NHTSA Complaint #11622216 — 2024 KIA K5

On [XXX], while driving to campus during rush-hour traffic at approximately 15-20 MPH, the car suddenly felt as if the brakes had been slammed, giving me a serious scare and nearly causing an accident. The car stopped in the middle of the road, and I was stuck there, forced to manually push the car to the side to avoid further risk to myself and other drivers. I immediately had the vehicle towed to Ourisman Chantilly Kia for service. Upon arrival at the dealership, I requested a loaner vehicle. However, it took an entire week for one to be provided, leaving me without transportation for a significant period of time. I was informed that the dealership needed my approval to take apart the transmission, which I gave immediately. Despite this, for the next two weeks, I called daily for updates, only to be told that no new information was available and that the dealership was still waiting for guidance from Kia's technical team. After two weeks of no progress, I asked my service advisor, Sean, what had actually been done to my car. He informed me that the only action taken was draining the transmission fluid. I was baffled that it had taken two weeks just to drain the fluid while waiting for Kia's tech team to respond. Out of frustration, I contacted Kia directly, and within minutes, I was informed that Kia had approved a new transmission a week earlier—something the dealership had failed to communicate to me. When I informed the dealership of this, Sean confirmed that the new transmission had arrived, and I was told the car would be ready by the end of the week. However, this deadline passed with no progress. Over the course of several more weeks, I was repeatedly told the car would be done by the end of the week, only for that promise to be broken each time. Sean then explained to me that there is only one mechanic certified to work on my car, which was causing a delay. If this is indeed true, it could explain why Kia's service department is so backlog INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION