NHTSA Complaint #10735315 — 2011 KIA SORENTO

ON 06/15/2015, DROVE MY CAR TO THE BARN, THEN IT WILL NOT START. I THOUGHT IT'S BATTERY PROBLEM. BATTERY IS ONLY 1 YEAR OLD. SO I CHARGED THE BATTERY. DIDN'T WORK. SO I JUMPED IT, IT HAD A HARD TIME STARTING. IT FINALLY STARTED AFTER 3 ATTEMPTS. I GOT A NEW BATTERY FOR IT. THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN TWO DAYS LATER, GOT IT STARTED AFTER A FEW ATTEMPTS.TOOK IT TO KIA SERVICE. THEY SAID OIL RING HAS SLOW LEAK. DEALER CHANGED O RING, AND THEN SEVERAL DAYS, IT HAD ISSUES STARTING. THE DEALER KEPT MY CAR FOR TWO DAYS TO LISTEN AND FIX THE KNOCKING NOISE. FINALLY ON FRIDAY 06/27/15, IT WON'T START AT ALL. IT HAS THIS GRINDING, HARD START. I CALLED THE # 800-333-4542. SINCE IT IS STILL UNDER WARRANTY, THEY HAD MY CAR TOWED FOR FREE, AND DEALER GAVE ME A LOANER CAR. I CALLED KIA AT # 678-385-8540 AND ASK WHAT'S GOING ON AS THE DEALER SAID THEY ARE WAITING FOR KIA SUPPORT TEAM APPROVAL TO TEST THE ENGINE. AFTER TWO WEEKS, KIA CALLED AND TOLD DEALER TO TEST ENGINE. IT HAS ISSUES WITH LOW COMPRESSION ON 2 CHAMBERS AND FINALLY THE DECISION WAS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE. ON 7/11/2015, DEALER SUBMITTED AN ORDER TO HAVE KIA SHIP ENGINE. I WAS TOLD, NEXT WEEK, I SHOULD HEAR FROM THEM. NOTHING HAPPENED. I CALLED THE 678 # AGAIN, AND WAS TOLD BY MS. KUSHELL THAT SHE'S CONTACTING THE REGIONAL MANAGER TO GIVE PRIORITIES TO MY CASE.THAT IT SHOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF BETWEEN 7/20 TO 7/25. THIS MORNING, 7/17/15, I GOT A CALL FROM THE DEALER THAT THE ETA FOR ENGINE ARRIVAL WILL BE 7/31/2015, AS THERE ARE NO ENGINES ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. TO DATE (7/17/2015), THE CAR HAS BEEN AT THE KIA DEALER SERVICE FOR ALMOST A MONTH NOW. I HAVE PENDING TRIPS THAT I KEPT POSTPONING TO ACCOMMODATE THE ISSUES. BUT THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND, AS I AM GETTING THE ROUND AROUND TALKS. MS. KUSHELL SAID, THEY CAN SHIP MY CAR TO THE PLACE I'M GOING, BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, WALK THE 1500MILES?