Antifreeze smell and wet carpet? 2013 Sorento

[RentoEX]

Unbelievable. I'm sorry you have to go through this. I called Kia corp on my dealer and they made things right. So I hope they do the same to you now.

You only have 1300 miles...I would be just as upset as you are right now. Don't hold back anything to Kia headquarters and tell them everything that is wrong.

I'm getting the feeling that Kia Dealers have yet to realize that they aren't the company they were years ago. Unacceptable.

[GregsKia]

Wow.....I am kind of at a loss for words here. I'm thinking you should have just gone to a different dealer in the first place. I sometimes wonder how general managers get their positions. It often cannot be because of their public relations skills, that's for sure! Keep us posted! I am really interested on seeing how Kia takes care of this....

[Wry 'Cuda]

Hope you are soon able to enjoy your new car.

Some dealers sell many brands of cars, and I get the impression that KIA staff are often the "B-Team".

[Easy]

Sorry I haven't been able to update in a while. I am truly in disbelief about what has happened over the past week and a half. After reasing my concern to Kia corporate about the carpet, some authority figure with Kia came to the dealership to "inspect" my vehicle. He authorized replacement of the carpet under warranty. With this I was happy, but I raised concerns that the edges of the dash panels were marred and scratched from when the dealer replaced the heating core. He denied replacement of those panels. Well, I got my Sorento back Tuesday with the new carpet. Unfortunately, when I got inside my vehicle (still with less than 2,000 miles!!), the plastic surrounding the gear-shifter was CRACKED, the plastic surrounding the radio was CRACKED and was partially protruding. The plastic next to the seats, where the seatblet goes behind the plastic, were also cracked. Needless to say, I was furious!!!! I went directly to the service manager and had him take a look. He told me that his technicians told him that that was the way it was when I brought it in. I told him there is NO WAY that it was like that, and that his technicians had marred and scratched the panels when replacing the heating core. He then LAUGHED at me, and asked me if I had any "proof". I decided at this point I was not going to get anywhere with this clown, and that I would have to make yet another call to Kia corporate. I hardly made it out of the dealership before all hell broke loose. First, my dashboard lights all started to light up. The wipers came on with the turn signal, the horn randomly sounded, the fan kept surging up an down. The whole car started to shudder. I pulled over to the nearest place I could, a gas station 2 blocks from the dealer. The attendant was very helpful, suggested I call the 800 number on the window. Was connected to a very helpful lady with 24 hour roadside assistance. She asked if my vehicle was drivable. I said no. I then explained everything that had happened. She said that she was sending a tow truck to take my vehicle to the dealer. I asked if I could possibly have it towed to a different dealer, as I did NOT trust the previous dealer, and I had a suspicion that they had caused this whole fiasco in the first place!! I hitched a ride with the tow truck driver, who showed up within 20 minutes. Once at the different dealer, I asked to speak with the general manager. I then explained to him, in great detail, everything I explained to the lady on the phone at Kia. He assured me that his dealership would do everything they could to try to make this right. Along with the service advisor, and about 3 hours later, we were able to contact another authority figure at Kia, but different from the one who had looked at my car previously. (District rep maybe?) He also assured me they would do everything they could to make everything right. The dealership then gave me a loaner car, to drive until things were figured out with my Sorento. I didn't have to ask for it, go to Enterprise, or anything. They OFFERED it! Back to the dealership yesterday to meet with the Kia person. I pointed out all of my areas of concern, all of the cracked plastic, and with the service manager's help showed him the electrical issues my vehicle was having. The service manager said that his diagnosis was that when the other dealer re installed the dash after replacing the carpet, they had crushed an important wiring harness, and the electrical signals were crossing wires and I'm lucky didn't start on fire. Several fuses were blown, too. The Kia guy said that they would replace ALL of the panels that were cracked, scratched or marred. They also would replace the crushed wiring harness and fuse boxes. I raised my concern about the other dealership, told him how I was treated, and he had already seen the damage they caused to my vehicle. He said that there would be an investigation of the dealership, and that he was going to be sending me a prepaid VISA for all of my troubles, in the amount of $500. This on top of a different prepaid card I got from Kia for the heater core issue. So, Kia is slowly redeeming themselves in my eyes, and I think that the dealer I was at soured my entire Kia expreience. We will see how my Sorento comes back, I'm hoping finally as good as new. Kia needs to watch their dealers more careful, as they are entrusting them to represent their brand. If I didn't have another dealership to go to, who knows what would have happened to my case!! Kia itself has gone above and beyond to try to satisfy me, and so far so has the other dealer. Hopefully my troubles are finally over! We will see next week. I will NEVER return to the first dealer, and asked the new service manager to remove all of the promotional advertising (sticker on the tailgate and license frame) from the other dealership. I cannot undestand how crooks like that can stay in business.

[Doug0716]

Man, what a bummer to go through all that hassle, but I'm glad you are getting it taken care of and hopefully they do something about the dealership. Also kudos on sticking to your guns!

P.S. If it were me I would post the name of both the bad and good dealership, file a BBB complaint about the bad one. Also good treatment should be rewarded, go look for places online to leave positive reviews for the good dealership.

[GregsKia]

That dealer should most DEFINITELY be reprimanded. There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of treatment. What kind of technicians break panels anyway? I'd like to see their certification.

[Kungfoo]

Wow, sorry to hear of all your trouble. I bought my Sorento that came from another dealership and the plastics around the side view mirrors interior were horribly scratched/scuffed. Upon further inspection, the service manager and I figured out that whoever did the window tinting was not very careful with his/her tools. The dealer ordered the parts no problem and installed them. There are some good dealerships out there, just a matter of finding one.
I would def report these guys. It amazes me why they would do this, like the money is coming right out of their pockets or something! It's warranty work, fix it, you are still getting paid!

[RentoEX]

I'm at a loss for words. Kia needs to do something about that dealer. That's just straight up rude and disgusting.

I hate to say it, but you may not be the only one that is being treated like that from that dealer.

Keep us updated.