This Is A Stoopid Question But My Wife Wants Me To Ask It Anyway :(

[Arizona Willie]

She is driving a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid and it has never given a day of trouble in the 8 years we've had it.

But since I brought my 3 home it has had constant trouble.

I know it is only coincidence. But try getting her to believe that.
The people at the Kia dealers told her but ...
She thinks her car is jealous or something. ha ha

It periodically refuses to start. had to be towed in 3 times.
The've gone over and and over it and not found the problem.
Finally decided to change the battery cause it was a bit low voltage.

After that the Needs Service light came on. They changed the oil and ran the diagnostics and found nothing wrong.

Week later the damn light is on again and she has it back at the dealers as I type.

She wanted me to ask if anyone else also has a hybrid in addition to their Tesla and if they were having problems with it. So -- ok -- I asked and now I can show her this message.

I'm quite sure my Tesla is not ****ing with her car or interfering with it in any way.
But since it only happened after the Tessie came to live here she blames my car. Yeah. Women.

 

[GregRF]

I think she is sabotaging the car so you guys can have a matching pair.

 

[jdw]

More likely that the Kia got a good look at the Tesla and has gone suicidal ...

 

[JulienW]

Correlation and coincidence don't = causation

The obvious answer is to explain that there is no scientific relation or connection. Then ask what she believes causes this connection?

Also her car is 8 years old so stating to have problems is sorta par for the course.

Then agree to buy a Model 3 for her too. Problem solved.

 

[RTPEV]

Actually, now that you mention it, my wife's 2015 Volt refused to take a charge and "boot up". Turned out it was a dying 12V battery. I did discover, however, that if you have the hood open on a Volt and press the start button that it will start the ICE up (not sure how it did that on a dead 12V battery, but maybe the traction battery somehow came into play).

And now that she no longer has that vehicle, and has a Bolt instead, oddly enough her center console screen sometimes reboots just like the Tesla's does sometimes!

 

[brianman]

She is driving a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid and it has never given a day of trouble in the 8 years we've had it.

But since I brought my 3 home it has had constant trouble.

How many days out of warranty is her Kia? Often things are "optimized" (in actuality "designed") to fail just past warranty.

 

[Arizona Willie]

Correlation and coincidence don't = causation

The obvious answer is to explain that there is no scientific relation or connection. Then ask what she believes causes this connection?

Also her car is 8 years old so stating to have problems is sorta par for the course.

Then agree to buy a Model 3 for her too. Problem solved.

===========
She's well aware the car is 8 years old. But she thinks her car is jealous of mine.

She seriously is blaming my 3 for her car screwing up. It is hard to believe that as many times as it ha been in the shop in the last couple of months that they can't find the problem.

Personally, I think they may have sabotaged the car to get us pissed off enough to trade it in. It is in pristine condition. Been waxed a couple times every year and only 50 some K miles on it. Inside and outside looks like new. I'm sure the dealers would like to get their hands on it.

But we won't trade it. Might just sell to someone and just do with 1 car.
That would be the logical thing to do.
But we are both independent and want to go when we want to go so we both want our own cars.

Buying another 3 is not in the budget. Welll dunno .. hmmm. We split the cost of her Kia because she couldn't afford it own her own. (We have our own money -- not married ) Guess we could do that again.

But she loves her Kia and it has been a great car until the last few months.

Oh well, I've done what she asked me to do, as embarrassing as it is to ask such a ridiculous question. Because I'm sure my car has nothing to do with her car's problems.

Funny though, every time her car wouldn't start, my car had been nosed up to the back of her car. When they were back to back it started every time --- so far.

And lately it has started ok but the Service light keeps coming on / off. It's just a short in the wiring I'm sure.

Hmm the more I think of it the more I think getting rid of it might be a good idea. But I'll not let the Kia dealers profit from it again.

 

[Wennfred]

It’s a common phenomenon, no one wants to talk about, The Tesla’s will suck the elections out of any car nearby, part of the Skylink network used in Terminator droids for its survival. You will know when your other cars battery is dead, it’s the first thing that goes.

Fred

 

[SMAlset]

My Avalon, always maintained, ran fine for years until it didn’t. Took it in for an intermittent AC issue, would cool but then would suddenly stop, the AC button light would go black and you could feel it getting hot inside the car and it would decide to work again on its own and the light would be green again indicating it was cooling. Took it in for service and from that point on just service visits after service visits as they tried trouble shooting it. Probably had just about every part replaced at one point. And still had the issue. Summer was there now and I still didn’t have reliable AC. At some point near the “end” the dealership broke the dashboard clips causing a gap to the daylight outside to be viewed thru my dash from inside the car. Sticky tape they applied would fail to hold it in place. Said part wasn’t made any more and nothing they could do about it. We were fit to be tied after months of taking it in and still having the issue plus the dash gap now. That’s the short story of it. Now have a Model 3 instead and with no issues. Just fun driving. So much better quality of life.

Tell your wife that while her Kia doesn’t seem to be a keeper, you certainly are. Just might be time for another car.

 

[Reciprocity]

She is driving a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid and it has never given a day of trouble in the 8 years we've had it.

But since I brought my 3 home it has had constant trouble.

I know it is only coincidence. But try getting her to believe that.
The people at the Kia dealers told her but ...
She thinks her car is jealous or something. ha ha

It periodically refuses to start. had to be towed in 3 times.
The've gone over and and over it and not found the problem.
Finally decided to change the battery cause it was a bit low voltage.

After that the Needs Service light came on. They changed the oil and ran the diagnostics and found nothing wrong.

Week later the damn light is on again and she has it back at the dealers as I type.

She wanted me to ask if anyone else also has a hybrid in addition to their Tesla and if they were having problems with it. So -- ok -- I asked and now I can show her this message.

I'm quite sure my Tesla is not ****ing with her car or interfering with it in any way.
But since it only happened after the Tessie came to live here she blames my car. Yeah. Women.

Leave her and her damn optima. Prove her wrong. Not an advice.

 

[Watts_Up]

I would give her the Model 3 and take the Kia, and discretely make a deposit for the Model Y....

 

[dsvick]

She wanted me to ask if anyone else also has a hybrid in addition to their Tesla and if they were having problems with it. So -- ok -- I asked and now I can show her this message.

I'm not sure that showing her the passive-aggressive thread that you titled "This Is A Stoopid Question But My Wife Wants Me To Ask It Anyway" is the way to get on her good side ... sounds like you're buying another Tesla soon

 

[dhrivnak]

She is driving a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid and it has never given a day of trouble in the 8 years we've had it.

But since I brought my 3 home it has had constant trouble.

I know it is only coincidence. But try getting her to believe that.
The people at the Kia dealers told her but ...
She thinks her car is jealous or something. ha ha

It periodically refuses to start. had to be towed in 3 times.
The've gone over and and over it and not found the problem.
Finally decided to change the battery cause it was a bit low voltage.

After that the Needs Service light came on. They changed the oil and ran the diagnostics and found nothing wrong.

Week later the damn light is on again and she has it back at the dealers as I type.

She wanted me to ask if anyone else also has a hybrid in addition to their Tesla and if they were having problems with it. So -- ok -- I asked and now I can show her this message.

I'm quite sure my Tesla is not ****ing with her car or interfering with it in any way.
But since it only happened after the Tessie came to live here she blames my car. Yeah. Women.

My Volt is similar to a hybrid and NO issues after we brought home our Model 3. It sounds like it is time for a second Model 3.

 

[Ostrichsak]

We had a 2011 Kia Optima SX (2.0L turbo) that I got new in 2011 that we put 100k miles on and never had an issue. Loved that car. Never an issue until we bought our first Tesla that is...

As we were selling it it would sit for longer periods w/o being started in colder weather which caused the battery to fail. It started out by simply not turning over but seemed like it was cranking which lead me to initially believe it was a fuel problem and not the battery. We put a new 12v battery in and everything worked perfectly... well, almost everything. We got a check engine light and a cursory Google search lead me to believe that the electronic wastegate solenoid was the culprit. It seemed as though simply driving it for a given period would allow it to self-adjust and the engine light would go away. The new owner never got back to me on it so I assume this was the case and it eventually went away.

I seem to recall that the Hybrid uses the 2.4L as their ICE piece so this may not be the exact problem you're facing but it could be something similar. It could just be something that needs to self-adjust in the ECU but it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the dealership pull the code and make sure.

If all else fails, get a Tesla and let that ICE car be someone else's problem. We did and couldn't be happier with the decision.

 

[Arizona Willie]

We had a 2011 Kia Optima SX (2.0L turbo) that I got new in 2011 that we put 100k miles on and never had an issue. Loved that car. Never an issue until we bought our first Tesla that is...

As we were selling it it would sit for longer periods w/o being started in colder weather which caused the battery to fail. It started out by simply not turning over but seemed like it was cranking which lead me to initially believe it was a fuel problem and not the battery. We put a new 12v battery in and everything worked perfectly... well, almost everything. We got a check engine light and a cursory Google search lead me to believe that the electronic wastegate solenoid was the culprit. It seemed as though simply driving it for a given period would allow it to self-adjust and the engine light would go away. The new owner never got back to me on it so I assume this was the case and it eventually went away.

I seem to recall that the Hybrid uses the 2.4L as their ICE piece so this may not be the exact problem you're facing but it could be something similar. It could just be something that needs to self-adjust in the ECU but it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the dealership pull the code and make sure.

If all else fails, get a Tesla and let that ICE car be someone else's problem. We did and couldn't be happier with the decision.

===========
It sounds very similar. She didn't drive the car for a month or so because she had an operation and it sat for awhile. Then the trouble started. They finally put in a new battery and then the Wrench light came on saying it needed service. That has been coming on periodically. Naturally when she got it to the dealer the light was on but she shut the car off and then they couldn't get it to come on again.

Glad to hear it stopped after awhile. As long as the car starts she will keep driving it. I mentioned just selling it and becoming a one car family. We're both retired. But she drives back and forth to her 98 year old mothers house across town at least once a week. But we should be able to make that work out.

Just that were both so used to having our own cars and going any time we want to and not having to schedule car time. Ugh.

 

[Ostrichsak]

===========
It sounds very similar. She didn't drive the car for a month or so because she had an operation and it sat for awhile. Then the trouble started. They finally put in a new battery and then the Wrench light came on saying it needed service. That has been coming on periodically. Naturally when she got it to the dealer the light was on but she shut the car off and then they couldn't get it to come on again.

Glad to hear it stopped after awhile. As long as the car starts she will keep driving it. I mentioned just selling it and becoming a one car family. We're both retired. But she drives back and forth to her 98 year old mothers house across town at least once a week. But we should be able to make that work out.

Just that were both so used to having our own cars and going any time we want to and not having to schedule car time. Ugh.

Just a quick point of clarification in case I didn't make it clear from my fist post: if you have the Hybrid it has the 2.4L engine it's n/a or naturally aspirated. This means it wouldn't have a wastegate as I described was our issue. That doesn't mean that there may not be some other sensor or part that needs to recalibrate after a loss of electrical power but just driving it may result in a more complicated failure or even being stranded. If it were me, I wouldn't be comfortable just driving the thing unless either 1) the light went away and stayed gone or 2) I was able to diagnose what the cause was to know it was safe to drive. ICE cars are complex and complicated machines and the smallest malfunction can result in complete failure of the vehicle. Just another massive selling point for 100% EV vs ICE or even Hybrid which adds even more complication and parts that can fail.

tldr; get your wife a Tesla too. ;-)

 

[brianman]

Funny though, every time her car wouldn't start, my car had been nosed up to the back of her car. When they were back to back it started every time --- so far.

Workaround and maybe a clue for the researchers on the forum.

I'll contribute a little on the research part.

Kia Motor Optima Car Will Not Start Problems
There is a chart at the bottom that is somewhat interesting.

2008 Kia Optima won't start - Kia Forum
"It sounds like one or more bad ground connections …."

My wives' 2012 Kia optima won't start consistently. It will…
"... sound like a bad starter or a bad connection at the starter...."

 

[Cariver]

A very long time ago. I am actually thankful to Car Wreckers Auckland whose evaluated price for it was that high. It was a mess but I got the best possible deal out there for it. And that's what I recommend people to do too - you won't be able to monetize it any other way or it will be a pain... Now I at least have some money to improve my new car.

 

[TKGA]

I have the opposite problem. My 2008 BMW is so freaked out about the new 2019 Tesla MX in our garage that the BMW drives like it’s brand new.

Granted I put in about $8K to replace all the failing rubber in it and fix oil and coolant leaks. But that’s not it. It is freaked out and driving like its life depended on it.

Tell the Kia to stop screwing around and earn its keep.

 

[Arizona Willie]

I have the opposite problem. My 2008 BMW is so freaked out about the new 2019 Tesla MX in our garage that the BMW drives like it’s brand new.

Granted I put in about $8K to replace all the failing rubber in it and fix oil and coolant leaks. But that’s not it. It is freaked out and driving like its life depended on it.

Tell the Kia to stop screwing around and earn its keep.

===========
I showed it the letters from the Kia dealer wanting to buy it and sell it to someone who wouldn't treat it so good and it has behaved ever since the last time she took it in and they did something with the driveshaft. So far --- so good.