The power to "SURPRISE". Not worth the metal it made from or the air they breathe

<p>Be warned, as this is not a good surprise.</p> <p> </p> <p>We bought a KIA soul 1.6 AT new from kia boksurg in september 2011 Which we still love. it currently has 131000km on the clock and not 5 years old yet. it has only been serviced by kia boksburg with no issues inbetween services. (we expect the best way to ensure a KIA lasts is to have all its maintenance work done by KIA). it was also finance for 6 years via kia.</p> <p> </p> <p>on a sunday morning the vehicle would not start, tried jump starting, but battery was fine (this is only about 7 hours after driving the vehicle with no issue). we towed it in, where kia boksburg did a diagnostic test on the vehicle. it was found that the timing chain had elongated causing the cylinders to lose compression. based on the fact that a timing chain is supposed to last the life of the vehicle, the vehicle being automatic and our countries climate, it is impossible that this could have been caused by the user and was obviously a factory fault. the vehicle falls within the warranty periods that KIA offer on their new cars but not on this specific model soul.</p> <p> </p> <p>Surprize 1: Kia refused to pay for the repair, but it was eventually negotiated that KIA would contribute half. so at the end of the day this cost us R10000. even after quite a lot of argument and motivation as to why it should be fully paid for by kia.</p> <p> </p> <p>Surprize 2: before we received any quotation or indication as to how much the repair was going to cost us, we were called and given the threat that if we do not accept, we will lose the "good Will" warranty. my response was that i will not accept a thing until i know what it will cost. the consumer protection act is legally binding in this instance.</p> <p> </p> <p>Surprize 3: we collected the vehicle yesterday morning after 3 weeks. my wife went to work this morning only to have one of here colleagues point out that the car was leaking at an alarming rate. i instructed my wife to get the oil checked before traveling an extended distance. at the petrol station a full litre had to be added as it was empty. it was also evident on how quickly the oil was leaking when viewing the patches on the ground after being parked for a couple minutes.</p> <p> </p> <p>Surprize 4: after bringing back the vehicle barely 24 hours after taking collection of the vehicle. i requested that the manager JP contact me about this. he conveyed the message that the cam seal had failed and also said that they did not touch the seal (hard to believe) so they were not responsible and we have to pay. the vehicle was not leaking before the timing chain failure, started leaking barly 24 hours after they had stripped the motor, but once again it was somehow our fault. yes it is only R190 but we spent R10000 the day before and it is a matter of principle.</p> <p> </p> <p>after Alex (the service admin) spoke to the aftermarket sales manager, he stated that they would cover it.</p> <p> </p> <p>the fact of matter is that they would not cover what has proven to be sub standard work, lack of responsibility and would not take ownership of their obvious mistakes. this also leads me to suspect that the same kind of negligence was carried out at the last service(11000km earlier), maybe the timing chain failure could/should have been avoided, it was a major service and the chain should have been checked and i do feel that it would have shown signs.</p> <p> </p> <p>FInal surprize was the day before we had the big failure we had the brakes done. the technician immidiately brought something to our attention. one of the secureing bolts for the brake calipers had been completely stripped and was loose (this is a potenstially fatal flaw as if it had failed there would be no brakes). when i showed the bolt to JP, he assured me that that was not a bolt from the caliper. it was not tapered and was not the correct grade and looked like a chassis bolt. the scary thing is that KIA boksburg replaced the brakes when it was previously required and was only worked on by KIA trained staff at KIA. not only substandard worksmanship, they also put our lives in danger and we would not have known if we did not take it to a brakes sepcialist. seems like the name might stand for "****ed In Accident"</p> <p> </p> <p>i urge every person that has read this to the end to take warning. we followed the maintenance program exactly as it was set out by the manufacturer and never faulted. if a company will not take the responsibility if all the necessary steps are followed, where the worksmanship is suspect and proven as such, and the negligence is so severe that it will put your life in danger, i personally do not want to be on the road with a KIA, never mind driving one.</p> <p> </p> <p>i must mention that Alex from the service desk had been very helpful and a pleasure to communicate with. unfortunately he had to bare the brunt.</p> <p> </p> <p>One this is for sure i will never by a kia again based on the service and human factor of the operation.</p>