The sole purpose of this letter is covering the behind of Kia. They try to paint a happy face on it, but think about their current situation. They are the recipient of several class action lawsuits, the NHTSA and congress are on their tails with subpoenas and failed to show up for their session.
Clearly whatever steps they have taken since the original Theta II debacle are not enough to stop what is happening to SOME owners of these vehicles. The biggest damage they can receive from all this is entirely cultural with their company. Their refusal to ever admit when something goes horribly wrong, is doing them far more harm in the long run. The proper response back at the beginning of all this would have been to perform failure analysis on the original 2011 engines, and make proper design changes that would overshoot the problems by a significant margin to ensure they don't ever happen again, even if that meant switching to significantly more expensive parts in the engine.
The most likely real issue here is bearing material that is not consistently of a high enough quality. Instead of switching to a more durable metal in the bearings, they reportedly tweaked the oil journal depth and some very minor dimensional changes. Too little, too late.
chicago ken and KatieDid like this.
No, almost every one of the reports in the thread I posted stated that their vehicle went into the new forced limp mode shortly after getting the ECU reflash, and there are no sensor or wiring changes associated with this program.
True, there are no sensor or wiring changes involved with the reflash. However, the Product Improvement bulletin provided to dealers describing how to handle cars with DTC P1326 includes a wiring signal interference check which is done before any other diagnostic procedures. Kia is apparently aware that wiring issues can cause false DTCs.
Regarding voided warranty coverage, Kia doesn't have to state that failure to perform the update may void their original warranty; they can simply claim that the owner didn't follow their recommend maintenance practices as spelled out in the Owner's Manual.
This appears to be the latest chapter in the Hyundai/Kia Theta II engine recall saga. There are currently at least three class action lawsuits pending against Hyundai and Kia for engine failures and engine fires related to oil starvation in cars not covered by the current recalls. Hyundai and Kia may be trying to show the courts and the NHTSA that they are being proactive in trying to solve these issues, although its seems to me to be too little too late.
I've attached calibration seals to the obd ports on my car. I've also asked the dealer to put a note on the file that they are not to upgrade/reflash any ECUs.
I don't want this upgrade if there is any chance it degrades output power or torque. I have a 10 year 200k km warranty on the car already. I run the car on 91-94 octane top tier fuel all the time and haven't had any plug or driveability problems since starting to use it, over 40k km now.
I wonder what the legal position is? Can they deny me warranty if the engine pukes and after I didn't let them upgrade it?.....hmmm.
I've said my piece, and am not going to continue with pointless arguments. Everyone else can believe whatever they want to and do as they please. I'm done with this one.
I asked my dealership if they have done any of these ECU software mods yet. She said they have done over a 100 "Upgrades" (yes, they called it an upgrade) to date. They actually, didn't start with the Sportage but with other models first. They have seen no cars returned for going into "limp" mode yet.
I want the lifetime coverage. Yes, I agree the manufacturers warranty would cover you for a period but not lifetime. I just don't know if you sell this car, if the lifetime warranty transfers to the new owner. The letter states "new and used vehicle owners" but it doesn't actually mention transfer of ownership. This would be important for resale value.
I certainly didn't see anything as a pointless argument with this.
If you think about what's going on with them in regards to federal scrutiny, and private class action lawsuits, they are showing some action which could be construed as taking steps to prevent people from having their engine grenade while going down the interstate and causing a wreck or serious injury.
We can rest assured at some point down the line, they will end up paying the piper for whatever this all turns out to be caused by. They are not the first car company to play this game ,and won't be the last.
My Wife's 2014 Sportage SX influenced me into buying a 2017 for myself. We haven't had any major problems with our cars & hope it stays that way.
We previous owned General motors & Jeep products & were very dissatisfied with both after the 1st 2 years of ownership nothing but problems, never again!
The warranty Kia offered was the main selling point for both our purchases.
I have to say that I'm a little nervous & concerned over the problems people are having with Kia.
I don't know if I would buy another. I 'll probably go for Toyota 4-runner if the SX gives me problems.
I shopped these when I bought my '18 EX.
The CRV costs quite a bit more here in Phoenix... because it can. Used was even the same price as a new one.
The HRV is significantly smaller. Almost more a hatchback than SUV/crossover to me.
The Escape may suffer the same fate as my former 2014 Focus SE Hatchback, which was a class action suit over the Powershift dual clutch transmission. Ford has settled suits in the US and Australia over defects in the design.
The CX5 will drive sportier, but is a smaller vehicle.