My son had visited from S. Carolina. He was returning over a weekend. I inspected his car and found that his front tires were worn. We decided it would be prudent to rotate his tires before leaving in the interest of safety. While tightening his tires with a 12" T-bar, a wheel stud broke. I have changed out at least a thousand tires throughout my life with larger tools and much more torque and have never broken a wheel stud. This was obviously a quality issue with the Kia parts. I was relieved at first because my son had told me that they had a 100,000 mile drivetrain warranty. When talking with the Kia service manager at Kocourek I was told (1.) that because we rotated the tires that the warranty would not cover it.in effect this is to say that if we would experience a flat tire that it would cost $180 to just repair the defective part. I wanted to get my son back on the road so he could return for work. I was also told that the part in question (a wheel stud $3 to $5) was not in stock and it would take a week to get it. This was towards the end of the day so I called local auto parts stores and located wheel studs from two different stores. I purchased one from Car-Quest. I made an appointment for the following day. When I arrived at Kia for the service with my part I again pursued a warranty claim. Now I am told (2.) that they could not honor the warranty because I did not buy the part from Kia (they couldn't even get the part). My interest was to get my son home safely so I agreed to pay. After speaking with Kocourek and Kia after the service was performed each credited the other for responsibility. Kocourek doesn't represent Kia and vice versa. We left the car there and went out for lunch. We returned in less than an hour and the car was out of the shop waiting. It was completed. The job performed was able to be done by a two week Tech student (I've done it myself in the past.) Kocourek charged me $180.00 for one hour of work for service that is covered by a bogus warranty with Kia Motors My son did not buy this vehicle from Kocourek but a Dealership in Rock port, SC. They do represent Kia Motors, however. This is evident due to the sign at their business which indicates Kia Motors. They have price gouged me. Any other make of vehicle could be serviced at any reputable Wausau auto service provider but the Kia requires special tools. So we were forced to do business with a crooked dealer representing a crooked auto manufacturer. I don't no of another auto service provider that takes advantage of customers as they do. The warranty states that the drivetrain is covered for 100,000 miles. It clearly does not. Kia Motors and Kocourek Kia are cheating their customers.
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