NHTSA Complaint #11446808 — 2015 KIA OPTIMA

The engine on my 2015 Kia Optima failed as I was entering a freeway at night time. There was no indication that anything was wrong with the car on the dashboard and it had been running fine for about 15 minutes prior to completely shutting off without warning. When my car was taken into the dealership in Carson, CA, it was inspected and I was advised by the technician that this issue was a recalled one. He stated that he had seen this issue in many cars but could not begin to fix it until it was reviewed by their corporate office. Days later, the corporate office advised that they would not cover fixing this recalled issue and had passed the problem on to the extended warranty company. Then, the inspector from the extended warranty marked the engine's inspection as inconclusive. Kia and their extended warranty partner say that we must pay them $1100 to take the engine apart and take pictures of it. Before the engine failure, there were no indicator lights from the car advising there was maintenance required. The oil has been changed on time and frequently throughout ownership and the records were in the glove box for the various inspectors to view. The brakes have been changed regularly and the battery had to be replaced one time within the first year of purchasing this vehicle. Besides that, there had been nothing to indicate something of this magnitude would happen to this vehicle.