Repairs to car almost costing more than left to pay on loan....

Kikitwee

Hi there, just looking for a bit of advice. I have a 4 year old Kia car which we bought 3 years ago second hand from Arnold Clark which was making a rattling noise. I took it to my local KIA dealer to see what the problem was and if it could be fixed under the warranty. Turns out the car needs a new engine and Kia won’t cover it because they are saying that a service done at Arnold Clark before we owned the car used the wrong type of oil and also one of the services was done a month out of date.

Currently the bill for repair is sitting at £4000 not including the MOT that the car is also due. It’s been sitting in the garage for 6 weeks while we ran about daft trying to get every little piece of information that KIA asked for.

We currently have £4900 of a personal loan left on the car. What is the best thing to do financially. I am very clueless when it comes to cars and don’t know whether I am best to pay for repairs or am I able to sell or scrap the car in the condition it is in and maybe just try setting up a PCP deal for a new car and just pay off the rest of the personal loan on the broken one, have got two years left to pay on it. I just think it seems a bit crazy to pay minimum of £4000 on a car that I only have £4900 left to pay on.

Like I say I’m really not very clued up on cards and any advice at all would be appreciated! Thanks!

neilmcl

Have you spoken to Kia about this?

Kikitwee

My husband has tried to but we’re not allowed to speak to the warranty team only the KIA garage is allowed to. The customer service at KIA has been shocking.

AdrianC

Spend £4k - have a working car on which you still have finance.
Spend £4.9k - have a broken car on which you owe nothing.

Seems obvious to me.

Apodemus

I wonder if you perhaps need a second opinion. What is rattling? Why does the garage believe that the engine is beyond repair? Dealers are expensive and you may be getting a much bigger repair than the fault warrants.

Kikitwee

But it’s not obvious to me! 😭 Sorry! I’m just a bit clueless when it comes to all this!

Kikitwee

I took it to my local garage first who said it would need a new engine and then I took it to the KIA dealer in the hope it might be covered under the warranty who also said new engine. Something to do with the piston and oil starvation.

AdrianC

I presume you still need a car...

Kikitwee

I know, it’s not easy to come by £4000 though, I only have £1000 in savings at the moment and it might cost almost £5000 to fix by the time we get the MOT done as well. I don’t know whether it is an option to sort of sell the car as is put that towards the remainder of the personal loan and start up a PCP deal on a new car where I would only have to pay a small deposit?

Or if I find the money and pay for the repairs will it reinstate the warranty. Scared about paying a large bill for repairs then having problems six months/ a year down the line.

AdrianC

The only way you're selling the car as-is is for scrap. I suspect it isn't even in one piece, and you'll have a bill for the time put in to dismantling it, if you don't go ahead with the work, so you'd still have to pay the dealer to scrap it.



No, if the "new car" warranty's been lost because the servicing wasn't kept up, the warranty's been lost. But the work done this time would be warranted separately.

Homersimpson

How do they know that the service done 3 years ago used the wrong oil, is it listed somewhere? Are/were Arnold Clarke a Kia dealer at the time?

If Kia will give you this in writing (i.e. the oil used three years ago caused the problem) then you could try going back to Arnold Clarke on this.

Personally I don't for one minute believe that the wrong oil used three years ago and presumably changed at least once since is the cause of the present failure, its highly unlikely.

I've rebuilt a lot of engines due to wear or failure and sudden failure tends to occur for other reasons like a lack of oil, failed pump, something breaking etc.

Sound like they are just trying to get out of paying.

If you can't get anywhere with this then perhaps consider another garage, as said above, whats actually wrong with the engine?