NHTSA Complaint #10971891 — 2012 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID

I TOOK MY 2012 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE AS WE WERE TAKING A ROAD TRIP TWO DAYS LATER. SERVICE DEPARTMENT SAID EVERYTHING LOOKED GOOD. TWO DAYS LATER AFTER DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS MY CAR STARTED TO HAVE A CLICKING SOUND AS I ACCELERATED (WE WERE GOING APPROXIMATELY 65MPH). THERE WERE NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS AND ON WITHIN A MINUTE I HEARD A CLUNK SOUND AND MY DASH READ "HYBRID SYSTEM FAILURE. SAFETY STOP AND DO NOT DRIVE." THE HYBRID BATTERY QUICKLY STARTED TO DECREASE SO WE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO IMMEDIATELY PULL OVER ALONG A NARROW SHOULDER AS WE WERE 15 MILES FROM THE NEAREST TOWN. THIS WAS A NARROW TWO LANE HIGHWAY WITH OUR CAR UP AGAINST THE CONCRETE BARRIER WITH A LAKE DIRECTLY DOWN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BARRIER. WE WERE STRANDED THERE FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS TRYING TO COORDINATE A TOW TRUCK AND TAXI (THERE WERE THREE OF US. MYSELF, MY HUSBAND, AND OUR 3 MONTH OLD SON). THE LOCATION OF WHERE WE WERE STRANDED WAS COMPLETELY UNSAFE WITH SEVERAL SEMI TRUCKS PASSING BOTH WAYS AND WE HAD TO TRANSFER ALL OUR BELONGINGS AND MOVE OUR 3 MONTH OLD SON TO THE TAXI ALONG THIS NARROW SHOULDER ON THE HIGHWAY. ONCE MY CAR WAS TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER THEY SAID THE ENGINE BLEW AND I WOULD NEED A NEW SHORT BLOCK. AFTER GETTING MY CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER TO MY HOMETOWN THEY SAID THEY FOUND METAL SHAVINGS AND MY CYLINDER 1 BLEW. I WAS QUOTED $4,500-$11,000 FOR THE REPAIRS. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT CAN ATTEST TO MY PERFECT MAINTENANCE. LESS THAN THREE WEEKS LATER KIA RECALLS 1.4 MILLION ENGINES AND THEY ARE CLAIMING MY MODEL IS NOT BEING RECALLED. I FIND IT ODD THAT THE EXACT ISSUE I HAD ARE THE EXACT REASONS THESE ENGINES ARE BEING RECALLED.