No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2011 Kia Optima
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Kia Optima report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 45,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 24 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 170,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 129,477 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.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40,500 miles | 43,193 miles | 101,700 miles | 111,000 miles | 169,977 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–$1,800 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 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 300 miles, and latest on the 2016 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 52; the 2011 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.
The first episode was a dead battery. The car had 13 miles on the odometer. The second incident, car would not start, ignition issue, but later started (after 1hr). Taken to dealer, secondary to ignition issues. Problem resolved until today. Would not start again. Tried two different key fobs and still did not start. This is the third incident since having the vehicle. I will need to have the car towed for the second time. *tr
I was leaving work @ 5:45 pm and got in my car, but it would not start. I tried for 20 minutes before I called kia ledgen dealership for help. They told me where to put the aux key starter inside the glove box area. After several attempts the car still would not start. They told me a would have to call the 800 number to get a jump or have my car towed. I found a co-worker who gave me a jump and the car started right up. I proceeded to a firestone station and got a new batter ($146.00). Started right up and had no problems until my wife and I went to the mall today (dec 28) and my car would no start again. I thought we were going to get stranded or needed to find a jump. After 5 attempts it finally started and I took my car back to the dealership and they said they could not duplicate the problem so there was nothing they could do. After stating that I read about other kia owners having the same problem they decided to keep it over night. Are there other owners with similar problems that can lead me in the right direction to get this problem fixed? *tr
This kia has a push button start option. The vehicle would not start and the brake lights were not turning on when the brake pedal was depressed. The computer looks for a signal from the brake light switch before it starts the engine. I disconnected and reconnected the brake light switch and the problem was temporarily corrected. Two days later, the vehicle would not start again and the brake lights were not turning on. We used the procedure to bypass the brake signal (hold start button for 12+ seconds) to start the engine. Vehicle was now driving down the road with no brake lights. There was also a warning light illuminated on the instrument cluster indicating an issue with the esc system. Dealership stated they have seen a few cars with this issue. *tr
Also reported on the 2011 Kia Optima
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
Headlight failure or clouding
Complete engine failure or seizure
Other brake problem
Steering column or shaft failure
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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2011 Kia Optima?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 45,000 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 no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2011 Kia Optima?
28 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 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