Rough week with my Kia

[Kaido]

Leasing a new Kia Soul, just over 2 years into it. Never had a problem until recently...

First, the tire pressure sensor starts acting flakey. Goes off all the time. Fill up the tires, fine. Goes off again. Rinse, repeat. I can handle an annoying light for a non-existent problem. OK.

Second, key fob flips out - but gets stuck at an angle. Some piece in the hinge gets stuck. I can manually pull it hard to get it straight. OK.

Third, back passenger's side door won't open from the inside. Opens from the outside. Back driver's side opens. Child lock off. Annoying (have a baby, have to sit on the squished side now). OK.

Fourth, my key falls off the fob. The straight part of the key popped out when I pulled it out of the ignition. Epoxied it back in. Back in business. OK.

Fifth, driver's side window quits rolling down. Fortunately it got stuck all the way up. Super annoying at tollbooths, drive-throughs, and ATM's. OK.

Sixth (the rest was all just recently, this was today), driving along and the rearview starts rattling like I have a huge subwoofer. Then falls off. C'mon man!

So on one hand, no issues for over 2 years. All I've had to do is basic maintenance - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. On the other hand...guess I had to get whacked sometime A Kia is a Kia?

 

[NutBucket]

Good thing you leased it? Off to the dealer for warranty work!

 

[ballmode]

It was those dancing hamsters


Seriously though those are problems I couldn't live with on a new car especially in the year 2012. I would try to recreate the problems for the dealers and try to get them to fix it.

What's your experiences with the kia dealers? I mean they flaunt their super huge long warranty but how are they when going about using it?

 

[mvbighead]

Uh, if you're filling up the tires, and that fixes the problem, you don't have a non-existent problem. You have leak that needs to be fixed.

I have a car where the TPMS is problematic. No amount of adjusting air pressure fixes it, it is simply a matter of a tire's module dropping off and not reporting the pressure. I have two that are acting flaky, and when I use the system to examine each tire's individual pressure, instead of seeing '35', I see '--'. I need to have this fixed, but that requires tire removal and replacement of the sensor. I was quoted something like $65/module, plus $10 for labor. Not bad I guess, I just have to have it done.

 

[jlee]

Uh, if you're filling up the tires, and that fixes the problem, you don't have a non-existent problem. You have leak that needs to be fixed.

I have a car where the TPMS is problematic. No amount of adjusting air pressure fixes it, it is simply a matter of a tire's module dropping off and not reporting the pressure. I have two that are acting flaky, and when I use the system to examine each tire's individual pressure, instead of seeing '35', I see '--'. I need to have this fixed, but that requires tire removal and replacement of the sensor. I was quoted something like $65/module, plus $10 for labor. Not bad I guess, I just have to have it done.

Do you have Discount Tire near you? IIRC I was quoted $60 installed for TPMS sensors for my CTS-V. I have one that's dead as well.

 

[5.0inaYota]

I had a KIA as my first car and will never own another, granted the one I owned was one of the worst models they have produced ('98 Sephia), something about the name of the car sounding like a disease bothered me too. The price for the TPMS sensors sounds pretty decent to me, the last shop I worked at charged around $100 a piece for most. I wish you good luck in getting your Soul fixed up.

 

[heymrdj]

All sounds like warranty issues. The wonder of 3yr lease cycles is you get to keep a car in warranty! Most of them give you a loaner as well, so use it!

 

[Kaido]

Good thing you leased it? Off to the dealer for warranty work!

Yeah called in today. 2 years, zero problems, then everything in a week haha.

 

[Kaido]

It was those dancing hamsters


Seriously though those are problems I couldn't live with on a new car especially in the year 2012. I would try to recreate the problems for the dealers and try to get them to fix it.

What's your experiences with the kia dealers? I mean they flaunt their super huge long warranty but how are they when going about using it?

I'll find out this week. I've never once had to bring it in for anything before.

I had a terrible experience leasing from VW in the past. My wife had a New Beetle and literally everything that wasn't bolted to the frame broke off multiple times - the holy crap handles, the 12V adapter, the swing-out cupholders, the trunk latch, everything - multiple times. And they would hardly cover any of it, even under a lease. It was a fun car, but just terrible service.

 

[heymrdj]

I'll find out this week. I've never once had to bring it in for anything before.

I had a terrible experience leasing from VW in the past. My wife had a New Beetle and literally everything that wasn't bolted to the frame broke off multiple times - the holy crap handles, the 12V adapter, the swing-out cupholders, the trunk latch, everything - multiple times. And they would hardly cover any of it, even under a lease. It was a fun car, but just terrible service.

Sometimes you have to go to a different dealer. My Fort Wayne and Plymouth Ford dealers and fix both my Fords without issue and throw bones my way in order to keep fixes low (like when I had an electrical issue on my Expedition and a build problem on my Ranger). My GA dealers work horrible. Getting them to diagnose something was like pulling teeth and you had to watch endlessly for gouging.

 

[Kaido]

Uh, if you're filling up the tires, and that fixes the problem, you don't have a non-existent problem. You have leak that needs to be fixed.

I have a car where the TPMS is problematic. No amount of adjusting air pressure fixes it, it is simply a matter of a tire's module dropping off and not reporting the pressure. I have two that are acting flaky, and when I use the system to examine each tire's individual pressure, instead of seeing '35', I see '--'. I need to have this fixed, but that requires tire removal and replacement of the sensor. I was quoted something like $65/module, plus $10 for labor. Not bad I guess, I just have to have it done.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I filled it up and then the tire pressure sensor would go off again, but I'd check the tire and it would be fine. Would fill it up anyway a bit more, would trip again, same tire pressure. Repeat. So not a leak, just a flaky sensor in this case.

 

[Kaido]

I had a KIA as my first car and will never own another, granted the one I owned was one of the worst models they have produced ('98 Sephia), something about the name of the car sounding like a disease bothered me too. The price for the TPMS sensors sounds pretty decent to me, the last shop I worked at charged around $100 a piece for most. I wish you good luck in getting your Soul fixed up.

Yeah, the build quality is hugely better these days. Equivalent to the old Saturn lines - relatively cheap plastic, but durable. Ish I've actually been really happy with it so far, so I can't complain too much. Just seems like some basic electrical problems and some minor hardware falling apart. Kinda funny that it all happened over the course of a week or so.

 

[Kaido]

All sounds like warranty issues. The wonder of 3yr lease cycles is you get to keep a car in warranty! Most of them give you a loaner as well, so use it!

Yup. I did a 4-year lease before, never again - had to buy tires, brakes, etc. going into the last year. 3 years or bust

 

[mvbighead]

Do you have Discount Tire near you? IIRC I was quoted $60 installed for TPMS sensors for my CTS-V. I have one that's dead as well.

Thanks for the tip. I may have to check them out, or just check other local area shops and see if anyone else has a better price.

 

[Kaido]

Sometimes you have to go to a different dealer. My Fort Wayne and Plymouth Ford dealers and fix both my Fords without issue and throw bones my way in order to keep fixes low (like when I had an electrical issue on my Expedition and a build problem on my Ranger). My GA dealers work horrible. Getting them to diagnose something was like pulling teeth and you had to watch endlessly for gouging.

I think it was actually under the VW terms. All my friends with VW's told me not to get the Mexican-made cars (i.e. Beetle) and to go with the better-made German versions instead for that very reason - heard some horror stories going in. But we really wanted to get a Beetle...glad we leased

I think the new ones are pretty cool too...definitely more masculine. 200hp turbo, stretched out, moon rims, mmm...

 

[marvdmartian]

The tire pressure sensors on my Hyundai Sonata are set to go off at ~28psi, and the dealer (until I said something to them) liked to set the pressure at 30psi. All it ever took was the first cold morning, and I'd oftentimes get the low pressure light, until I had a chance to go put a couple pounds of air in the "low" tire.

I have since asked them to pressurize my tires to 35psi. No problems since then. :thumbsup:

One thing to be careful of, do NOT use a "fix a flat" type product, if you have tire pressure sensors! Your dealer will NOT like you very much!!

 

[Arkaign]

I have had a number of goofy problems with my GF's 2006 Rio, mostly physical stuff that was cheaply made that broke. Annoying to be sure, and just a kind of crappy car all around. The newer models like the Forte look much much better, but still not sure I could really recommend them for the long haul just yet. For the same reason I'm hesitant about Hyundai. Sure they're great new, particularly for the price, but how will they hold up over 10 years and 200k miles? Anybody's guess I suppose. I put 90k miles of hard abuse on my '08 Focus coupe, and literally everything works as well as the day I bought it, and it still gets an average of 34mpg in mostly city driving. Thank god I have the 5 speed though, apparently the 4-speed auto in that gen Focus is trash.

 

[leper84]

One thing to be careful of, do NOT use a "fix a flat" type product, if you have tire pressure sensors! Your dealer will NOT like you very much!!

Don't use fix a flat in any tire... you'll save on the tow if you don't have roadside but you're right, get ready to buy a new tpms sensor + new tire + pay them a half hr extra to relearn the new sensor.

 

[Arkaign]

Don't use fix a flat in any tire... you'll save on the tow if you don't have roadside but you're right, get ready to buy a new tpms sensor + new tire + pay them a half hr extra to relearn the new sensor.

Yeah, it also dries and crusts inside the tire around the rim and can throw off your balance. All around terrible product, only to be used in absolute dire emergency with no other way out (ie; stuck in death valley with no water and no spare kind of thing).

 

[thomsbrain]

This is the reason Honda doesn't need a 100,000 mile warranty to move product.

 

[Dari]

It's a Kia. What did you expect?

 

[Mermaidman]

Sorry, I should have clarified. I filled it up and then the tire pressure sensor would go off again, but I'd check the tire and it would be fine. Would fill it up anyway a bit more, would trip again, same tire pressure. Repeat. So not a leak, just a flaky sensor in this case.

My father's Toyota had a low tire warning that needed to be manually reset after the tire was filled up. The warning would remain on even after the tire was back to spec if he didn't reset the low tire pressure monitor. Not sure how the Kia's work, but is it possible that you need to reset the monitor?

 

[mmntech]

The Souls are not good cars. I've personally experienced the first four on the list with rentals. You can add that the gas doors tend to jam on them as well. I've driven a lot of Kias. Some are really good, some are really awful. The Soul is probably the worst. Which is a shame because believe it or not, I actually like the concept of a mini SUV. If they upped build quality and added an AWD option, it would be pretty decent.

 

[Kaido]

My father's Toyota had a low tire warning that needed to be manually reset after the tire was filled up. The warning would remain on even after the tire was back to spec if he didn't reset the low tire pressure monitor. Not sure how the Kia's work, but is it possible that you need to reset the monitor?

Nah, because sometimes it blips off after I fill the tires. Then comes on a day or a few days later, even though the tire pressure is the same. Weirdness. It's going into the shop this coming week, so I'll see what the story is. The guy was non-plussed when I described my problems, so I'd assume he sees this stuff on a regular basis :biggrin:

 

[Kaido]

The Souls are not good cars. I've personally experienced the first four on the list with rentals. You can add that the gas doors tend to jam on them as well. I've driven a lot of Kias. Some are really good, some are really awful. The Soul is probably the worst. Which is a shame because believe it or not, I actually like the concept of a mini SUV. If they upped build quality and added an AWD option, it would be pretty decent.

I've actually had a really good experience with it for the last 2+ years, not one problem to speak of. And all of this is minor stuff, not big engine/transmission/brake/whatever problems.

Also, the Soul is absolutely the best car I have ever driven in the snow. My last few cars have had Traction Control, but I don't know if it's the balance of the car or what, but it works like twice as good on the Soul as it did on the other cars. I've plowed through the last couple of winters like I was driving through mud, no problems at all!