2008 Kia Optima
This year drew an ordinary 143 complaints for a Kia Optima — the model's median is 230. What they were about is the unusual part: 7% of them mention dealer said, against 1.1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Kia Optima, which began in 2006 and ran to 2010. 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 | 143 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 230 |
| Involving a crash | 20 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- dealer said — 7% of this year's complaints, against 1.1% across the other years of this generation (6.4×). Owners wrote it as: dealer said, visor back.
- independent mechanic — 8.4% of this year's complaints, against 2.6% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: independent mechanic, mechanic who, taken independent, repaired vin.
- gears — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: gears, train, power train, lever.
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
THE SHIFT LEVER AILED TO SHIFT GEARS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 11V153000 (POWER TRAIN). THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CO…
WHILE IN REVERSE, THE GEAR SHIFTED WITHOUT WARNING INTO NEUTRAL. THE CONTACT MANAGED TO STOP THE VEHICLE BUT WAS UNABLE TO CHANGE THE GEAR FROM NEUTRAL TO DRIVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE AND DETERMINED THAT THE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 13V114000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 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 2008 Kia Optima? What happened to yours?
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