2009 Kia Optima Airbags Problems

Your airbags failed to deploy when your car crashed into a wall barrier at 65 mph on the highway. Because the airbags didn't inflate, your head was thrown around during impact even though your seatbelt held your body in place, resulting in a broken neck and spinal damage that required hospitalization. Fixing this issue would require a complete airbag system inspection and likely replacement of the airbag control module and all airbag units.

Your 2009 Kia Optima was involved in a head-on crash with a tree after going off an embankment, but none of the airbags deployed during the collision. The driver was fatally injured, and two passengers sustained serious injuries. The vehicle is currently held by a collision center pending manufacturer involvement.

Your airbag warning light turned on at 88,200 miles and stayed on. A Kia dealer diagnosed the problem as a faulty airbag clock spring (a component that allows the airbag system to work properly when you turn the steering wheel) using diagnostic code B1346. The faulty clock spring can prevent your airbags from functioning correctly in a crash. You paid $329.72 to have it replaced, though this problem was covered under recall for 2008 Optimas and other Kia models.

Your airbag warning light stays on constantly. This indicates a problem with your airbag system that needs attention for safety. The dealer will need to diagnose the specific cause using diagnostic equipment to identify which component in the airbag system isn't functioning properly.

AIR BAG LIGHT IS ON AND WE'VE BEEN TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT IT'S A FAULTY CLOCK SPRING IN THE STEERING WHEEL. THERE WAS A RECALL UP TO 2008 OPTIMA'S FOR THIS ISSUE BUT NOT THE 2009. THIS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AS A KNOWN ISSUE AS I'VE SEEN MANY COMPLAINTS. IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE THAT KIA SHOULD PAY SINCE THE AIRBAG MAY NOT DEPLOY AN IT'S AN EXPENSIVE REPLACEMENT AND SPECIAL ORDER. THE DEALER WILL NOT COVER THIS REPLACEMENT.

MY CAR HAS 60,603 MILES ON IT THE SRS LIGHT IS ILLUMINATED IT HAS REMAINED ON FOR THE PAST WEEK. I HAVE NOT BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT. AFTER EXTENSIVE ONLINE RESEARCH I'VE NOTICED THAT THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF KIA'S RECALLED ALL THE WAY UP TO 2008 FOR THIS EXACT PROBLEM AS IT STANDS NOW ALTHOUGH IT'S A KNOWN PROBLEM IT WILL NOT BE COVERED UNDER ANY HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES WARRANTY.

AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON. THIS IS APPARENTLY AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH 2009 OPTIMAS

AIRBAG LIGHT CAME BACK ON, AFTER PASSENGER MAT REPLACED ON RECALL. THEY FOUND CODES B1346 AND B1481 FOR DRIVER'S AIRBAG RESISTANCE TOO HIGH FOR STAGES 1 AND 2. NEED TO DIAGNOSE IF AIRBAG IS FAULTY OR CLOCK SPRING.

THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT STAYS ILLUMINATED. RECEIVED LETTER FROM KIA IN JULY 2016 THAT IT WOULD EXTEND THE WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR THIS ISSUE. IT STATED TO TAKE THE VEHICLE IN AND HAVE IT CHECKED AND THAT IF ANY PROBLEMS IT WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF. IN REALITY, THAT IS NOT TRUE. ONLY IF YOU PURCHASED THE EXTENDED WARRANTY WOULD THESE KNOWN AIR BAG ISSUES BE HANDLED BY KIA. THE COST TO REPAIR? $1,500.

SEATBELT LIGHT IS ON. DEALER SAYS IT'S A CLOCK SPRING THAT'S NOT UNDER MY WARRANTY OR EXTENDED WARRANTY AND WILL COST $335.00 ON TOP OF THE $84.00 I PAID FOR DIAGNOSIS. IT APPEARS THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ON 2009'S AND THERE WAS A RECALL ON 2008'S FOR THIS PROBLEM.

AIRBAG LIGHT HAS COME ON, WON'T GO OFF AND NOW EHICLE WON'T PASS STATE INSPECTION.

AIR BAG LIGHT STAYS ON. NOTHING HAPPENS ON THE VEHICLE

MY COMPLAINT REGARDS THE AIR BAG SYSTEM. THE AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON IN 2015 AND HAS REMAINED ON. MY CAR WILL NOT PASS INSPECTION WITH THE LIGHT ON AND WHILE KIA RECALLED THE 2008 MODELS, THEY HAVE NOT RECALLED THE 2009 MODELS DESPITE MULTIPLE REPORTS OF ISSUES WITH BOTH THE AIR BAGS AND THE AIR BAG LIGHT. LAST YEAR, THE DEALER FOUND A LOOSE SENSOR THAT THEY RECONNECTED, IN ORDER FOR THE CAR TO PASS INSPECTION. HOWEVER, THE LIGHT CAME BACK ON THE NEXT DAY. AT THIS POINT, I DON'T KNOW IF MY AIR BAGS ARE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY AND I'M STUCK BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WON'T PASS INSPECTION. THE DATE IS ESTIMATED AS IT HAPPENED BETWEEN JUNE 2014 AND JUNE 2015 WHEN I WAS UP FOR MY NEXT INSPECTION.

WHILE HITTING SEVERAL TREES IN MY KIA OPTIMA, GOING ABOUT 45MPH, THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. MY INSURANCE COMPANY SAID FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE AND FROM LOOKING AT THE DAMAGE OF THE CAR, THEY ALSO THINK THE AIR BAGS SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYED. HOWEVER, NOBODY WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED, NO THANKS TO THE AIR BAGS.

FOR A LONG TIME, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON. WE HAVE TAKEN THE KIA TO TWO DIFFERENT DEALERSHIPS. EACH ONE SAID THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE AIR BAG AND TURNED OFF THE WARNING LIGHT. BOTH DEALERSHIPS SAID THAT, IF YOU PUT A CELL PHONE ON A KIA CAR SEAT, THAT WILL SET OFF THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT EVEN THOUGH NOTHING IS WRONG WITH THE CAR SEAT. THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT COMES ON WHENEVER WE START THE CAR AND STAYS ON THE ENTIRE TIME, UNTIL WE TAKE IT TO A DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THE LIGHT TURNED OFF DURING REGULAR SERVICE DEPARTMENT HOURS. THIS MEANS THAT WE DON'T HAVE AN AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT, BECAUSE, IF IT'S ON ALL THE TIME, WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHEN WE DO HAVE AN AIR BAG PROBLEM. SINCE OUR FORD AND OUR HYUNDAI NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM WHEN WE PUT A CELL PHONE ON THE CAR SEAT, THIS IS CLEARLY A DESIGN FLAW IN THE KIA AIR BAG WARNING SYSTEM. BECAUSE YOUR FORM ONLY ALLOWS ONE DATE AND MILEAGE ENTRY, I WILL TELL YOU THAT WE TOOK OUR KIA TO KING KIA ON 09/26/2014, WHEN THE MILEAGE WAS 68,239, AND TO HERSON'S KIA ON 10/21/2015, WHEN THE MILEAGE WAS 71,649. SO KIA HAS NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM. UPDATED 12/18/15*LJ *TR

THE AIRBAG LIGHT HAS BEEN CLEARED 3 TIMES AND IT KEEPS COMING ON. THEY RECALLED THERE 2008 MODELS AND MY CAR WAS MADE IT 2008, AND I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE ONLINE WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, THEY NEED TO RECALL 2009 MODELS.

THERE IS AN EXISTING RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM FOR THIS MODEL UP TO MANUFACTURE DATE OF JAN 2008 (SC094). HOWEVER, MY VEHICLE MANUFACTURED OCT 2008 EXHIBITS THE SAME FAILURE. I BELIEVE THIS RECALL SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO THE 2009 MODEL YEAR. *TR

THE AIRBAG LIGHT COME ON AT AROUND 84000 MILES. WHEN THE ERROR CODE WAS READ, IT WAS CONSISTENT WITH FAULTY OCS MAT ON THE PASSENGER'S SIDE (B1448). IT SEEMS TO BE AN EXTREMELY COMMON PROBLEM OF MANY KIA VEHICLES WITH POTENTIALLY SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERNS, YET THE MANUFACTURER DID NOT ISSUE A RECALL. THE ONLY SOLUTION SEEMS TO BE THE REPLACEMENT OF THE MAT ($1700-2000), WITH ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL NOT MALFUNCTION AFTER 10 MILES (THE ELECTRIC SENSOR OF THE MAT CAN INTERFERE WITH ELECTRONIC DEVICES NEARBY). *TR

SHORTLY AFTER WE PURCHASED THIS CAR THE AIR BAG (SRS) LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. TOOK IT BACK TO DEALER. SCAN TEST FOUND CODE B1447 OC ECU DEFECT, FOUND POOR CONNECTION AT CONTROL UNIT. THEY CLEARED THE CODE AND STATED THE UNIT WAS WORKING NOW AS DESIGNED. EVERYTHING GOOD UNTIL 10/6/14, 57000MI., 52 DAYS OUT OF BASIC WARRANTY. CALLED KIA DEALER, WANTED TO SCAN IT FOR $95.00. SAID THEY WOULD APPLY SCAN FEE TO REPAIR BILL. (ILL BET THEY WOULD!) TOOK IT TO A LOCAL TECH. WHO HAS A HIGH TECH SCANNER. I DON'T HAVE THE CODE BUT HE TOLD ME IT HAS A DEFECTIVE PRESSURE SENSOR IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND IT WOULD BE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR. I THINK ITS HIGH TIME KIA DOES THE RIGHT THING AND OWNS UP TO ITS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THIS LIFE-SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

AIR BAG LIGHT FLICKERED ON AND OFF FOR A FEW DAYS THEN CAME ON PERMANENTLY. I LATER HEARD ABOUT THE RECALL: NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 12V014000, AIR BAG CLOCK SPRING ASSEMBLY. THAT ONLY COVERED KIA 2006 THRU 2008. IT APPEARS THAT 2009 SHOULD BE INCLUDED. *TR

AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT CAME ON IN OCT 2012. DEALER STATED THE BATTERY WAS BAD. BATTERY WAS REPLACED. AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT RETURNED NOV. 2012 DEALER NOW STATES AIR BAG FAULTY BUT NOT COVERED BY KIA RECALL. *TR

TL* THE DRIVER OWNS A 2009 KIA OPTIMA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE DRIVER WAS TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE CRASHED INTO HER. THE DRIVER'S VEHICLE CRASHED INTO A BUILDING AS A RESULT AND THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE DRIVER WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL VIA AMBULANCE TO TREAT NECK INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED HOME. THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND THE CONTACT WAS AWAITING A RESPONSE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 38,076.