[anjan_c2007]

Sad saga of your ordeals with the SUV and its ASC's. Kia and its ASC's need to know that it is an Asian and not an European or American car maker. They need to remain with the Asian mindset to survive and flourish particularly South Korean, quality wise and ASC behaviour wise.

[TROOPER]

It’s concerning the issues you seem to be facing. Hope KIA tightens things up with after sales.

Fooling around with the infotainment system, blaming the customer, so dodgy from KIA!

Originally Posted by em17

The advisor Insisted on getting the alignment and balancing from them- refused it right there, He THREATENED ME SAYING WARRANTY FOR SUSPENSION, TPMS AND TYRES WILL NOT BE VALID IF DONE FROM OUTSIDE!!

I faced something similar at Tata with the Hexa. They didn’t threaten me or anything, but I found the reason give by GM of service to be satisfactory.

He said you just get the alignment & balancing done with us till 15-20k kms (which would be done once or max twice) so that Tata can’t deny suspension related issues if any crop up.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

I faced something similar at Tata with the Hexa. They didn’t threaten me or anything, but I found the reason give by GM of service to be satisfactory.

He said you just get the alignment & balancing done with us till 15-20k kms (which would be done once or max twice) so that Tata can’t deny suspension related issues if any crop up.

Alignment and balancing are to be inspected and perform fix as necessary, therefore it is assumed to be fine until it isn't. This will not require any service record. Suspension components have limited warranty as is, so get the balancing and alignment done outside with a specialist else your tires will pay the price. Their alignment ate up my Nano's tire.

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Alignment and balancing are to be inspected and perform fix as necessary, therefore it is assumed to be fine until it isn't….

Funny as it may sound, luckily the technician wasn’t there when my car was being serviced. So me and the TASS driver took it to a Apollo operated centre to get the job done. I fulfilled TASS’s quota, now on it’d be from a specialist tyre shop.

Their alignment ate up my Nano's tire.

Exactly why I’m wary to get it done by any ASS. Even Maruti used to do a shoddy job in our previous car.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Funny as it may sound, luckily the technician wasn’t there when my car was being serviced. So me and the TASS driver took it to a Apollo operated centre to get the job done. I fulfilled TASS’s quota, now on it’d be from a specialist tyre shop.

Dealers will install these machine from good companies, but the technicians who are trained to use it will leave after a few months and then its business as usual, take it to the nearest alignment shop and a 14 year old will do whatever their machine told him to do. I have seen them use the dealership alignment rig as a lift with all the spare parts strewn all over it like an exercise machine at home!!

Since you have the habit of staying with the car , you got to know. Imagine what happens when nobody is around! I have seen vehicles go in and out of the alignment shop in mere minutes with a nice printout, computer will fix everything I guess!!

KIA has made a mistake of picking up dealerships in a hurry, while there are complaints aplenty about Hyundai dealers too, they are more established players and some level of competence can be expected in customer handling.

They have picked up good number of failed brand dealerships and then slapped KIA stickers on them, much like MG - But MG appears to have better control over their dealers.

KIA has some ways to go before customer service can be called a strong suit, availability is certainly there but quality of service will leave a lot to be desired at least for another year or two. We do not get to hear too many horror stories in proportion to their sales because the vehicles themselves are loyal to the brand.

[MSC]

I have been a happy Hyundai owner from almost 19 years now, but I can easily feel the quality and service going down day by day. The quality of paint job, quality of service, etc is no where similar to the one which was felt some ten years back. Kia being the sister concern, it's very much likely that they have emulated the similar things.
It's slightly off topic but, the Kia sales person attitude is somewhat similar to those at a Honda two wheeler showroom selling Activas. They know very well, their product sells and sells in loads. If you are not satisfied or have an issue, fine, go and see elsewhere. It's simply old saying, it's my way it the Highway. You are free to shop elsewhere, if you won't buy, there are plenty others in queue.

[NotanF1driver]

Originally Posted by lsjey

Thanks for sharing. I almost went and booked a Seltos.

I too have booked a Seltos, and the wait period is 5 months as told by the dealership. Not thinking whether to rethink.

[Big Smoke]

Man, this is unfortunate. I used to think Kia service was good, but seems like I was wrong. From the posts above, it's clear that Kia dealers have become arrogant and are turning into thugs. Today, even the lesser successful dealers (VW, Renault) don't behave in this way. Heck, even the Tata & Skoda dealers are willing to negotiate on the insurance price while selling a new car. Very, very sad.

One of my close family friends have booked a Seltos HTX 1.5 CVT, after selling their Fiat Linea. I told them that it's a downgrade, but didn't pester them much thinking that Kia service would be good (at least better than Fiat). Now reading all these posts, I don't know what to say to them. And they're the kind of family who would take their neighbours' opinion and word of mouth from other people, watch a bunch of YouTube reviews and decide what's a "good car."
Now I can't really say anything to them. I did warn them though. Now it's upto them.

[Karthik.thm]

Kia is all new rage in Bangalore right now. Just start a conversation with anyone that I'm looking to buy a car, next word they utters from their mouth is KIA.

KIA is new Activa, at least in Bangalore. Everything is fine until when owners need to service their KIAs. All service centres are full, SAs are super busy and on call with someone all the time.

Couple of months back me and my friend visited Advait Kia Banshankari (friend owns Kia Sonet iMT) for his second free service. Service centre was over flowing and we had to wait for almost 40 minutes for someone just to ask us why we are visiting.

SA was arranged and he was on call until we left service centre, we had to use sign language to make him understand what needs to be done. I insisted my friend and SA to change the engine oil and filters even though its not required, and we are ok to charge us labour for it.

Vehicle was ready after few hours and my friend alone went to pick it up. It was shiny inside out and idle RPM was lower this time and very smooth. My friend was totally satisfied and left the place. Below are the conversation went on phone with me and my friend.

Friend: Hey, I got the car back and its very smooth, shiny, good pick up etc. and the bill was zero.
Me: haven't they changed engine oil?
Him: I don't know, let me call him.
Him: No engine oil was changed and its not required it seems.
Me: Didn't you argue with them that we have mentioned to change engine oil?
Him: Yes, but they said unnecessary oil change may damage engine in long run.

By this time I backed out of this and told him to look for some other service centre next time. All was fine for a week and boom, instrument cluster shows SECOND SERVICE REMAINDER pending in few days.

Complained to service centre, no response. Email kia the whole story, they again escalated to same service centre.

The problem here is, KIA service centres are really over crowded and the pressure that SA handles is as equal as newly appointed CM.

[nishsingh]

Experiences such as these are why I feel I feel Toyota deserves the premium it asks for on Innova/Fortuner and Maruti deserves the top spot. As someone who gets annoyed very easily by poor customer service, I feel wary of committing to car from any other company.

Originally Posted by em17

The same evening the advisor calls me saying the infotainment has water in it and Cannot be repaired!! WHAT , Water inside the infotainment , HOW, i asked??? He said, SIR aapko pata hoga woh toh!! this water damage story.

I had a very similar experience with my SX4, wherein the Maruti authorized service centre said that the airbag sign was staying on because of moisture. And the moisture was because their interior cleaning guy had sprayed some water/cleaning fluid on the dashboard by mistake. They gave me a loaner car, and repaired the problem at their own expense - although it did 4-5 days for them to get the spare parts damaged by the moisture. Needless to say, experiences such as these are why I stay loyal to Maruti despite their lacklustre portfolio of cars.

[Lion hearted]

Many thanks em17 for bringing this to everyone's notice here. Really helpful, if only to know what lies in store for us!! [Of course, feel bad for what you've been through and are still going through, but all the best for that and hope all these issues get resolved]. There is nothing worse than having a bad service/spares experience after buying a car.

Recently bought the HTX iMT for my son (in June) and it's only been to the service centre once for the first service (Allied Kia, Noida) and was returned alright. Went to drop like you did, met the SA, and went to collect it too. Yes, there were a million Kia cars there getting serviced etc and the place was teeming. So I guess quality is bound to suffer when the numbers are overwhelming. Just the regular cleaning and polishing (which car service centres think is the panacea for all cars, and customers!!) and check up. Nothing untoward.

The car is a dream to drive and we are very happy with it. Let's hope the overall experience remains the same. In your case, maybe it's to do with that specific service centre and the jokers who manage it. Keep at it and don't let up. Ultimately it's up to us customers whether we want to take them to task and get things resolved, or let up, and let them carry on with their crap.

Finally, wondering whether it is indeed better to buy a vehicle that has less gizmos and tech included [as has been discussed on other threads] and just does the job i.e. a car that is just a car (or SUV, MUV, whatever) and gets you from one place to another reliably and safely (yes, safety related add on are a must), and all these 'features' etc are only a pathway into grief.

[Rigid Rotor]

Originally Posted by em17

...The advisor Insisted on getting the alignment and balancing from them- refused it right there, He THREATENED ME SAYING WARRANTY FOR SUSPENSION, TPMS AND TYRES WILL NOT BE VALID IF DONE FROM OUTSIDE!!
...One day suddenly the Infotainment unit(Centre Screen)/AVNT went completely blank!! ...The same evening the advisor calls me saying the infotainment has water in it and Cannot be repaired!! ... The engineer inspected the system along with me and felt the area behind, also saw it was completely dry. The photos and videos sent by the advisor show water in the system/PCB and also behind the screen!!

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Sad saga of your ordeals with the SUV and its ASC's. Kia and its ASC's need to know that it is an Asian and not an European or American car maker. They need to remain with the Asian mindset to survive and flourish particularly South Korean, quality wise and ASC behaviour wise.

Originally Posted by Karthik.thm

... in Bangalore. Everything is fine until when owners need to service their KIAs. All service centres are full, SAs are super busy and on call with someone all the time. ..Service centre was over flowing and we had to wait for almost 40 minutes for someone just to ask us why we are visiting.
... I insisted my friend and SA to change the engine oil and filters even though its not required, and we are ok to charge us labour for it.
...instrument cluster shows SECOND SERVICE REMAINDER pending in few days...
KIA service centres are really over crowded and the pressure that SA handles is as equal as newly appointed CM.

I will caution against generalising - down here in the South, the Kia Epitome workshop I am sending my vehicle is fairly good and professional in their approach. The problem appears to be that specific ASC - Kia Dhingra, who did not carry out the wheel alignment properly during the first instance.

However, we have to concede that the ASC is also right in pointing out that wheel balancing and alignment is a scheduled maintenance activity every 10 k km. Skipping that activity will impact warranty. Doing this activity outside the ASC may not be accepted - that is the ASC and/ or Kia's prerogative and may be spelt out in the fine print as a warranty condition. However, the tone and tenor of communicating the message to the vehicle owner appears to have been harsh and plain wrong.

Just a tip – I agree for the ASC to do wheel alignment, however I insist on getting either a print or a screen shot of the wheel alignment values. I keep this record for future reference and follow-up, if required.

Re- the ASC claiming AVN unit failed due to water damage is very unusual. There appears to be some contradiction between the engineer first finding the surrounding areas dry, whereas the inspection of internal PCBs appear to indicate water damage. In any case, I do hope you are able to get it replaced under warranty.

Re- @Karthik.thm's experience - just a few points:
Did you book an appointment for the 2nd service (with time)?
I have not been denied a service slot if booked in advance.
The 2nd Servicing is at 5 k km, engine oil change is not a scheduled maintenance activity. If you do insist on changing, then write it down in the form for servicing. The SA then cannot overlook this unscheduled activity, insisted by the customer.
The message for service reminder can easily be re-set in a minute. Pl refer the handbook. However, the SA should have ensured the same and that can be given as a feedback point.

[AROO7]

Thanks to the OP for highlighting KIA's ASS experience and I hope KIA takes note of this soon.

I have been a Hyundai customer for 11 years but trust me as they gained the market share the ASS went down. Every time I would send my car for service it would return with one new problem, this only started happening in the last 3-4 years.

But what I do admire about them is if you raise a complaint with the workshop they will take subsequent follow-ups to ensure the problem is solved up to the satisfaction of the customer. Otherwise, the service quality has deteriorated over time.
(Workshop in question- Beeaar Hyundai, Chinhat Workshop, Lucknow)

Now I have started seeing KIA's ASS deteriorating as their sales numbers are rising.

KIA started with a positive note but in the long run, if they continue like this there is no reason to put our hard-earned money into either KIA/Hyundai.

[Mountainman21]

Originally Posted by em17

Can't seem to understand what to do now, have asked them to talk to top management and revert back with a solution for this, as I'm not accepting this water damage story.

Hi, sad to hear about your ordeal man. I personally had a very good experience of getting my car services at Kia Dhingra, rather they have more professional than I would expect someone to be. Though I completely understand with what you are going through and hope you get it resolved soon and without any hassle.

[aditya7382]

If this incident was with a VW soda this page would-be flooding with posts from every corner. Glad it's a kia...