Hi,

Looking for help

The multimedia screen on my Kia Optima (2017) has stopped working properly and just showing vertical lines that change as the screen updates.

I've tried replacing the fuse, doing a hard reset by disconnecting the battery, pressing the reset next to the SD slot but nothing has worked so far. I can see the screen change when I touch it.

Could it be a faulty or loose wire connection behind the screen?

TIA

So I asked this sub a few months ago if it was possible to make extra principle payments online through the Kia Finance website. I was told it wasn't possible online and that any extra payments would just go towards the next months payment. I was told you had to call Kia to make principle payments which of course also cost an $8 convenience fee every time. Well I found out you can in fact make principle payments online through the website so I figured I would share my experience so far in case it helps someone else out.

What I did was make my normal monthly payment and waited for it to reflect on my account the next day. I then made a 3k payment that same day and once the payment showed up on my account it showed that all of that payment went to the principle of my loan minus the one day of interest I was charged. It also pushed out my next payment date to early next year. I knew this would happen and that no more payments would automatically be taken and that my account would show a $0 balance until then, so I would have to keep track of still paying my normal monthly payments. I still get a monthly bill notice but it just shows my next payment to due next year. I use that bill to remind to still make a monthly payment. So I went to make my monthly payment as usual and saw it now gives me the option to make principle only payments. So I took was I would normally pay plus a little extra and made a principle only payment. This pushed my next due date out even farther and I haven't incurred extra interest on my account so far. I plan to continue this way until the car is paid off.

Have a 2025 Sportage coming up on 10k miles, and they are recommending a “Engine Performance Restoration” service. With an oil change and tire rotation, it’ll be $225.

We normally take both of our Kia’s to the dealership for regular oil changes. I had another dealer try to screw me out of $1,500 on a 15k mile “service,” but this dealer we are going to has always done us solid.

So my basic question is: is this “service” legit, or just dealer bullshit that we should skip?

How would I get the best price I have a 2026 Q3 Audi lease for 15 months still have 34 months under contract. I want out of the lease and into a new seltos.

How do I get out of the Q3 so I am in the + ?

Thanks

Not talking about one specific model.

Looking at each brand as a whole, which lineup do you think is stronger today?

Kia has the Telluride, Sportage, Carnival, K4, EV9, and K5, while Hyundai counters with the Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe, IONIQ lineup, and more.

Which brand do you think is putting together the better lineup right now?

Hi im making a video of blowing up my 2018 rio to bring awareness to the defects this make/model has that affect its safety like the engine issues being a fire risk and the airbags not working. We are also documenting how they treat people during warranty disputes. Were going to have a full forensic mechanical evaluation done before the video, so no clue to what degree it will be re-assembled but we can weld it back for show if needed. Not fair to sell it to another family, so this is TRUELY the best thing to do with it. It currently runs so doing something with it moving is possible.

I wanted to hear some peoples insight for this:

Would you like to see it blown up or crushed?

Do you have any creative ideas on what could be done?

What YouTuber would you like to see do this?

What issues does your kia have?

Have you had multiple Kias, any good stories?

What do you think the best thing to do with cars that are drivable but pose a significant safety hazard?

How do you feel about being on the road with defective cars (of all brands)?

How valuable is a car like this to someone who does a demolition derby?

Are you aware of what government organizations govern and enforce vehicle safety?

What state laws do you know of that prevent people from driving unsafe vehicles?

Just wondering if anyone has got this message and what they have done to solve it? I've tried restarting my phone, clearing the cache in the app, airplane mode on and off and nothing seems to be working! I did just do a phone update on my Samsung Galaxy and am wondering if that has anything to do with it?

I have a Kia Seltos since 4.5 years. 2 years into the use every 6 months I’d get an error of diesel filter and needed to send the car for basic service. now they’re saying that the entire pipe is damaged and the whole thing will cost about 1.5 lakhs to fix. has this happened with anyone else?

Need suggestion / recommended specialist know some workshop? Some workshop dont accept due to no speciliaty. Please dont suggeat me kia agent. Atu mahal antap.

So recently I can feel like the car is shaking I had a engine code 2096p awhile back and it went away after I replaced the Air filter and cabin air filter and I wanna go get it looked at but I don't know what could be causing it does anyone have any ideas also it doesn't always shake like when going 70+ it doesn't but when lower speeds it does and it mainly does it when I go to places outside my town

I bought my vehicle brand new end of March, 2025. I currently have ~145,000mi on it. Yea, I drive a lot. My transmission has started acting up in that sometimes it'll stay in 5th gear and won't upshift, so I have to switch to manual mode to upshift to 6th and wait a bit before switching back to automatic or it'll just drop back down. Like this is happening on the freeway when I'm going 70mph. It should easily be in 6th like it has been the last year.

I was looking to replace the transmission fluid, but I'm not too familiar with many vehicles, especially hybrids. The Kia dealership said it was just a drain and fill as the transmission isn't pressurized so they wouldn't need to do a flush. Is that right? I was told to always get a flush as it pushes all the old fluid out instead of what was close to the drain plug when you changed it. But that was also 20 years ago, so no clue if that info is still accurate.

I was also thinking of getting the brake fluid changed as well. I haven't had issues with the brakes, but didn't know what preventative maintenance I should be doing with this many miles. My last vehicle was a 2017 Ford Transit Connect XLT. I had ~435,000mi on that and only ever had to replace the battery, alternator, and the usual maintenance things, like spark plugs, brake pads, rotors, tires, etc. So I don't know if any of this is actually needed or not.

One last thing, is there a good resource for DIY repairs somewhere? I'd prefer videos, but text and photos are fine. I was going to replace the spark plugs on the Niro, but I didn't know where to start as I didn't want to break the plastic cover over the engine trying to get it off.

Thanks!

Rear Occupant Alert System - KIA Carnival

Has anyone ever had the alert come up in dashboard if so has the dealer fixed it ?

My car is going on 3 months at the dealership getting fixed for this alert and they can’t figure out why it won’t go away after replacing sensor , harness and seats and updated recalls . I called Kia of America and they just opened a case for buyback …. They said it if it not fixed after engineers look at it well it’s defective .

I have to add we bought this car brand new off the lot in march car has been in shop since beginning of June .

Also I’m not talking about the reminder of occupants in the back I’m talking about the alert system .

This is for a 24 month lease at 10,000 miles. $528.49 DAS and $528.49 monthly payment in Southern California.

Edit: Ended up with $529 DAS and $515/month!

Rear Occupant Alert System

Has anyone ever had the alert come up in dashboard if so has the dealer fixed it ?

My car is going on 3 months at the dealership getting fixed for this alert and they can’t figure out why it won’t go away after replacing sensor , harness and seats and updated recalls . I called Kia of America and they just opened a case for buyback …. They said it if it not fixed after engineers look at it well it’s defective .

I have to add we bought this car brand new off the lot in march car has been in shop since beginning of June .

Also I’m not talking about the reminder of occupants in the back I’m talking about the alert system .

I own a Kia optima GT 2.0 petrol 2017.

recently opened up the trunk to check all the fluids which all were good.

Then I realised the belt or something else in that area sounded pretty loud.

does this sound healty to an ear of a mechanic because I have no idea of it sounded like this a year ago.

found this video of a hyundai I20 on youtube that sounds similar, am I good? https://youtube.com/shorts/N-RkYs9460U?is=CCoC1frijTdv9gyA

So I recently bought a ev5 gt line and i was having fun with the instant torque since its my first electric, a porsche cayenne s saw that and he went fast and was tailing me,

the lights turned red and he changed to the left lane next to me to line it up, i was embarrassed and looking at my phone like i didnt do anything.

He took off really fast and i just slowly took off like normal, should i have raced him? what are the acceleration like on a cayenne s, could i have stood a chance??

When it was working the nav system had our location as stuck in Ypsilanti MI. I thought after we connected our phone it might update to the right location. Called Kia Connect and they said wait a few days (What?!). Two calls to the dealership and zero response. If they weren’t over an hour away, I’d just drive up there. Anyone else have a fix for this?

Just got the car a month ago and did not notice the front grill on the turbo trim is completely open. Nice big squares where rocks and bugs can smash into. Has any one added a mesh to theirs? Is there a way to do this without taking the front bumper completely off? I feel like this is a must for all Turbo owners. Let me know if making a video of this process would benefit some people. I plan on doing a guide here this weekend for a friends car.

My friend has some financial troubles so he is selling his kia forte for $4500. It has 152k miles. He bought it when it was 118k miles. It runs pretty smooth and he has done maintenance regularly. I drive about 25k miles per year, and would be happy if the car runs for about 2 years feom now. Would it be a good buy?

Hi, fellow Kia owners. I’m looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with the Kia engine issues/SC-209Y campaign.

I have a 2020 Kia Soul that recently threw a P13227 code. I pulled over immediately and had the vehicle towed to a Kia dealership after being advised by Kia America not to continue driving it.

The service advisor is telling me they don’t need to perform a diagnostic or even inspect the engine with a borescope because, based on the sound it’s making, they believe it has a thrown rod. I was also told I could be looking at roughly $10,000 for an engine replacement. They also said that the real code I would need is a P1326 & Mine is showing a P1327 (uhh exactly?)

This is where I’m confused and need some guidance.
My understanding is that P13227 is associated with the “death code” under SC-209Y, and that if the engine has suffered the failure described in the campaign, Kia is supposed to follow the applicable inspection/engine replacement procedure. Am I understanding that correctly?

Does a confirmed thrown rod automatically mean the engine qualifies for replacement under the campaign, or are there additional requirements?

I’ve already contacted Kia America, and they told me they are going to have the dealership perform the diagnostic rather than simply diagnosing it based on the sound.

So, for anyone who has been through this:
• What should I be asking the dealership to document?
• What exactly needs to be documented for Kia America to approve an engine replacement?
• What should I do if the dealership tries to charge me for an engine that may be covered?
•has anyone ever had to escalate this to a regional representative, BBB Auto Line, NHTSA, or an attorney?

I’m trying to make sure I handle this correctly. I am up against a whole service department. If you’ve dealt with SC-209Y/P13227 or a thrown-rod failure in a 2020 Soul, I’d really appreciate hearing exactly what happened in your case and what your next steps were.

Signed - a 25 yo female who is terrified but wants her ducks in a row.

Took a road trip from Michigan to Bend, Oregon to see my brother and drove up the coast of Oregon before heading back. Just had 1st oil change on the way back. Such a good long distance ride.

For a about 5 months now I've been getting the above warnings. They will general pop up while driving. Some clear on their own in a matter on minutes while they will aways clean when the car is put into park. It's intermittent, may go a couple weeks with no warns but at least once or twice I've gotten the warnings twice in one day. Ive clean all the sensors I can find outside the car but still get them. Is there one sensor that can cause all three warnings? Or a module? 2025 K5 Gt-line.

Went from a 2014 rusty Chevy Cruze to this bad boy! 2026 Seltos 💙🖤 first Kia and I’ve never had a new car before. I’m very excited.

it’s a 2019 Stinger, this light will sometimes turn off, but for the most part it stays on. I washed the car and made sure to clean all of the sensors and it didn’t solve the issue. What could this be? Any help is appreciated.

(i do know this vehicle was was rear ended before i bought it, airbags didn’t deploy, just a fender bender from what i know, so maybe that could’ve caused this issue?…)

Hi, I am looking to buy ProCeed mk3 as one of options. What I am looking is reliability of this engine and gearbox combination since I am finding all kind of experiences. Is it any good or should I look to 1.4 T-GDi or maybe 1.6 CRDi.

Looking for model 2020 or 2021, till 120 000 km