NHTSA Complaint #11093855 — 2012 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID

THE CAR WILL STALL/LOSE POWER, BLOW WHITE SMOKE OUT THE EXHAUST. THIS HAPPENS ON ACCELERATION OR DRIVING AT NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEEDS THIS HAS OCCURRED ON THE HIGHWAY AND ON CITY STREETS. YESTERDAY ON THE INTERSTATE I WAS ALMOST REAR-ENDED BECAUSE THE VEHICLE STALLED. IT IS BELIEVED THE CONNECTING ROD BEARINGS IN CERTAIN ENGINES FAIL AS METAL DEBRIS CIRCULATE THROUGHOUT THE ENGINE VIA THE ENGINE OIL. OVER TIME, THE CONTAMINANTS IN THE OILING SYSTEM CAUSE THE CONNECTING ROD BEARINGS TO FRACTURE AND SPEW LARGE AMOUNTS OF METAL DEBRIS INTO THE ENGINE OIL, WHICH IT CANNOT FILTER OUT TO MAINTAIN NECESSARY OIL PRESSURE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE ISSUE AND THIS SAFETY CONCERN NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.