2004 Kia Rio Warranty Complaint
September 3, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Name: Ken and Laureen Carcas
Car Make: Kia Sedan 4 Door
Car Model: Rio with a Sportz Kit
Year of Manufacture: 2004
Warranty Complaint:
We have a 3 yr old Kia Rio, just out of warrenty (5 mths), that has had a number of previous things wrong with it (gear box, bearings, refuses to start on hills), which now has a blown engine due to a faulty fuel injector (burning a hole in the piston and damaging the engine) that is not covered under warrenty. Damage classified as “Consequential”.
The dealer refuses to do anything about it and Kia Aust has stated that as it is ‘Consequential Damage’ (“… damage caused by a faulty injector which is not covered by warrenty …), they refuse to cover it under their “Good Will Policy”. They have informed us that we will need to pay $4000.00 for a new engine or $3000.00, being the price of a rebuild.
This vehicle, which has 48703kms on the clock, has been well looked after, not thrashed, garaged when at home, and has had regular services.
As far as we are concerned, as they have stated that the injector was faulty and that this fault was not uncommon, then blame should sit with Kia to fix the problem and not us.
Tags: Kia Rio
I have a 2004 Rio that just froze up at 80K. I still owe 4K on it, so for another 4K with an engine, I can nearly buy a brand new Rio! This sucks!
I have a 2005 Kia Rio which I bought brand new. It has 60,000km. The gearbox has been repaired under warranty four times, each time with different problems. After the third time I had to fight with Kia long and hard for over a month to have the gearbox repaired. They had to repair it because I made the complaint prior to my 3 year factory warranty expiring but the warranty has now expired and if something else goes wrong which I am sure it will it will not be covered.
DO NOT BUY A KIA PEOPLE
Christina,
I have a Kia Rio 2005 which Kia have had completing warranty repairs for the past 10 months on the gear box as well. My gear box sounds like it is spinning little a turbo. Kia have replaced the transimmision 4 times but the issue still remains.
I am thinking about approching the media on this as they are un-willing to assist, let us know if your interested.
I have a 2003 KIA Rio (hatch) and encountered a auto gearbox problem as well, one month after factory warrent runout. Very frustrating dealing with dealerships which only pass the buck up the chain to KIA and to come back with a response that KIA will not fix it as it is past factory warrenty. Makes me wonder with computer technology these days (can it be trusted?)mmmmmm. Anyway my viehicle can still be driven (just). I require it to be placed in first and then shift it back into first after accelerating over 50km/h to get second, otherwise it picks up top gear like a SLUG. Overdrive button does not work initailly. When driving around approximatly 15-20min then the gearbox comes around out of it’s brain fart and starts working properly. Do not understand the principle of this gear box’s action. Although, still do not believe it is a wear and tare, this is a fault that has a ticking clock on it and waits for the moment (just after warrenty). MUST be a manufacturing FAULT! Where is KIA to come and see their product and deal with genuine faults. They did not even look at my vehicle. Poor service extremly poor advice (take it to gearbox specialist)when it’s their own product. Can’t say anything better in regards to the quality of their gearbox design either.
My wife’s 2004 Kia Rio (purchased new in 2004)had problems from day 1. Gearbox,bearings,cluth cable and a CD/radio that was always cutting out. In Oct 2008 and with 59,500km travelled the engine siezed. As it was out of warranty, we were forced to look at purchasing a new engine. Guess what? can’t get reconditioned engine’s for this piece of garbage and to purchase a second hand motor with around 100,000km on the clock was going to cost $3,000. We contacted the dealer who offered to take the Rio off our hands for $3,000 (off the price of our new car purchased with them)and then they actually tried to steer us towards a new KIA RIO!!! What a joke! Further research has shown that the timing belt goes on Rio’s which then siezes the motor. A common occurrence with these joke cars. KIA’s should be withdrawn from the market!
My 2004 rio’s engine locked up while I was at a stop light and yes, it had plenty of fluids in it. I called a dealership and asked about having it towed to them and I was told that it wouldn’t be covered under the warranty, unless I had every oil change and repair receipt for the car. I am the original owner and and I don’t have the receipts. I still owe on the damn car and am really ticked off. I will never buy another Kia product because their customer service sucks and they know that their engines have problems.