Kia Sportage Automatic Gearbox Issues & Customer Care Denial
Discussion
Like many owners of a Kia Sportage Hybrid, we constantly suffer from the auto gearbox hanging onto 2nd gear for far too long. The scenario - typically when slowing in traffic down to a speed appropriate for the gearbox to select 2nd gear and then lightly accelerating the gearbox hangs onto 2nd gear up to 3500-4000rpm. I have a roundabout where I can reproduce this virtually every time.
At a recent service I flagged it to the dealer and whilst describing the issue I mentioned you can find numerous example all over the internet. I know internet forums can be full of bull, but they can also be true but the service advisor when straight on the defensive. Upon collecting my car I got the typical ‘no issue could be found’ bla, bla, bla and this was backed up with confirmation that there are no similar known issues covered by Kia technical bulletins. I decided to contact Kia customer services and their responses have come across as dismissive and boarder line rude.
After pushing Kia Customer Services they replied with “ Kia UK receive various complaints regarding vehicle concerns, all of which are documented by the repairing dealerships across the country. Which is information we here at Kia customer services do not have access to.”
I wasn’t particularly impressed with the dealership I went to for service, but Kia Customer Services have chosen to distance themselves from the dealer network with responses like “ As you may be aware, all our dealers operate as independent businesses, operated by a franchise network. While Kia grants dealerships with a licence to sell Kia products and services, ultimately, they are responsible for their service operations and customer care.”. Errr no I wasn’t aware of that, why would I be. Kia UK Customer Services simply suggest looking for a different dealer, but my next nearest Kia dealership is a 130 mile round trip.
I’ll video the issue and spam Kia with it, but I’m also keen to know if any other owners have similar gearbox and customer care experiences.
Ta. Marbles.
At a recent service I flagged it to the dealer and whilst describing the issue I mentioned you can find numerous example all over the internet. I know internet forums can be full of bull, but they can also be true but the service advisor when straight on the defensive. Upon collecting my car I got the typical ‘no issue could be found’ bla, bla, bla and this was backed up with confirmation that there are no similar known issues covered by Kia technical bulletins. I decided to contact Kia customer services and their responses have come across as dismissive and boarder line rude.
After pushing Kia Customer Services they replied with “ Kia UK receive various complaints regarding vehicle concerns, all of which are documented by the repairing dealerships across the country. Which is information we here at Kia customer services do not have access to.”
I wasn’t particularly impressed with the dealership I went to for service, but Kia Customer Services have chosen to distance themselves from the dealer network with responses like “ As you may be aware, all our dealers operate as independent businesses, operated by a franchise network. While Kia grants dealerships with a licence to sell Kia products and services, ultimately, they are responsible for their service operations and customer care.”. Errr no I wasn’t aware of that, why would I be. Kia UK Customer Services simply suggest looking for a different dealer, but my next nearest Kia dealership is a 130 mile round trip.
I’ll video the issue and spam Kia with it, but I’m also keen to know if any other owners have similar gearbox and customer care experiences.
Ta. Marbles.
Try and find an independent specialist who can have a look.
Other than that, find Kia UK on google maps and leave a review, if it isn't marked you can add the place to google maps and then add the review.
The Head Offices love to direct your complaint back to dealer all the time, at least you can then nail the complaint right on the UK Importers head rather than the dealers.
Other than that, find Kia UK on google maps and leave a review, if it isn't marked you can add the place to google maps and then add the review.
The Head Offices love to direct your complaint back to dealer all the time, at least you can then nail the complaint right on the UK Importers head rather than the dealers.
Just throwing this out there: is there an actual fault with the car, or just the combination of speed/temperature/battery charge/torque demand/road load etc that makes the car think Oh, I ll just hang onto second here for a bit longer as that s best for XYZ ? My (plug-in) Sportage will sometimes hold a gear for a little longer that you d expect, but never been bothersome and the car seems fine 50K miles in.
Just sounds like a typical horrid modern powertrain to me, rather than a fault like hard shifts or thumping down through the gears on a roll-out.
You're never going to please everyone with automatic transmission mapping in any case, for every "it's hanging on to the gears too long" complaint you'll get another "it shifts up too soon and then I have no power" complaint. Best you can ever hope for is a software update that alters the behavior to better suit your driving style.
You're never going to please everyone with automatic transmission mapping in any case, for every "it's hanging on to the gears too long" complaint you'll get another "it shifts up too soon and then I have no power" complaint. Best you can ever hope for is a software update that alters the behavior to better suit your driving style.
keepoffthemarbles said:
Like many owners of a Kia Sportage Hybrid, we constantly suffer from the auto gearbox hanging onto 2nd gear for far too long. The scenario - typically when slowing in traffic down to a speed appropriate for the gearbox to select 2nd gear and then lightly accelerating the gearbox hangs onto 2nd gear up to 3500-4000rpm. I have a roundabout where I can reproduce this virtually every time.
Ta. Marbles.
This sounds like the transmission is initiating "2nd gear re-launch strategy". It is triggered when the vehicle speed drops below a certain threshold which is too high to engage 1st gear but too low for 2nd gear to give adequate acceleration to a driver demand for acceleration. Very typical DCT behaviour.Ta. Marbles.
The other alternative to this is being stranded in the middle of the roundabout for a second or so with no acceleration while the transmission selects 1st gear, followed by high acceleration once 1st gear is selected and 1st gear launch strategy is initiated.
Trust me, your current scenario is infinitely more preferable to the alternative of no 2nd gear re-launch. There is nothing quite like seeing a big gap in traffic and rolling onto a roundabout with an unresponsive accelerator pedal, followed by near-maximum acceleration just as the traffic on the roundabout is bearing down on you. Doesn't make it less annoying and your point is still very much valid.
I would never have another daily driver with a DCT because of their annoying inherent characteristics. Torque converter for daily use is the way I would go.....which narrows down my choice of cars.
Cue the "my DCT is brilliant in everyday scenarios.....". Yes, they are sometimes tolerable when mated to engines with loads of low down torque e.g. Bentley Continental, Porsche, McLaren, Lamborghini or even Audi S3/RS3 and Golf R.
Edited to say: 2nd gear re-launch is a bit of intentional clutch slip to avoid revs dropping and engine bogging down.
Edited by evil.edna on Monday 4th August 19:12
keepoffthemarbles said:
.... then lightly accelerating the gearbox hangs onto 2nd gear up to 3500-4000rpm.
What happens if you more firmly accelerate?The VW Group DSG in wife's Karoq does weird things sometimes, including holding on to gears when you wonder what on earth it's up to. There are websites explaining how to "drive" DSGs, but I don't use it often enough to be bothered.
As for the customer (non) service - that's pretty standard. VW contracts it out to the third party call centre so it doesn't have to sully itself by talking to its actual customers. I wouldn't be surprised if they all do that. Honda used to be great then another time I contacted them they might as well have told me to sod off.
A recent interaction with Hyundai regarding service intervals and warranty on a new Kona EV in family had me tearing my hair out - they told me wrong things multiple times, each time they said they'd been given the wrong information. Can I speak to the people who are telling you things? "No".
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