NHTSA Complaint #11114380 — 2015 KIA FORTE

I WAS DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 8 IN SAN DIEGO,CA AND I HEARD A LOUD RATTLING NOISE, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT LIT UP AND THE ENGINE DIED AND I WAS LUCKY TO BE ABLE TO COAST THE CAR TO THE SHOULDER OF THE FREEWAY. I HAD IT TOWED TO MY KIA DEALERSHIP IN EL CAJON, CA. THEY LOOKED AT IT AND TOLD ME MY ENGINE SEIZED AND THE ENGINE WAS BLOWN. I BOUGHT THIS CAR 11 MONTHS AGO AS A CPO AND IT IS WITHIN THE WARRANTY OF 10 YRS/100,000 MILES. I'VE ONLY PUT 21,000 MILES ON IT. THEY ARE ASKING FOR MY MAINTENANCE RECORDS AND ARE HAVING A SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR TO COME OUT ON 7/31/2018 TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE. I HAVE HAD ONE OIL CHANGE DONE AT THE DEALER IN JANUARY OF 2018, THE REST OF THE OIL CHANGES I DID ON MY OWN. THE LAST OIL CHANGE WAS JUST 2 WEEKS AGO. THE DEALERSHIP IS NOW TELLING ME THAT IT'S UP TO THE INVESTIGATOR TO DECIDE IF THE ENGINE WAS DEFECTIVE AND IF THEY'LL COVER MY ENGINE UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY. WHEN I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN TO THE DEALER IN JANUARY 2018, I INFORMED THE MECHANIC THAT THERE WAS A KNOCKING/PINGING NOISE IN THE ENGINE, HE TOLD ME THAT THIS WAS NORMAL. THEY NEVER DOCUMENTED MY COMPLAINT. AFTER READING ABOUT ALL THE PROBLEMS WITH THESE ENGINES AND HOW KIA IS HANDLING THESE PROBLEMS, I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THEY'LL HONOR THE WARRANTY. I AM MAKING CAR LOAN PAYMENTS ON THIS CAR AND CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR A NEW ENGINE WHILE THE BATTLE OVER THESE ENGINES PLAY OUT IN THE COURTS, YOUR INVESTIGATIONS AND THE RECENT FBI INVOLVEMENT. THE DEALER NEVER INFORMED ME OF POSSIBLE PROBLEMS WITH THESE ENGINES. I NEVER WOULD'VE PURCHASED THIS CAR. PLEASE HELP, I AM CONCERNED THAT THE INVESTIGATOR WILL FALSIFY WHAT IS FOUND IN THE ENGINE UPON INVESTIGATION.