NHTSA Complaint #10176264 — 2002 KIA OPTIMA

I PURCHASED MY OPTIMA USED IN MAY 2004. ONE MONTH AFTER PURCHASE, I EXPERIENCED A HESITATION IN THE SHIFTING OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER OF PURCHASE TO HAVE THE PROBLEM FIXED UNDER WARRANTY. THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, AND THEREFORE, APPARENTLY THEY CAN'T FIX IT EITHER. SINCE THEN, MY CAR HAS BEEN IN 2 DIFFERENT KIA DEALER SHOPS FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM 4 OR 5 TIMES. WITH THE SAME RESULT: THEY CAN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, SO THEY CAN'T FIX IT. THE FOURTH TIME I TOOK IT IN, THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, BUT BECAUSE I CALLED CUSTOMER CARE, THEY DID CHECK ALL THE CONNECTORS FOR THE TRANSMISSION. I WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT NO CODES CAME UP FOR THE CAR AT ALL, BUT WHEN I TOOK IT TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, THERE WERE 4 CODES THAT CAME UP: THE SAME 2 TWICE. ONE SET WAS ON 'HOLD' AND THE OTHER SET HAD JUST OCCURRED THAT DAY. THE PROBLEM RECURRED THE DAY I PICKED UP THE CAR FROM THE DEALER, WHO'D HAD IT FOR A WEEK AND STILL COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. THE FIFTH TIME I TOOK IT IN (IN DEC 2006), THE MECHANIC FINALLY WAS ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM, BUT MY WARRANTY RAN OUT 2,000 MILES BEFORE THIS. NOW THEY WON'T FIX IT UNDER WARRANTY. I HAVE CONTACTED CUSTOMER CARE AND WAS INFORMED THAT IT MIGHT GET FIXED UNDER WARRANTY IF I HAD A TRANSMISSION SERVICE AT 60,000 MILES. I'M NOT SURE WHY THAT EVEN MATTERS IF THE PROBLEM STARTED AT 48,000 MILES. PLUS, IN ALL THE CONTACT I HAVE HAD WITH ANY OF THESE PEOPLE, NOT A SINGLE ONE EVER RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED A TRANSMISSION SERVICE. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS MODEL CAR TO ANOTHER PERSON; NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS, BUT BECAUSE OF THE SERVICE TECH'S WHO ARE RUDE AND UN-INFORMATIVE TO CUSTOMERS. *JB