Thread: KIA RIO warrenty...Problems

Have any other KIA RIO owners had problems getting the dealer or company to honor the warrenty? If so, how did you deal with it and what results did you get?

I have a 2001 KIA RIO I bought new. Though I had a few quality issues with the car considering the price and 10 year/100,000 mile warrenty I was not too upset. Yet, a few days ago while idling at a stop light the engine blew-complete engine failure at 43,000 miles. It was towed to the kia dealer who now says that the car did not have it's oil changed often enough and unless I can produce evidence from a garage stating that it has been changed they will not replace the engine. I generally change the oil myself, thus no receipts but have on at least 3 occassions had a local garage do it. I told them this, but it seemed to make little difference. They claim "you can tell" that the oil has not been changed. I have a background(degree) in ,and work, in engineering and know they are giving me a story. I have examined the car myself and see little to support their claim.

I beleive the following happened. As I said, at least 3 time I have had a local garage change the oil. When they do this they place a small sticker on the window indicating the milage it was changed at, the date, and mileage for next change. The last time I had a garage do this was last February. I think the dealer saw this sticker with the date and saw an opportunity to make some money on something they usually would not be paid for. They removed the sticker, which I later found stuck on their work order, the recepits for the garage oil changes are no longer in my glove box, though I think I can get copies from the garage. Even if the oil had only been changed 3 time based on my experience I would not have expected the engine to have failed at 43,000 miles.

So, have any other KIA RIO owners had problems getting the dealer or company to honor the warrenty? If so, how did you deal with it and what results did you get?

I have no good advice but here are some sites that might help..

www.edmunds.com (look for the townhall link) and selected anything dealing with warantee issues...

I just bought a new car and they explicitly said that I should keep all receipt of all maintainance done to my car.. Since you did the oil changes yourself surly they should be able to tell but like I said I have no real good advice on this other then this website :)

good luck

Thanks, I'll check out the site you suggested.

To be honest with you, I am not even certain that it is the engine that has failed. When it first happened I though that the clutch had failed, particularly, the clutch cable. It showed all the symptoms of this.

I called the dealer Monday to see what they had found out. They told me nothing, as they were unable to get the car started. This concerned me as I felt they should have relaized that this particular car could not be started without depressing the clutch or if there was a clutch failure. I told them this and they assured me that they were aware of this. Later they called me and told me that they could get it to turn over but that the cams were not turning, an indication of engine failure.

I wonder if it is possible to bypass a saftly that prevents the starter motor from cranking but if a clutch has failed perhaps this engine would not turn over due to a failed clutch?

anyone else?

If they are trying to use the oil change as a reason NOT to fix your car I would look high and low for a shop (maybe the one you went to) that would give you at the very least a "sticker" showing a date and miles that would cover you against this scam they are trying to pull. Then see what they have to say when you tell them you "found" proof that the oil WAS changed on time.

The last time it was changed by a shop was February, and the dealer has already removed the sticker, I found it on the car work order. I usually change the oil myself so no recept. I only have the shop do it during winter or if I have a busy schedule. It's just an excuse.

What load of crap?
I always change my own oil not trusting any lube shop to do it plus saving a few $$.

Write to the local papers and e-mail me with the details ( names of dealer etc ) I will put a special page on my website letting others know what a bunch of scum sucking buffons they are.

BTW I just sold my 87 Firenza . I drove the bag off of it and at 345k km it finally started to smoke. I only changed the oil ever 10k or so. Kia must be a POS if the engine dies at only 40k.

When the valves went on my Mustang,( 7 times ) I only had to provide rects for the oil filter and oil. Ford repaired it with no hassle once I provided copies of the reciepts.

Thanks Techman, I'll do that. Was planning on adding something to my web page and creating a new one just for this, and adding info on other pages will help. I'm also exploring some other ideas, like parades of cars around their building with signs stating "They Do Not Honor Warrenties", etc. Anyone have any other ideas in this area?

Thanks Techman, I'll try to get that info out to you tonight. They called me today and said that they will not honor the warranty. Claim not enough maintaince to the car.

Have it towed to another Kia dealership, maybe another shop will honor the warranty.

Do you have receipts for the oil and filters? even if you only had a log book, that should be sufficient...


Failing that it may be time for court...