NHTSA Complaint #10596726 — 2013 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID

UPON ACCELERATION FROM STOP OR LOW SPEED, BRAKE WARNING MESSAGE DISPLAYED INSTRUCTING ME TO SAFELY PULL OVER AND STOP THE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, ESSENTIALLY ALL WARNING LIGHTS DISPLAYED ON THE INFORMATION SCREEN. WARNING LIGHTS BEGAN FLASHING AND DOOR LOCKS BEGAN CLICKING ON/OFF. CAR BECAME DISABLED AFTER A SHORT DISTANCE AND CAR WOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD WHEN IN DRIVE. REQUIRED TOW TO DEALER FOR SERVICE. DEALER SCANNED THE VEHICLE AND FOUND OVER 20 HISTORY CODES POINTING TOWARDS A CAN ISSUE. AFTER VEHICLE WAS SERVICED AND ROAD TESTED, HISTORY CODES WERE CLEARED BY DEALER ON 5/24/2014. SAME PROBLEM REPEATED UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS ON 5/28/2014 AND AGAIN ON 6/4/204. DURING THE THIRD INCIDENT, THE CAR BECAME DISABLED IMMEDIATELY AFTER ENTERING AN INTERSECTION AT LOW SPEED AND COULD NOT BE MOVED OUT OF THE INTERSECTION UNDER ITS OWN POWER, CREATING A SAFETY HAZARD WITH CROSS TRAFFIC WAITING TO ENTER THE INTERSECTION. AFTER THE SECOND OCCURRENCE, DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM OR REPEAT THE CONDITIONS. AFTER THE THIRD OCCURRENCE, THE CAR BECAME OPERABLE A SHORT TIME AFTER THE INCIDENT AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND ON AGAIN A FEW TIMES. AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE, THE PASSENGER AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT REMAINED IN THE HISTORY CODE. CURRENTLY AWAITING RESPONSE AND DIAGNOSIS OF PROBLEM BY KIA DISTRICT PARTS SERVICE MANAGER. *TR