NHTSA Complaint #11568172 — 2014 KIA OPTIMA

The car is available for inspection upon request, but I plan to finally get rid of it soon. I worry greatly about the next driver that ends up with this car. While driving, a message pops up on the dashboard that says "Check Hybrid system. Stop vehicle and turn off engine". I've learned that I have about 15 to 30 seconds to find a safe place to pull over or the car will shut off on it's own. This has happened on the freeway at 70mph and it's happened at 20mph while driving through my neighborhood. I bought the car used in 2017 and this would happen once every six months or so. In the past couple of years it's gotten more frequent. This car is going to get me or someone else seriously injured or killed. I'm always on edge that this will happen while I'm on the freeway in an area without a shoulder. Then I'll just be sitting immobile on the highway, trying to get the car to start back up and I'll get rear-ended by an unobservant driver at 65mph. I've taken the car to a Kia service department twice. The first time they couldn't reproduce the issue and told me to bring it back when it happens again. I took it in for a second time a couple years later and they told me it was the high voltage fuse. They kept my car for a month, gave me the runaround and never replaced the high voltage fuse. After doing some research online, I read that other Optima Hybrid drivers were told to change their high voltage fuse from 125A to 150A. I performed this replacement myself and I still experience the issue. There were no other warnings prior, just the "Check Hybrid system" message before the car shuts off.