NHTSA Complaint #10585835 — 2007 KIA OPTIMA

HAD ONGOING ISSUES IN WHICH THE CAR GOT "STUCK" AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE PAST 25 MPH, EVEN IF I "FLOORED" IT. I HAD TO TAKE MY FOOT COMPLETELY OFF THE GAS PEDAL, WAIT A FEW SECONDS (BY THEN THE CAR WOULD BE DOWN TO 10-15 MPH), THEN TRY TO ACCELERATE AGAIN, WHICH SOMETIMES TOOK SEVERAL TRIES. I WAS VERY WORRIED ABOUT GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT WHEN THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WARNING AND IF YOU SUDDENLY STOP MOVING AT THE SPEED OF TRAFFIC WITH NO INDICATION YOU ARE SLOWING DOWN, YOU COULD EASILY BE HIT. IN ONE CASE, I WAS TRYING TO PASS A SLOW-MOVING VEHICLE GOING 25 IN A 40. I ATTEMPTED TO GO AROUND THE VEHICLE, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PRETTY LOW-SPEED PASS, AS I ONLY NEEDED TO GET UP TO ABOUT 35 MPH, BUT THE CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING AT 25 AND I COULD NOT GET PAST. I HAD TO TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS, WAIT, TRY AGAIN, AND REPEAT THIS A COUPLE TIMES BEFORE THE CAR WOULD ACCELERATE AGAIN. THIS BECAME A VERY SCARY SITUATION BECAUSE BY THAT TIME, THERE WAS ONCOMING TRAFFIC APPROACHING AND I WAS LITERALLY STUCK IN THE PASSING LANE. I ALSO HAD THE CAR JUST COMPLETELY LOSE POWER AND SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS AT A RED LIGHT AT A BUSY URBAN INTERSECTION. TOOK IT TO A REPAIR SHOP. THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS A THROTTLE POSITION SWITCH PROBLEM, AND IT COST ALMOST $800 TO GET IT FIXED. AT FIRST I THOUGHT I JUST HAD BAD LUCK, BUT I LATER FOUND THIS MESSAGE BOARD IN WHICH PEOPLE WITH THIS SAME MODEL DESCRIBE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS. HTTP://REPAIRPAL.COM/FAULTY-THROTTLE-POSITION-SWITCH-355 ACCORDING TO THIS, KIA RELEASED A PART TO FIX THE SITUATION. IT SEEMS THAT LOSING ALL POWER/THE INABILITY TO ACCELERATE IN TRAFFIC POSES A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. IT BOTHERS ME THAT KIA APPARENTLY KNOWS ABOUT IT AND WOULD JUST ISSUE A NEW PART THAT COSTS OWNERS SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS TO REPAIR (COST PROHIBITIVE TO MANY PEOPLE), RATHER THAN ISSUING A RECALL, OR AT LEAST NOTIFYING OWNERS OF THE ISSUE. *TR