[GTO]

Man, these guys are suffering some serious quality issues!

Thanks to Someshwar Guruvayurappan for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this page!

Hello Team-BHP,

I am writing this on behalf of my father who owns a 10-day old Kia Sonet HTK+ 5MT (delivered on 20th December 2020 with 54 kilometres on the clock). The car has been used only 3 times during this period and it has run a total of 258 km.

We were left speechless when a guest informed us that our car was leaking something in the garage. We brushed away the thought as our 2nd vehicle just had an oil change in the very same spot. Still, I left newspapers under the Sonet overnight to see if it was leaking. Lo and behold, I found a huge puddle of what seemed to be clutch and brake oil. Used my phone's camera to look under the car and there it was! A dripping transmission (picture attached with this email).

Immediately notified Kia and got it towed to their service center in Ambattur, Chennai on 2nd Jan 2021.

They have informed us that a person from the factory will be visiting on Monday (4th Jan). Until then, we're left hanging.

I suspect a casting defect on the transmission / engine side or a botched seal given the location of the leak. Would love to keep you updated.

At the workshop:

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, these guys are suffering some serious quality issues!

Attachment 2103003

Tbh I have never seen a factory seal look so botched up like this, it looks like it has been opened up at the SVC for some reason and given a seal job by a service advisor.

[saikarthik]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

Tbh I have never seen a factory seal look so botched up like this, it looks like it has been opened up at the SVC for some reason and given a seal job by a service advisor.

Possible, but why would they?

To identify if it has been opened, we can look for the torque check markings misalignment on the nuts.

[ChoosetoCruze]

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, these guys are suffering some serious quality issues!

Frantically throws the bag of buttered corn kernels into the microwave & aggressively sets the timer for 2mins!

Manual transmissions have been perfected (and supposedly bulletproof) since forever. Now you’re telling me these clowns have managed to botch up the manufacturing of a 5 speed manual tranny too?

Can’t this OEM conglomerate give its owners a break?

Originally Posted by FURY_44

It looks like it has been opened up at the SVC for some reason and given a seal job by a service advisor.

Originally Posted by saikarthik

Possible, but why would they?

We can look for the torque check markings misalignment on the nuts.

If you look closely at some of the bolts in the first image, you can see wear marks at the edges, which are telltale signs of the transmission being dismantled after being assembled at the factory. Why the need to do that & what transpired later, only Kia/the dealer knows.

If it was due to a faulty transmission seal from the factory, then the re-seal job has evidently not fixed a thing.

And if the above indeed was the case, I’m curious to know if the owner faced any sudden/undue delay during delivery from when the vehicle reached the dealer to the customer taking delivery.

Perhaps the dealer caught the leak during their PDI?

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Their "premium" rubbish sells only here in India. Give me a trusty old Corolla or Camry for reliability any day.

+1

Unfortunately, the Indian market hasn’t matured yet, to appreciate the real marvels of good engineering and R&D. But that’s for a different discussion.

[Sanidhya mukund]

What on earth is wrong with Hyundai-Kia these days?
I was always under the impression that they are among the more reliable manufacturers, but looking at their recent launches, they are facing multiple niggles with critical components like suspension, steering, brakes, engine, transmission and even body work!
I wonder if the greed for even more profits has compelled them to cut corners in terms of QC.

But speaking of this specific case, it doesn’t seem to be a factory defect. To me, it seems more like a case where the car got damaged while it was with the dealer, and they did this botched surgery to conceal the information from the customer about the damage. The reason I say this is, I would expect a gasket or a proper rubber sealant in that area, but this seems to be some sort of quick dry rubber sealant that you get in tubes.
Also, the thickness of the gap varies way to much. It’s really narrow towards the left and is a really wide, gaping gap at the right. I am sure OEMs build their cars to much better standards than these.

[Bibendum90949]

All the earlier issues reported which one thought to be one off cases has become a regular affair now. Kia has to get their act together and fast. It's becoming clear Kia isn't any different to Hyundai when it comes to QC. What's with these manufacturers that make them think they can get away after each goof ups.

[Axe77]

Given the kind of quality issues Kia is showing, I would NOT advise anyone asking me to pick their DCT automatics. It is just too premature until we have some decent track record.

Which is quite a shame because between the diesel and petrol automatic Cretas, the petrol is clearly the more fun to drive and the diesel relatively "adequate" compared to most other SUVs in the vicinity of the Creta's price point.


PS: Are all these quality issues unique to Kia alone or is it fair to assume that the equivalent Hyundais (Venue and Creta) also prone to the same issues that the Kia is showing? Would appreciate some feedback on this please. Thank you.

[Jeroen]

That does not look like a factory seal at all.

Jeroen

[Sreesh1009]

Originally Posted by Axe77

PS: Are all these quality issues unique to Kia alone or is it fair to assume that the equivalent Hyundais (Venue and Creta) also prone to the same issues that the Kia is showing? Would appreciate some feedback on this please. Thank you.

I have owned an i20 and let me tell you the amount of quality issues were insane. From a broken gearbox and Clutch at 30k kms to a compressor going kaput at 50k kms. The amount of issues that car gave us was just mind numbing.
My uncle's 2014 i10 had a leaking windshield.
I have also read many other quality issues in other Hyundai cars on the forum.

Hope this helps!

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by ChoosetoCruze

At this rate, the dealer should provide free sleeping pills during the delivery ceremony, for the owner to sleep soundly.

Oh Boy - can't stop laughing after reading your comments They seem to be fast filling up the Team-BHP Pages with horror stories from Owners.

Kia should immediately review their QC Process and bring about some quick changes even if it means reducing the volumes for a few months. Seeing lots of issues reported on Facebook groups as well - here are some samples from Dec-Jan timeframe:


DCT Issue



Seat Collapse



ORVM Falls Off on Seltos



Windshield Quality Issue



Sonet On Fire



Engine Overheats

[Vinod_nair]

This is sad, on a million rupees car, no way this can be accepted.

Please ask other Sonet owners on the forum to put up picture of this part to get some clarity.

Thanks

[DeathPig]

This is extremely similar to what happened when we took our Alto LXi from the dealer (circa 2005 I believe).

The car left something dark on the concrete, which when enquired was said to be coolant (My father had done the PDI there). But the next morning when we were about to take the family out for a drive, we say that the underneath of the car was an oily mess.

My father was enraged and spoke to the dealer. That was when the story came out. They had damaged something under the car while taking it out from the truck, and had done a shoddy repair job without telling us (I'm sorry, this was long ago and I don't remember the details). My father got them to take the car back, and though they offered to fix it up for us, he made sure we got a new car. This did take a month longer though, as this was during the Alto's popular time (1st Generation), and a lot of families like ours were moving up from their 800s.

That said... I'm now worried in what shape my Sonet will come in.

[R2D2]

Ok - let me hazard a guess here. The gearbox has a faulty casting, possibly uneven surfacing/finishing which causes both halves to not mate together perfectly even with a what looks to be a paper gasket AKA "packing" in Indian terminology. So these blokes either at the factory final inspection or at the dealership acted over smart re-torqued the bolts (you can see the marks of a box spanner at work) and applied a 'liquid' gasket to seal the leak. After the quick fix it was fingers crossed.

Yeah this is shabby QC at the ancilliary manufacturer/foundry that made the casting or the Hyundai/Kia foundry itself either of which reflects very badly on Hyundai/Kia. Are there varying torque values on the bolts that caused the GB housing to warp? It comes down to a manufacturing or an assembly line defect.

[ToyoCabbie]

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, these guys are suffering some serious quality issues!

Thanks to Someshwar Guruvayurappan for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this page!

Hello GTO and team,
Thanking you once again for creating this thread.The vehicle in the pic is owned by my dad, we got multiple calls from Kia and the dealer to address our concern today (5th of Jan). They claim there was a bubble in the seal which caused this leak and have fixed it yesterday.The car is still at their place and under observation.We’re picking it up tomorrow(hopefully we don’t face any more leaks like in many of the cases I’ve read on the forums).

Originally Posted by ChoosetoCruze

If you look closely at some of the bolts in the first image, you can see wear marks at the edges, which are telltale signs of the transmission being dismantled after being assembled at the factory. Why the need to do that & what transpired later, only Kia/the dealer knows.

If it was due to a faulty transmission seal from the factory, then the re-seal job has evidently not fixed a thing.

And if the above indeed was the case, I’m curious to know if the owner faced any sudden/undue delay during delivery from when the vehicle reached the dealer to the customer taking delivery.

Perhaps the dealer caught the leak during their PDI?.

Great observation ChoosetoCruze.I suspect the same and now that I think about it,the sales executive requested to delay the delivery by a day as it had to be polished and cleaned up.I’m surprised it didn’t leak on the showroom floor given how bad the seal looks.Kindergartners probably have steadier hands than kia’s technicians! Should've questioned them when the car was delivered with 54 Kms on the odo but we were too excited to bring it home:(

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Attachment 2103145
Sonet On Fire

Dang this is indeed very scary to look at!

Originally Posted by Vinod_nair

This is sad, on a million rupees car, no way this can be accepted.

Please ask other Sonet owners on the forum to put up picture of this part to get some clarity.

Thanks

It is even more sad to see a brand-new car taken away on a tow truck and torn apart days after delivery.I’m very curious to know if Kia-hyundai delivers all their vehicles with similar looking seals.

Requesting other Kia owners to post pictures of the same part.It is located about 2 to 2 and a half feet straight from the underside of the bonnet and doesn’t need to be on a lift or jack.The under engine shielding doesn’t cover this part surprisingly.



We purchased the sonet as it seemed like a great replacement for our 2012 i20 which was driven only in the city and had barely 50k on the odo but 10s of thousands in repairs right from the steering rack to the ECU.Looks like we just replaced a lemon with a lemon!
No more Hyundai or Kia for us;Lesson learnt

[Storm2.0]

Seeing the pathetic QC at Hyundai and Kia, I urge the moderators to write "Quality is big concern and is a hit or a miss in almost all their cars" whenever they review the Korean twins the next time.
This not some small niggle or rattle after all. It's something serious and will definitely dent the credibility of Korean twins in the long run.