[Emvi]

It is absolutely right that Kia is being criticised strongly for this issue, but, at the same time I believe brand bashing has become quite a trend these days. Have we not read about the horror stories from the owners of the cars other than the brand in question ! Recently a Jaguar owner reported tonnes of issues in his car in this very forum. Not just this, we have seen serious quality issues in Volkswagens, Skodas, Fiats and even Mercedes to name a few.

Different brands offer different value propositions, be it in terms of features,comfort, ease of maintenance ,resale value,brand image etc. Most of us spend our hard earned money on cars that suit our requirement and taste. One thing is certain that a car would definitely not succeed and end up sold in hundreds of thousands, if the car is really bad. Present day Indian consumers definitely are not so naive to be fooled by the car manufacturers just by offering fancy features and compromise on the mechanicals.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Slickshift99

Hi Team,
My close friend got the delivery of his Brand New Kia Sonet HTK+ petrol on 20th December 2020. I.

So sorry to read about your friend's ordeal. Unless we know more, seems like a terrible stroke of bad luck. No PDI would have been able to detect a upcoming failure like this.

Is there any further update on the matter? What is happening with the car? While the debate rages on here, would be good to know the progress on the ground.

[BeingHuman]

Breakaway engine mounts are actually a safety feature in some of the vehicles sold abroad. I first came to know about it in a 2006 Toyota Sienna minivan. The below video talks about a Hyundai vehicle. My personal observation is Indian auto part manufacturers are not up to snuff to their foreign counterparts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GMAiseblv4

[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by BeingHuman

Breakaway engine mounts are actually a safety feature in some of the vehicles sold abroad.

Even if I were to believe him why should the engine mount break by just going over a pothole? It's totally unacceptable.

[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by ps_abhijith

My brother in law has a 2017 tata tiago petrol, of which the engine mounts routinely goes bad, like in a pre defined schedule. He has done 80k+ km on the car, and he has replaced an engine mount during almost every service he did. 5 mounts from his memory, 6th one is damaged now, and due for replacement.

My Indica's engine mount lasted 20 years.

[BeingHuman]

My Tata Nexon had its Cylinder head cover replaced due to oil leakage within 4 months of ownership.
I would like to reiterate that I find quality issues with Indian auto component manufacturers. The defect rate seems to be high.
My Hyundai Verna is 11 years old and it served me well but when it is time to change the failing components I am no longer able to source the same quality component that originally came with the car(mostly Mando -made in Korea). Just, for example, the engine coolant thermostat cover is not the same thickness or weight as the original one even though it is an OEM part.
So in a nutshell I firmly believe all Indian car manufacturers are plagued with quality issues due to substandard parts from vendors and high defect rates due to poorly trained technicians at factories as well as service centers.
I hope the Govt implements a lemon law soon to protect the consumers. only then I can expect change to happen.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by futaboy

From reliability point all infancy failures rapidly reduce with time - Bathtub Curve.
.

Somewhat off topic, but out of curiosity; why would random faults remain even over time?

Jeroen

[shaheenazk]

Originally Posted by BeingHuman

So in a nutshell I firmly believe all Indian car manufacturers are plagued with quality issues due to substandard parts from vendors and high defect rates due to poorly trained technicians at factories as well as service centers.

I absolutely agree with you. This is the stark reality.

[MOUNTAINMAN]

My recent experience with Creta 2018 face-lift left me wondering about its varying build quality.

It was hit by a bike recently on the front right bumper, and on initial inspection it had taken the hard impact quite well without any major damages except for a bit of bruise and the fog light pushed slightly out of its slot without any signs of damage.

Next day when I opened the front bumper to push the fog light back into its slot, I noticed that the mount for the fog light had broken and to my surprise the built quality of the mount was very flimsy. The bumper took the impact well but there was no way that the mount would withstand even light impact. The mount is a part of the bumper mold so the whole bumper would need to be replaced unless you take help from Fevi-kwik, so I gave it the Fevi-kwik & M-seal combo treatment as the mount on other sides were okay. Not very confident, but the fix is holding up as of now, but I wonder what should be done when it gives up, without having to replace the bumper which is clean otherwise.

It left me wondering why a well-built bumper had such weak and flimsy mount, what were they thinking?

[IntoTheStorm]

Hopefully this is a one off affair. My Polo 1.0 TSI had hit a MASSIVE pothole at around 70kph few months back and fortunately the tyres took the brunt of the impact - front tyre had burst and rear tyre had a bulge, front left alloy got a bent as well. I had to pay for the front tyre (6.8k) while rear was replaced by the MRF dealer for free. Now the VW dealership had agreed to help me and they are planning to claim it as accident and i have to pay only 2k (actual cost of alloy 12k) for a brand new alloy wheel

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by BeingHuman

...

I would like to reiterate that I find quality issues with Indian auto component manufacturers. The defect rate seems to be high.
...
Just, for example, the engine coolant thermostat cover is not the same thickness or weight as the original one even though it is an OEM part.
So in a nutshell I firmly believe all Indian car manufacturers are plagued with quality issues due to substandard parts from vendors and high defect rates due to poorly trained technicians at factories as well as service centers.
I hope the Govt implements a lemon law soon to protect the consumers. only then I can expect change to happen.

Why are you convinced that only parts suppliers are to blame for poor quality? Their quality, their processes, their prices and many other things are all driven and monitored by their customers. Car manufacturers select their suppliers based on various criteria and the price is probably the most important one.

If you are unhappy about parts quality then you should blame your supplier (car manufacturer) who is procuring the part from his supplier (part manufacturer) at a price and quality that he deems acceptable.

I don't work in the automotive industry and I have no interest in defending anyone. But I think that is important to recognise who is responsible for what.

[chetancm7]

Originally Posted by DeathPig

As someone who's waiting for his KIA Sonet, this leaves me quite worried...
===
Is this how it usually happens?

I share your concern since expecting my car to be delivered this month. Hope this is one off incident

[BeingHuman]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Why are you convinced that only parts suppliers are to blame for poor quality?

I never said only parts suppliers are to blame for poor quality.
Govt policy with unfair tax structure and local sourcing requirements will force manufacturers to cut corners. The liability laws are not pro consumer, so the manufacturers have a better leeway to get away with it trying to blame customer for most defects.

P.S: I have worked for a big 3 auto company in detroit. Their vendors are selected based on model of vehicle, their flagship models get the best vendors pick whereas budget models get a different set of vendors.They constantly apply six sigma techniques where necessary to reduce costs without being very obvious to customer.When that fine balance gets disturbed anything can happen to reputation of company with massive recalls.

[Durango Dude]

It's unfortunate for this to have happened in a brand new Sonet. But let's not underestimate the pot holes on our roads as well, when I had the Accent I was driving at night and hit a pothole must have been at least half to one feet deep at speed say around 60 kmph the impact caused the glove box to be flung open and I had to change the Left strut as the ride became harsh. I'd place the blame part on the car and part on our roads too. I read some where in this forum that 75% of the Beemer's have bent rims in our country due to the 'quality' of our roads.

[futaboy]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Somewhat off topic, but out of curiosity; why would random faults remain even over time?

Jeroen

In theory the random failure rate is assumed to be constant. The rate is flat as it is calculated using constant rate average method.

This is the period between early life and wear out life stage and are all failures are attributed to random events. Also it is indicative of useful life of product.