Our Sephia's shift was difficult to shift out of park. We took it to the dealer we puchased it from. After a week in the shop, they called us and said the shift's plastic mechanism was hopelessly bent and we would have to pay for a new one, because our warranty didn't cover it. (Wrong!)
We have several friends who are licensed mechanics and looked at us sideways when we described the long wait, and questioned why our 100,000 mile warranty didn't cover it when we only had 48,000 miles on the car.
We payed $209.00 for the part and took it home knowing other mechanics could fix it faster than Kia. We had already waited two weeks and couldn't afford anymore car rental fees.
Imagine our horror when we discovered the only thing wrong with the shift was that the kids had spilled a little cocoa down the shift. One wet wipe later, our stick worked beautifuly.
Kia had deliberately lied about our shift; it wasn't broken, bent or damagaed at all. They charged us for a part we didn't need, which should have been covered by warranty.
We went to Kia with the new part still in its box and requested our money back. We were shuffled to five different desks and each desk claimed they did not have the ability to make refunds. The last desk they shuffled us to was the front. The couple next to us was getting ready to sign a deal on a new car. When they overheard the run-around the dealership gave us they told the car salesmen they wanted nothing to do with a business that was so dishonest. They walked out.
We again asked that our money be refunded. The Kia manager told us we had just cost them a deal and if we didn't leave immediately they would call the police and have us escorted off the premises. (Please don't sn*er; our Reno P.D. Is nothing like Reno 911. They are actually very competent professionals.)
If Reno Mazda Kia represents the beliefs of the Kia corporation, I beg anyone reading this never to purchase a Kia. I dearly hope this is a merely a local franchise problem. I would like to hear other people's experiences with Kia mechanics.
BobeeSparks, Nevada
U.S.A.
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