| Issue ID | 1177727 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10712278 |
| Manufacurer | Kia Motors America |
| Brand | KIA |
| Model | OPTIMA HYBRID |
| Model Year | 2012 |
| File date | 20/02/15 |
| Component | POWER TRAIN |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | We first took it to edwards kia in council bluffs, ia on 2/11/15. When i originally took it to them, the service engine light had just come on and the car had just started doing the lunging and hesitating when shifting in lower gears. It was as if the accelerator was sticking. They downloaded a couple updates and turned the service engine light off. They advised the light came on because of the update that was needed and said that the shifting /idling issue was better. As soon as i drove it, i noticed it was still doing the same thing. On 2/23/15 i took it back in and they advised that there were two parts to the download and that they had put the second part on and thought it was better. They also gave me a kia tech support sheet on how to address the problem. This included warming the car up for 10-15 minutes, driving with the eco on the start of the trip, and to depress the accelerator 10 % more. They advised that was the nature of the hybrid vehicle in the cold weather but it didn't do it the year before. We then took the car to h&h kia in omaha, ne on 3/3/15 and the car is still there 7 weeks later. They have replaced the transmission twice with remanufactured transmissions. I am not sure why they wouldn't put a new one in since the car only has $19,663 miles on it. The have replaced the generator now and still hasn't fixed the problem. The car still isn't showing any codes on the computer and they are waiting for the kia "experts" to arrive. I have not had my car for 8 weeks and they want me to take the car home until the experts arrive but i do not feel safe with it lunging and shifting erratic like it is. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 0 |
| Number of Occurences | 1 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | CARTER LAKE, IA |
| VIN pattern | KNAGM4AD8C5XXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | 0 |
| No. of fatalities | 0 |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 0 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |