Kia Service Rant
 

Daughter has a Kia Spectra that needs a timing belt. Apparently, not an easy job. I don't want to do it so I made an appointment at the stealership. They quoted about $550. Then I wanted to find out if they routinely also replace the water pump while they are in there. After several frustrating attempts to get this question answered, the answer was no. Water pump would be an add-on. Imagine my surprise when I learned the cost would now be $1200. Upon further examination.....and you guys might be as stunned as I am to hear this.....Even the timing belt tensioner and idler pulley are add-ons. Kia's policy is to replace ONLY the belt itself unless the customer requests the tensioner as an add-on.

Wow. The car now has an appointment with a reputable independent shop for several hundred dollars less than the stealership would charge.

That seems pretty much in-line with what I paid this last summer for the TB on my Prelude.
I had a $100 coupon and after that I paid $1080
It covered the TB, water pump, and a free rental car from my Honda dealer.

It's a time-consuming job.

Think that's bad? Hyundai Veloster, less than 40K miles and was going on its third engine. Hyundai assisted with the second engine which was past the warranty for a second owner... can't complain. BUT Third was just past the 1 year warranty point and they said they wouldn't help at all. I didn't blame the dealer doing the work and I told them that. But I told them to let Hyundai customer care know that Toyota thanked them for my purchase of a new Highlander.

At least you get a new timing belt and water pump with the new engine.

240 volvo drove till it broke no problem
13.00 at any parts store

about 1 hour job to replace
does NOT drive pumps or anything else
pumps water power S a/c are v belts

You're a glass half full kinda guy. I like that. ;)

I would imagine that the vast majority of Kia owners showing up at the stealership for a timing belt job as preventive maintenance don't even consider the whole "while you are in there" scenario with replacing the other components that are associated with the timing belt. For that matter, I think even the Subaru factory manual suggests to "inspect" the other components when doing the job.

I'm wondering if the engines always fail before the water pump or tensioner does.

That was my thought as well. Why replace the "good" parts of the engine with new "good" parts? :D

I hear that Kia and Hyundai are great cars.

Maybe the lower initial upfront cost is why they recoupe more on service?

Still, I am on board with Japanese cars, I'm not yet on board with goods made in Korea.

I caught a lot of heck on a Honda forum for only replacing my timing belt and not the h2o pump too. My car only had 50k miles on it and it wasn't called for until 100k, but being it is 10 yrs old I opted for a new belt. I had them put in the new hydraulic tensioner that came in the kit too, plus a new serpentine belt so I think, and hope I'm good till I die. I don't drive nearly as much as I used to these days.

The owner of the shop told me he'd only ever seen a belt break from miles not age. He didn't really want to change it.

Korean made guitars are fantastic.

Noted. It's good to hear they make something well (besides food and K-pop).

I'm going to continue to avoid cars and electronics like A/V and appliances.

I had 23 years and 113K miles on mine when it was changed.
The mechanic showed it to me...it looked brand new.
Still glad to get it done.

$1000 for changing out the rubberband ... I meant timing belt ... plus the while you're at it is cheap by any dealership standards.

Try $900 for a 15 min sensor swap.

I have a Samsung DVD player which has lasted ten times longer than any before it. Bulletproof.

OTOH, the uncle's Samsung clothes washer sprung a main seal or filler valve leak after two years.
I didn't have time to get into it, but was disappointed the front access panel wrapped around, and was not easy to service.
(overloading or overtourqed installation might have been involved. idk.)

The Korean auto drive-trains are not known to be dependable but they did offer a 100k warranty.
Many Americans toss their new cars after a few years anyways.
Still more dependable than a Chevy.

I'm blew up a Korean front axle in my tractor that has been waiting on parts for over a year....



Interesting enough. The chevy trailblazer are made in Korea. Lol

I do work with just about every major automaker in the US. I have never dealt with a more screwed up organization than the Kia manufacturing facility in GA.

So screwed up that we have them flagged to politely decline any request for service from us.

I am not shocked at all they tried to nickel and dime you Supe.

As someone who works at the Kia plant in West Point, Georgia, I am sorry you have had a bad experience with a dealership when needing to have the timing belt replaced in your vehicle. I went with my brother-in-law to look at a Kia once and the dealership experience was horrible. I made a complaint to some managers at work that we build a good product but the dealerships were not representing Kia very well.
I recently replaced the engine in my Lexus RX300 and before my mechanic installed it, I had him replace the timing belt, pulleys and tensioner, and water pump to ensure it was all new even though the engine was guaranteed to have around 50,000 miles on it, I went ahead and changed those components anyway.

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I used to work for KIA several years ago. Great company and great affordable cars. It's the independently owned dealerships that give any car brand a bad name.