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2015 KIA OPTIMA — UNKNOWN OR OTHER

fire · 2238810 · 2026-08-24

Vehicle

Make
KIA
Model
OPTIMA
Year
2015
Manufacturer
Kia America, Inc.
Component
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Speed
55 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

My 2015 KIA optima experienced a catastrophic engine fire while I was driving. There was no warning, I just heard a boom in the engine bay the breaks stopped working and all electrical cut out. As I'm coasting, because I'm unable to stop, flames started to come in through under the dash. I couldn't turn the car off, nor put it in park so the doors stayed locked. The driver window was opened just enough for me to grab the top and break it, allowing me to crawl out. The car coasted itself to the shoulder then blew up (I had a full tank of gas.). All this happened in the manner of 30 to 35 seconds. It's important to note that KIA just replaced the engine 2 months prior to this incident.

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11759158
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown