2013 KIA OPTIMA — Complaint #1684087
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:ANTILOCK:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE filed August 12, 2020
NHTSA complaint #1684087 (ODI reference 11348783) concerns a 2013 KIA OPTIMA and was filed on August 12, 2020. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 25, 2020. The vehicle had 90,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Michigan based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as service brakes, air:antilock:control unit/module, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same KIA OPTIMA cohort independently describe similar service brakes, air:antilock:control unit/module failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2013 KIA OPTIMA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 KIA OPTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE MADE AN ABNORMAL NOSIE WHEN STARTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE KEY WAS IN HER HAND AND THE CAR WAS OFF BUT STILL WAS HEARING THE NOISE. WHEN SHE OPENED THE HOOD TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY AND WALK AWAY WITH THE KEYS IN HER HAND, THERE WAS A LOUD POP AND SMOKE STARTED TO COME FROM THE ENGINE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT IT LOOKED LIKE THE ABS BRAKE MODULE CAUGHT FIRE AND THEY EXTINGUISHED THE SMOKE. A POLICE AND FIRE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO SERRA KIA (12304 30 MILE RD, WASHINGTON, MI 48095) AND WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE ABS BRAKE MODULE AND HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED YET DUE TO PART NEEDED TO BE ORDER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS UNDER AN INVESTIGATION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 90,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1684087 |
| ODI Number | 11348783 |
| Date Filed | August 12, 2020 |
| Failure Date | July 25, 2020 |
| VIN | 5XXGM4A70DG |
Similar SERVICE BRAKES, AIR:ANTILOCK:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE Complaints for 2013 KIA OPTIMA
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.