Rusty Sedona Tailgate - Fresh Post

[ebod]

Okay chaps , further to yesterday , I sent this by email to kiatechnical@kia.co.uk

>>>>>>>>>>>
Hello,

I have recently bought the above vehicle which is a Sedona SE – Ruby Red 2.9 Diesel. First registered to ********

The car has been serviced and maintained at two dealers. Initially it was handled by Wallgate in Wigan, and later by Bolton KIA

All its yearly body inspections have been stamped up accordingly, however I am stunned to find severe corrosion appearing on the tailgate which is not new. It has obviously been festering for a long time due to a faulty tailgate handle that has abraded against the paint finish.

I would like you to verify the images on the links below and confirm that this requires immediate attention and is covered by the standard 6yr anti-perf warranty

http://tinyurl.com/99f6b

http://tinyurl.com/8vh3n

Please confirm that an appointment can be made for the car to be repaired under warranty asap.

Regards

>>>>>>>>>>>


no response as yet. But to continue with all this strong support I'm getting from you guys, I've posted the enclosed snaps:-

1. 1st,2nd,3rd year inspection stamps :-
http://tinyurl.com/9onnr , http://tinyurl.com/75x8m , http://tinyurl.com/cmc8k

2. Snaps of yet more sighted rust underneath the handle just above the reg plate :-
http://tinyurl.com/cqxkg http://tinyurl.com/9pkqq

3. Another flaw which no doubt will be impossible to claim for. The paint has started to break down severely around the intercooler scoop on the bonnet(hood).
http://tinyurl.com/apqb2

Finally, to show the car looking nice....from a distance.... http://tinyurl.com/c5yz6

I'll update as soon as I get response out of KIA UK.

Thx

[Murphwiz]

Good luck with it!
Thats one of the worst cases of corrosion I've seen, shocked it wasn't picked up on the body inspection, do you have actual copies of the body inspection check sheets, a copy should be given to customer.

[clartsonly]

good luck... I didn't have sheet from the initial check - and they seemed a little disgruntled at another dealership, they are all kia dealers and have there stamps to prove it so the records should be available (if they exist) at the dealership who performed the bodywork check.

I imagine the flaking paint around the scoop is the 3 year paintwork warranty thing as it is not caused by metal rusting but falling off paint.

BTW your car looks lovely and clean.. thats what mine looked like when I first picked it up..

[ebod]

Actually thats nothing like what it looked like when I bought it.
As I've suggested in earlier posts, I did a 'he who dares wins' manoevre and bought it from a private company who bought it from new. It was a spare runner pool car for the last 3 months so it was absolutely manky because the company traded in gravels and pebbles etc for gardens. It had its proper services but the owner obviously just drove it and did not covet it.

I know its got 89K miles and a the A/C was a gamble that cost me £80 to sort, but I paid a grand total of £6.4k for this car. Its not the usual L or LE model, its the leather SE version , so I reckon with a bit of spit and polish its an £8k+ car. However thats immaterial because its staying in my hands for 3 yrs....as long as it behaves itself

[clartsonly]

yeah, mine is the 03 SE model same colour I bought it 11 months old with 6500 miles it has now done 30000. it was the first time we have bought a newish car and @£17000 it is now worth about £11K, but we are planning on keeping it until some of our 4 children move out. the only annoying thing (now it is currently running almost fault free, CD sometime doesn't eject when the player is hot) is the expensive services and because it is automatic having to replace the front pads every 10 to 16 thousand miles.

I see 2006/2007 being very expensive with a new timing belt and the 50K (£600) service due.

[pepper]

I've just bought an 03 Sedona 2.9CRDI SE and had been reading the american Kia forums extensively before buying, they've got exactly the same problems with their cars and the rear tail gate over in the states, I'm afraid it does seem to be a very common problem.

Hi here's a link to one of the reviews I found

Rusty Kia tailgate problems

[ebod]

QUICK UPDATE ON THE POST TOPIC

I got the following email today:-

Quote>

Thank you for your correspondence of 18 August 2005 regarding the tailgate corrosion on your Kia Sedona. I would like to apologise for the delay in this response.

I can confirm that the repair to the vehicles tailgate is not covered by the 6 year anti-perforation warranty. Please see pages 14 and 15 of your warranty information and service record book. The description of the warranty coverage states that; "Kia Motors Corporation warrants that the body sheet metal panels of your new Kia vehicle are free from defects in materials or workmanship which result in perforation (hole through the body panel) due to corrosion, subject to terms and conditions."

The corrosion on your vehicle is not classed as perforation, as it has not caused a hole. A repair of this nature would have been covered within the 3 year paintwork warranty only.

Any vehicle that falls outside the above parameters would of course not be immediately dismissed from any form of Goodwill gesture. However, these gestures are never taken lightly and are only made after the most detailed and serious consideration taking into account many factors. These include age, mileage, service history, and the report from our approved network dealer relating to the vehicle with due weighting given to those owners who have taken out extended warranty, but as I am sure you will realise, such considerations cannot be without limitation. At your earliest convenience could you pl ease forward copies of the vehicles service history, so that I can investigate this matter further.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate contact me on 0845 XXXXXXX, quoting the reference number above. A copy of this letter is being sent by post to you also for your records.

Yours sincerely,

As my original opinion suggested, KIA would kick this out by claiming its not covered. But as you can see there is a thread of chance that they will repair it as a 'good will gesture'. I have emailed back the scanned images of my service book bodywork inspection stamps so we'll see just how far 'good will' ..will take us.

[CurlyWurlyGirl]

Pretty decent response, considering.

Let us know what happens Ebod.

Fiona

[Murphwiz]

Keep the pressure up Ebod.. you've nothing to loose!

Wonder what would happen in that case if you corrosion became a hole???

[ebod]

Hi all,

Quick update re this thread :-

After chasing up KIA, they denied they got the reply email I sent to their note in August. Finally got though to another contact, who suggested a 'contribution' could be in order.

I am being asked to go to a KIA approved paintshop and get a quote. I will then scan and email it to prompt them to give me an offer.

I am going to the paintshop in Northeast Manchester to hopefully persuade them to do a bit of extra repair and touch up to some marks on my rear bumper as well. I'll even offer to unbolt the bumper so they can do it on a bench.

Now I've got a name to keep chasing, I'll hopefully get this finalised in another week or so.

PS about all this pimped up Sedona stuff on the other post. This is the LAST I will say about it because its not worth wasting anymore energy on it.
1. I never made a personal insult to the bloke who posted all his pics and as such do not believe an apology is necessary.
2. If you post such pics, you've got to be prepared for both neg & pos opinions.
3. He seems to have flamed other posts in some kind of attempt to get me banned...huh!
Thats it...end of! nuff said!! move on!!