2023 Kia Optima

Name: 2023 Kia Optima owner-filed safety complaints per 1,000 sold
Creator: YearsTell

For every car sold, owners filed 2.0 times as many complaints about the 2023 Optima as about the typical Optima year. Among the 13 Optima years with enough complaints to compare, owners filed the fewest about the 2016 (0.37 per 1,000 sold) and the most about this one, the 2023 (1.10).

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

1.10 per 1,000

2.0 times this nameplate’s own median

Counted from 72 complaints filed in the first three years, of 111 ever. 95% lower bound 0.84. Not counted: 2 complaints that reported only that a recall repair was unavailable, not a failure.

Every Optima model yearComplaints per 1,000 sold, first three years

This yearOther yearsToo few complaints to rankTypical year, 0.55

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters. The bar is how many complaints each rate rests on.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.62	28
2009	0.41	17
2010	0.34	11
2011	0.86	73
2012	0.95	112
2013	0.96	148
2014	0.55	86
2015	0.50	80
2016	0.37	53
2017	0.38	44
2018	0.44	46
2019	0.41	41
2020	0.27	24
2021	0.57	49
2022	0.66	52
2023	1.10	72

Issues owners of the 2023 Optima report

No phrase appears often enough in these complaints to describe them reliably.

When it breaks

Too few complaints record mileage for this model year to show a pattern. NHTSA largely stopped capturing mileage after 2021.

What NHTSA did

1 investigation covering this model year, 0 of which list a recall campaign.

Loss of Motive Power

Questions buyers ask about the 2023 Kia Optima

Is 2023 a good year or a bad year for the Optima?

What problems does the 2023 Optima have?

The parts owners named most often in complaints filed to date: Fuel/Propulsion System (41), Unknown Or Other (24), Fuel System (15).

Is the 2023 Optima reliable?

Complaint records cannot settle that on their own. They count safety problems owners chose to report to the federal government, not every repair. What they do show is how this year compares with the other Optima years: for every car sold, owners filed 2.0 times as many complaints about the 2023 Optima as about the typical Optima year.

Which Optima year has the fewest complaints?

Among years with enough complaints to compare, the 2016, at 0.37 per 1,000 sold. Every Optima year, ranked.

What the used-car guides say

No guide we read covers the Optima.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page, each on NHTSA’s own site:

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is checked by hand against its source table, not against an outside figure.