AutoUtility currently tracks 303 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2017 Kia Optima. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 176 complaints (58.1% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 6 filings cite a crash, 12 cite a fire, 3 report one or more injuries.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 303 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (176 reports • 58.1% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (38), Fuel & Propulsion System (28)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 6 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 12 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 3 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
303
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
6
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
12
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
3
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2017 Kia Optima

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 58.1% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

176 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 7 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 12.5% of complaints

Electrical System

38 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🔥 3 fire reports
#3 Problem Area 9.2% of complaints

Fuel & Propulsion System

28 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 1 fire report
#4 Problem Area 8.3% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

25 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 6.9% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

21 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 2 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Kia Optima

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 7.6% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

23 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Engine & Cooling 4.6% of complaints

Engine Coolant Intrusion / Oil Leak

14 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2017 Kia Optima

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11759043
Filed: 08/24/2026

"While driving at highway speed, my engine began to produce a loud knocking noise without prior warning. Within few seconds, the engine seized completely causing sudden loss of motive power.This caused a dangerous situation— loss of power steering and barking at highway speed, leaving me stranded in..."

Incident Date: 07/18/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11757576
Filed: 08/17/2026

"Loosing oil putting oil in every 3 to 4 days no leaks on ground or oil pan or drain plug.oil don't smell or looks burnt happened around did 2 oil changes in a week still the same. Car will sputer hesitation on acceleration every so often have all updateds and recalls."

Incident Date: 08/17/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN,ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11755571
Filed: 08/07/2026

"I am requesting urgent assistance regarding my 2017 Kia Optima EX, which is experiencing a serious oil consumption/burning issue. The vehicle is burning oil into the engine, causing the oil level to continually decrease and creating a significant concern for engine failure, overheating, or a..."

Incident Date: 03/15/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Steering System NHTSA ODI ID: #11747492
Filed: 06/30/2026

"Since 4/1 my car has intermittently lost power steering. I received dashboard warning lights and the wheel was difficult to turn. When I shutoff the car and turned back on, the warning lights were gone and the steering returned. My mechanic did a diagnostic and found the following codes c1259,..."

Incident Date: 04/21/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: STEERING
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11746667
Filed: 06/26/2026

"I just bought this car and it runs thru oil fast."

Incident Date: 06/01/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION,ENGINE
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Kia Optima

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2020)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Kia Optima 1019 31 4 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Kia Optima 758 27 5 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Kia Optima Current Page 303 6 4 Current
2018 Kia Optima 242 10 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Kia Optima 205 20 1 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Kia Optima 143 6 0 View 2020 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2017 Kia Optima

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 71 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 120 0 5 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 18 0 2 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10 1 1 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 9 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 9 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8 0 1 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 8 1 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 6 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 6 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 5 0 0 0 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 4 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 4 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 3 1 0 5 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 3 0 1 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 3 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 3 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,VISIBILITY/WIPER,HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
FIRERELATED 1 0 1 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 1 0 0 0 0
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SEAT BELTS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 2 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (303). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (4)

4 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22005
Opened: 2023-01-27 • Closed: 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

Affected Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 22V063000 Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP22003
Opened: 2022-09-12 • Closed: 2023-12-12

Loss of Motive Power

Affected Component: ENGINE

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a letter dated July 13, 2022, petitioning the Agency to initiate a safety defect investigation into loss of motive power allegations attributed to oil drain pan assembly failures on certain Hyundai Motor America, Inc. and Kia America, Inc. vehicles spanning Model Years (MY) 2005-2021. The Petitioners cited examples of complaints indicating that the subject vehicles were experienc...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA21003
Opened: 2021-12-22 • Closed: 2024-02-05

Engine Fires

Affected Component: ENGINE

On March 29, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened two Preliminary Evaluations (PE19-003 on Hyundai and PE19-004 on Kia) to broadly investigate incidents of non-crash fires (regardless of origin or operational status of the vehicle) on various model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles.  During the PE investigations, Hyundai and Kia issued several recalls to address vehicle fires, including those due to engine failures involving variou...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 23V877 Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Engineering Analysis (EA) ODI Action #EA19001
Opened: 2019-04-19 • Closed: 2024-09-19

Electrical overstress

Affected Component: AIR BAGS: AIR BAG/RESTRAINT CONTROL MODULE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation to determine if the failure of airbags to deploy during severe crashes, in certain vehicles, was the result of a safety related defect.  During the investigation a complex failure was studied that can result in non-deployment of subject vehicle air bags and other restraint system devices in severe crash events. The subject vehicles may be equipped with an airbag control unit (AC...

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 20V024 Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.