74 complaints reported

2015 Kia Optima UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
74
Crashes
1
Fires
4
Injuries
0

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Aug 2026 Fire

My Kia OptimaLX had no check engine light not running any different no warning or light indicators turned on but car caught on fire while parked after only driving less than 5mins less than 1 mile from home. Entire front dash burned all the way to the gear shift. Every recall notice recieved was taken care of as soon as I was notified that there was a recall and they had the part to change it out. The engine was part of the recall and was replaced and a fuse module box was replaced 1 month or less from the time of the fire. Car is considered a total loss from insurance company.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2025
Feb 2026

Paint is peeling off all over my car. I see this is a known issue with the white paint and nothing is being done about it. I have touched up a few spots but it is only getting worse

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2025
Jan 2026

**This complaint isn't directly related to the safety of the car** However, due to outstanding number of similar cases i've witness online. I would like to formally make a complaint for the defective White paint on my Kia vehicle. Like many other "white" Kia and Hyundai vehicles, the white paint is bubbling and peeling from multiple areas of my vehicle all at once. I have always taken care of and hand washed my car, so i know the paint isn't peeling because of user/owner damage. Road debris would also only cause paint damage on the front bumper and/or hood, which doesn't explain the bubbling and peeling happening on all the other parts of my car.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2020
Dec 2025

Well my paint is peeling everywhere I only had car 4 years, I can barely wash it because the car wash takes more paint off, I seen Hyundai do a paint recall or something like that so I'm wondering if it's the same for Kia.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2025
Nov 2025

The paint is cracking and peeling off by the back window on the roof creating rust areas.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2025
Aug 2025

Paint peeling

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 1969
Jun 2025

Paint flakes and chips while driving or during car washes. Paint is "Snow White Peral". Numerous complaints have been filed about this paint to Kia as well. Kia needs to make this right.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2025
Apr 2025

I bought the car odometer and title both said 98xxx on the car. 3 days after I purchased the car the motor started knocking. Come to find out the actual miles are over 240,xxx. The mileage has been rolled back on the vehicle.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2025
Mar 2025

My vehicle is painted in the Snow White Pearl. The paint started out looking almost "bubbled" but definitely showed serious signs of delamination, quickly after noticing the delamination, the paint flaked off in relatively large pieces all over my vehicle. There is paint missing from the hood, the roof, the back passenger side door, the quarter back panel of the passenger side, and one chip on the driver side door. I reached out to KIA regarding the issue and was told that there is nothing that can be done. I have gotten to the point that i cannot stand to look at the car I once loved so much, it is a shame. KIA is a company that I have been loyal to when it comes to vehicles and I have only owned KIA's since 2008 but after this issue I am almost embarrassed to show up anywhere driving this car.. and even more so I am upset that KIA will not do what it takes to remedy this issue for myself and so many others.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2022
Jan 2025

on 1/18/2025 my teenage daughter was driving down the highway at a speed of around 70 MPH when she heard a loud boom and her sunroof front panel blew broken glass into her car and all over her. She did not run into anything or see any items fly in the air at her car

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2025
Jan 2025

There is serious peeling/delamination of the paint off of my car.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2020
Oct 2024

Window regular has been replaced 2 times in 2 years.Having problems again with the same drivers side window. Costing over $600.Window keep getting off track want go up and or down. COULDN'T drve rain pouring in .Regulator replaced year 2022, 2023 now awaiting a appointment for another replacement

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2024
Aug 2024

Hybrid system malfunction

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2024
Jul 2024

My paint is delaminating all over my vehicle and is flying off in large sheets. My car now has metal exposed which is susceptible to rust which poses a risk to the structure of my vehicle and the potential of my windshield flying off as a result. This first started occurring about a year ago. KIA fails to recognize this manufacturer defect and it continues to delaminate at an alarming rate.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jul 2024
May 2024

I have a leak in my truck after it rains.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2024
Feb 2024

While driving doesn't matter the speed, my car doesn't accelerate and jerks, it had does these many times and I take it into the shop, at least 3 times now, and they can't find anything. Since it doesn't do it when they test drive it, they don't know what is wrong. But it is very annoying, since there are times I have been on a highway and my car doesn't speed up.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Feb 2024
Jan 2024

The back passenger door wont close, the door latch is broken making it to where it will fly open at any time driving down the road.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2024
Dec 2023

Passenger door handle fell off in my hand. Worried the orhers will do the same. When I called the dealership in Cocoa FL they said that was the 5th call for door handles falling off this week. There was a recall for kia door handles in Canada. 5 calls to one dealership in a week! Multiply that by all the dealerships in the USA and add the ones that don't go through the dealerships. I believe it is worth an investigation into a recall.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Dec 2023
Dec 2023

In early February, my Kia was broken into and attempted to be stolen. There has been a lot of word going around about how Kia’s are easy to steal. My car fell victim to the viral trend of Kia theft. The damage done to my car included a broken window and my whole steering column ripped apart. The anti-theft protection has now become a safety issue because of the lack of industry standards for theft protection. I am still unable to drive my car because of the part shortage. I have been unable to drive my car for months.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2023
Nov 2023

My sunroof basically spontaneously combusted while I was driving, sending tiny shards of glass flying. Thank goodness my sunshade was closed to catch all the glass shards and that no vehicles or bystanders were nearby to be hit by glass. The loud noise startled me but I was able to keep calm enough to drive the car to a safe location to inspect what had happened

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Nov 2023
Oct 2023

The paint on my Kia is abnormally bubbling and flaking off.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Oct 2023
Jul 2023

The paint on my white 2015 kia optima is coming off and when my windshield was replaced more paint came off on the roof above the windshield.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jan 2023
Jun 2023

I have a 2015 Snow White Pearl Kia Optima. My car have several spots where the paint has started to boil and peel off the car. The peeling has spread to all over the car and I can see new spots that start off looking like a cigarette burn, you can also see where the paints bubbles up.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Jun 2023
May 2023

Paint peeling appears to be a defect in paint it is the Pearl White Paint

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: May 2023
Apr 2023

The paint is chipping off in large pieces. We hand wash this vehicle and the paint will just chip right off.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2015 KIA OPTIMA, Manufacturer: Kia America, Inc.
Incident: Apr 2023

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2015 Kia Optima has 74 UNKNOWN OR OTHER complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.