Other electrical problem on the 2005 Kia Optima
1 fire 1 injury 2 of the 18 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 Kia Optima report other electrical problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 80,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 155,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 77,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80,000 miles | 84,123 miles | 99,000 miles | 128,000 miles | 157,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a fire and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 19 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 93; the 2005 has 18. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 kia optima. While driving 35 MPH, the contact noticed smoke coming from under the dashboard while the air conditioner was running. The smoke was so thick that he could not see through the smoke. The dealer was notified and stated that the cigarette lighter could be the possible cause of the failure. They stated that nothing could be done because the vehicle was out of warranty. Upon further investigation, the contact noticed a black box on the driver's side underneath the dashboard covered in electrical tape. It was discovered that the previous owner installed after market floor board lights in the vehicle that required a massive amount of power. The tail lights on the vehicle were inoperable. No repairs were made. The failure and current mileages were less than 77,000.
When I got home from work and attempted to open the drivers side door it just kept relocking, the lock doesn't open all the way it makes a noise and locks again. I had to climb over the middle console to get out of the car. I went around to the drivers side to see if I could open it from the outside, the key doesn't turn all the way, if the other doors are unlocked and you try to open from the drivers side it just clicks into the locked position. I am afraid that I will be in a position to have to exit the vehicle in a hurry and can't. *tr
I went to kia dealership regarding keyless remote not working. I advised dealership that both remotes were re-programmed 12 months ago and that one remote stopped working 6 months after re-programming and the 2nd remote stopped working 12 months after re-programming. Based on discussion, it appears that 2003 through 2006 kia optimas have defective keyless remote systems, but because there has been no formal recall, repair of keyless remote is not covered outside of warranty. I believe repair cost is about $400. My opinion is that a relative keyless remote recall should be made by kia since the keyless remote defect is not customer's fault. *tr
Also reported on the 2005 Kia Optima
Other body or interior problem
Door latch or handle failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Seat belt or retractor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other electrical problem happen on the 2005 Kia Optima?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2005 Kia Optima?
18 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed