Kia Sportage

After explaining that they did not give me a comparable rental car they sent me to another member of customer service who told me they could not do anything. I spent two hours on the phone today and nothing was resolved. They keep telling me they don't know how long it will be until my Sportage is fixed. In the meantime, I am trying to move four hours away and am waiting on my Sportage to move my last items. I’m hopping that the Sportage will be ready before my lease ends, or I will need to spend more money out of pocket to rent a moving van. They keep blowing me off when I ask to be reimbursed for the tow truck. Be careful before considering a Kia. Their cars don’t seem to be built to last.

I’ve had multiple software updates, denied oil consumption tests unless I want to pay $600 out of pocket, absolutely no resolution is offered because my rod bearings have not failed. Check engine light came on 10/5/22 for the 4th time in 2 years, went straight to the dealership and was told I needed an engine soak and spark plugs due to oil combustion. A repair bill of close to $1,000. The very next day I get a call and I am told I need an engine due to cylinder 3 misfiring and that’s not covered under the lawsuit! Excuse me?!? I am at the end of my rope with Kia and their terrible customer service.

As he was driving down I-85 South, the KIA stopped working as he was in the middle of the interstate...he had to navigate the vehicle across three lanes of traffic before being able to reach the shoulder....and I'm sure everyone knows what traffic gets like closer to Atlanta (fast, crazy, unpredictable). I cannot even imagine if it had been me and the kids, or even just me! I would have been terrified, as I'm sure Hunter was as well. He is safe though, that's not what this story is about.

So, Hunter calls me, I arrange a tow truck, he finds a ride to work, and the car is towed to a mechanic. I first tried to call KIA to see if I could have the vehicle towed to the dealership close to our house. I was informed that I had to have an appointment, and that their earliest appointment was in June! So, I called all the dealerships around us, there were like 4 or 5, and they all pretty much said the same thing, with the time frames varying slightly. So, I gave up on that avenue and just had the vehicle towed to the company our roadside assistance recommended. Couple days later, I get a call from the mechanic and they inform me that my engine has seized up, and I have to replace the ENTIRE MOTOR!! I was legit in shock!

How could a vehicle we've had for almost 10 years, that's never had ANY issues whatsoever, that's regularly serviced, that's given NO indication of there being an issue that should have been addressed, just have the engine seize up all of a sudden?! While my husband is driving down the interstate?! Again, I was in SHOCK! The quote I received from this mechanic was almost $8K for parts and labor.

So naturally, I'm not wanting to believe this information because it just seems so far-fetched! I then thanked the mechanic, paid their fee, and had it towed to another mechanic for a second opinion. They took a couple days to diagnose the vehicle and called and told me the same thing the first mechanic told me, that I needed to replace my entire engine. Their quote was like $7500ish. So better, but still, WHAT?! We in no way had that kind of money to just throw into a new engine on an almost 10 year old car, that's literally ALMOST PAID OFF? We couldn't, so we didn't.

We then paid a towing company to tow it back to our house, which cost almost $500. The first mechanic to diagnose my vehicle, was also kind enough to let me know that he thought there was a recall issued for my car's engine. So I looked into it, came across the recall that was issued, and it was for the EXACT issue we were having, the engine seizing up. The information also stated that it included my EXACT year, make, and model. What?! I was ecstatic! It seemed like there was light at the end of the tunnel! Nope!

I then called KIA to discuss how to go about getting your engine replaced under this recall, as this is something I've never had to do before. KIA informs me that I will not be getting my engine replaced under this recall as my VIN # wasn't tagged in the recall. I quite literally, still can't comprehend how that even matters when the recall was issued for my EXACT issue! So then, I asked about having the engine replaced through one of their good will claims (some info Hunter found out about). The woman then informs me that I'd have to have it towed to a local KIA dealership, in which my response to them was informing them the local dealership doesn't have an appointment until June. She informs me to call again and to tell them that I'm looking to start the process for a good will claim.

So I called the dealership again, told them about the good will claim, and was instructed that since my engine is inoperable, I could have had it towed straight there, appointment or not, and they would fit in the diagnostic between appointments. Seriously?! When I initially called about having it towed to your dealership, even after informing them of the inoperable engine, I was told I had to have an appointment. I mean why? So, we then had to pay yet ANOTHER tow company to have the vehicle towed from our house to the dealership.

About a week goes by, and I get a call from the dealership. I was informed diagnostics were done, the engine does need to be replaced, but that KIA is denying my good will claim. He was told it was denied because there were two other recalls listed for my vehicle and I didn't have them repaired prior to engine failure, so they can't approve my claim.

So I called KIA again. I explained that I was unaware of the other recalls until all this happened with the engine. KIA tells me they mailed us notices about the recalls, which is news to me...I have never even seen a recall notice in my mail. Ever. So, I verified the address they were sending them to, and was told our previous address, where we haven't lived in like 5 years. So I ask how could I be expected to have repairs done for recall notices I've never seen? I was told that I should have updated our address with them. I was unaware this was a thing to do...I've never updated the manufacturer of our address for any vehicle. Seems like a ridiculous requirement. So again I asked, how can I be required or expected to do something that I was completely unaware of?

This person couldn't matter of factly answer my questions, so I asked to be transferred to a superior, someone who could make this good will claim happen... because at this point, I feel like after all the misinformation, KIA should do it as a gesture of good faith and in an effort to keep a loyal customer. In talking with a superior, they informed me that they still couldn't approve the recall replacement, even with not knowing that repairs needed to be made. And that they still were denying my good will claim, even though I had no idea repairs needed to be made and with not receiving their recall notices. I then explained to this individual that KIA was mailing them to our previous address, to which she verifies the address and says that they mailed them to our current address (of which they were unaware of until I updated it in the previous conversation with them). I told her that information directly conflicted with what the previous person had told me.

She apologized and then re-verified all the information. At this point, I'm so incredibly frustrated. My car has been MIA for about two weeks during this point in time.....anyone with a family knows the stress in this kind of a situation. In any case, I asked to be transferred to a superior again, so I could figure out how and why I'm continually being told conflicting information. This person informs me that the previous person was correct, and that the recall notices were in fact being sent to our current address. I then asked how the first person I spoke with gave me our previous address when verifying where they were being mailed? He said he can view a different screen that the first person did not have access to. I asked why that is....I mean I was just verifying our address...I don't understand why I would HAVE to talk to multiple people before being able to verify my address? How would that make sense? That would be RIDICULOUS!!

I asked him to please go back and listen to the recorded conversations, to which he basically said something along the lines of: that wouldn't matter. I mean seriously, this is not a good look for KIA. I have been a loyal KIA consumer for almost 10 years. I preach to everyone about how amazing their warranty is and how much we loved the vehicle and how dependable ours was... I am still in disbelief over the entire situation... My car is still at the dealership as of today. I'm still not sure what we're going to do... Please share this story to warn your friends and family of the level of service they can expect from KIA. Kia #kiasucks #kiaengine #kiarecall #2013kiasportage #neveragain #TerribleBusiness #gettingafordnexttime #Fordisbetter