11K miles -- just got a new engine - and its back in the shop again (puddles of gas)

[accelerus]

So a little update.

My 2012 Kia Rio was taken in to the dealership with overheating issues. When I called after 2 weeks for an update they said in a cheery tone "it's going good, we got the new engine in, just waiting on a thermostat"

DaFuq?

Basically they said one cylinder wasn't getting compression and put a whole new engine in it - cool I guess. I will say the warranty process was painless. Got the car back was very happy with everything.

Saturday after work I'm dropping a family member off around town (50 miles from my home) and in the middle of traffic I get sputtering, loss of all power, and a VERY HIGH concentration smell of gasoline in the cabin. --Crap-- Noticed as well I lost 1/8th of a tank of fuel in about 10 minutes.

Luckily I caught a light just right and had just enough juice to park it safely in an apartment complex. Under the hood I have puddles of gasoline in the nooks and crannies oft he lower engine/transmission. Will crank but will not start.

It was getting dark so I can't exactly do proper troubleshooting -- it may just be the fuel line popped off or it could be something major -- either way it's not my problem.

Roadside assistance was helpful - but there was confusion between the two driver, where he was going, who was paying him, in the end it worked out but by the time my car was delivered to the dealership it was too late for any sort of loaner.

My room mate had to drive an hour to pick me up - had to borrow her car for work the next day (yes I work on sunday) All in all I'm getting tired of my car being in and out of the shop like this. I realize sh!t happens but at this point I really hope Kia steps up and handles this. I realize I'm not into lemon law territory just yet, but it's getting close. I love the car, I love the brand, i love my gas mileage, and I even love the efficient styling. However it's getting harder and harder to be "happy" when I'm paying on a brand new car that's constantly in the shop.

Thoughts? I'm still under 12,000 miles (just under actually) -- which is an important part of the lemon laws here in Texas.

I'm not expecting them to give me a new car -- but the way things are going it sure would be nice to have a car I can depend on to get me to and from work on a daily basis.

[accelerus]

keep in mind the time from me getting my car back from the engine replacement to the time it puked gas all over the engine bay was 6 days exactly.

[Dr Bob]

Originally Posted by accelerus

Roadside assistance was helpful - but there was confusion between the two driver, where he was going, who was paying him, in the end it worked out but by the time my car was delivered to the dealership it was too late for any sort of loaner.

I've had roadside assistance troubles on one occasion. The problem was a lack of communication between the dealer and the towing service. Usually they are just given a "job" without full details of the situation or warranty information.

I made the mistake of sending one crew away because they seemed to be "cowboys" muscling in on the job. Turned out they were the only towing service in the town and were totally misinformed about the nature of the job. They were a bit grumpy second time around!

[marleyfan61]

Sounds like the gas problem is human error during the engine replacement. If they fix that and you continue to have problems I'd pursue it, but lemon laws won't cover human error by mechanics.

[MaybeKia]

You should 'accidentally' drop the lit match (or make some spark to avoid evidence) and end up misery.
NEW engine after 11K mil? Serviceman does not know how to connect it? Thanks, but no KIA for me...

[conwelpic]

Originally Posted by MaybeKia

You should 'accidentally' drop the lit match (or make some spark to avoid evidence) and end up misery.
NEW engine after 11K mil? Serviceman does not know how to connect it? Thanks, but no KIA for me...

that's a general statement, similar things can happen for any manufacturer or service none of them are immune. You can go to any forum on Honda or Toyota for example to find lots of horror stories. Generally people only post on forums if they have a problem or don't understand something the other 99% don't bother, so what you see here does not generally speak for the rest of the product. If vehicles were perfect there wouldn't be any need for a warranty.

So you've finally made your decision after being on this forum since May 2011 So what are you going to buy that will give you perfection - a new Accord?
It's funny why (with Kia's being so bad) that the Optima outsells the Accord here in Canada???

[dazekiel]

Originally Posted by conwelpic

that's a general statement, similar things can happen for any manufacturer or service none of them are immune. You can go to any forum on Honda or Toyota for example to find lots of horror stories. Generally people only post on forums if they have a problem or don't understand something the other 99% don't bother, so what you see here does not generally speak for the rest of the product. If vehicles were perfect there wouldn't be any need for a warranty.

So you've finally made your decision after being on this forum since May 2011 So what are you going to buy that will give you perfection - a new Accord?
It's funny why (with Kia's being so bad) that the Optima outsells the Accord here in Canada???

Indeed. I like to say, every car company can make a lemon, regardless of reputation. My mother's '03 Civic was falling apart with less than 60k miles. Just as even the worst car manufacturers can get it right occasionally. I am sure there is still a Yugo or two on the road somewhere. (A link for those too young to remember Yugos.)

To condemn Kia over one, or even one hundred, cars when there is a huge number of Kias happily motoring along without a problem is an anecdotal fallacy.

Despite my mother's bad fortune with her Civic, statistically, Honda still makes very reliable cars and a few Yugo's with 200,000 miles on the clock does not change the fact that they were notoriously unreliable.

[accelerus]

Very true that statistically speaking if you go looking for instances of problems or history of a brand or a car, when it comes to the internet, people are far more likely to take time to write about a bad experience than a good one.

I would say Kia on the whole is a good brand - they are light years ahead of where they were 5 or 10 years ago. Errors happen I totally get it.

The dealership did send a car out to my house yesterday - a Forte', not a bad little car, would have been nicer if the inside didn't reek of smoke and had a overall dirty feel, but I do realize other people use these cars and it's not a BMW lol.

No word on what the cause of my 2nd round of engine trouble is - playing the waiting game on what Kia plans to do (if anything) to smooth things over with my recurring negative experience about having a working reliable car.

[OzSLS]

Originally Posted by accelerus

Very true that statistically speaking if you go looking for instances of problems or history of a brand or a car, when it comes to the internet, people are far more likely to take time to write about a bad experience than a good one.

exactly right, something i've told many people in the past to keep in mind

hope your issues are sorted soon

[Racineur]

Hi again. Before I purchased my Rio,friends and family told me I would be in for a shock: cheap construction, fragile pieces, detestable after sale service, rust in a year or two, problems with the AC, breaks, leaks in the power steering, numerous rattles and squeaks. In a nutshell: should go for the Fiesta which was my second best choice. I checked on the Web and found some pretty bad reviews of pre 2012 Rios, Optimas, Forte and Sephias. But none so destructive about the new Rio. Si I took the plunge. Now at 8000 km, some intermittent sqeaks are showing up, from the first day I had my Rio, I find it to be a little too lazy on the starts. I went up by mistake on a sidewalk and the impact broke a plastic attach behind the fender which had to be repaired (plastic attach! Wow) but none of the big problems have shown up. And the dealer is truly Number 1. I think Kia (more than Hyundai) is still struggling to get rid of its reputation of building cheap cars. I think they don't build unreliable cheap cars now but some of my friends thougt Kia still builds Sephias and Spectras. Hey,some think Hyundai still builds Excels! But true my brother in law's Fiesta has no sqeaks and rattles whatsoever. But I hate to drive a Fiesta. Hated it then, hate it now.