2013 Kia Optima Hybrid
This year drew an ordinary 51 complaints for a Kia Optima Hybrid — the model's median is 34. What they were about is the unusual part: 25.5% of them mention brakes, against 5.8% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 51 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 34 |
| Involving a crash | 1 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 36.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- brakes — 25.5% of this year's complaints, against 5.8% across the model's other years (4.4×).
- manufacturer made — 19.6% of this year's complaints, against 7% across the model's other years (2.8×).
- 000 vin — 11.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the model's other years (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: 000 vin, vin unavailable, driving various, various speeds.
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.
What owners wrote
after driving at various speeds, there was a burning odor present inside the vehicle. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V652000 (Service Brakes Hydraulic) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact…
VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD WHILE IN MOTION TO PARK IN A PARKING SPACE. BRAKES FAILED TO STOP VEHICLE FROM A VERY SLOW SPEED OF 5-10 MPH APPROXIMATELY. HAS DONE THIS ON OCCASION AT HIGHWAY SPEED A SUDDEN SURGE SO A BRAKING WOULD RELIEVE PROBLEM.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V750000 ENGINE Fixed free of charge.
- 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 2013 Kia Optima Hybrid? What happened to yours?
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