I am writing in response to Mr. David's complaint below. The story does not exactly match what transpired. Mr. David was asked if, not accused of, hitting something. Even though evidence points toward the car having struck something, our service manager Ted and the rest of his department worked with Kia to get the initial complaint covered under warranty. As for the additional required work that would not have been covered, it was done for him at no additional charge. Mike Murphy Kia went above and beyond what was called for to take care of Mr. David's situation; I wish that he would a fraction of the time he took blasting us on the internet to say something nice about the service he received.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
I had my 2007 KIA Spectra EX blow a seal in the "rack & pinion steering" inside and underneath one of the "boots" covering the seal that had blown, so it was not visible to see. I had to pick up my wife in 4.5 hours from work and this is our only transportation we have. This blew while filling the system with fluid after hearing the power steering pump give that noticeable "wining" sound which is a dead give away your system needs fluid. I proceeded to fill reservoir 3 times and it was being sucked right down and was amazed!. After the 4th fill, I looked under the vehicle for a possible leak, but seen not a drop. I then heard a faint "POP" as if a small balloon was popped and oh boy, a river of fluid all over my concrete appeared with smoke off the back of the motor also.
I then, of course, shut down the vehicle, tried to locate exact area where leak was coming from and could not as fluid was everywhere just dripping like hell. I then moved vehicle onto the grass and got my ramps out, again worrying about my poor wife, being stuck at work and no ride home! I pulled the car onto the ramps and asked my son to start it up and immediately seen fluid pumping out through a hole in the boot on the rack and pinion steering system on the driver's side. I was like, oh boy, and I came back out and asked my son to go get neighbor for some assistance as he worked on cars for folks as was in fact pretty handy at doing that. In the meantime, I crawled back under and removed the wrong boot from CV joint instead of rack and pinion steering shaft and realized it after I removed it. It gently came off without difficulty, but did not want to go back on, so I quit trying and located correct boot, seen hole in boot and stuck screw driver head inside hole to make sure I had correct spot, which I clarified. The neighbor then appeared and I explained what had happened. He said apparently seal was leaking and every time I filled reservoir, it leaked from seal into the boot and filled it like a water balloon until it couldn't take any more pressure, then blew out.
He said it was a difficult fix and probably 3 days for him to fix it, I was like, Oh my God and thought, my wife is gonna be upset for sure!. My KIA has only 32,000 miles on it! Well, neighbor said, check your warranty and see if it is still under warranty and if so, take that route as it should be covered. It was late, so I waited till next day and looked at my paperwork and called Mike Murphy KIA also to verify my warranty and coverage, which they said it was covered. Boy was I happy, but not for long though! I then called road side assistance and even got a free tow to Mike Murphy KIA from Waycross, where I live to Brunswick, some 67 miles away from me. Again, I was happy! Called dealership and told them the car was on the way and they said fine we will look for it to arrive.
Got a call later from them and said it had arrived. Got another call later that afternoon and the fun began! They stated we hit something in the road and caused the damages and it was not covered. I had told them the whole true story during my first phone call to them. They said, no, it happened from something hitting it from the road. I explained, no way and asked them to put fluid into reservoir and they will easily see the fluid coming from seal inside boot and this would prove my story. You would think the technician "Ted" would have thought of this himself, but no, instead he said to fight with KIA myself and call my insurance company and file a claim! I was like, you are kidding right? He said no and that ended that conversation! Basically, I was a liar and not put with his supervisor or anyone else nor offered. I then called back to dealership about 45 minutes later after arriving home and had one hell of a time even getting an answer at the dealership excerpt for sales dept only!
Finally, I reached a voicemail for "Mike Jr", the owner's son and left a message. After about 1.5 hours, I did get a call back and he listened to my story, he then said he personally, would investigate and call me back the next day due to it being after 6pm. I never received a call back from him and waited 3 full days to give them the benefit of doubt!. So, for 3 days I hadn't a clue about my vehicle! I did get paperwork from Gov's office consumer complaints office and file a complaint. I did get a call on day 4 and was told by KC, the service supervisor my car was gonna be covered for all the repairs, although happier, I still was feeling no trust for the dealership and called KIA Motors complaints office anyway and spoke to them for a second time and told them of my situation. I then spoke to dealership the next day and was informed the parts should be in on Monday and the car done by Wed.
I was also told the CV boot needed replacement as well as the CV shaft and was 641.00. I was like, no way, there is no damage to the CV boot or shaft whatsoever and to just put boot back on for me. KC said it was torn up and I said, you must have done it then. He said, we have pics. I said you got my car, so you got me, there is no damage. He said, if I didn't do the boot and other repairs, I would be given no warranty for the rack and pinion steering seal which required the whole system being replaced and was over 2,000.00. Two Thousand dollars.
I was in shock, KIA makes no seal to fix this! He said no and now I was being forced to fix something else that had no damage when it left my house and all of the sudden does at the dealership, or I get no warranty at all for any repairs! Now I knew what "Mike Murphy KIA" of Brunswick, GA. was all about, liars and cons! Please! Do not buy from, nor take anything you own to them! You are asking for a nightmare and horrible customer service from a gang of legal thugs. They are common criminals is all! I urged KIA to drop them from them, being an authorized dealer of their product and filed a complaint on my file with them. I am going with the media soon as well as filed with the Governors Office also. Please, stay away from this dealership, if I can save even 1 consumer the grief, I have accomplished my goal.
We had to buy a truck and we don't have the best of credit. The truck was 10,999, however Mike Murphy said no one would approve us unless they went up on the price. Truck went to 16,999, then we had to buy this sorry warranty that we didn't want and again it was told that we had to have it. Come to find out none of it was true. They knew we needed a truck bad and took advantage of us. Don't shop there!
I purchased a Kia Amati from Mike Murphey Kia on Dec. 29 from Mike Murphy Kia in Brunswick, GA. Mr. Murphy promised as part of the negotiations to pay $333 on my insurance cost. He said his check writer was not there that day and he would mail it the next day. A couple of weeks later, he said the check was supposed to come from Kia in Kentucky. Last Wednesday, I went back to the dealership and he said again that the person who writes checks was gone and he would mail it on Thursday. He didn't. Obviously, I have a con artist on my hands. I may get gypped on this one but if I am, neither I nor any of my friends will shop there again. I will see to that. Loss of $333 and cost of two round trips, 80 miles each, from Jesup to Brunswick and back.
