Problem: Pulling to the right

[rangav]

Guys,

Last week I went to Kia website under owners section and filed a complaint regarding the pulling right problem. Dealer did a front end alignment on May 22nd that didn't solve my problem. Guess what, today I received a call from Kia Consumer Assistance Center. I explained whole story and she is telling me that I am the first one to report this problem and she asked to me take the car to dealership after handing over the car to dealer call 1-800-333-4542 and give the case number. Kia will take it from there. Now I emailed my dealer to get an appointment.

Kia won't provide any loaner cars for warranty repairs. That sucks.

I would suggest anyone who has the problem call or email Kia to get a case number.

My dealer told me that Kia is aware of the problem and working on part replacement. But Kia is denying that claim on the phone.

[Turnpike Mike]

Thanks to Narvo, and all those that chimed in here on this subject. Without the knowledge dropped here, I would have bought a EX 6cylinder that pulled. The one I drove did a 2 lane change in 1000 feet. The salesman even said "wow". The sales manager tried to blow it off, then I went to the salesman's computer and pulled up THIS THREAD. It caught them way off guard.
The alarming thing, is that the other 2 Kia dealerships I dealt with also had no idea what I was talking about. Why wouldn't they spread the word to all dealerships so it would be fixed BEFORE a potential buyer test drove it?

Thanks again, yall.

[Narvo]

Glad it help avoiding this problem. I wish this information was available to me when I purchased our Rondo.

[wheelspin1]

Just curious, for those experiencing the issue, did people notice it from day one or did it start after a short period, I think I have read of two people with the I4 that are experincing the issue and am wondering if it is detectable from the get go or does it creep up on you?

[JustCuriousIMG]

Oops, on second thought, maybe I shouldn't test drive Rondos this week, as V6s are the only kind available around here!

[OregonBruin]

I did not notice it until a couple of weeks after I bought it although it may have been there from the beginning. I chock it up to getting used to driving a different car. The V6 rental I had last October did not have the pull at all and it was brand-new with 20+ miles on the odometer.

[Narvo]

Originally Posted by wheelspin1

Just curious, for those experiencing the issue, did people notice it from day one or did it start after a short period, I think I have read of two people with the I4 that are experincing the issue and am wondering if it is detectable from the get go or does it creep up on you?

Mine was apparent from Day 1 and I had my Rondo back within a week to have it looked at.

[JustCuriousIMG]

Originally Posted by OregonBruin

I did not notice it until a couple of weeks after I bought it although it may have been there from the beginning. I chock it up to getting used to driving a different car. The V6 rental I had last October did not have the pull at all and it was brand-new with 20+ miles on the odometer.

Just considering there's nothing else wrong with the car, in your opinion is this a problem that can be lived with, or does it seriously affect how well you can control the car in daily driving? I just want to understand.

Thanks

[wheelspin1]

Originally Posted by JustCuriousIMG

Just considering there's nothing else wrong with the car, in your opinion is this a problem that can be lived with, or does it seriously affect how well you can control the car in daily driving? I just want to understand.

Thanks

That is exactly what I was thinking, how prnounced was the issue, is it mildy irritating, very irritating or a major pain in the butt??

Also what is it like in winter driving?
does it pose any major driving hazzard??

I guess basically what I am asking is knowing of the issue with the vehicle pulling to the right, and some of the other more minor issues mentioned within the forum, would you feel safe with your wife and children driving around in this vehicle through all types of weather (snow and rain...), how prevelant is the problem?

[Narvo]

Originally Posted by wheelspin1

That is exactly what I was thinking, how prnounced was the issue, is it mildy irritating, very irritating or a major pain in the butt??

Also what is it like in winter driving?
does it pose any major driving hazzard??

I would classify it as very irritating. It really depends on the person. It didn't seem to bug my wife as much. There was no noticable difference in winter driving. However, you need to be constantly alert, as you should be anyways, in all driving condition cause the Rondo will drift if you become distracted.

So you are in heavy traffic and you have 2-3 kids in the back seat wailing away - can you fully concentrate on the road? As we know, no one is 100% focused on driving 100% of the time.

For me, I could feel it in the wheel and it certainly increased my driver fatigue on longer trips and was very annoying and made the car unpleasant to drive.

This is a major issue and I wish that Kia would publicly respond to it. As some are putting off purchasing a Rondo because of it, it certainly is effecting sales. This thread is the 3rd mosted viewed and 3rd most replied to.

If they respond to it and fix the problem, then maybe those on the fence would buy. I was on the fence whether to buy the Rondo or Matrix and if this was an issue when I was buying I would have purchased the Matrix. Since the Rondo was bigger and has more standard feature I opted to purchased it. I didn't pick up the pull on my 25km test drive and I was not looking for such an issue on a new vehicle.

Any issue affecting braking, steering and suspension should be dealt with immediately. I am sure Kia officials are aware of this thread and Kia engineers know there has been compliants about it. Why have they been silent on this issue?