I brought my 2009 Kia Sportage in for the 120,000 mile routine maintenance as recommended by Kia Motors. My car had been out of warranty for 20,000 miles so my hopes are that keeping to the maintenance schedule will allow me to keep the car in good condition. I commute 80 miles r/t daily and my car is essential to make a living. I am single and cannot rely on a dual income home to help defray large expenses. I save what I can to keep up with essential wear and tear maintenance. I drove the 60 mile trip to my closest and preferred Kia dealership in Anderson SC. I had used another dealership in GA until they lost my trust and loyalty on my previous 2005 Kia Sorento. It was a horrible experience so when I discovered that Kia of Anderson cared about its customers and were always fair and reliable with my service, I was so relieved.
That all changed on 11/26/2014 when after expecting to pay around $650 on the 120,000 maintenance (timing belt etc.) I got in my car to drive home and my power steering was gone. I immediately returned to the service bay and the technician came out to look at my vehicle. He stated that he noticed that, but thought I would've mentioned the issue. I looked at him and said it wasn't mentioned because there was no problem. Not even a symptom upon the 60 mile drive in that morning. He showed me how he had to move the PS pump to get to the timing belt, but he assured me he didn't damage it. I expressed my concern again that I experienced no symptoms or issues with PS. Service adviser stated it would be $500 to replace the pump and because of Thanksgiving the part would not be in until the following Tuesday. The only bright side was that they provided a loaner car. A Forte, nice vehicle, but I am a big guy and it was a tough ride for the holiday travel. I was thankful that Kia of Anderson would provide this for me. I thought a lot about the issue and became angry that a power steering pump would just fail during maintenance and the technician would not find that to be an issue.
I emailed the service manager and dealership manager to express my concerns. I received a call from both requesting to meet with me on Tuesday when I pick up my vehicle. That was encouraging. Upon my arrival Tuesday to pick up my vehicle, both managers were out if the building. I was told they were both in Atlanta at auction. This infuriated me because they had setup a meeting and completely blew it off. I contacted both many times to try to find out when we could meet and received no reply.
My trust and loyalty in this brand and dealership are very much in question. I have owned three Kias and love their vehicles, but I don't like mistrust and lack of responsibility that leads to expensive repairs. I feel that this is what happened here. I do not believe the issue was deliberate, but rather an accident during the maintenance of my vehicle. I gladly paid the $650 to keep up the engine and transmission on the vehicle and I even accept when a vehicle breaks down due to wear and tear. I do not accept that this was my responsibility, but Kia of Anderson's. Thanks to them, I am out an extra $500. All they had to do was make this right and they couldn't even do that.
Beware of loyalty to the customer here, as in my opinion, there is none. Who drives without PS and doesn't notice or mention it to the consumer? What consumer would go in for maintenance and not mention a PS issue? Looks like I am finding a new auto brand. Hopefully there is a maker and dealership out there I can rely on for truth. I know, I'm hopeful.
I brought my 2009 Kia Sportage in for the 120,000 mile routine maintenance as recommended by Kia Motors. My car had been out of warranty for 20,000 miles so my hopes are that keeping to the maintenance schedule will allow me to keep the car in good condition. I commute 80 miles r/t daily and my car is essential to make a living. I am single and cannot rely on a dual income home to help defray large expenses. I save what I can to keep up with essential wear and tear maintenance. I drove the 60 mile trip to my closest and preferred Kia dealership in Anderson SC. I had used another dealership in GA until they lost my trust and loyalty on my previous 2005 Kia Sorento. It was a horrible experience so when I discovered that Kia of Anderson cared about its customers and were always fair and reliable with my service, I was so relieved.
That all changed on 11/26/2014 when after expecting to pay around $650 on the 120,000 maintenance (timing belt etc.) I got in my car to drive home and my power steering was gone. I immediately returned to the service bay and the technician came out to look at my vehicle. He stated that he noticed that, but thought I would've mentioned the issue. I looked at him and said it wasn't mentioned because there was no problem. Not even a symptom upon the 60 mile drive in that morning. He showed me how he had to move the PS pump to get to the timing belt, but he assured me he didn't damage it. I expressed my concern again that I experienced no symptoms or issues with PS. Service adviser stated it would be $500 to replace the pump and because of Thanksgiving the part would not be in until the following Tuesday. The only bright side was that they provided a loaner car. A Forte, nice vehicle, but I am a big guy and it was a tough ride for the holiday travel. I was thankful that Kia of Anderson would provide this for me. I thought a lot about the issue and became angry that a power steering pump would just fail during maintenance and the technician would not find that to be an issue.
I emailed the service manager and dealership manager to express my concerns. I received a call from both requesting to meet with me on Tuesday when I pick up my vehicle. That was encouraging. Upon my arrival Tuesday to pick up my vehicle, both managers were out if the building. I was told they were both in Atlanta at auction. This infuriated me because they had setup a meeting and completely blew it off. I contacted both many times to try to find out when we could meet and received no reply.
My trust and loyalty in this brand and dealership are very much in question. I have owned three Kias and love their vehicles, but I don't like mistrust and lack of responsibility that leads to expensive repairs. I feel that this is what happened here. I do not believe the issue was deliberate, but rather an accident during the maintenance of my vehicle. I gladly paid the $650 to keep up the engine and transmission on the vehicle and I even accept when a vehicle breaks down due to wear and tear. I do not accept that this was my responsibility, but Kia of Anderson's. Thanks to them, I am out an extra $500. All they had to do was make this right and they couldn't even do that.
Beware of loyalty to the customer here, as in my opinion, there is none. Who drives without PS and doesn't notice or mention it to the consumer? What consumer would go in for maintenance and not mention a PS issue? Looks like I am finding a new auto brand. Hopefully there is a maker and dealership out there I can rely on for truth. I know, I'm hopeful.
- actorgaedu, Toccoa, GA, US