[JellyBean0868]

Hello fellow BHPians,

I joined this forum with an intent to first post a good ownership experience or a travelogue but unable to sleep over this incident.

Small backstory, got the 2022 Kia Seltos HTX IVT in Imperial Blue shade in October 2022. Since then I have taken utmost care myself, never allowed anyone to even wash the car. It was taken for Graphene coating right after delivery and 2 maintenance coats have been done till now.



Recently while parking, the left side of the front bumper slightly touched the wall causing a patch of scratches. Wanted to get this fixed before the insurance renewal as there was already a claim on the rear right door due to a freak accident (more on that in a future post).



On Sep 21, I reached the nearby Advaith kia (Banashankari) and met the Body Shop advisor to discuss the repair, insurance claim and also highlighted to him that the car is graphene coated. He explained that only that patch can be masked & worked on, the full bumper paint would not be required and could only take a day. With trust, I left the car at around 9:30 in the morning so that the work could be expedited faster and I could take it back for the weekend.

Around noon, I got a text from insurance that the surveyor had completed inspection and approved the repair. Immediately I called the advisor to keep me posted and send pictures when the car is being worked on. No images were shared with me, my instructions were Ignored.

Next morning at 11AM, I got a text from Kia that the vehicle is ready for delivery and that the advisor would contact me soon, upon seeing this message, I called the advisor and requested for pictures, to which he said "the car is being cleaned up now, you can come in the evening to get it", again ignoring my request.

I visited the service center at 6:30 in the evening, waited for about 20 min as there were many cars outbound, naturally, it got dark by the time the car reached us.

It was perfectly cleaned inside-out, as usual a thicc layer of polish all over the dash and body, carpets were vacuumed and paper footwell sheets were placed, impressed overall.

I inspected the bumper with the help of the phone's flashlight. The color was matching perfectly and no visible signs of patchy paint and it was smoothly finished to the touch. I drove it back home with a smile that didn't last quite long.



Upon reaching home, I noticed that a good portion of the boot door and the right tail lamp were scratched up as if it was sanded! The scratches were so deep that they were past the clear coat and had also removed a layer of base coat too. The complete projection line and parts below the chrome strip were deeply sanded. I got furious about it and called the SA that I was immediately getting back the car, he replied that they were closed for the day and he was already on his way back home, and requested to get it the following morning and also assured that he would look into the matter.




After this call, I went straight to access the dash cam footage, to my surprise its cables were disconnected! However, I accessed the last recorded video from the SD card to see that the car was being moved to a parking space with other kia cars, about a kilometer away from the service center. Mind you that this is the last recorded footage from the dash cam which implies that the dash cam cables were disconnected here.



I reached the center the next morning, directly met with both the service manager and SA. They checked the damage and completely denied that it is their doing, stating that "the workers here don't have time to service the cars, how can they do extra work". The SA started a story that they have cleaned the car with so called "SOAP OIL" which made the preexisting scratches more visible! I calmly replied that there were no preexisting scratches when I gave the car.

The manager asked his team to bring the pre-service images only to realize that there were no scratches! The manager has now theorized the images captured on the tablet are unclear, so can't make out.

I stood on my point and pressured them to fix it. They called up a person with a buffing wheel and Würth rubbing polish. They polished the complete boot door and scratches became less visible. I told the SA that this would not fix the issue, and this was not how the car was when I left it. Unable to comply with my request to provide a solution, he promised me that he would be checking the CCTV footage of the workshop, and would get back to me.

I didn't argue much and returned home. 1 week has passed, I've had no real update, he keeps saying he's working on it, he will get it, he is trying to get the footage from different angles, this-that. It is clearly evident that he is trying his best to divert attention from the problem.


I need the forum's help on how I can proceed from here:

I have two options:

1. To get it fixed from my trusted detailer on my own bearing all the costs.

2. Escalate this, get pressure from kia's higher ups and get it fixed at Advaith kia.

Please put your points on which option would be apt. I'm also open to taking a different route altogether if anybody has any valuable advice.

And also if handy, please provide any emails to contact kia or someone from Kia's CRM team.

Also, is it OKAY that they can just yank out wires from the dash cam without even informing us?

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by JellyBean0868

Also, is it OKAY that they can just yank out wires from the dash cam without even informing us?

In many service centers, the SA will inform before hand that dash cams are not allowed during servicing as per their policy. And they make sure they are disconnected during the initial inspection itself, before the servicing starts.

[Starwar19]

Originally Posted by JellyBean0868

I need the forum's help on how I can proceed from here:
I have two options:

1. To get it fixed from my trusted detailer on my own bearing all the costs.

2. Escalate this, get pressure from kia's higher ups and get it fixed at Advaith kia.

I strongly recommend that you initiate a conversation with the managers and higher-ups. Additionally, ensure that you obtain written documentation from them. If the images they captured during pre-service inspection are clear and supportive of your case, visit the workshop in person and communicate clearly that you will not depart until a final resolution is reached. Request access to any relevant footage, as you have the right to inspect the damage to your car and maintain transparency. If they don't budge to your request, threaten them of involving KIA officials if not taken seriously.

If I were in your shoes, I would also ask a comprehensive and detailed interior and exterior car polishing as a goodwill gesture or compensation.

[Lego28]

Just an assumption, Do you by any chance keep your car covered with a tarp/cover?
the pic with Dash cam wires removed shows something like a car cover on the windshield.
That might be one of the causes of clear coat wearing off the edges sooner. I have seen it a lot of times, and always suggest friends and family to stay away from car covers.
SCs usually buff the whole car when they paint a panel which might have made the wear more evident.

[nikhilck]

Reading posts like this makes me feel like we, in this country, are not ready to handle fancy cars with bells and whistles.

Having a rugged, cheap car will bring peace of mind.

The servicing and repair skills of most service centres is pathetic. They don’t hire skilled labour or can’t retain them.

To the OP, my advice to you would be to find the escalation matrix either in the service station or on the Kia website. Reach out to superiors and make some noise, only squeaky wheel gets the grease. Do this if you have the time and will. Be ready for more disappointment though. Nobody does their job properly here.

[JellyBean0868]

Originally Posted by lordrayden

In many service centers, the SA will inform before hand that dash cams are not allowed during servicing as per their policy. And they make sure they are disconnected during the initial inspection itself, before the servicing starts.

You are right, but I was never informed. Ironically, the Manager was discussing how easy dashcams have made insurance claims after looking at it in my car when I went to drop it off.

[MDED]

I don’t know what a Graphene coating means on a car, but one thing which I know for certain is that the scratch looked very minor to cause heartburn to you. Since you are from the potholed and speed breaker city of India, perhaps you may take this scratch in your stride and think that this was caused by a rude auto wallah or the remotely maintained roads of BBMP!!!

[JellyBean0868]

Originally Posted by Lego28

Just an assumption, Do you by any chance keep your car covered with a tarp/cover?

We don't have covered space for parking at home, so it's always covered after wash when not in use.
I layer 2 different Bodycovers, the outer layer being dust cover(OEM bodycover) and inside that, a waterproof cover which has a cotton lining inside to minimise any swirl marks on the car.
Picture for your reference from Amazon:

[JellyBean0868]

Originally Posted by nikhilck

Reading posts like this makes me feel like we, in this country, are not ready to handle fancy cars with bells and whistles.

Having a rugged, cheap car will bring peace of mind.

The servicing and repair skills of most service centres is pathetic. They don’t hire skilled labour or can’t retain them.

Your words are 100% true!
I had a lot more expectation with kia's service, heck the pickup driver from Maruti's Mandovi motors used to carry a disposable seat and stearing wheel cover for my 2016 Baleno! All I was left out here was blue pen marks on seats and doors in the first service, fortunately I was able to wipe it clean with some mild soapy water.

[Starwar19]

Originally Posted by MDED

but one thing which I know for certain is that the scratch looked very minor to cause heartburn to you. Since you are from the potholed and speed breaker city of India, perhaps you may take this scratch in your stride and think that this was caused by a rude auto wallah or the remotely maintained roads of BBMP!!!

I believe this would be unjust to the owner. When we purchase a car with our hard-earned money, we shouldn't have to deal with these problems ourselves. Companies and brands charge us a premium for everything they sell, including accessories and periodic maintenance. They consistently inflate prices to exploit customers for what they advertise as perfect and top-notch service.

If you ask a brand to round off your bill or negotiate, they won't budge. When we pay the full amount, including the paisa/cents, we should expect services in their standard form and to our Satisfaction ofcourse (in a hassle free manner). I would never allow anyone to treat my car casually, especially when it results in scratches at the least. (Also I won't buy any reason for messing up with the car, when I hand over it to an Authorised service centre/Personnel)

We love our cars and care for them just as we would for a family member. Period!

[madmaxvistian]

Originally Posted by JellyBean0868

1. To get it fixed from my trusted detailer on my own bearing all the costs.

2. Escalate this, get pressure from kia's higher ups and get it fixed at Advaith kia.

Hi, I'm sorry to know that you had such a bad experience and it's always hard to digest someone damaging our cars recklessly while we put so much of efforts to maintain them with utmost care.

I had similar incident a couple of months ago with Hyundai while I serviced my Car Verna. The bonnet had a strange yellowish scratch and they didn't have a clue of how it happened.

It required a very detailed email to the center's CRM, Service's & Body Shop's Head (of Hyundai's own workshop HMP) to push them to treat this seriously and acknowledge the incident. I had a good discussion with the management as well. The scratch mark was removed after rubbing, polishing and paint touch-up work. It managed to hide the scratch marks in plain sight (though I've not satisfied 100% as you could never replicate the originality). I felt that it was a decent job for such minor scratches.

No amount of talking to anyone will help in such situation. If you've not done this yet, I would advise you to write an email narrating the horrible experience in detail to the center's management team (which you can get from your SA or customer relations personnel at the workshop) and then to Kia Care / escalation if needed to take it further. Once you get some response, you can figure out a workable solution to address the issue.

P.S. Since there was no evidence on either side and also the fact that the scratches were not noticed before taking the delivery, it will be difficult to create a case should you choose the legal route.