Not trying to be argumentative, but curious as to why you would say that Ontario doesn't necessarily qualify as being part of the severe driving conditions maintenance.
From the 2016 Sorento Manual
"SEVERE DRIVING CONDITIONS
D-Driving in areas using salt or other corrosive materials or in
very cold weather"
I think anywhere in Ontario qualifies for one of the above and most places in Ontario qualify for both.
What if you only drive it in the summer?
What if you spend most of the winter down south, say Florida?
What if you only drive it on warmer winter days and have a heated garage?
The "salt" issue is debatable, but what if they don't salt the road you normally drive on?
What if you use a "engine block heater", like I do, and always have it plugged in when it's cold out?
I could give many more examples...
But the point is, the dealerships cannot declare that the entire population of an entire Country (especially one as large as Canada) HAS to follow the "severe service schedule".
You just can't put everyone in the same boat and make a blanket statement saying that "if you live in Canada (or Ontario), you
automatically fall under "severe driving conditions" (no exceptions).
Regardless of what a local dealership tries to tell you, your warranty is with "KIA corporate" not with them; therefore, the Owner's Manual always takes precedence over what they say. So it's up to
you to decide which "service interval" you fall under, not them.
If you can't decide for yourself and need your local dealership to tell you... well then I guess there is not much more I can say, just go with whatever they tell you.
As far as the oil filters go, there is a risk in using a non-OEM filter even if it is the correct one according to the filter supplier/manufacturer. There was an issue of this in a 2014 Kia Soul in the Hamilton area back in 2015 (
https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/5330635-who-ll-pay-for-kia-owner-s-new-engine-/). Long story short: The Soul's engine blew. Cost of a new engine $8,500. Oil change had been done at Jiffy Lube using a non-OEM filter provided by Jiffy Lube. After testing, Kia said the filter was too small. Both Jiffy Lube & the filter manufacturer said it was the correct one. After much back-and-forth and 15 months later, Jiffy Lube agreed to cover the cost of the new engine (
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/6483003-action-line-jiffy-lube-will-pay-for-kia-s-new-engine/) while still saying they weren't at fault. For me, while the car is under warranty, it's not worth using a non-OEM filter. Just my opinion for what it's worth :laugh: .
Which is why I said in my previous post:
"Just make sure that the Oil Filters are the correct ones that match the OEM filters."
Apparently that was NOT the case in your example above.
Here is a quote from a KIA rep (taken from that article above):
"We do not deny warranty claims where an after-market part is used that meets Kia's specifications," John Adzija told us. "Unfortunately, the aftermarket part used by Jiffy Lube in Mr. Berryman's vehicle did not meet Kia's specifications and, in particular, was the wrong size filter for the vehicle..."
(Also check out >
THIS POST<)
Incidentally, I always use OEM oil filters myself. And... I would NEVER take my car to a place like Jiffy Lube for oil changes.
Just sayin'
Richard