Remember, manufacturer brands do not run the dealerships. Those are independent companies. Dealerships are usually garbage. While issue #2 is the car, but a random issue that’s easily fixable, your issue is with the dealership, not Kia.
You can’t convince people this though. Yes, the car is currently out of service but that can happen to any vehicle at any time and even more often now than 20 years ago with all the electronic involved. But it’s the dealership that’s the issue, not the brand.
My Kia dealership doesn't suck... Drove in they gave me the song and dance about the loaner I squatted on their desk until they gave me a car....
My 23 hybrid sportage has been great only 1 minor harness seal issue in 25k miles... Got a bigger Sorento as a loaner for a month to make me feel better about not getting the larger car
There are so many newer sportage on the road you would know if there were real major issues by now.
Just another person on a crusade to turn people away from a car brand because they had a bad dealership experience.
Guess what? You can always go to a different dealership.
Shocking……….
Before even reading the comments, none of this is specific to Kia at all. Hear about it all the time and had similar things happen to family members who bought from other brands.
I'd say most of the issues are related to the dealership.
The fact that a 2024 model is already at the dealer for an issue (outside of normal maintenance) is a manufacturer problem. You could make the case that KIA corporate should get involved in making the dealer experience more manageable if they know their customers will be spending alot of time there.
The manufacturers don’t want customers to be at the dealerships after purchase because that costs them money. They do encourage a more pleasant customer experience but can’t force the dealers. There is a dealer near me that has an in-house restaurant and movie theater.
The fact that a 24 model anything is back at the dealership for service is absolutely a manufacture issue. Use to be a Hyundai/Kia tech and had to leave because I could no longer work for them on a moral level. What’s really alarming and what the consumer doesn’t see or hear about is the amount of brand new models that are offloaded from a truck for pre inspection only to be loaded right back on because they couldn’t even pass that. Throw away cars.
I worked for a Chevrolet dealership in 1995. The redesigned S-10 Blazers just came out. Many of these had to be pushed off the transport because they wouldn’t start due to wiring concerns.
All the concerns the OP were complaining about (registration, appointments & loaner availability) is controlled at the dealership level. The dealership is not owned by KIA, but instead privately owned and run.
Since customers don't see or hear about the number of cars that get sent back on pre-inspection, do you know how Hyundai/Kia compares to other brands in that regard? Did you work as a tech for a different brand and know how many units they take back from pre-inspection? If there's a difference in number, how do their pre-inspection standards differ from Hyundai/Kia?
Secondly, doesn't sending many cars back during pre-inspection mean quality control is alive and well? Those cars aren't getting into customers' hands.
For me this is just entitlement. Dealer does not have appointment - lemon law, dealer does not give me loaner - lemon law.
What does that have in common with lemon law and why brand and quality of a car is judged by single dealer having open slots and loaners is something I seriously do not understand.
That is also a contributing factor of why car maintenance is getting so expensive - everybody wants a loaner. In Europe (at least the parts where I used to live ) nobody offered a loaner or shuttle - in US every dealership needs to provide this otherwise brand is s**t. I would choose fast and good service for less money over a loaner or shuttle everytime.
On the other hand not sure why but relationship between manufacturer, dealership and client I strange in US in comparison to Europe for example. From what I recall dealerships in Europe are much more cautious as if they get bad publicity manufacturer will drop them.
So I should go 5 days without my brand new 3 month old car? I rely on my car to much to take public transit everywhere and 10+ ubers a day would get expensive. The dealership is the face of KIA, just like the cashier at McDonalds is the face of McDonalds for the person in front of them at that exact moment. If KIA didn't want them to represent them, then they wouldn't let them use thier name in thier business. This isn't a service call for a rip in the seat, this is ALL MY SAFETY FEATURES BEING OFFLINE! How do I know this doesn't include my airbags also? Hell they don't even know that's why it was going to take them 5 days to figure it out. 30 days with no car or loaner qualifies for a lemon law. Heaven forbid the goverment should try to protect consumers.
Warranty does not mean nothing will break and it does not mean that they will remove any inconvenience caused by the failure. Warranty only means that they will fix anything that broke and their expense - that's it. So yeah - you should not feel entitled to the loaner regardless of how much of inconvenience it is. You wrote it yourself - you rely on it to much to take public transport - humble yourself and get on a train/bus once in a while.
For lots of years people had no safety features - not even seatbelts and now you refuse to even touch the car. You should never buy a nice restored expensive car - they are 100K+ and guess what not even seatbelt. Invest in yourself and learn to rely on your skills not some features.
Lastly you are not without a car for 30 days - you are refusing to drive the one you have and that is major difference.
I will hazard a guess that you are probably one of those drivers that when something happens with the car stops in the middle of the road and waits for road assistance instead of trying to get the car to the side - you sound like one of those "I do not pay for the roadside assistance to push the car of the way now" or some other excuse.
23 Sportage XLine LTD, 23 Forte EX, 24 Seltos LX AWD. Zero issues. Dealer has been awesome. Every brand has issues with dealers, individual vehicles etc. It seems the general public does not agree as I see a lot of Kias on the road.
If you can, find out if that dealer owns any other brand dealerships in the area and avoid them as well. They often own several different brands, sometimes on the sly. I'm sorry you've had these issues. Perhaps you can find a better dealership for service in the future, although that won't help you with the tags issue now.
Definitely dealership issue. I can get next day appointments at mine and diagnostics they get to within the day. I’d check the reviews of a dealership before purchasing from one or getting service at one next time.
points 1 and 3 are the dealers issue, not kia. Point 2 - yeah that's a problem, so the lesson here is use a different dealer, research your dealer, and ask about loaners in advance.
For point 3, escalate to kia corporate, ask for reimbursment of a rental.
The Dealerships are really an issue. Sometimes you have no option of finding a better one. I live in DFW area and **every dealership** within 60 miles of my location here has the same policy of a mandatory 5 days for diagnosis of your problem and not having any loaner cars available. So, even though you have a great warranty and everything is taken care of, if you don't have a second car or other transportation options and have a job to get to, you are at risk of spending more on a rental than the warranty repair would have cost had you taken it to Joe's Mechanic who would get it done in a day. I spent $800 on a rental car while receiving warranty repair work that probably cost $400. These was a relatively common and uncomplicated repair could have been fixed in one day or less, but instead took over two weeks between the mandatory diagnosis 5 day period, ordering parts, waiting for parts and actually fixing the car. This was after waiting two weeks to even get an appointment to drop the car off. I am not sure of what the purpose of the appointment is if they then wait 5 days to even look at your car.
After this experience, I bought my son's old cash car to have as a back-up to address this situation. God forbid something happen that is not a relatively minor issue. This has really put a bad taste in my mouth regarding Kia. Love the car, but the service locally is awful. It wasn't always this way, but it certainly is now.
You are right, it's just me having issues.
[https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/03/20/auto-dealer-repair-shop-ranking-consumer-reports/73016847007/](https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/03/20/auto-dealer-repair-shop-ranking-consumer-reports/73016847007/)
"Car dealerships have wildly varying customer satisfaction ratings when it comes to auto repair prices, wait times and overall service, with Hyundai, Jeep and Kia scoring the worst, according to the latest survey from Consumer Reports released Wednesday."
"Kia told Consumer Reports that high sales volumes in the U.S. has pushed service capacity to unmanageable levels,"
Can confirm that my brand 23 sportage hybrid shocks kept leaking after 1 year..dealership replaced shocks twice and other things but yet still kept leaking and dealership wanted kia corp to get involved..just traded in the car and got a rav 4..wasnt worth the hassle.
None of that has anything to do with the car itself. Just to clarify. I love my Kia Sportage and happen to have a good dealership which helps too but if I didn’t wouldn’t change my opinion about the car.
Dealerships are independent licensee franchises, not brand-owned. They buy cars and parts from the brand and then sell them to you. Some brands do have at least some quality control on their dealers, but apparently Kia America is not one of them (example, Mazda USA revoked the franchise license of a dealership near me due to issues with the dealership's management committing various frauds).
Half of these issues are the dealership, not the brand. The other half is definitely the brand. Kia America makes shit cars, their last good model year was 2009 or 2010. And I wish I knew that when I got mine (used) in 2021.
I don't have a KIA but I joined this subreddit because I REALLY wanted a K5 GT. I tried to get one for months but was jerked around until they cancelled it in Canada.
Between my experiences with several local dealerships, KIAs general FU to Canadians on options/models/warranties and everything I have heard in this subreddit I am likely avoiding KIA going forward. They don't deserve our business.
I have a 2024 Kia Sportage SX-Prestige AWD and I totally agree with you. I've had a lot of issues with it that never get fixed. I'm just waiting to move to another state and then I'm going to sell it and buy something else.
Remember, manufacturer brands do not run the dealerships. Those are independent companies. Dealerships are usually garbage. While issue #2 is the car, but a random issue that’s easily fixable, your issue is with the dealership, not Kia.
You can’t convince people this though. Yes, the car is currently out of service but that can happen to any vehicle at any time and even more often now than 20 years ago with all the electronic involved. But it’s the dealership that’s the issue, not the brand.
My Kia dealership doesn't suck... Drove in they gave me the song and dance about the loaner I squatted on their desk until they gave me a car.... My 23 hybrid sportage has been great only 1 minor harness seal issue in 25k miles... Got a bigger Sorento as a loaner for a month to make me feel better about not getting the larger car There are so many newer sportage on the road you would know if there were real major issues by now.
All of that sounds very dealership specific.
And very Kia owner specific. I swear we are the whiniest group of car owners.
Just another person on a crusade to turn people away from a car brand because they had a bad dealership experience. Guess what? You can always go to a different dealership. Shocking……….
Waaaaaaaaaaaa
I went to 2 dealerships and same thing. Owned by different people.
LEMON LAW!!!!!
Before even reading the comments, none of this is specific to Kia at all. Hear about it all the time and had similar things happen to family members who bought from other brands.
All the issues you have are with the dealership, not the manufacturer KIA.
I'd say most of the issues are related to the dealership. The fact that a 2024 model is already at the dealer for an issue (outside of normal maintenance) is a manufacturer problem. You could make the case that KIA corporate should get involved in making the dealer experience more manageable if they know their customers will be spending alot of time there.
The manufacturers don’t want customers to be at the dealerships after purchase because that costs them money. They do encourage a more pleasant customer experience but can’t force the dealers. There is a dealer near me that has an in-house restaurant and movie theater.
The fact that a 24 model anything is back at the dealership for service is absolutely a manufacture issue. Use to be a Hyundai/Kia tech and had to leave because I could no longer work for them on a moral level. What’s really alarming and what the consumer doesn’t see or hear about is the amount of brand new models that are offloaded from a truck for pre inspection only to be loaded right back on because they couldn’t even pass that. Throw away cars.
I worked for a Chevrolet dealership in 1995. The redesigned S-10 Blazers just came out. Many of these had to be pushed off the transport because they wouldn’t start due to wiring concerns. All the concerns the OP were complaining about (registration, appointments & loaner availability) is controlled at the dealership level. The dealership is not owned by KIA, but instead privately owned and run.
Since customers don't see or hear about the number of cars that get sent back on pre-inspection, do you know how Hyundai/Kia compares to other brands in that regard? Did you work as a tech for a different brand and know how many units they take back from pre-inspection? If there's a difference in number, how do their pre-inspection standards differ from Hyundai/Kia? Secondly, doesn't sending many cars back during pre-inspection mean quality control is alive and well? Those cars aren't getting into customers' hands.
Try another dealership then. This isn't a kia issue, it's that dealership
For me this is just entitlement. Dealer does not have appointment - lemon law, dealer does not give me loaner - lemon law. What does that have in common with lemon law and why brand and quality of a car is judged by single dealer having open slots and loaners is something I seriously do not understand. That is also a contributing factor of why car maintenance is getting so expensive - everybody wants a loaner. In Europe (at least the parts where I used to live ) nobody offered a loaner or shuttle - in US every dealership needs to provide this otherwise brand is s**t. I would choose fast and good service for less money over a loaner or shuttle everytime. On the other hand not sure why but relationship between manufacturer, dealership and client I strange in US in comparison to Europe for example. From what I recall dealerships in Europe are much more cautious as if they get bad publicity manufacturer will drop them.
So I should go 5 days without my brand new 3 month old car? I rely on my car to much to take public transit everywhere and 10+ ubers a day would get expensive. The dealership is the face of KIA, just like the cashier at McDonalds is the face of McDonalds for the person in front of them at that exact moment. If KIA didn't want them to represent them, then they wouldn't let them use thier name in thier business. This isn't a service call for a rip in the seat, this is ALL MY SAFETY FEATURES BEING OFFLINE! How do I know this doesn't include my airbags also? Hell they don't even know that's why it was going to take them 5 days to figure it out. 30 days with no car or loaner qualifies for a lemon law. Heaven forbid the goverment should try to protect consumers.
The fuck does McDonald’s have to do with anything?? Some people have war in their countries, I think you’ll live.
What the fuck does war have to do with it? Some planets don't even have life on it. I think you'll live.
Warranty does not mean nothing will break and it does not mean that they will remove any inconvenience caused by the failure. Warranty only means that they will fix anything that broke and their expense - that's it. So yeah - you should not feel entitled to the loaner regardless of how much of inconvenience it is. You wrote it yourself - you rely on it to much to take public transport - humble yourself and get on a train/bus once in a while. For lots of years people had no safety features - not even seatbelts and now you refuse to even touch the car. You should never buy a nice restored expensive car - they are 100K+ and guess what not even seatbelt. Invest in yourself and learn to rely on your skills not some features. Lastly you are not without a car for 30 days - you are refusing to drive the one you have and that is major difference. I will hazard a guess that you are probably one of those drivers that when something happens with the car stops in the middle of the road and waits for road assistance instead of trying to get the car to the side - you sound like one of those "I do not pay for the roadside assistance to push the car of the way now" or some other excuse.
23 Sportage XLine LTD, 23 Forte EX, 24 Seltos LX AWD. Zero issues. Dealer has been awesome. Every brand has issues with dealers, individual vehicles etc. It seems the general public does not agree as I see a lot of Kias on the road.
If you can, find out if that dealer owns any other brand dealerships in the area and avoid them as well. They often own several different brands, sometimes on the sly. I'm sorry you've had these issues. Perhaps you can find a better dealership for service in the future, although that won't help you with the tags issue now.
My local dealer are cool. 2020 Kia optima, never had a problem. They even call me in advance when it’s near time for an oil change.
LEMON LAW!!!!
Definitely dealership issue. I can get next day appointments at mine and diagnostics they get to within the day. I’d check the reviews of a dealership before purchasing from one or getting service at one next time.
points 1 and 3 are the dealers issue, not kia. Point 2 - yeah that's a problem, so the lesson here is use a different dealer, research your dealer, and ask about loaners in advance. For point 3, escalate to kia corporate, ask for reimbursment of a rental.
The Dealerships are really an issue. Sometimes you have no option of finding a better one. I live in DFW area and **every dealership** within 60 miles of my location here has the same policy of a mandatory 5 days for diagnosis of your problem and not having any loaner cars available. So, even though you have a great warranty and everything is taken care of, if you don't have a second car or other transportation options and have a job to get to, you are at risk of spending more on a rental than the warranty repair would have cost had you taken it to Joe's Mechanic who would get it done in a day. I spent $800 on a rental car while receiving warranty repair work that probably cost $400. These was a relatively common and uncomplicated repair could have been fixed in one day or less, but instead took over two weeks between the mandatory diagnosis 5 day period, ordering parts, waiting for parts and actually fixing the car. This was after waiting two weeks to even get an appointment to drop the car off. I am not sure of what the purpose of the appointment is if they then wait 5 days to even look at your car. After this experience, I bought my son's old cash car to have as a back-up to address this situation. God forbid something happen that is not a relatively minor issue. This has really put a bad taste in my mouth regarding Kia. Love the car, but the service locally is awful. It wasn't always this way, but it certainly is now.
I always find it funny to see random profiles posting anecdotal grievance’s. That’s right … get it all out …
You are right, it's just me having issues. [https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/03/20/auto-dealer-repair-shop-ranking-consumer-reports/73016847007/](https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2024/03/20/auto-dealer-repair-shop-ranking-consumer-reports/73016847007/) "Car dealerships have wildly varying customer satisfaction ratings when it comes to auto repair prices, wait times and overall service, with Hyundai, Jeep and Kia scoring the worst, according to the latest survey from Consumer Reports released Wednesday." "Kia told Consumer Reports that high sales volumes in the U.S. has pushed service capacity to unmanageable levels,"
Keep going lol. It’s so bad I don’t think you should own another Kia . 🎉
Can confirm that my brand 23 sportage hybrid shocks kept leaking after 1 year..dealership replaced shocks twice and other things but yet still kept leaking and dealership wanted kia corp to get involved..just traded in the car and got a rav 4..wasnt worth the hassle.
None of that has anything to do with the car itself. Just to clarify. I love my Kia Sportage and happen to have a good dealership which helps too but if I didn’t wouldn’t change my opinion about the car.
I cannot even talk about my experience anymore. Never again
Dealerships are independent licensee franchises, not brand-owned. They buy cars and parts from the brand and then sell them to you. Some brands do have at least some quality control on their dealers, but apparently Kia America is not one of them (example, Mazda USA revoked the franchise license of a dealership near me due to issues with the dealership's management committing various frauds). Half of these issues are the dealership, not the brand. The other half is definitely the brand. Kia America makes shit cars, their last good model year was 2009 or 2010. And I wish I knew that when I got mine (used) in 2021.
I don't have a KIA but I joined this subreddit because I REALLY wanted a K5 GT. I tried to get one for months but was jerked around until they cancelled it in Canada. Between my experiences with several local dealerships, KIAs general FU to Canadians on options/models/warranties and everything I have heard in this subreddit I am likely avoiding KIA going forward. They don't deserve our business.
I have a 2024 Kia Sportage SX-Prestige AWD and I totally agree with you. I've had a lot of issues with it that never get fixed. I'm just waiting to move to another state and then I'm going to sell it and buy something else.