2007 Kia Optima problems
NHTSA has received 218 complaints about the 2007 Kia Optima, and 31% of them involve air bags. Next are wipers, windshield & visibility (15%) and lighting (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 218 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 31% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 20 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 miles 170 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 | 24 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 16 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 20 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 27 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 29 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 19 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 170 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 79,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 74,000 miles (52 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 20 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 9 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2007 ranks 14th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Kia Optima with enough data (104 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
While driving on hywy 80 west, hit black ice, lost control of vehicle. Vehicle spun and then flipped end over end causing extensive impact to front and rear of vehicle. Vehicle is equipped with 6 air bags. Not one of them deployed!!!! By the grace of god no one was killed. The two occupants were injured and had to have medical treatment.
Tl*the contact owns a 2007 kia optima. While driving 30 MPH, the anti-lock brakes failed. The contact veered off the road, drove into the embankment, and struck a tree. The rear end of the vehicle spun around and a tree crashed through the windshield. The vehicle flipped over and landed upright. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The vehicle was presumed to be completely destroyed. Kia stated that they would send out a representative to determine why the air bags and antilock brakes failed.
Parking brake indicator light, exterior lighting, brake lights. The rear stop lamp and tail lamp bulb have a definite malfunction. When pressing on the brake the lights blink and certain interior and exterior lights are affected. This is very dangerous and must be covered in the recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 kia optima. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated. The dealer diagnosed that the loose pin fitting air bag connector failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 102,000.