There are 45 owner-reported body & structure complaints for the 2014 Kia Optimain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
My vehicles paint is chipping off. It’s chipping off on the hood the top of the car and on the trunk some spots have rusted over. As I was looking into a possible repaint, I’ve heard that there has been an issue with this type of color is associated with my vehicle on other Kia Optimus, as well as some Hyundai vehicles. There were no warning lamps associated with this issue. No component or system has failed that related to the vehicle. The safety confirm would be that the rush gets deeper into the vehicle and causes other parts of the vehicle to rush to and messes up with the vehicles operating systems that could cause greater issues in the future with the operation of my vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the Kia dealership, as well as inspected by other paint and body shops.
The Snow White Pearl (SWP) paint on the exterior body of the car is peeling-off in various places. The paint often peels completely off the hood in large sheets while in motion, and flies up and sticks to the windshield obstructing the driver's view while moving.
Driving down the road several large pieces of pain flaked off on the driver side door. This is a 2014 Kia Optima with 61,000 miles on it. None of the other questions apply. I am filing this because I see on other forums that both KIA and Hyundai cars with the Snow White Pearl paint have this problem, so it seems to be a failure by the manufacturer.
My car overturned/flipped over after i hit a very small bump in the road located on [XXX] in Utica Ny doing about 15 mph in a trailer park where I worked I have printed out all of my recalls on my 2014 Kia Optima GDI there was some brake fluid on the ground around the area where my car landed in a ditch however the Sheriff that came to the scene of the accident and the female state troopers failed to even check or smell the fluid after I informed both the officers and the Deerfield Fire Department the only ones willing to give me any advice on how to handle this matter even though I could had lost my life then to show up to court for the tickets I got for literally driving 15 mph in a trailer park and my car flips over into a ditch and not be able to make a statement in court due to the paperwork not being in to the courthouses computer system in [XXX] at 6:00 to show the judge all my recalls as well as plead not guilty to them I find unprofessional and as for the damage sustained to my vehicle I need to find an independent property adjuster to do a investigation however it is set to go to the Kia Dealership located at 5056 commercial Dr., Yorkville, NY, for the recalls on December 30, 2024 however due to the damage done in the roller I am unsure on what to do please help I paid for this car in full as a private sell and it had no issues with it at all no lights on the dashboard or anything was driving good at time of accident on [XXX] at [XXX] until I literally hit that bump in the road of the trailer park should anyone from your agency need to contact me to view the damage and pictures please contact me at [XXX] for I could not upload all documents and photos thank you very much [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The clear protective coat has failed over the white paint. I was originally unbothered. However, now I've learned it is a known issue in this and other makes/models. I am fearful the areas where paint has chipped, are now showing wear and rust. I've learned rust can weaken the body and affect the safety/structure. What can be done to correct this? This is my first report, if I should begin elsewhere, please advise. Thank you in advance for any help. I would simply like to have a reasonably safe vehicle and dont want to be negligent in not reporting/caring for the issues.
White paint is peeling all over the car, in spots as large as 6 inches by 4 inches.
My paint is delaminating all over my vehicle and is flying off in large sheets. My car now has metal exposed which is susceptible to rust which poses a risk to the structure of my vehicle and the potential of my windshield flying off as a result. This first started occurring less than 2 years after purchasing my vehicle in 2019. KIA fails to recognize this manufacturer defect and it continues to delaminate at an alarming rate.
Paint (Pearl White) has been peeling and delaminating for a number of years. Tried working w/Kia directly. Their Customer Care center told us they have a memo stating the known issue with the pearl white paint and told us to send in pictures, get it repaired and send in the bill. We didn't want to do this directly so received an estimate from the body shop. Kia then recanted and said we weren't under warranty. We've seen many other complaints across Kia and Hyundai cars related to this pearl white paint. We just want them to cover repainting. The body shop has 50 photos to include the actual paint thinness measured with digital measurement device.
paintKIA Kia optima lx SNOW WHITE PAINT PEELING CHIPPING AND DELAMINATION! it started about a few months ago in oct 2023 and now its starting to peel in different places please help this is not fair!
The contact's sister owns a 2014 Kia Optima. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked unattended, it spontaneously caught fire. The ABS warning indicator light had previously been turned on and off. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. A police report was filed. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. There were no reported injuries, crashes, or air bag deployments. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V100000 ( Fuel System, Gasoline). The failure mileage was approximately 85,000.
The pain is delaminating (peeling) throughout the vehicle. The pain color is white pearl, it starts bubbling up then peeling off in large areas.
Paint on vehicle on top of trunk has chipped off like a whole section out of no where.
Vehicle paint is chipping / peeling off in large parts . Mainly roof and area surrounding windshield
Paint is peeling off in substantial amounts. The door pillars/roof rails are almost completely bare metal. There is a large paint bubble on the trunk that will come off soon. The roof, hood, doors all have paint delaminating and coming off. Its all getting worse by the day. I've discovered that this is a common issue with Kias in my year range (2014), model (Optima) and color (white) particularly. The paint started to delaminate about maybe a year ago and I let my local Kia dealership know and they said there was nothing they could do. It got so bad I went to a body shop in my area about 4 months ago, JJ paint and body shop in Bakersfield, CA, and he told me it should be covered by Kia, so I went through Kias customer care program with them intaking my information, getting photos, quotes and service records, only for them to take 10 weeks to deny rectifying this paint issue citing that the paint was out of warranty (3 years 36, 000 miles). I appealed to the BBB Auto Line and they took several weeks as well to come to the same result citing the warranty. This widely known paint defect is Kias fault, I know Toyota has had paint issues of the same type and they warranty it for 10 years. I wash my cars regularly and keep them up to date on service. It is unfathomable to me that I should bear the financial responsibility to repaint my vehicle. There's more damage than I could show, being limited to only 10 pictures. I'm hoping that this organization can give me recourse.
I have a snow white pearl painted Kia optima that has peeling paint on the pillars by the windshield. It started out really small but now it’s almost down the entire pillar.
Paint is peeling off in big chunks down to the metal. On the hood, trunk, and over the doors.
I have snow white pearl color car. I noticed that the there is painting peeling off my car. I also had my windshield replaced by safelite and they took a chunk of paint off my car as well and are refusing to pay for damage.
Pearl white paint has been rapidly chipping. Dealership has refused to do anything.
The paint on my car is just falling off. I cant even wash my car because its peeling off so easily.
The White paint is chipping on the hood and roof of the car.
Showing 1–20 of 45 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026