KIA New gear box - car sold by local dealer as under KIA warranty

Tangobretta

Hi,

 

I purchased a 2015 KIA RIO with 18K miles on the clock 8 months ago.

The issue: 2 weeks ago, the car had developed an intermittent whirring noise after the car is warm, when in (any) gear, and particularly when you lift your foot off the accelerator (without any depression of the clutch or change of gear).

 

I phoned KIA to explain the fault, and advised to arrange an appointment.

On first diagnosis by KIA, I or the mechanic couldn’t make the noise happen.  I drove away, and about 10miles up the road, sure enough….the whirring started, typical.

On second diagnosis by KIA, its either the starter motor or the clutch.  Having the car under warranty, KIA stated they’d replace the start motor, which they did FOC, great!  6-7 miles heading home, sure enough….the whirring started again.  Must be the clutch then I reported back to KIA.  Strangely, KIA backout and said well actually it’s the gearbox, but we’ll need to replace the clutch anyway which isn’t replaced under warranty ‘its wear and tear’, which I accepted, but I challenged the comment and said well, if its not the clutch and the fault lay with the gear box, then the gear box need to be replaced under warranty (at this stage 10k miles have racked up over 8months from purchase date).

KIA responded fairly aptly with requiring all documents and service history, because now, it’s a major part.

 

The quandary: Checking the vehicle history, KIA have performed 2 services and ‘local garages’ have performed the other 3.  At point of sale the local car dealer hasn’t supplied me the documents to validate the warranty to KIA.  Yet on the invoice of the sale, it has been stipulated that the car has been sold with 6mths local + 2year KIA warranty, literally in black and white.

 

Basically there’s 2 things I would like to ask.

1.       Is the dealer obliged to keep his sale agreement on the invoice

2.       Since the car has very low millage, should KIA be replacing the part

3.       Actually there’s a number 3… What if its not the gear box, with KIA’s flaky initial diagnosis?

Also I performed a RAC Vehicle History Check, but I doubt this carries any weight. 

Thanks for reading my thread, any help greatly appreciated, in particular to number 1.

 

TB

foxy-stoat

If it were me, they have had their chance to fix it - didn't work.
Now if they need to replace the gearbox with a new one then happy days, but you wont be paying for a new clutch.
Either tell them to replace the gearbox and clutch FOC no messing about with documents or formally reject it.

AdrianC

Tangobretta said:

The quandary: Checking the vehicle history, KIA have performed 2 services and ‘local garages’ have performed the other 3.  At point of sale the local car dealer hasn’t supplied me the documents to validate the warranty to KIA.  Yet on the invoice of the sale, it has been stipulated that the car has been sold with 6mths local + 2year KIA warranty, literally in black and white.

Basically there’s 2 things I would like to ask.

1.       Is the dealer obliged to keep his sale agreement on the invoice

2.       Since the car has very low millage, should KIA be replacing the part

3.       Actually there’s a number 3… What if its not the gear box, with KIA’s flaky initial diagnosis?

Having a service outside the dealer chain is not necessarily a warranty showstopper. Under European "block exemption" rules, if you can show the service history is complete, every service required done to time and to mileage, and every non-dealer service done to dealer standard and using OEM quality parts, the warranty cannot be voided.

So, provided the supplier gave you the appropriate documentation, they did nothing wrong by saying that the car was still under the balance of the manufacturer warranty. They cannot be held responsible for Kia UK's decisions regarding warranty eligibility.

I presume you checked the service history documentation at the time of purchase...?

Should the box be replaced under warranty...? Even without the service history, provided there's no missed gearbox fluid change or level check, then - yes. Subject to the usual caveats over wear and tear. No, mileage is not the be-all-and-end-all. It's entirely possible for a mechanically unsympathetic driver to destroy a box in fairly short order.

flashg67

Ideally, you need the supplying dealer to get you your invoices, or find out who did those services (previous keeper may know) and get the copy invoices. As said above, as long as serviing has been done correctly, on time/mileage, you should be ok
You could refuse to have the clutch done, but at 30k, for just the costs of the parts, it's worth considering.

Lorian

That's very low mileage for a 2015.
Your Kia dealer isn't very good, that we can tell already.
when you hear the noise - 
1) Does turning off the air conditioning make the noise go away
2) Does momentarily dipping the clutch make the noise go away
3) Does the sound vary with the speed of the car.
and have you had any new tyres recently?

born_again

You are going to have to get the service doc's from the other garage that serviced the car. Or you will not get any warranty cover. The garage will have to have serviced & used Kia standard parts.

Tangobretta

Really appreciate all of the information, questions and answers above.  I didn't thoroughly  check the service history documents at the POS but did question the fact, I guess thats a bit of a learning curve for me, Im usually pretty thorough but not on this detail, albeit I did question the dealer at the time verbally.  Never the less, it is there in hand written in B&W on the bill of sale.
@Lorian
1) Valid point - need to double check
2) Ive tried with the clutch dipped when starting the car, and the noise is momentarily.  Need to check whilst actually driving.
3) No, them main common denominator so far is when driving in gear (need to check point 2) at 20/30 mph when lifting foot off the gas.  
I appreciate, if,  the warranty isn't actually valid, does the dealer have to stand over his sales invoice, as technially the item has either been fraudulently / mis-sold.
Main objective here is to get the appropriate warranty information from the local dealer, but after 3 phone calls yesterday and no call back, its looking doubtful.
Thanks again.

shaun_from_Africa

born_again said:

You are going to have to get the service doc's from the other garage that serviced the car. Or you will not get any warranty cover. The garage will have to have serviced & used Kia standard parts.

There is no requirement for Kia parts to be used. All that is required is that the parts are of the same specification and an equal or higher quality than Kia parts.

Tangobretta

@Lorian The noise remains when driven in gear with clutch raised, and when clutch is dipped.

Jumblebumble

shaun_from_Africa said:

born_again said:

You are going to have to get the service doc's from the other garage that serviced the car. Or you will not get any warranty cover. The garage will have to have serviced & used Kia standard parts.

There is no requirement for Kia parts to be used. All that is required is that the parts are of the same specification and an equal or higher quality than Kia parts.



I can see how this would apply to Oil but struggle to understand how one would even start to prove that a particular pattern part Oil filter is better or worse quality than a Kia branded one.
My take on this block exemption business is that Kia would have no problem rejecting the warranty if they wanted to as it is easy for them to cast doubt on the whole thing.
( ie did the service involve updating all the software on the ECU as I imagine no third party would be doing so)

AdrianC

I suspect the block exemption questions are academic.

Was there any requirement for a gearbox oil change - or level check - in the services that were carried out at the non-franchise dealer? No? Then the servicing regime is not relevant to this aspect of the warranty.

Is the gearbox damage definitely a manufacturing issue, rather than (previous-)user abuse? Unless that's a definite yes, then there's question marks over warranty coverage anyway.