NHTSA Complaint #11089647 — 2015 KIA OPTIMA

THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT CAR UNTIL SUDDENLY I SAW SMOKE. CHECKED MY OIL & IT WAS LOW. I ADDED OIL. I BEGAN TO HEAR RATTLING IN THE ENGINE AND HUGE WHITE PUFFS OF SMOKE EMIT FROM MY ENGINE, SO BAD THAT CARS BEHIND ME ON THE FREEWAY (ALL 4 LANES) HIT THEIR BRAKES AS THEY CANNOT SEE. THE 101 FREEWAY DURING RUSH HOUR - THIS IS VERY BAD AND COULD GET SOMEONE KILLED, INCLUDING ME IF MY ENGINE SEIZES AT 75 MPH. I CHECK MY OIL EVERY OTHER DAY OR SO AND SEEMS TO BE LOW ONCE A WEEK. I'VE BEEN WAITING TO DROP MY CAR AT MY MECHANIC. WHEN I GOT THERE HE SAID HE COULD NOT TOUCH MY CAR DUE TO THE SAME EXACT REASON FOR OVER 1.2 MILLION RECALLED ENGINES. I WENT TO BRAKE MASTERS DOWN THE ROAD ASKING IF THEY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS AND THEY SAID "ABSOLUTELY!" THEY TOLD ME DO NOT DO AN OIL CHANGE AS MANY PEOPLE'S ENGINE SEIZES WITHIN A DAY OR SEVERAL DAYS AFTER AN OIL CHANGE. DEALERS CONSISTENTLY TELL PEOPLE THEIR ENGINE HAS "SLUDGE" IN IT. REALLY? I HAVE READ SO MANY REVIEWS OF THE SAME DIAGNOSIS. TELLING PEOPLE IT IS $6,000-$8,000 FOR A NEW ENGINE AT THEIR COST. BOTH MY MECHANIC AND BRAKE MASTERS TOLD ME THAT THEY FEEL THE ONLY REASON MY ENGINE HAS NOT SEIZED ON ME IS BECAUSE I TOOK NOTICE THAT MY ENGINE SOUNDED SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. NOT ONE TIME HAS A LIGHT GONE OFF ON MY CAR. THERE IS NO REASON WHY A DASH WARNING LIGHT DOES NOT GO OFF WHILE LOOSING POWER AND BURNING OIL SO BAD THAT PEOPLE CANNOT SEE. SO, WE HAVE TWO ISSUES..... #1 OBVIOUS FAILURE OF DASH WARNING/ENGINE WARNING LIGHTS AND #2 THE BURNING OIL, METAL SHARDS RUINING MY ENGINE. I AM A SINGLE MOM AND DO NOT GET CHILD SUPPORT. I DON'T HAVE A SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND COULD NOT AFFORD TO REPLACE AN ENGINE. I AM VERY GOOD WITH MY VEHICLES AND WHAT I AM READING IS UNACCEPTABLE. SO MANY PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR NEW ENGINES AND I WILL NOT BE ONE OF THEM. PLEASE HELP ME AS THIS ENGINE ISSUE IS NOT A LACK OF CARE