This log is where I post mostly computer related technical info. So this is a unusual diversion for me. However I’ve never been treated with such a “We don’t give a damn” concern from a local dealership. I did contact the corporate company and am working with them. So I’m gonna vent on my platform, where it is probably doubtful few people will see it. Still it is the internet, and my site has been active more than 20 years.
Phil Smith Kia has shown me it is a dishonest company. I have a 2017 stick shift, Kia Rio, that I bought used from Carvana with just over 30K miles. Up until recently it’s been reliable transportation. I came out of the grocery store and I couldn’t shift it into gear. So I thought, I don’t know of a good local mechanic so I’ll bring it to an Official Kia service station. It’s out of warranty so I don’t expect it to be cheap, but I don’t hot rod it around either, so there’s a chance it won’t be ridiculous either. Ninety five percent of my driving is within a 5 mile radius.
I didn’t know what the problem was but I suspected it might be hydraulics related. Why? Because the clutch peddle became very hard to depress. Likewise, if you loose power steering fluid, it can become very hard to turn your steering wheel.
So I had it towed to Phil Smith Kia (the closest Kia dealer near me), I told my service tech Jonathon that It’s clutch related because I can’t shift it into gear. He starts shaking his head and sighing as if to let me know this will be expensive to fix. Then he starts talking to me about new car deals. WTH? A big red flag! I should have left, with my car right then. Seeing that the car has under 40K miles now and I’m a grown man (not a young guy trying to race everyone on the road), shouldn’t a more reasonable response be “well we make reliable cars and, it has low miles so let us check it out and get back to you” instead of immediately talking to me about a new car?
So I went home, but his response started grating on me. So I looked up their web site and sent a message to their service department. I explained the situation. And told them when I go to the service department the only thing I want to hear from a service tech is concern for fixing my car…not talk about buying a new car. In addition what makes you think I would want to buy another Kia if they last less than 40K, without expensive repairs? After I clicked send, the response was “Thank You. A representative will be reaching out to you shortly, to continue your car buying process”. Continue my car buying process? I directed this to the service department. Another red flag. I specifically selected Service, not new car on the drop down selection. It’s starting to sound like it’s all about the new car sale, from Phil Smith Kia…to me. No one reached out…they never responded!
Now I figured this could go one of two ways, somebody would let them know I was willing to pay a reasonable price for a repair or I could piss them off and the would try and teach me a lesson. Well unfortunately I guess they chose option B. Because this is the text Jonathon sent me…
The cost for this estimate (which now I’m sure was never done) was $165. to tell me it would cost $3800.
At this point…I’m fuming. I feel like they sized me up as some uneducated person they could take advantage of.
I took auto mechanics in high school many years ago, I didn’t choose that path for a career so I’m not up on all the changes. in addition I don’t have the tools or patience to even attempt a job like this. However…I’m not clueless about automobiles, and I smelled a rat! It could have needed a new clutch, for all I knew, but I highly doubted it..
I called Meineke for an over the phone estimate for a new clutch for a 2017 Kia Rio. And I was quoted $1400.
So I paid my $165+tax so I could get my car out of that place. And I towed it out of there as soon as I could.
As luck would have it my daughter knew of a mechanic that repaired her car. He said bring it in. He ended up fixing it, for $695. It needed a plastic part that connected to the brake master cylinder. Not a new clutch!
Below is the official receipt. It’s hard to read but it clearly says the Clutch Master Cyl was replaced… not the clutch! In Firefox you can open image in new tab for a larger clearer image.
Now Kia could have chose to give an honest estimate, I already told myself if it was under $1500 I would have paid it. I also messaged Kia on their X (Twitter) page. I’ve had good luck in the past contacting companies on Twitter. It seems to me that Phil Smith Kia is more interested in selling new cars or teaching people that they need that extended warranty. Is there any interest in letting the consumer know they sell reliable cars? I really can’t complain about using any official auto service center from the past.
Thanks Phil Smith Kia for trying to convince me to pay $3800 for a job that ultimately cost me $695 from an honest ASE certified mechanic (whose specialty isn’t Kia’s).
Shout out to Tom an honest mechanic at “Motorman’s A Car Club”.