How many miles will a 2013 Kia Optima last?
Half of the 816 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima that list mileage came after 81,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 149,000 miles. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 1,444 complaints on this model year; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 816 complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima that list mileage, the middle half came between 41,000 and 118,000 miles; 290 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 79 (10%) after 150,000 and 9 (1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2013 Optima last?
The 816 mileages owners gave run from 1 to 300,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 41,000 miles, half at or under 82,000, three quarters at or under 118,000 and nine in ten at or under 150,000; 290 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 79 (10%) after 150,000 and 9 (1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2013 Optima wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 1 mile |
| 25th percentile | 41,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 82,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 118,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 150,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 300,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 290 (36%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 79 (10%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 9 (1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 4,530 NHTSA owner complaints on the Kia Optima that list mileage came after 76,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Kia Optima last? →
Common problems with the 2013 Optima
NHTSA's file holds 1,444 owner complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima. Owners named the engine most often: 628 complaints, and half of the 377 that list a mileage came after 98,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | 628 | 377 | 99,000 |
| Steering | 217 | 146 | 40,000 |
| Electrical System | 169 | 86 | 76,000 |
| Structure | 127 | 37 | 70,000 |
| Fuel/propulsion System | 94 | 44 | 80,000 |
Of the 1,444 complaints, 49 report a crash, 117 report a fire and 29 report an injury (38 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2013 Optima a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2013 is a good or a bad Optima: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2013 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 1,444 complaints, the 2013 drew the most of the 20 Kia Optima model years from 2001 to 2020 with 10 or more complaints. The fewest: the 2010 (75).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 Optima | 143 | 84 | 81,000 |
| 2002 Optima | 107 | 87 | 85,000 |
| 2003 Optima | 141 | 105 | 84,200 |
| 2004 Optima | 225 | 187 | 82,500 |
| 2005 Optima | 144 | 112 | 75,000 |
| 2006 Optima | 155 | 128 | 61,787 |
| 2007 Optima | 167 | 130 | 75,000 |
| 2008 Optima | 144 | 108 | 61,000 |
| 2009 Optima | 116 | 97 | 64,000 |
| 2010 Optima | 75 | 61 | 70,500 |
| 2011 Optima | 628 | 450 | 90,000 |
| 2012 Optima | 1,032 | 740 | 80,800 |
| 2013 (this page) | 1,444 | 816 | 82,000 |
| 2014 Optima | 622 | 363 | 68,000 |
| 2015 Optima | 1,023 | 505 | 79,000 |
| 2016 Optima | 766 | 284 | 67,278 |
| 2017 Optima | 308 | 113 | 50,000 |
| 2018 Optima | 244 | 80 | 41,000 |
| 2019 Optima | 215 | 52 | 30,000 |
| 2020 Optima | 155 | 28 | 60,000 |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Optima year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Kia Optima years to avoid →
2013 Kia Optima recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 10 recall campaigns that name the 2013 Kia Optima. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 23V652000 | Sep 25, 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE |
| 22V560000 | Aug 1, 2022 | STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS |
| 22V093000 | Feb 17, 2022 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS |
| 21V331000 | May 10, 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:CONTROL UNIT/MODULE |
| 20V750000 | Dec 2, 2020 | ENGINE |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2013 Optima lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2013 Optima.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 628 of the 1,444 complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: OPTIMA, OPTIMA HYBRID and OPTIMA PHEV. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: OPTIMA, OPTIMA HYBRID and OPTIMA PHEV.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2013 Kia Optima questions
How many miles will a 2013 Kia Optima last?
Half of the 816 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima that list mileage came after 81,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 149,000 miles. Of the 816 complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima that list mileage, the middle half came between 41,000 and 118,000 miles; 290 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 79 (10%) after 150,000 and 9 (1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2013 Optima that never had one.
What are the most common 2013 Kia Optima problems?
NHTSA's file holds 1,444 owner complaints on the 2013 Kia Optima. Owners named the engine most often: 628 complaints, and half of the 377 that list a mileage came after 98,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 1,444 complaints, 49 report a crash, 117 report a fire and 29 report an injury (38 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2013 Kia Optima a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2013 is a good or a bad Optima: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2013 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 1,444 complaints, the 2013 drew the most of the 20 Kia Optima model years from 2001 to 2020 with 10 or more complaints. The fewest: the 2010 (75).
How many recalls does the 2013 Kia Optima have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 10 recall campaigns that name the 2013 Kia Optima. A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2013 Kia Optima before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2013 Kia Optima.