2017 Kia Optima
This year drew an ordinary 253 complaints for a Kia Optima — the model's median is 205. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.7% of them mention sent, against 2.5% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the Kia Optima, which began in 2016. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 253 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 205 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 9 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 28.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- sent — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: sent, developed, back after.
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
Vehicles has most recently developed a "whizzing" type sound coming from the transmission just before it shifts into the next gear. It is most discernible when it shifts out of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears. I don't profess to know if modern transmissions have "Band…
I am the second owner of this car. According to carfax it has been well maintained at kia since day one. I have owned it for almost 6 months and it has been sitting at the dealership for 2months due to engine failure. There is a rod knock and sludge build up n…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V907000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 18V161000 HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 23V594000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Kia Optima 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 2017 Kia Optima? What happened to yours?
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