2012 Kia Optima Hybrid
Complaints about this year name noise far more often than the model's other years — 29% of them, about 12× the usual rate of 2.5%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 108 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 34 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 36 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- needed — 28.7% of this year's complaints, against 8.6% across the model's other years (3.3×).
- recalled — 16.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.7% across the model's other years (4.5×). Owners wrote it as: recalled, smoking, failing, pocket.
- seized — 7.4% of this year's complaints, against 0.2% across the model's other years (30.2×). Owners wrote it as: seized, engine seized.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- oil — 22% of complaints, 6× usual
- stop — 25% of complaints, 3× usual
- engines — 10% of complaints, 25× usual
What owners wrote
THE ELECTRIC MOTOR HYDRAULIC PUMP NEEDED TO BE REPLACED I WAS TOLD IT WASNT A RECALL HOWEVER IM SEEING SEVERAL OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS. WHILE DRIVING ABOUT 55 MPH MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON MESSAGE APPEARED TELLING ME TO STOP DO NOT DRIVE CANT DRIVE SAFELY.…
WHEN I MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL FROM SIDE TO SIDE I CAN HEAR A POPPING NOISE WHEN I AM DRIVING AS WELL AS WHEN I AM AT A STOP. THE STEERING WHEEL HAS EXCESSIVE VIBRATION AND RADDLING WHEN I AM DRIVING BETWEEN 65-75 ON THE HIGHWAY, IT DECREASES AT 80 MPH. I HAVE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V750000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 18V363000 AIR BAGS
- 23V652000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Optima Hybrid was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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