NHTSA Safety Recalls
2008 Kia Optima Recalls
The 2008 Kia Optima has 3 NHTSA safety recalls on file, the newest reported on April 1, 2013.
A recall covers a range of VINs, not every 2008 Kia Optima. Whether a recall on your own car is still open shows only on a VIN check; recall repairs are free.
- Recalls
- 3
- Owner complaints
- 144
- Crashes reported
- 20
- NHTSA crash test
- ★★★★★
NHTSA campaigns
filed with NHTSA
4 fires
frontal crash, no overall star before 2011
On a 2008 Kia Optima, the 17-character VIN is on the driver-side dashboard, visible through the windshield, or on the door jamb sticker.
3 recalls on the 2008 Kia Optima
Exterior lighting: brake lights: switch
- Campaign
- 13V114000
- Reported
- April 1, 2013
- Vehicles affected
- up to 980,377
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash
- Same campaign
- also 2009–2011 Optima, 8 other models
Air bags: frontal
- Campaign
- 12V014000
- Reported
- January 17, 2012
- Vehicles affected
- up to 145,755
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash and injury
- Same campaign
- also 2006–2007 Optima, 1 other model
Power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift
- Campaign
- 11V153000
- Reported
- March 9, 2011
- Vehicles affected
- up to 70,115
- Risk NHTSA names
- crash and injury
- Same campaign
- also 2006–2007 Optima
2008 Kia Optima complaints by year
NHTSA has received 144 owner complaints about the 2008 Kia Optima, the newest on September 16, 2026. Of these, 20 describe a crash (14%) and 4 a fire; owners reported 22 injuries and 8 deaths.
In complaints about the 2008 Kia Optima, the component group named most often is the air bags (40%), followed by the engine (13%) and the power train (13%).
1 of the 2008 Kia Optima's 3 recalls also concerns the air bags.
Where 2008 Kia Optima owners gave the mileage (109 complaints), the median was 62,000 miles.
Component groups named in complaints
- Air Bags57
- Engine19
- Power Train18
- Electrical System15
- Exterior Lighting8
- Unknown Or Other8
Complaints received, by year
| 2008 | 11 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 5 | |
| 2010 | 12 | |
| 2011 | 11 | |
| 2012 | 17 | |
| 2013 | 10 | |
| 2014 | 18 | |
| 2015 | 16 | |
| 2016 | 5 | |
| 2017 | 7 | |
| 2018 | 7 | |
| 2019 | 6 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2021 | 8 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2026 | 2 |
Complaints about the 2008 Kia Optima peaked in 2014, when NHTSA received 18. 27% arrived between 2007 and 2011, the model year's first years on the road.
Adjusted for how many complaints NHTSA received about all 2008 vehicles, the 2008 Kia Optima drew 0.9× the complaints of the median Kia Optima year in the same window: 13th highest of the 20 ranked years.
NHTSA crash-test stars
- Overall: none before 2011
- Frontal: 5/5
- Side: 5/5
The 144 complaints about the 2008 Kia Optima are unverified owner reports, and a model sold in large numbers collects more of them.
Kia Optima by model year
Other 2008 Kia models
Newest record on this page: September 16, 2026. Data: NHTSA recall and owner-complaint files. How these figures are counted