Problems with 2012 Kia Optima STEERING

While taking a curve on the interstate, the steering wheel would hold itself in position as if it were almost in the locked position. had been driving the car for almost 2 hours when this occurred. took next exit to check power steering fluid and tires. everything checked ok. got back on the interstate and it continued to happen until the car was shut off and parked overnight. very dangerous, especially for someone new to driving. the steering g wheel would hold itself into any position i left it in. it would never try to re-center itself while driving. may be coincidence, but the cruise control would not maintain the set speed at the same time this was occurring. dealership stated no error codes were stored on the cars computer. *tr

When turning the steering wheel there is a knocking noise in the steering column and appears very loose where i have to turn the wheel almost an extra 1/8-1/4 turn. the steering wheel is loose and then seems to lock up at speeds of 55-60. i first noticed this about a year ago but after today the knocking noise became worse.

The steering wheel sticks at hwy speeds. i have to pull the wheel hard to be able to change lanes. it drifts from left to right with out even turning the steering wheel. this is a major safety concern for me and everybody else on the road. it would be a real bad situation if i could not turn in the event of something in my way. i have also notified kia of this problem. i have seen post dating as early as 2012 about this problem and still kia has not notified me that this could be a real concern. i am posting along with alot of other people in hopes that this will become public not only for my car but for everybody else who does not know about this situation before its to late for somebody else. *tr

Electric power steering intermittently malfunctions at highway speed causing a snapping sensation in the steering wheel and inability to hold a a steady heading. steering becomes sticky requiring g constant adjustments as the car drifts from one sticky heading to another. dealer repeatedly unable to diagnose.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. the contact stated that while driving 40-45 mph, the steering wheel seized causing the vehicle to sway abnormally. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 49,000.

The vehicle is very hard to steer when you go over 45/55 miles per hour. it becomes so uncontrollable that i have to drive it with both hands as i continue to try to control the vehicle from either going into another lane or hitting the one coming traffic. the steering wheel gets soooo tight /stiff that the car cannot travel down the highway without me constantly shifting steering wheel from left to right. any slight over pull / correction of the wheel is going to cause someone there life or a horrible accident .i pray that kia corrects this before someone or cause someone to lose their life. hope this will be recalled before it's to late. i was on the highway fighting to stay in my lane and crossed over into the oncoming traffic (which could've caused me my life)and it was a sheriff deputy. he immediately turned around to stop me. he thought i was dui. this was very embarrassing .i explained to him that i had the txt the dealership where i had got the car from and they tried to put it on the highway/ tires but they suggested i take it to kia dealership closer to me. the officer suggested i get it checked asap and didn't charge me . not only am i afraid to drive the car but i'm exhausted and body extremely tired from driving it. no one should feel this way. kia please listen to your customers because they can make you or break you. please don't be like that other car company and someone had to lose their life first. please listen!!!!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. while driving between 60-65 mph, the vehicle swerved independently towards the left and without warning. the dealer stated that there was no failure. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 23,682. the vin was not available.

Noticed in october 2014 the car started drifting and the steering wheel began to lock up. it has become progressively worse and now i'm hearing a knocking noise in the steering wheel. i was told by my coworker who has a 2011 optima that he has the same problem and he was told by the dealership that it was a plastic gear in the steering column and would cost roughly $300 to fix. upon research with this issue i have come across several owners that seem to have the same problem which kia knows about. i feel that kia should correct this problem at their expense before this issue kills someone.

I noticed when i was driving in the freeway i had to keep over correcting the steering wheel. it would get stuck and you needed to kind of jerk it to unstick.

Vehicle steering wheel control has abnormal nonfluent consistency. the driver has to continuously correct steering to continue to keep the vehicle traveling straight, otherwise vehicle will start to drift immediately. when correction is made to keep vehicle traveling straight, steering wheel has to be turned with more than normal force, which then results to a oversteering response due to the incapable of making a minor adjustment. this continues to make vehicle to drift from side to side excessively while driving which in turn can make the driver appear impaired or distracted. the problem is felt in the steering wheel causing the wheel to stick in place near center placement. for example, it is like riding a bike on pavement then transitioning to mud, one has to apply more peddling motion to get through the mud, and when they are back on pavement suddenly, they jump to an unexpected speed, faster then what they intended. this is how the steering reacts to minor adjustments that need extra force to unstick the steering wheel which concludes that the electric-assisted power steering is not functioning properly. the vehicle's air pressure in all 4 tires are equal and at 35psi, wheels are properly balanced alignment is at manufactures specifications. this problem did not exist when the car was bought new (because no one would buy a $30,000 car that does not drive straight) and just currently started to act up. *tr

At, highway speeds, the steering wheel seems to stick when making minor corrections. it is very annoying and tiring on the arms. going around corners or bends in the road it seems fine though. it only happens at highway speeds making minor corrections in the lane. this is something kia should take a serious look at because it seems like a lot of the complaints are around this issue. i put 10,000 miles but it has been happening since we bought the car new and it currently has 16,000. have not had dealer look at it yet. *tr

Urgent: steering wheel constantly sticks while driving. this is a safety hazard!!!!!!!!!! i see there are dozens and dozens of similar complaints from other optima owners!!! does someone have to have a fatal accident for this to become a recall item ????

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would sway from right to left. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 32,000.

10549868 continued: another way to describe the steering problem follows. when i move the steering wheel left to right, back and forth ever so slightly, all works fine. steering is easy and takes little force to correct. if one was to measure the required force, it would be slight, lets say 2 units. when the steering wheel has been stationary for a couple of seconds, and i try to make a minor correction, the force required is much greater, lets say 12 units. so while driving and the car is drifting to the right of lane. making the correction, overcoming the stuck feeling, the car starts to drift towards the left of lane. this back and forth process needs to be continuously performed, however, as speed increase, this process has to happen more often, causing fatigue in the arms and wrists and making the driving experience quite stressful. it?s as if the steering assist of the electric ps motor goes to sleep when the steering wheel is stationary, thus the added force required when making a minor correction is to wake the motor up. i am taking the car back to the dealer with these two descriptions of the steering problem. they will have the car for 4days at least. *tr

I am a new owner of a 2012 lx kia optima with 27k miles. my concern is when driving at highway speeds greater than 65 mph you have to use two hands on steering wheel just to keep the vehicle straight and from pulling left or right. it feel as if the steering wheel slips and is quite alarming. i have to work harder to keep it in the lanes making me more tired. *tr

The owner of a 2012 lx kia optima with 14k mi but very concern after discovering that at highway speeds greater than 65-75 mph you have to use two hands on steering wheel just to keep the vehicle straight and from pulling left or right. i'm not a tech but, if i had to guess, my money is on the electronic/power steering device. i love everything about this car and if kia/hyundai motors wants to keep their sells, then they better "own it!" this is definitely a recall/ nhtsa safety matter that should be taken seriously. electronic/power steering is an area that should be looked at and resolved immediately for the safety of the public. *tr

Most noticeable while driving on paved highways at mph over 45. steering seems stuck near straight ahead position and when attempting to make minor correction to remain in lane, a slight over correction occurs due to getting past this sticky position. of course the over correction requires another slight movement of the steering wheel, which again meets resistance, and so the over correction occurs again. continuing this left and right movement of the car in the lane creates stressful driving at best, and painful wrists, at worst on long drives. when engine off and in a quiet location, moving the steering wheel, left and right regardless of steering wheel position or wheel position, you can both hear a slight snap and feel it when overcoming the stuck place. this problem is always present, however not as noticeable in local traffic or while actual turning around a bend for example. dealer could not duplicate the problem last year, and hopefully when i take it in for the 20,000 mile check up, my more complete description of the problem should help. i did call the dealer about 6 months ago, and they sent me to someone higher up. his comment was that he gets many calls every day about this, and that it's the way it is. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the power steering malfunctioned and caused the vehicle to drift from side to side. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who along with the manufacturer, stated that the vehicle was operating properly. the vehicle had not been repaired. the failure mileage was 18,000 and the current mileage was 35,000. *tr

Vehicle is hard to hold straight at higher speeds. the steering locks into a position and requires extra effort to turn the wheel causing over correction. *tr

Unable to steer the vehicle in a straight line at highway speeds. car consistently drifts from left to right and right to left. steering wheels feels as though it becomes locked in position. as you attempt to correct the steering, the steering wheel randomly breaks free causing over correcting which could very easily result in a crash. has been taken to the dealers and they say the car is within specs and you don't have any warning lights on so therefore there is no problem with it. this is going to result in someone losing their life. *tr

While drive above 45mph the car wonders left and right, making it very hard to keep the car on the road. it also feels like there is a catch in the steering making it very easy to over correct the car. i have had it into kia to have the car looked at twice now. they have checked the alignment, tire pressure... they drove a salesman's car and a car off there lot and they tell me this is the way they all drive. i find this very hard to believe, (its a workout to keep the car on the road). i have been doing searches on the internet to try and find a solution for the problem, while doing this i have found a lot of other people that are having the same problem and are getting the same feedback from the dealers. from what i have found is its a known problem with the 2011, 2012, 2013 kia optima's. *tr

Problems start in 2012 engine recall in 2017 was replace,steering recall in 2018 steering coupling was replace how ever my rack and pinion was affected and needs to be replace. we call them in 2012 regarding the steering wheel witch they didn't fix at that time which caused rack and pinion to wear out. we went to three different dealer ships regarding this car and nothing was done. this car is still giving us problems and we want the manufacture to either give us our money back or fix this problem this car is a hazard to our family, if something ist done some one is going to get hurt in this car!!! . this car stop on us in traffic someone could of gotten hurt ,aaa had to pull this car to the selma dealer ship at that time. on the freeway the steering wheel would pull side to side that's dangerous. from 2012 until now this car is still giving us problems. we have all the paper work that was done on this lemon.why don't someone help these consumers out here with these problem on the kia. i need help as asap. sincerely, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *cc *tr

Vehicle hard to control and steer straight, especially at highway speeds. severe pull to the left, though occasionally it drifts to the right. at city speeds, the steering problem is not as noticeable. i took the car to the dealer, and they checked the alignment. minor adjustments, and tire inflation change, resulted in no significant change in the problem...it remains severe. if you let go of the steering wheel, then the car swiftly move across to the left lanes. *tr

Takata recallwhile driving this car on the highway i notice noise coming from the front. i've had problem with this same thing since 2012, first the string it would pull left and right on its own while drive straight. kia said they would fix it. there was a recall on this problem,now my rack and pinion is broken,and that's because kia refuse to fix that problem back in 2012 with the string. kia sent us a settlement letter , which states they will paid us $531.95 by means of a check, it states it is understood and agreed that this settlement is a compromise of disputed claims and does not constitute, an admission of liability on the part of kia. we did not sing that letter because kia cars are no good! and there has been recalls since that letter was sent. they tried to black mail us we didn't fall for the scam. the company know this car is no good. if you need that letter sent to you i can do that to. someone could die because of this problem its dangerous,i work in the mountains this problem needs fixing now not later now!!!. sincerely, need this problem fix *tr

2012 kia optima hybrid. has been demonstrating a very nervous steering (left and right pulling), more markedly at highway speeds, even since brand new, but incident date reported was the first time the problem was extremely noticeable. incident event reported was not an accident, but close one. even after installation of new tires, balancing and alignment, steering keeps responding nervously, causing driver fatigue and not imparting too much confidence to the driver at high speeds. *tr

The vehicle steering seems tight which is fine, but when accelerating between 30-45 mph the vehicle veers off to the left. i am reading that this is not normal for this vehicle. this is an issue and i believe needs to be fixed. *tr

constant correction of the steering wheel is needed to keep the car on the road. i have been on line and have found many complaints on this issue. will be going back to dealer but based on everything i have read i don't expect this to be resolved. i am sure this an electronic steering issue and i believe a recall is warranted. *tr

Brand new kia optima has steering drift (diffuculty driving in a straight line). dealer indicated typical of electronic steering and did nothing but check alignment. very unnerving and dangerous. condition still exists. *tr

Urgent: from when i purchased it new, steering wheel constantly sticks while driving. this is a safety hazard!!!!!!!!!! i filed a report with nhtsa when i bought it, but never heard back from anyone. i see there are dozens and dozens of similar complaints from other optima owners!!! [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).' *jb*jb

I have had this vehicle for over 2 years now and have about 30,000 miles on it. i took this car to the dealership within a week after i bought it for problems with steering and it's inability to stay straight on the road without having to continually adjust the steering wheel. i was told that there was nothing they could find wrong with it. but after finding this website, i now understand that i am not the first one to have this issue. recently i have had an issue with the air conditioner. it works fine when the car is driving but when it is stopped or idling, the air suddenly blows warm air and doesn't start to blow cold until a few seconds after the car has started moving. *tr

I bought this kia optima sx in may 2012 because it's a beautiful car, basically with no hesitation. my first day driving it, i thought the steering felt a little different, tight, and pulled to the left and right and very hard to keep it going straight. i thought to myself, well it's a brand new car and has to be broken in a little maybe. about 500 miles in, problem didn't go away, took it to the dealer, they inspected the alignment, said alignment was ok, but the psi in tires was a little off and that it should fix the issue. nothing has changed. week later i took it in again. was told everything is up to spec, and was told i am the first person to report this kind of issue with the car. i go home that night and google optima steering problem...the search engine goes nuts!!! this is a issue with the optima since 2011!!! i'm a truck driver and i can barely steer this car!!! how can this be safe on the roads??? there is thousands of complaints of this exact problem!! when my wife drives it she tells me she can't even take a drink of her soda because she has to pay so much attention to holding the wheel straight!! i feel the same way!! come on kia!!! come on d.o.t. it's only just a matter of time before this car causes a serious accident!! obviously the electronic power steering isn't safe!! so recall it!! *tr

I just purchased a brand new 2012 optima from a dealer in coral springs, fla. other than one important problem, i love this car. here is the important safety issue: when you get over 40mph, the car will not go straight- it continues to move out of the lane you are driving in. no matter how small of a steering correction you make- when you hold the steering "completely still"- the car still moves to the left, then to the right when you inch it back- the car steering mechanism seems to not let the car travel straight ahead. the steering will not keep the car going straight, so this is a safety issue because the car keeps automatically taking you out of your lane!!! when i was on the fla turnpike heading home from the dealer today, this situation must have occurred a hundred times. i have owned more than 50 cars over the years, of all makes and sizes- and this issue has never occurred before. i hope you can help get this "safety issue" resolved asap. i will go back to the dealer tomorrow to discuss the problem. thank you. *tr

Car is very hard to keep control on the road. kia dealership says it is the way the new electronic control works. on acceleration , car steers to left into oncoming traffic, and it takes much effort to keep it going straight on road. *tr on the highway it feels as if the wind is blowing it around on the road. it also makes a pull to the left or right on its own.

Immediately after purchase we noticed an obvious issue with steering - not able to keep control of the car, veering to the left or right, taxing and exhausting effort to just drive the car. called dealership and was told that it was something we'd have to get used to due to the new electronic steering. after a couple of days, we were tempted to take the car back due to being "tired" from driving home each day! after talking with a neighbor who has the same car, he said he had the exact same problem and took it back to the dealership. he said they did some type of special wheel balancing and it fixed the problem. decided to take the car back for a check. asked about tire rotation or alignment check. service cross-rotated the tires and it drives better, but is still a very different drive. *tr

Brand new vehicle pulled to right and also drifted left to right at 8 miles on highway with a speed of 55. i though all that it needed was a simple alignment i took it back to the dealer at just under 3000 miles and the tech drove it and told me it was fine i just need to get used to it. this car did not drive like the 2 that i had driven before i purchased it. the tech did an alignment and said the rear wheel was off from the factory . the car still did the same thing it felt loose and drifted on highway and straitways. i took it to another dealer that day and the tech drove it for 30 seconds and noticed the steering is was not right.he spent a great deal of time performing an alignment and once i drove it was fine. there was a slight pull to the right but most cars do have that. the tech gave me a print out of the alignment and the front camber was not to factory settings he told me that he could not adjust it. after driving 700 miles later the loose feeling and the drifting returned. i have contacted the original dealer again and i am hoping for a resolution soon. *tr

The electric assist power steering has failed while driving multiple times leaving the driver with reduced control of the vehicle due to the extreme effort required to steer the vehicle. indicator lights include traction control, eps and tco. power steering can be restored by shutting down the car and restarting. dealer's first attempt to correct after three instances of failure and reset involved calibration of the steering indicator. this lasted approximately 200 miles. subsequent failure reported to dealer and the vehicle is currently there being diagnosed for the second time. *tr

Steering is very unstable. extremely afraid of this car - i feel like i am not in control when driving, i constantly have to fight to stay straight. veers/pulls left and right as if im bouncing in between the lines on the interstate. my stomach stays in knots in fear i will hit another vehicle, or worse a concrete barrier in the construction on the interstate. it feels as if 3-5 seconds i am not in control, my arms are exhausted by the time i arrive to my work, home, or elsewhere. have complained several times to kia dealer when having oil changed & i am always told nothing is wrong or cannot duplicate problem. four mechanics have driven my car elsewhere and agree there is a safety issue and kia should recall and fix before it cost someone/a family their lives. my dash lights also surge to maximum brightness at any random moment while driving - all on their own. i recently started having issues with starting my car, i bought my car in march 2012 and currently have 14k miles (highway for work). recently, twice my car felt as if it was not going to start, sputtering, smell of exhaust inside car. i also have issues if i am at a red light/stopped and when i accelerate sometimes the car feels as if it dies out for a second - misfiring. i can not pass in traffic out of fear my car will not respond when i try to accelerate. my car constantly will not connect to my phone, or keeps a call display on the radio after the call has ended (freezes) until i restart my car. i feel there is something terribly wrong with the wiring/electrical/steering with my car and several others according to other complaints on here! toyota recalled only after a death, hyundai/nissan/dodge all just recalled immediately - what about us kia? i have a family in this sedan that is going to end up costing my life or worse, my entire family's lives! please address this problem!!!!! steering is not normal or safe!!!

Steering pulls to the left. i have to always correct. many times i end up over correcting when going through a curve. i made several attempts to correct the tire pressure. tire pressure was 42 psi when i drove it off the lot. i brought it down to 38 psi and seemed to help a little. i finally took all four tires down to 35 psi, and almost drove it off the road while going through a right curve at 50 mph. by the way, the speed limit was 50 mph. the freeway is also an issue. always having to correct the steering bouncing back and forth between the lane lines. this is very dangerous, and should be looked into by the nhtsa. having to over correct is not fun situation to be in. i drove many high performance vehicles, and this is the most concerning. beautiful car with tons of potential. steering needs fixed!!!!!!!! *tr

I bought kia optima 2012 in month of january 2012. since i own vehicle i notice that car is steering to it's left side. i called dealer and reported this issue. dealer suggests issue is because of electronic control system. i noticed this problem since i own and dealer advise that it should go away after few thousand miles. in my opinion this is dangerous and must be adversely effecting to tires and other steering mechanism components. *tr

I purchased a 2012 kia optima on 1-13-12 and immediately discovered it pulled to the left. the dealer has admitted they do not know how to fix it and today (2-5-2012) the dealer bought it back. i lost $5,000 by selling it back but i am just glad to not have to drive the car any more. kia should have to fix this problem or buy the cars back at the selling price. the customer should not be stuck with an unsafe vehicle or forced to drive it to avoid the loss. this pull left issue is well documented on the kia forum site. i just wish i had checked that site before buying. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. the contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the steering wheel suddenly became difficult to maneuver. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where the failure was unable to be replicated. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 10,000 and the current mileage was 28,000. the vin was not available.

The vehicle drifts left and right constantly and substantially, we have taken it to the dealer more times than i can count. same conclusion every time. adjusted, and vehicle is within specifications. they have not and refuse to acknowledge there is a serious issue. as of january 8th 2013, over one year since purchasing the problem, it still exists. we recently was in a minor accident because of this problem. on a tight road with little or no room for waiver, we struck another vehicles mirror with ours at 70mph. luckily there was only superficial damage besides both of us deciding we are not driving this car again due to the safety of our children and ourselves. we are currently pursuing a lemon claim on the vehicle. bale kia and crain kia both have told us the same thing, could not duplicate and vehicle is within specifications, tsb #032. according to them they are assuming we are making this up. along with the 30+ other complaints found on here. *tr

Upon the purchase of my 2012 kia optima sx i noticed a pull to the left in the steering wheel. the dealership is approx. 80 miles from my home, driving home i noticed the tug and the car's inclination to veer left. i felt a constant pressure on the wheel to veer. i took the car back within a week or two and had the service dept. check the veer. of course, i was told there is no veer. the car continues to stray, now at 3500 miles. the car will be going in for service next week for the same problem and for maintenance. i have spoken to another dealership's salesman who has confirmed for me there is a definite issue with the optima's steering and to date, they don't know what to do with it. i love this car, i absolutely love it, but the pull is a problem. by the time i drive the car at cruise speed on the highway and get back with it, i literally feel tired in the arm and shoulder from the pressure to keep it straight in the lanes. also, lately at approx. 3000 miles, i've noticed that in reverse, the backup camera doesn't always come on when shifting gears. it has a hesitation that has lasted as long as 30 - 40 seconds before i can see behind the car. anyone who has driven the optima knows, you can't see anything behind you in that car due to the low sitting seats and higher trunk - it has to be tall to see it behind you. i'm taking the car to a different dealership for service next time, from there, i'll decide as to what happens next as far as keeping this car. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 kia optima. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the steering wheel became uncontrollable, causing the vehicle to sway abnormally. the contact mentioned that the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. the failure recurred several times. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 1,000 and the current mileage was 24,000.

Vehicle is hard to hold straight at higher speeds. the steering locks into a position and requires extra effort to turn the wheel causing over correction. this causes mental and physical fatigue on longer trips and could cause an accident. *tr