Update to April posts. Today was my first return trip for the dealer to check my oil levels to confirm how much oil is being consumed. If you’re not familiar with my earlier posts, back in March, I noticed my car rough idling while on drive and stopped. Following a visit to the dealer. My mechanic looked at the car and confirmed that I was down 4 quarts of oil even though I still had another 2k miles to go before my next oil change and that I needed to take it to the dealer to have it repaired under the warranty. Following the dealer visit, I was told a pinhole size leak in the gasket was the cause for the missing oil. My mechanic is not convinced that is the issue as the hole was not large enough to explain the amount of missing oil. I then took my car to my mechanic to replace the gasket, then back to Kia to complete and oil change so they would begin oil consumption testing, which requires that I return to the Kia dealer before reaching 1k miles since the oil change for them to check the oil level, and I would need to do that no less than 5 times to prove that the vehicle is consuming more than 1 qt of oil every 1k miles in order for Kia to agree to replace the faulty engine under the 10yr/100k mi powertrain warranty.

Note: in between that last visit and this one, I also reached out to Kia’s corporate office who first told me I was not eligible for the warranty bc I was a subsequent owner which was incorrect. Following that correction, they then told me that the vehicle must consume more than 2qts of oil per 1k miles, versus 1qt per 1k miles as the dealer has stated in every engagement. Still unsure which is correct, but if the vehicle consumed 2qts per 1k miles then their instruction manual is very wrong.

Today was my first return visit since the oil change to have the levels checked. Fair warning to other owners going through this process, Kia is skewing the results intentionally. Prior to my visit to the dealer the first time, my mechanic shared with me that they’ve done their own consumption testing on other Kia’s that were included in the law suit a few years back, and they discovered that the vehicles with consumption issues, typically would begin consuming more oil than they should around the 3k mile mark in between changes. When I went for my first level check today, the service desk confirmed I had consumed only 1/4 qt in the last 1k miles and I would not need to come back. When I disputed stating that a lot of the vehicles in the lawsuit that needed new engines did not consume more oil than they should sometimes until 2-3k miles after the last oil change, they said I could come back for 1 more test if I wanted but if it did not exceed the consumption guidelines that would be it. He also then shared that they had topped the oil off. This is where I think they are skewing the results of these tests. If the law suit showed that the engines in the class action sometimes did not burn excessive oil until 2-3k miles following a recent oil change, why would they top off the oil during consumption testing? In my opinion they should only be checking and noting the level, they should not change the level.

Given that the service manager is just following the guidelines provided to them by their corp overlord and has no ability to stray from them, I didn’t see any value in arguing with him. Instead I plan to contact corp and have this dispute with them.

Also for awareness of anyone else having the same problem… I spoke to the attorney in the previous class a action and they did confirm that the engine in this vehicle was included in the original lawsuit but was dismissed in order to reach a settlement, so do not let anyone lead you to believe the engine was fine. If it was, it wouldn’t have been included to begin with. 2020 Sorento have the Lambda engine

Update to my earlier post. Kia completed their diagnostic and stated there was a gasket leak at the oil pan and filter housing. They provided a video of the diagnostic assessment. I shared this video with my mechanic before responding. My mechanic reported they were aware of both leaks but it did not justify the vehicle being down to one 1qt of oil in 3k miles, and that in the video it was visible the leak attributed only to drips of oil, rather than quarts. Prior to beginning oil consumption testing, I paid to have the repairs made so oil consumption testing could begin. I also submitted a full complain on Kia’s consumer affairs site requesting an official case be opened for engine replacement should high consumption be confirmed during testing.

To initiate consumption testing, I had to pay the Kia dealer for a full oil change, following completion, I must return to Kia before I reach 1K miles for them to check the oil level. I must follow this process 5 times until they’ve checked the level and confirmed the consumption rate across 5K miles.

I will continue to circle back with updates on this process. It’s very inconvenient and unhelpful given how far Kia is from me. It’s also very annoying considering they know this is a problem and are instead looking for every way not to fix it, rather than just correcting their issue.

A week or 2 ago I noticed a rough idle and dropped my car off at the mechanic. I received a call advising I needed to take the vehicle to Kia as my car was down to 4 quarts of oil and there is no leak. The vehicle is having an oil consumption issue, and is widely reported as a critical issue across this line of vehicles and other Kia models and years. I change my oil every 5k miles as recommended by my mechanic, even though the book states 7500. I was still over 2k miles from my next scheduled change, which notes that I’m burning about 1 quart of oil every 5k miles. Upon contacting Kia I was informed I’ll need to drop it off for diagnostic testing that I must pay for and would cost about $300. If they do not find any another issues, they will begin oil consumption testing requiring that I pay for an oil change every 1k miles, and must come back before I get over 1k or the testing must start over. I’m dropping the vehicle off on Wednesday 4/8, they will not be providing a rental car unless a warrantable issue is discovered.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s done this process and had success with replacement coverage. please feel free to send me a message, I’ll keep an eye on my inbox on here for your messages.

This is such a pain. My closest dealer is over an hour from me. So to go back every 1k miles for 5k miles will be a huge pain. I’m very annoyed given that this appears to be a known issue that Kia does not want to take responsibility for, and why now?! I’m so close to 100k, but fortunately I am not over. It seems like some have it worse than me and didn’t discover until they were over 100k, so I do feel fortunate in that respect. Why does it seem like this only starts very close to when or just after the warranty runs out for most? I feel like they build this way on purpose to avoid coverage!?

I will update my progress along the way. I’m also emailing Kia corporate immediately following the start of the oil consumption testing, to request a case number and corp oversight of the process.