2006 Kia Optima
This year drew an ordinary 155 complaints for a Kia Optima — the model's median is 230. What they were about is the unusual part: 9.7% of them mention new 2006, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The Kia Optima was redesigned for 2006. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 155 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 230 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- new 2006 — 9.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.6% across the other years of this generation (6.2×). Owners wrote it as: new 2006, state, about 000, stay car.
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
WHILE PARKED THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THERE WAS A RECALL UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 12V014000 (AIR BAGS: FRONTAL) THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE WHO STATED THAT THE VIN WAS…
THE CONTACT OWNS 2006 KIA OPTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LOCK ON THE RIGHT PASSENGER SIDE DOOR WOULD NOT LOCK OR UNLOCK. WHENEVER A PASSENGER WAS IS IN THE VEHICLE THE DOOR WOULD NOT UNLOCK SO THAT THE PASSENGER COULD GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. THE WARRANTY…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 12V014000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V153000 POWER TRAIN 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 2006 Kia Optima? What happened to yours?
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