaints
- Engine 16 complaints
- Lighting 16 complaints