Well, kia finally showed their true colours this week. I have had the same problem as many Carens owners with water staining of the light grey "Double Raschel" seats in my 2007 Carens SR.
Notified Kia UK of this in January, when the car was 4 weeks old. They didn't seem to want to know then, but said, book the car in with a local dealer and they'll take it from there.
Well, being busy, didn't take it in until 1st 10000 miles service in May. Told the dealer. Picked the car up later that day. They told me they had informed Kia of the stains and would wait for their response, but the service manager did say to me, there would be no point in changing the seat covering, as they would only stain again.
A couple of days later, the contacted dealer contacted me, requesting digital pics of the stained seats.
I sent them 8, high quality pics, which they say they forwarded to Kia.
A couple of days later, Kia & the Main dealer e-mailed me saying they would not do anything and suggested i cleaned the stained areas of the seats with some sort of upolstery cleaner.
The dealer & Kia have admitted there is a problem with this seat covering, saying they would only stain again if the seats were recovered.
KIA & KIA dealers, take the best part of £14000 of you, then run a mile when you try to make a claim under their WONDERFUL 5 year warranty.
I had heard all the horror stories about Kia and their dealer network but thought no major manufacturer could be that BAD.
OH YES THEY COULD.
I have recommended Kia and especially the Carens to everyone whos asked me about it.
All i'll tell them now, STEER CLEAR, Great cars, let down by CRAP dealers and a customer service department who dont give a damn.