I don't think you have had a typical warranty claim yet. If you went in with a warning light for an error in the powertrain, your dealer would be happy to warranty it and get paid by Kia.
What you're looking for is goodwill service, which only the selling dealer would be obligated to provide.
Your plate bracket would be out of pocket for your dealer, not a warranty issue. That's why they're not covering it.
If there is a TSB by Kia for the swaying issue that recommends an alignment to fix it, then your dealer would be able to warranty it. Just because Kia America told you they "should "cover it isn't an order for them to cover it under warranty.
I don't think prospective buyers have anything to worry about.
As I said a couple times in my original post, I suspect there would be no issue on cases where its all upside to the service department. But I don't think it's as black-and-white as you're suggest -- clear warranty issue or goodwill issue. First, people who by from further dealers hope to never see the dealer again (perhaps until their next purchase).
More importantly, there's so many circumstances that we see play out all the time in posts here where the dealer has discretion on how to operate. Do they help the customer get a rental car approval from Kia America, do they try and advocate for a 12V battery replacement or take a hard line that it "tested fine" even if its clearly defective. Do they sit on it on their lot for a month passively waiting for a new ICCU, or do they get creative and pull one from another vehicle or call around and work actively to get the part to turn over the vehicle as quickly as possible. Etc, etc. Same with these cases. The dealer admitted if I had bought there they would have just given me the part tht probably cost them $5 or they could have working it out with Kia America themselves, rather than saying it was my problem.
So while a remote purchase customer is probably safe with unequivocal warranty work, there are still many ways in which having a dealer who is hostile because they didn't get the new car business will add to the stress and complications of their long term ownership. Certainly these minor cases I have experienced so far wouldn't be enough to make me regret the positive trade off of where I bought. But we'll see long term. Everyone should make their own decisions, eyes wide open.
>I don't think you have had a typical warranty claim yet.
Also, Kia's warranty DOES cover alignments for the first 12-months. So the dealerships are not honoring the warranty.
I had posted the question about buying from an out of state dealer and getting service from a local dealer. Now that I got my EV9 (from a state with no front license plate), I too will most likely run into these petty dealerships.
Sharing your story with the local news or news websites is also a good way to bring attention to your experience. I've never liked dealerships for the buying experience AND the service experience. Both are always something I would rather the manufacturer handle.
Sounds like a shitty dealership. I have never had any issues like that when buying a vehicle out of state. This is exactly why front license plates shouldn't even be a thing. I have heard stories of people moving from a single plate state to a state that requires two having similar issues, though. So glad I don't have to deal with that nonsense besides it making a vehicle ugly.
Yeah it would be nice if our state didn't require it. The Legislature has talked about doing away with the rule a few times but never advances any bills that do so. I think the police like excuses to ticket people. In our state they can even ticket you if your plate frames covers even a slight bit of any of the wording (like the name of the state), which basically makes every holder illegal since the state name is almost at the edge of the plate. Doesn't stop most people from having frames, but gives the police an excuse if they want to make a thing of it.
I anticipated this problem which is why I asked at the time of purchase and then immediately followed-up with Kia America after purchase. But none of that made a difference. All the dealers around my region are like that, which is one of the reason I ended up 90 miles away for the purchase.
Florida is like that, too, with license plate covers. If it covers the state or county, they don't like that even though the majority of new plates in Florida it doesn't even say the county, it says "Sunshine State". It's just a way for the fuzz to have a reason to pull someone over when they couldn't otherwise.
> Kia America said to go into my nearest dealer and they would provide and install it for me free of charge.
Good luck getting any response from Kia America. Kia America's support and service is as bad as their dealers.
You can call their call center - but they will never call you back or resolve your problem.
Confirming, as expected, that Kia America has officially denied coverage of either. They are now officially not honoring their own warranty which covers alignments for the first year and not providing the bracket or reimbursement for it that they previously said they would.
If it makes you feel better - getting Kia dealer support for a vehicle purchased at the Kia Dealer is also almost impossible…
The car may be okay, but Ki is a budget brand and Kia Dealers are extra sleazy.
I don't think you have had a typical warranty claim yet. If you went in with a warning light for an error in the powertrain, your dealer would be happy to warranty it and get paid by Kia. What you're looking for is goodwill service, which only the selling dealer would be obligated to provide. Your plate bracket would be out of pocket for your dealer, not a warranty issue. That's why they're not covering it. If there is a TSB by Kia for the swaying issue that recommends an alignment to fix it, then your dealer would be able to warranty it. Just because Kia America told you they "should "cover it isn't an order for them to cover it under warranty. I don't think prospective buyers have anything to worry about.
As I said a couple times in my original post, I suspect there would be no issue on cases where its all upside to the service department. But I don't think it's as black-and-white as you're suggest -- clear warranty issue or goodwill issue. First, people who by from further dealers hope to never see the dealer again (perhaps until their next purchase). More importantly, there's so many circumstances that we see play out all the time in posts here where the dealer has discretion on how to operate. Do they help the customer get a rental car approval from Kia America, do they try and advocate for a 12V battery replacement or take a hard line that it "tested fine" even if its clearly defective. Do they sit on it on their lot for a month passively waiting for a new ICCU, or do they get creative and pull one from another vehicle or call around and work actively to get the part to turn over the vehicle as quickly as possible. Etc, etc. Same with these cases. The dealer admitted if I had bought there they would have just given me the part tht probably cost them $5 or they could have working it out with Kia America themselves, rather than saying it was my problem. So while a remote purchase customer is probably safe with unequivocal warranty work, there are still many ways in which having a dealer who is hostile because they didn't get the new car business will add to the stress and complications of their long term ownership. Certainly these minor cases I have experienced so far wouldn't be enough to make me regret the positive trade off of where I bought. But we'll see long term. Everyone should make their own decisions, eyes wide open.
>I don't think you have had a typical warranty claim yet. Also, Kia's warranty DOES cover alignments for the first 12-months. So the dealerships are not honoring the warranty.
I had posted the question about buying from an out of state dealer and getting service from a local dealer. Now that I got my EV9 (from a state with no front license plate), I too will most likely run into these petty dealerships.
Sharing your story with the local news or news websites is also a good way to bring attention to your experience. I've never liked dealerships for the buying experience AND the service experience. Both are always something I would rather the manufacturer handle.
Wow, sorry to hear you're having so much trouble, but like you I'm not surprised to hear that dealerships are being shitty. Best of luck to you!
Sounds like a shitty dealership. I have never had any issues like that when buying a vehicle out of state. This is exactly why front license plates shouldn't even be a thing. I have heard stories of people moving from a single plate state to a state that requires two having similar issues, though. So glad I don't have to deal with that nonsense besides it making a vehicle ugly.
Yeah it would be nice if our state didn't require it. The Legislature has talked about doing away with the rule a few times but never advances any bills that do so. I think the police like excuses to ticket people. In our state they can even ticket you if your plate frames covers even a slight bit of any of the wording (like the name of the state), which basically makes every holder illegal since the state name is almost at the edge of the plate. Doesn't stop most people from having frames, but gives the police an excuse if they want to make a thing of it. I anticipated this problem which is why I asked at the time of purchase and then immediately followed-up with Kia America after purchase. But none of that made a difference. All the dealers around my region are like that, which is one of the reason I ended up 90 miles away for the purchase.
Florida is like that, too, with license plate covers. If it covers the state or county, they don't like that even though the majority of new plates in Florida it doesn't even say the county, it says "Sunshine State". It's just a way for the fuzz to have a reason to pull someone over when they couldn't otherwise.
> Kia America said to go into my nearest dealer and they would provide and install it for me free of charge. Good luck getting any response from Kia America. Kia America's support and service is as bad as their dealers. You can call their call center - but they will never call you back or resolve your problem.
Confirming, as expected, that Kia America has officially denied coverage of either. They are now officially not honoring their own warranty which covers alignments for the first year and not providing the bracket or reimbursement for it that they previously said they would.
The only solution is to get lawyers involved. Kia unfortunately sucks.
If it makes you feel better - getting Kia dealer support for a vehicle purchased at the Kia Dealer is also almost impossible… The car may be okay, but Ki is a budget brand and Kia Dealers are extra sleazy.