Kia 7 Year Warranty Problems
Discussion
Looking for some opinions from the PH collective.
My mum has a 3 year old Kia Rio that has just failed it's first MOT due to excessive wear of the lower suspension ball joints. The car has only done 17K miles in those 3 years, with a mixture of town and motorway miles - 60/40 split. It's also been serviced at the dealers on a yearly basis as recommended by Kia.
Now here is the rub - Kia are refusing to cover this repair under warranty due to fair wear and tear as it is a "common problem due to the roads in Edinburgh". She has contacted Kia UK who have said the same. They haven't even offered a gesture of goodwill.
She specifically bought a Kia due to the warranty so is clearly disappointed by this surprise cost. The wording of the warranty exclusions states "Gradual wearing of mechanical components in proportion to mileage." To me 17K miles is certainly not proportional to suspension failure and would indicate a design failure - which should be covered.
So opinions, does this sound reasonable? How can it be escalated if not?
On another note PH should really have a Kia/Hyundai sub forum - even more so with the launch of the Stinger and I30N!
My mum has a 3 year old Kia Rio that has just failed it's first MOT due to excessive wear of the lower suspension ball joints. The car has only done 17K miles in those 3 years, with a mixture of town and motorway miles - 60/40 split. It's also been serviced at the dealers on a yearly basis as recommended by Kia.
Now here is the rub - Kia are refusing to cover this repair under warranty due to fair wear and tear as it is a "common problem due to the roads in Edinburgh". She has contacted Kia UK who have said the same. They haven't even offered a gesture of goodwill.
She specifically bought a Kia due to the warranty so is clearly disappointed by this surprise cost. The wording of the warranty exclusions states "Gradual wearing of mechanical components in proportion to mileage." To me 17K miles is certainly not proportional to suspension failure and would indicate a design failure - which should be covered.
So opinions, does this sound reasonable? How can it be escalated if not?
On another note PH should really have a Kia/Hyundai sub forum - even more so with the launch of the Stinger and I30N!
They are wanting £235, which is not a huge amount, but then money is relative. After some more complaining the dealer has agreed to push some goodwill with Kia UK, so lets see how that goes.
My experience of her driving doesn't suggest she rags it round, nor is it driving around 4 up all the time. Her previous cars have never required suspension work within such a low mileage.
I fully appreciate suspension components do wear out, but at what point do you draw the line? Would 5,000/10,000 miles been ok? Or are we saying new cars do not come with any warranty on suspension, or any other wear and tear components?
My experience of her driving doesn't suggest she rags it round, nor is it driving around 4 up all the time. Her previous cars have never required suspension work within such a low mileage.
I fully appreciate suspension components do wear out, but at what point do you draw the line? Would 5,000/10,000 miles been ok? Or are we saying new cars do not come with any warranty on suspension, or any other wear and tear components?
Nanook said:
He think's it's not misuse. But we don't really know. Before speculating on it, I'd at least like to see/inspect the part.
If you don't want your car to fail MOTs, best not to present it in a condition where it'll fail. Wear and tear isn't covered under warranty.
OP, have you had the parts changed? Did they give you the old ones? Did you ask for them?
The repair hasn't been done yet. If you don't want your car to fail MOTs, best not to present it in a condition where it'll fail. Wear and tear isn't covered under warranty.
OP, have you had the parts changed? Did they give you the old ones? Did you ask for them?
Out of interest what would you constitute a wear and tear failure vs otherwise?
Update:
Credit where credit is due, Kia have agreed to replace under warranty which is a result. So well done Kia for coming through in the end.
It's a shame they didn't just do it in the first instance but the outcome is the same. It does make you wonder how many people would have conceded without protest, judging by some of the responses here it would have been quite a few.
Credit where credit is due, Kia have agreed to replace under warranty which is a result. So well done Kia for coming through in the end.
It's a shame they didn't just do it in the first instance but the outcome is the same. It does make you wonder how many people would have conceded without protest, judging by some of the responses here it would have been quite a few.
TooMany2cvs said:
Sorry, we assumed that your mother had actually spoken to the dealer and Kia UK, who were refusing to accept the claim...
Simple timeline for you. Car fails MOT on Tuesday, warranty repair refused. Complaint made to both dealer and Kia same day. Both resolutely refuse to budge. First post goes up on PH.Wednesday morning more calls made - my mum can't be without her car so wants a prompt resolution. Kia concede by the end of the day.
All in all a quick turnaround for the problem.
As with most things like this it just depends who you get dealing with the issue. As made evident by the replies here, some people can be more sympathetic than others.
A good lesson to those who would have accepted the first stance by kia and paid up.
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