So my friend got ripped off by KIA

[bigbadboss101]

Colleague has a Kia Sorrento. Vehicle was having intermittent starting problem so he took it in. Kia cleaned some of the wiring and connections for a small sum and home he goes.

Car was having issues starting again (on and off). This time Kia said they need to replace a sensor inside the engine. My friend who is a instrumentation engineer let them go ahead. Bill was $1200+ and dealer said it was what the engine code indicated.

Still he was having issues and for the third time he took it in. Kia gave him a discount and replace the starter for $300.

Friday morning he said the vehicle didn't start. He played around with the shifter and believes the car is not sensing that it's in park.

So, after spending around $1600 they didn't really fix the problem. He is going to contact Kia Canada. I suggested him might also try BBB.

Crappy technicians !

[Team_Mclaren]

warranty ?

[97luder]

it is a kia lol . try starting in neutral ,

[BlackArcher101]

It's the usual schtick. Instead of following actual diagnosing procedures, the first few attempts are the ol' "replace the most obvious and hope it fixes it" routine.

[streethondas]

Well that's what you get when you buy a Kia, next time tell your friend to buy a Toyota/Honda to be hassle free and not some Korean crap :dunno:

And tell him to go to a respected mechanic shop and not the stealership!

[LMVantage]

You can't go blaming the car manufacturer. It's mechanics/service advisers dealing with the vehicle, and they move around (some rather frequently). I agree with BlackArcher, but then again the stuff that was fixed/replaced may have needed it, and in adding a new part it might have aggravated other already weakened components and caused them to fail.

[se7en]

Kia does have a terrible history though...I fix engines for a living here in medicine hat, and we get tons of kia junk.

Things that go wrong with them:

1. timing belts lose teeth(or break) and engine breaks(not bends) valves and they then go through the pistons and out the side of the block.

2. They constantly forget to torque the head bolts which leads to coolant loss, and compression loss and then overheated engines and warped beyond repair cylinder heads. And of course the rings lose tension and burn oil after as well.

3. The v6 models have this great crank bolt that lets go and requires a new crankshaft according to the dealer(I can get the broken bolt out, but it is a bitch.(1-2 inches inside the snout of the crank)

4. Often when the dealer replaces the crank, dirt gets inside, which causes it to turn bearings(read: junk engine) Don't forget that the engine had to be removed, turned upside down, and all the oil drains from the lifters which causes annoying lifter ticks after too.

5. Don't get me started with the lack of power, and transmissions that shit the bed way too early, and the junk wheel bearings...

So yes, blame the KIA manufacture.

[revelations]

Nothing from the OP's post sounds too different from any other of the hundreds of mechanics in Calgary.....shotgun maintenance!

I owned a motorcycle a long time ago that was running like shit. Too it in to the stealership and they told me (after spending $500 to diagnose this) that I would need to spend 600$ on a new ECU for the bike.

Took the bike home, and 2 days later diagnosed a dead cylinder coilpack - which cost $50 :facepalm:


Precisely the reason why I chose to learn each vehicle I own backwards and forwards.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Worst thing your friend could have done is payed the bill.

[2BLUE]

I thought kia has 10 years warranty????

[se7en]

Warrenty. See engine upside-down and spun bearings post above.

Just say no.

[VW337]

Friends don't let friends buy KIA's

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by streethondas
Well that's what you get when you buy a Kia, next time tell your friend to buy a Toyota/Honda to be hassle free and not some Korean crap :dunno:Yeah, no. Not unless you want your friend to die of boredom every time he gets behind the wheel. Honda yes, Toyota fuck no.

[bigbadboss101]

Yeah he has the Kia, and a 2007 Civic. He is looking at a SUV replacement though.

[Kona9]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Yeah he has the Kia, and a 2007 Civic. He is looking at a SUV replacement though.

Send him to Brasso Nissan. Get him into an X-Terra, Pathfinder, etc etc. I'm on my 3rd truck/suv from there, and I haven't spent a cent outside of regular maintenance.

[Crazyjoker77]

KIA is a horrible company i worked at a suburu/kia dealership for quite awhile.

And Dealing with kia warranty work is a nightmare. your pissed of before you even get the job because it pays much less for warranty work as opposed to standard time (even compared to other brands) Service advisors know this and do whatever they can to deny the warranty work so they can charge normal rate and not deal with all the paperwork.

Then after that is done the technician has to write a report on the cause and fix of the warranty work performed as well as send the defective part back to a main kia service center in the states somewhere.

The older sorrenteos are horrible and we had a bay dedicated to changing motors on them because they would destroy bearings so often. lots of the 03-04 sorrentos never even made it past 30xxxkm and actually wrong bearing were used in these motors right from the factory.

The smaller cars like rio's and such have weak ass timing belts that liked to skip, stretch, or snap so easily and being all their motors are interferance makes for some happy people.

Kia/hyundai has stepped in up in the last few years with there newer vehicles and i would say they are equal to GM in quality now but even that isnt saying much....

[Sal0]

I know we wouldn't buying another Nissan simply because of the way they handled the "fuel sensor" issue. It took years and years of complaints before they did anything about it.

Then they issued a recall, however calling Nissan or the dealership to get it fixed didn't help because your vehicle was excluded from the recall. Calling the dealership/Nissan, and even writing a letter doesn't help. It wasn't until 6 months later that they issued a "warranty extension" for the fuel gauges.

If they know there is a probelm, they should fix it. My point is they treat you like just another number. They ignore your complaints even if they are valid. They just want you to pay up and then shut up.

Thanks Nissan :rolleyes:

[takkyu]

Tell us how you really feel.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by Sal0
I know we wouldn't buying another Nissan simply because of the way they handled the "fuel sensor" issue. It took years and years of complaints before they did anything about it.

Then they issued a recall, however calling Nissan or the dealership to get it fixed didn't help because your vehicle was excluded from the recall. Calling the dealership/Nissan, and even writing a letter doesn't help. It wasn't until 6 months later that they issued a "warranty extension" for the fuel gauges.

If they know there is a probelm, they should fix it. My point is they treat you like just another number. They ignore your complaints even if they are valid. They just want you to pay up and then shut up.

Thanks Nissan :rolleyes:

Nissan's had some bad calls. I bought my Sentra SE-R SpecV without doing proper research, so it is in part my fault, but they just won't acknowledge the issues this car has.

[forced_eg]

thats the bitch thing about intermittent problems, you cant really diagnose anything if the problem isnt happening in their shop.

the reason they nailed you for a 1200 bill is because the check engine light was the only starting point they had, it was a gamble

any monkey with a test-light can work on a kia, dont take it to the dealer where theres a handful of kids learning on your car

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by TorqueDog
Yeah, no. Not unless you want your friend to die of boredom every time he gets behind the wheel. Honda yes, Toyota fuck no.

He drives a Kia right now, I don't think he's going for exciting.

I'm surprised people don't mention Mazda more, they are boring to drive, but super reliable. The interiors aren't great, but better than Kia imo.

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
He drives a Kia right now, I don't think he's going for exciting.What gets the blood flowing and the adrenaline pumping more by turning the key and not knowing if the car is going to start?