Consumer Complaint Detail

KIA / OPTIMA / 2002

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004088837 Incident Date: Jun, 09 2004
Consumer's City: MICHIGAN CITY Consumer's State: IN
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Kia Motors America
Model Name: OPTIMA Model Year: 2002
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Power train:automatic transmission
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: KNAGD126625 Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Dec, 14 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: May, 14 2004
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I purchased my optima used in may 2004. one month after purchase, i experienced a hesitation in the shifting of the automatic transmission. i took the car back to the dealer of purchase to have the problem fixed under warranty. they could not duplicate the problem, and therefore, apparently they can't fix it either. since then, my car has been in 2 different kia dealer shops for the exact same problem 4 or 5 times. with the same result: they can't duplicate the problem, so they can't fix it. the fourth time i took it in, they couldn't duplicate the problem, but because i called customer care, they did check all the connectors for the transmission. i was also informed that no codes came up for the car at all, but when i took it to an independent mechanic, there were 4 codes that came up: the same 2 twice. one set was on 'hold' and the other set had just occurred that day. the problem recurred the day i picked up the car from the dealer, who'd had it for a week and still couldn't duplicate the problem. the fifth time i took it in (in dec 2006), the mechanic finally was able to duplicate the problem, but my warranty ran out 2,000 miles before this. now they won't fix it under warranty. i have contacted customer care and was informed that it might get fixed under warranty if i had a transmission service at 60,000 miles. i'm not sure why that even matters if the problem started at 48,000 miles. plus, in all the contact i have had with any of these people, not a single one ever recommended or required a transmission service. i would never recommend this model car to another person; not only because of the problems, but because of the service tech's who are rude and un-informative to customers. *jb