2006 KIA OPTIMA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 151 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (37 complaints · 24.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 1
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2005 →
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 AIR BAGS appears in 37 of 151 owner complaints (24.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 37 complaints, 24.5% of reports AIR BAGS 37 · 24.5% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 11 complaints, 7.3% of reports ENGINE 11 · 7.3% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 11 complaints, 7.3% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 11 · 7.3% POWER TRAIN: 11 complaints, 7.3% of reports POWER TRAIN 11 · 7.3% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 10 complaints, 6.6% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 · 6.6% · 1 fire reports VISIBILITY: 9 complaints, 6.0% of reports VISIBILITY 9 · 6.0% FUEL SYSTEM: 6 complaints, 4.0% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 6 · 4.0% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 6 complaints, 4.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 · 4.0% · 1 crash reports STRUCTURE: 5 complaints, 3.3% of reports STRUCTURE 5 · 3.3% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 71 complaints, 47.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 · 47.0% · 1 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)
AIR BAGS 37 24.5% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 11 7.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 11 7.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 11 7.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 6.6% 0 crashes · 1 fires
VISIBILITY 9 6.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 6 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 4.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 5 3.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 71 47.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 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 Oct 2006. 2006-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2007-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2007-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2008-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2008-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2010-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2010-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2011-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2011-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2013-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2014-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2015-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2023-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Oct 2006 Jul 2023 Investigation PE10046 ● Investigation PE10046 Investigation DP21003 ● Investigation DP21003 Investigation DP22003 ● Investigation DP22003
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2006-Q4 Owner reports 11
2007-Q1 Owner reports 5
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q3 Owner reports 4
2007-Q4 Owner reports 6
2008-Q1 Owner reports 3
2008-Q2 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 2
2008-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q2 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q1 Owner reports 7
2010-Q2 Owner reports 3
2010-Q3 Owner reports 4
2010-Q4 Owner reports 3
2011-Q1 Owner reports 6
2011-Q2 Owner reports 5
2011-Q3 Owner reports 4
2011-Q4 Owner reports 3
2012-Q1 Owner reports 3
2012-Q2 Owner reports 5
2012-Q3 Owner reports 6
2012-Q4 Owner reports 3
2013-Q1 Owner reports 3
2013-Q2 Owner reports 6
2013-Q3 Owner reports 3
2013-Q4 Owner reports 2
2014-Q1 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 2
2014-Q3 Owner reports 2
2014-Q4 Owner reports 6
2015-Q1 Owner reports 3
2015-Q2 Owner reports 3
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 2
2016-Q1 Owner reports 3
2016-Q2 Owner reports 3
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q1 Owner reports 3
2018-Q2 Owner reports 3
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q2 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 3
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2023-Q3 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 PE10046
Defect investigation 1 DP21003
Defect investigation 1 DP22003
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

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 151 complaints · page 1 of 7

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