2012 KIA OPTIMA — Complaint #2178011
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING filed February 18, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2178011 (ODI reference 11718777) concerns a 2012 KIA OPTIMA and was filed on February 18, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on March 31, 2017. The vehicle had 189,369 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Arkansas based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling, 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: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. 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 engine and engine cooling 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 2012 KIA OPTIMA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that the engine was knocking at startup. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V224000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); and the VIN was included in the recall; however, the manufacturer declined to honor the recall because the original owner of the vehicle had failed to respond to the recall notification. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had declined to honor the recall due to the previous owner not having the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 189,369.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2178011 |
| ODI Number | 11718777 |
| Date Filed | February 18, 2026 |
| Failure Date | March 31, 2017 |
| VIN | 5XXGM4A78CG |
Similar ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Complaints for 2012 KIA OPTIMA
Dear NHTSA, I am submitting a formal complaint regarding my 2012 Kia Optima, which experienced an engine fire directly related to the defects identified in Kia Safety Recalls SC147, SC200, and SC201.
See attached document for complaint.
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while driving downhill at approximately 40-45 MPH, the vehicle shut off. The battery, oil, and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The
The contact owned a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while at a stop light, smoke and flames were suddenly present coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the sce
The contact owns a 2012 Kia Optima. The contact stated while at a complete stop at the traffic light, she noticed that there was smoke coming from underneath the driver's side of the hood. Additionall
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.