NHTSA Complaint #10397675 — 2011 KIA OPTIMA

ON 4/11/11, WE WERE DRIVING TO WORK AND HAD GONE FOUR MILES FROM OUR HOUSE, WHEN WE THOUGHT WE HAD HIT A DEER! THE CAR MADE A VERY LOUD SOUND AND LURCHED VIOLENTLY, AT HIGHWAY SPEED, FRIGHTENING US BOTH. THE LURCHING WAS SO VIOLENT THAT IT MAY WELL HAVE CAUSED OTHER DAMAGE. WE WERE EXTREMELY FORTUNATE NOT TO HAVE CRASHED. WE THEN FOUND THAT THE CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT GEAR. THE TRANSMISSION HAD GONE OUT OF OUR 2011 KIA OPTIMA EX. WE BOUGHT THE KIA NEW AT O'BRIEN AUTO PARK IN CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, ON 1/8/11. THE CAR HAD 3600 MILES ON IT AT THE TIME OF THE CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. THIS WAS OUR FIRST KIA PURCHASE, AND WE ARE VERY DISAPPOINTED. NEEDLESS TO SAY, WE WERE SHOCKED BY THIS DANGEROUS OCCURRENCE! WE VERY EASILY COULD HAVE HAD TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES FOR US AND OUR FELLOW COMMUTERS. WE ARE NO LONGER CONFIDENT IN THIS VEHICLE. WE FIND THIS TOTALLY UNSATISFACTORY AND ASKED KIA TO REPLACE OUR VEHICLE WITH AN IDENTICAL ONE. KIA REFUSED, BASICALLY SAYING 'WE DON'T OWN IT ANYMORE'. THEY DID REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION.