I kinda thought the dealership scams of old were all pretty much gone since I have not had an issue in over 10 years. But, recently we took the wife's Sorrento into Rusty Wallace Kia in Morristown(bought it there new) for some minor re-calls(brake light switch & auto window down reprogram). While waiting, the service "guy" comes out and tells me that in order to maintain my 100K mile warranty I must have the transmission serviced and the injectors cleaned.....$90 for the tranny and $70 for the injectors. The Sorento had 40K on it and he said the tranny was due at 30K. I said, well...ok go ahead, but after he left I remembered reading in the owners manual that the transmission was a "non serviceable item".
So I waited another hour and when they brought it around I pulled out the Owners Manual. Under normal driving conditions there is no service schedule for the tranny, but for extreme or heavy duty(steep hills, gravel roads, etc) they do recommend fluid/fliter/flush at 60K). I looked all over the book and no mention of the "injector cleaning". So I march in and hand the guy the Owners Manual, and tell him if he can find the service requirements for those two things then I would pay for them, if not they just did them for free.
This is where it gets funny and frustrating at the same time. He starts reading the manual....tic toc tic toc.....5 min later, he closes the book, slides it back across the counter, picks up my paperwork and a pen and says, "OK, the charge for these two services is $176, are you paying with cash check or credit?" Now, I am thinking I am on some kinda hidden camera show where they continue to poke you with a long stick until you get pissed off and then everyone laughs. I look at the guy and say, "Did you not hear a word I said?.....I am not paying for any service you performed unless it is written in Black & White in the owners manual!" His response was...."I'll have to call the service Manager over here to talk to you".....I say "perfect". 15 min later the SM shows up and gives me a line about the tranny fluid being dark which is why they recommended changing it. This is interesting since the tranny DOES NOT EVEN HAVE A DIP STICK. And, he goes on that Ethanol is causing injector problems which is why the injector cleaner. Hmmmm, I know all about corn juice, so I say, "So you dumped a bottle of injector cleaner in the fuel tank?"......Well yes, but the Tech also hooks up a hose tot he injectors and runs a cleaner directly through them."
I say this is all nice, but according to the Owners Manual service is not due on the tranny until 60K. I'll even agree that in our area that we drive in extreme conditions and that service at 60K is a good thing. But, you serviced it at 40K so I am not paying for this. Also, there is zero recommendations on injector cleaning, and I am quite certain that in 2011 when Kia built this veh, Kia knew all about Ethanol, sooooo I am not paying for that either. After 20 min of this back and forth, he gave in and I drove off. 1/2 hour later the "CHECK ENGINE" light comes on, then the tranny starts shifting very hard. Of course they were closed by now, so I had to drive back the next day(1.5hr round trip) only to have them tell me some temp sensor on the tranny is malfunctioning and they have to order the part. Hmmmm, in 40K our Sorento has never thrown a check engine light and never shifted hard.....needless to say we will be taking it to a different stealership in the future.
I mean, really, why the games, the lies, the fraud? I guess some dealerships don't make a dime on any new car and all warranty service must cost them money since they always seem to find a way to get into your pocket as soon as you pull into the service area. I think we as consumers have put up with too many shenanigans which a few fraud charges & arrests could take care of very quickly.
At least you never get water condensation in the crankcase, like short cycle driving creates in the Winter up here !
