2001 KIA OPTIMA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-21 140 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: STRUCTURE (28 complaints · 20.0%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 14
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare all model years →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution STRUCTURE appears in 28 of 140 owner complaints (20.0%) in this vehicle snapshot. STRUCTURE: 28 complaints, 20.0% of reports STRUCTURE 28 · 20.0% · 1 crash reports SUSPENSION: 22 complaints, 15.7% of reports SUSPENSION 22 · 15.7% · 1 crash reports AIR BAGS: 18 complaints, 12.9% of reports AIR BAGS 18 · 12.9% · 10 crash reports ENGINE: 16 complaints, 11.4% of reports ENGINE 16 · 11.4% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 5.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 · 5.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 8 complaints, 5.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 8 · 5.7% POWER TRAIN: 7 complaints, 5.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 7 · 5.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 5 complaints, 3.6% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 · 3.6% · 1 crash reports SEAT BELTS: 4 complaints, 2.9% of reports SEAT BELTS 4 · 2.9% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 97 complaints, 69.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 97 · 69.3% · 5 crash reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
STRUCTURE 28 20.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 22 15.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 18 12.9% 10 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 16 11.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 8 5.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 7 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 3.6% 1 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 4 2.9% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 97 69.3% 5 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, none on file, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Apr 2001. 2001-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2002-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q3: 15 owner reports 15 2002-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2003-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2003-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2003-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2005-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2005-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2009-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2009-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2024-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Apr 2001 Jan 2024 Investigation PE04050 ● Investigation PE04050 Investigation EA04030 ● Investigation EA04030
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2001-Q2 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 4
2002-Q2 Owner reports 3
2002-Q3 Owner reports 15
2002-Q4 Owner reports 4
2003-Q1 Owner reports 7
2003-Q2 Owner reports 5
2003-Q3 Owner reports 6
2003-Q4 Owner reports 4
2004-Q1 Owner reports 4
2004-Q2 Owner reports 3
2004-Q3 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 3
2005-Q1 Owner reports 2
2005-Q2 Owner reports 2
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2005-Q4 Owner reports 2
2006-Q1 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 2
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 3
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 1
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 4
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 7
2009-Q3 Owner reports 5
2009-Q4 Owner reports 2
2010-Q1 Owner reports 4
2010-Q3 Owner reports 2
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2011-Q2 Owner reports 3
2011-Q3 Owner reports 1
2011-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q2 Owner reports 3
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 3
2013-Q1 Owner reports 1
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q3 Owner reports 3
2015-Q4 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q4 Owner reports 1
2024-Q1 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE04050
Defect investigation 1 EA04030

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 140 complaints · page 1 of 6

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources