KIA PICANTO ENGINE FAILURE THROUGHOUT WARRANTY - NOTHING DONE

I purchased a brand new Kia Picanto in 2011 for R118,000 and since then I have had issues with the vehicles engine that the Kia agents have never been able to resolve or accurately find the root cause of year after year all whilst continuously taking it into the Durban as well as Pinetown Kia branches.

When accelerating (at pull off or whilst driving) the car often experiences big dips in its power and the car doesn’t accelerate as it should and on many occasions has almost caused me to be in accidents when pulling off into traffic as the car simply doesn’t go anywhere and then all of a sudden pulls off un-expectedly, making it almost impossible to judge when to pull off or not. While driving the car I experience the same issue, regardless of the roads gradient or gear it may be in at the time or cars temperature or fuel level.

I have consistently serviced this car with the Kia agents in Durban and Pinetown at the correct intervals and each time I’ve spoken with the mechanics and consultant and each time they couldn’t figure it out and said it was a very unusual thing that the car does this, nothing ever came of it and I’ve been left with no answers or accurate root cause of the issue.

Upon doing my latest service at Kia Pinetown on the 24th October 2017 (with 73,616 Km mileage on the clock) I did bring to the dealerships attention that I had been needing to top up the cars oil every month (normally 1 pint each time) for the past few months as well as the same engine issue I’ve had since purchase.

During this dealership service at Kia Pinetown, they asked me to bring the car in for an oil consumption test after 1000km which I did. Kia said that everything was ok with the car but they asked me to bring it in again after another 1000km for another oil consumption test just to be sure. When I took it in after that they said there was a big problem with the car and they needed me to leave the car with them.

The Kia Pinetown consultant I dealt with throughout this issue (Carina) said the car was still under warranty and they would be arranging a hired car for the duration of the issue. I took my car into Kia on the 23rd of January 2018, the consultant called me a few days later saying that the hire car has been approved under the warranty and I could collect it on the 28th January 2018. It must be noted I was not informed at any time that there would be costs incurred by me nor was I given any estimated amounts or quotes to be expected for the dealership to check the cars engine/problem.

Kia Pinetown called me back on the 1st February 2018 with the following feedback:

• Although the car is under warranty “by mileage” its in fact not under warranty “by years”. • The cars engine needs to be rebuilt and the cost of this amounts to R140,000 +-. • Kia is unable to assist with any repair costs whatsoever including assembling the engine back together for me. • I need to return the hired car on 2nd February 2018.

My husband and I couldn’t believe what was going on and asked Kia for a breakdown of the repairs and expressed how frustrated we were with the situation, we again explained that the car had been experiencing engine issues since it was purchased and the problem could never be resolved and now “conveniently” the engine needs to be repaired at our cost.

We asked Kia and their mechanic if this models engine normally fails at +- 75,000km, they responded saying no.

We asked Kia if this was something they have ever experienced before and they said no it was very unusual and not something they see often.

The discussion ended with Kia saying we need to come in to their branch and discuss the issue.

On the 2nd February 2018 I went in to speak with the Pinetown dealership manager (Ian) who said he would contact the Durban branch to retrieve the cars history when it had been taken in there and he would speak with (Jason). Ian said he would submit all of the information to the Kia warranty department and would get back to me as soon as he gets a response from them.

Ian called me today on the 13th February 2018 with the following feedback:

• The Kia warranty department is unable to assist with the issue and say the car is out of its “COURTESY YEAR” which is normally one year after the cars five year warranty period.

Firstly, the car was serviced at a date still within Kia’s “COURTESY YEAR” when I had raised the oil consumption issue and the ongoing engine issue (as I do every time I take it in)

How on earth can this be acceptable to me as a consumer and how can Kia simply turn a blind eye and ignore this situation when the car has clearly had an ongoing “UNUSUAL ENGINE ISSUE” that was never resolved and now the car has “UNUSUALLY FAILED”. This is absolutely disgusting and surely these issues are related.

So basically if Kia’s mechanics or branches couldn’t diagnose an ongoing issue with one of their vehicles blatantly faulty engines it becomes the purchasers issue to deal with conveniently after the cars warranty has ended?

All while the mileage is only a mere 75,000km!!! Since when does any new vehicle that has only ever been serviced with the Kia agents at the correct intervals have an engine that FAILS at this mileage!?!?!?!?! This unheard of, I have spoken to family, friends and colleagues including another mechanic and nobody can believe what they’re hearing.

I now find myself without a car for work, travelling and family purposes and Kia is saying sorry we can’t help you.

Totally unacceptable KIA SOUTH AFRICA

I would like to request a formal response from Kia South Africa with a way forward?

Candice Poulsen