2013 Kia Optima air bags problems

63 complaints about air bags have been filed for the 2013 Kia Optima, which is 3% of all its NHTSA complaints.

Complaints: 63 3% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage: 86,000 miles 35 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires: 18 and 1
Injuries and deaths: 12 and 1

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When air bags problems show up

Based on 35 complaints that include mileage. 23% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.

View the numbers

Mileage	Complaints
0k to 20k miles	3
20k to 40k miles	2
40k to 60k miles	3
60k to 80k miles	7
80k to 100k miles	7
100k to 120k miles	6
120k to 140k miles	5
140k to 160k miles	1
160k to 180k miles	1
180k to 200k miles	0
200k+ miles	0

What the data shows

Of the 35 air bags complaints that report mileage, the median is about 86,000 miles, and 23% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 18 crashes, 1 fire, 12 injuries, 1 death.

What owners wrote

My son owned a Kia Optima built in June of 2013. He was in a motor vehicle accident where he was put in a pit maneuver and Then was T boned on the passengers side causing his body to lay across the front seats and died at the scene. His black box download showed that the seat belt pretensioner was off and both airbags in the front did not go off. I know there is a recall for optimas built before aug 31 of 2012. I believe there was an issue with this vehicle as well.

December 2021 CrashDeath

I have owned my vehicle for 3 years. My airbag sensor light has come on fir I the 2nd time. I spoke with the manufacturer and they are showing no desire to look into the problem without the being a sizable expense to myself. Also my back up camera is showing signs of connection issues. Both I feel are a ssfety concern of driving the vehicle.

Reported at 104,500 miles, July 2019

Air bags problems in other years

Air bags problems across all Kia models