Hello, my name is Tamara. I am writing you to request your help through your program. My car is at the Tempe Kia dealership for warranty work and we are at a stand off.
This is the story. The car is a Kia Spectra. I bought the car new. The transmission had trouble from the beginning. I first took it in for warranty work in California at this time the transmission did not feel right. Of course, it did not have trouble at the dealership. The car now has 58,2XX miles on it and the transmission problems were reoccurring on more regular bases.
I took it to Mark KIA, and the service manager, told me the transmission fluid needed to be changed ($274.00) and the hesitation of the car when putting it into drive was indeed a safety feature".
I took the car to a local mechanic Gene of Gene's Auto Worx (a very honest guy), who changed the oil and the transmission fluid so this would not a factor at the dealership again.
I made an appointment with Tempe Kia to see what they would say about the transmission. I missed my appointment on Thursday because of my daughter's performance and meetings scheduled for the day so I thought I would reschedule for Monday. WELL the transmission totally went out on Friday the March 3rd.
The car was towed to Tempe Kia. Well this is where starts are: I was told by the service manager, Hiro the fluid was black and therefore all maintenance records were needed. I was able to have faxed the records from Gene's Auto Worx's and Mark KIA.
I explain that oil changes and things like that were done by family members and records were not available. The service manager, Hiro told me the transmission fluid had not been changed, I informed the mechanic (Gene) who changed it who explained it had indeed been changed and when a transmission burns up the fluid turns black.
Getting no where with the service manager, Hiro I was now the district rep Tom wanted all service records 15-30-45 day services. At this point I called consumer affairs at the corporate office.
Their office again told me receipts were needed for maintenance or no warranty work. Not giving up the next day I called corporate again. This time I got a very knowledgeable guy, Tom Morales who told me my next step should be to request a tear down, if a warrantable mechanical defect was found it would be a warranty issue.
I called the service manager back and he told me it would take 16 hours to tear down a transmission and they don't do that and can't because it is a closed unit. I reassured him that was not what the corporate office told me (he told me roughly 2 hours labor) AND that I was authorizing a tear down. Hiro said it would ultimately come down to maintenance records again so it would be pointless. Corporate told me if a mechanical defect in the transmission was found the car would be under warranty regardless of maintenance records.
So I called corporate back and left 2 messages for Tom, who gave me this wonderful advice and left 2 telephone messages which he has not returned a call to me presently.
Meanwhile Eddie from the dealership call, he called himself a liaison between the service department and the dealership. He told me to call the district service manager and talk with him directly.
Excited I call the corporate office the next day wanting to talk with the district rep for Tempe Kia. WELL I got Christopher on the phone, he was a total jerk, he said his job was to field calls and I could not talk with the district rep. I asked to speak his supervisor which he states I am the supervisor. He was rude and told me no receipts no warranty service period. He continued by saying they would not authorize a tear down of the transmission or could I authorize an outside mechanic to do the tear down and if I did they would not accept an outside opinion!
Today, I called the consumer affairs office again. I got Tom Morales again. I told him I was filing a report and needed all the names of the reps I have spoke with. The first one was Josh Prokopp, next was Tom Morales (helpful), Carrie Donnelly (connected me to Tom's voice mail), Yolanda Abarca (connected me to Tom's voice mail), and last but not least Christian (not helpful). Tom let me know today the district rep. Has been told of my persistence and is not budging.
I also called a Kia dealer, Selma Auto Mall in California. The service manager, David, told me that the unit is not closed but they do not usually fix them but replace them. I called a local transmission shop and spoke with Jordon he looked in the Mitchell guide book to make sure the unit was a closed unit. He confirmed the unit is an open unit and can be torn down. Therefore I have been completely told a bold face lie by the Tempe Kia service manager and the Kia corporate office consumer affair person Christian.
Please help me, I know this car had/has a mechanical defect and should be covered by warrant whether or not I can produce receipts for maintenance. I even bought the extended warranty on the drive train, I ask for WHAT. Don't they advertise these cars for 100,000 mile warranties and is that not a selling point.
Hello, my name is Tamara. I am writing you to request your help through your program on your side. My car is at the dealership for warranty work and we are at a stand still. This is the story.
The car is a Kia Spectra. I bought the car new. The transmission had trouble from the beginning. When I first took it in for warranty work in California I told them the transmission did not feel right. Of course, it did not have trouble at the dealership the car now has 58,2XX miles on it and the transmission problems reoccurred on a more regular base.
I took it to Mark Kia they told me the transmission fluid needed to be changed ($274.00) and the hesitation when putting your car in drive "was indeed a safety feature". I made an appointment with Tempe Kia to see what they would say about the transmission. BUT first, I took the car to a local mechanic who changed the oil and the transmission fluid, so this would not be a factor in the equation.
I missed my appointment on Thursday because of my daughter's performance and meetings scheduled for the day so I thought I would reschedule for Monday. WELL the transmission totally went out on Friday the March 3rd. The car was towed to Tempe Kia.
Well this is where starts are: I was told the fluid was black and therefore all maintenance records were needed. I explain that oil changes and things like that were done by family members and records were not available. The service manager told me the transmission fluid had not been changed, so I called the mechanic who explained it had indeed been changed and when a transmission burns up the fluid turns black.
Getting no where with the service manager I called the corporate office. I was again told no receipts for maintenance no warranty work. Not giving up the next day I called corporate again. This time I got a very knowledgeable guy who told me my next step should be to request a tear down, if a warrantable mechanical defect was found it would be a warranty issue.
I called the service manager back and he told me it would take 16 hours to tear down a transmission and they don't do that. I reassured him that not what the corporate office told me (he told me roughly 2 hours), AND I wanted to tear it down. He said it would ultimately come down to maintenance records again.
So I called corporate back and left the guy who gave me this wonderful advice, 2 telephone messages, which a call has not been returned to me presently. Meanwhile a guy from the dealership call, he called himself a liaison between the service department and the dealership. He told me to call the district service manager and talk with him directly.
Excited I call the corporate office the next day wanting to talk with the district rep for Tempe Kia. WELL the guy I got on the phone was to total jerk, he said his job was to field calls and I could not talk with the district rep. I asked to speak his supervisor and he said I am the supervisor. He was rude and told me no receipts no warranty service period. He continued by saying they would not authorize a tear down of the transmission or if I authorize an outside mechanic to do the tear down they would not accept an outside opinion!
Please help me, I know this car had/has a mechanical defect and should be covered by warrant whether or not I can produce receipts for maintenance. I even bought the extended warranty on the drive train, I ask for WHAT. Don't they advertise these cars for 100,000 mile warranties and is that not a selling point.
Please let me know if you can help me. Phone: (address and phone number deleted - see below)
Thanks, Tamara *
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