NHTSA Complaint #11386467 — 2016 KIA SORENTO

RECENTLY, I STARTED TO EXPERIENCE ISSUES WITH MY VEHICLE THAT INCLUDED ENGINE STALLING ON THE HIGHWAY DURING HEAVY TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AND ON LOCAL STREETS WHILE DRIVING WITH MY DAUGHTER IN THE VEHICLE. ADDITIONALLY, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS DISPLAYED ON THE DASHBOARD.WHEN THIS OCCURRED, I IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE ALM KIA DEALERSHIP TO REQUEST A DIAGNOSIS OF THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I ARRANGED TO TAKE MY VEHICLE TO THE ATLANTA WEST KIA DEALERSHIP WHERE A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK WAS PERFORMED STATING THAT, 4 PART INDUCTION SERVICE, 4 PART FUEL INJECTOR REPLACEMENT, AND A 4 CYLINDER TUNE UP WAS NEEDED. WHEN I RECIEVED THE ESTIMATE FROM ATLANTA WEST KIA, I CALLED THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT ALM KIA IN UNION CITY BECAUSE I WAS PERPLEXED THAT THE ABOVE SERVICES WERE NEVER COMMUNICATED TO ME BY MY SERVICE ADVISOR AT KIA UNION CITY WHEN I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN FOR AN OIL CHANGE ON 11/11/20. (NOTE: TECHNICIANS ALSO PERFORMED A MULTI-POINT INSPECTION AS WELL). MY SERVICE ADVISOR AARON AUSTIN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HE NEGLECTED TO TELL ME THAT I NEEDED THE SAME SERVICES THAT ATLANTA WEST KIA WANTED TO PERFORM. HOWEVER, HE STATED THAT IF I BROUGHT MY VEHICLE BACK, HE WOULD PERFORM THE SAME SERVICES FOR $569.99.AFTER OBTAINING BOTH SERVICE ESTIMATES AT THE KIA DEALERSHIPS, I STILL FELT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE QUOTES FROM KIA AND DECIDED TO TAKE MY KIA SORENTO TO AN INDEPENDENT VEHICLE REPAIR SHOP, TRI-STAR AUTOMOTIVE, IN ORDER TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. AFTER A THOROUGH DIAGNOSIS AND ANALYSIS OF MY VEHICLE ENGINE, TRI-STAR AUTOMOTIVE MECHANICS CONCLUDED THAT MY ENGINE PROBLEMS WERE MORE EXTENSIVE THAN NOTED AT THE KIA DEALERSHIPS.TRI-STAR AUTOMOTIVE PROVIDED A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THEIR FINDINGS AND WRITTEN ESTIMATE TO REPAIR MY VEHICLE ALONG WITH A PHOTO OF OIL LEAKING FROM THE #4 CYLINDER VALVE OF MY KIA SORENTO ALONG WITH STATING THAT MY ENGINE NEEDED TO REPLACED.