NHTSA Complaint #10185752 — 2004 KIA SEDONA

MY 2004 KIA SEDONA HAS 24,000 MILES ON IT AND IS IN THE 3 YEAR 36,000 MILE BUMPER-TO-BUMPER PART OF THE WARRANTY. MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CAR WAS TOWED TO ALBERT KIA. THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID THE CAR HAD A BLOWN ENGINE AND THAT IT WOULD BE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY, HOWEVER, WE NEEDED TO BRING IN ALL THE OIL CHANGE RECORDS FOR WARRANTY PURPOSES -WHICH WE DID. THAT DEALERSHIP WENT OUT OF BUSINESS AND THE CAR WAS NEVER REPAIRED. A REP FROM KIA USA TOLD ME THAT THEY WERE GOING TO TOW MY CAR TO BALISE KIA IN WARWICK, RI. TWO DAYS LATER, SCOTT, THE SERVICE MANAGER AT BALISE, CALLED TO TELL ME THAT HE AND THE DISTRICT MANAGER HAD LOOKED AT THE CAR AND IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT HAD 5 LITERS TOO MUCH OIL IN IT. I TOLD SCOTT THAT THE SERVICE MANAGER AT ALBERT KIA HAD ALREADY DIAGNOSED THE CAR AND REPORTED A BLOWN ENGINE, NEVER ONCE MENTIONING ANYTHING ABOUT TOO MUCH OIL. WITHIN THE 72 HOURS, JEFF FROM KIA USA CALLED AND INFORMED ME THAT HE HAD MY CASE. AFTER A BRIEF REVIEW, JEFF ASKED ME TO FAX OVER THE SERVICE RECORDS TO HIM. ON JANUARY 16TH, MY CASE WAS GIVEN TO RUSSELL STUART. LATER IN JANUARY, THE KIA DM AND I CHECKED THE OIL TOGETHER AND NOTED THAT IT WAS NOT OVER THE FILL LINE. THE DM REMOVED THE OIL CAP, LOOKED AT THE UNDERSIDE, AND NOTED THAT IT FILLED COVERED WITH SLUDGE. THE DM NOW STATED THAT THE CAR NEVER HAD AN OIL CHANGE - VOIDING THE WARRANTY. I ASKED IF THE SLUDGE ON THE BACK OF THE CAP WAS THE RESULT OF A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. THE DM SAID NO. MY SON, AN ASE MASTER TECHNICIAN, FOUND A KIA ISSUED TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN STATING THAT SOME 2004 SEDONA MODELS WITH THE 3.5 LITER ENGINE HAD A DEFECT THAT LEFT A SCORE MARK AT THE #6 CYLINDER ON THE HEAD, RESULTING IN HEAD GASKET FAILURE. MY VEHICLE WAS BUILT 4 WEEKS AFTER KIA SAID THEY CORRECTED THE PROBLEM BUT KIA WILL NOT LEND ANY CREDENCE TO THIS BULLETIN REGARDING MY VEHICLE. I'M STUCK WITH A VEHICLE THAT HAS BEEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR 3 MONTHS.*AK