Other body or interior problem on the 2006 Kia Optima
When other body or interior problem gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Kia Optima report other body or interior problem at a median of 72,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 25 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 42,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 137,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 95,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
4% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,000 miles | 65,000 miles | 71,676 miles | 110,000 miles | 137,500 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
Putting it right typically runs $200–$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 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 97; the 2006 has 28. 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.
Beginning 9/9/2006 our 2006 kia optima lx has been in the dealership 5 times now for the same problem.....excessive noise at start up. .9/9/06,2/22/07,3/8/07,4/10/07,11/5/07. 3 drive belts and 2 drive belt tensioners have been replaced. I was informed by the dealership that kia was contacted and "should "be issuing a tsb. I was told by the dealership that kia is aware of a problem. I was told to let the dealership know if the car began to make excessive noise at start up and to give it 3-4 months for a tsb to get issued, then bring the car in again. I can only assume what would happen if the drive belt or tensioner fail during operation of the car. The dealership has been very helpful in this matter. This is the second odi complaint filed on this car. Please ref # 10170291 for the details of the first complaint. *tr
Went to driver side door to get into the vehicle. Attempted to open the door and was unable to do so. The door would unlock by the key but when you pull the handle the door would lock back and not come away from the door frame. The only way that you could get in the car was to open the passenger side door and crawl across to the driver side. Exiting the vehicle was the same process. The car was put into the shop where the mechanic opened the door by unlocking the door and pulling the power lock fuse and opening the door. The actuator (or ajitator, I can't remember the specific name but it was one of the two) had to be replaced and then the door locking mechanism had to be replaced as well because it warped due to the actuator going out. With the car being approx 3 years old, the door locking mechanisms should not have gone out so soon. Not being able to exit through the driver door and exiting through the passenger door is a big safety issue in the event of an emergency. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 kia optima. The contact stated that the keyless remote would not unlock the vehicle. The contact could not get out of the vehicle. The dealer was contacted and stated that the latch on the vehicle failed not the keyless remote. The contact was concerned that in the event of an emergency he may not be able to get out of the vehicle. The dealer has given him a new keyless remote that began working normally and then it failed again. The dealer would not repair the latch on the vehicle. There have been no repairs to date. The failure mileage was 59,000 and the current mileage was 70,537. Updated 3/10/10 *cn updated 08/18/10
Also reported on the 2006 Kia Optima
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Headlight failure or clouding
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 28 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 body or interior problem happen on the 2006 Kia Optima?
Across 25 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 72,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other body or interior problem on the 2006 Kia Optima?
28 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.0 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