[Riz]

I bought a 6 month old Niro PHEV March 2018 and ran it mainly on electric for 6 months . Since then I’ve had reoccurring charging problems with a red light on the dashboard and an orange triangle on the display ‘stating check Hybrid System.’ The charging lead would not lock onto the car. The car has been serviced and had its wiring assembly replaced twice under warranty . After each repair it has worked fine for no more that two weeks before it faults again . When the problem first started I had read on this forum about pulling the emergency release button which worked initially . I am now being told by Kia that I can’t have a third warranty repair and I am liable for the costs. ?
My questions are :
*What causes the locking pin to break- mine is missing? (I have been told external influences - misusing the charger / faulty charging cable - hence their refusal to pay for the repair ...)
* Has anyone else had reoccurring problems with charging their car? (I have been told mine is the only one and all other cars with this part replaced have not required further repairs )
* I can’t find any exclusions is the terms of the warranty to prevent Kia from paying for this repair - has anyone else experienced issues with using their warranty ? (I’m having my Pod-Point charger serviced / there is no sign of vandalism / I know how to use the charger correctly and have done so for 6 months without a problem. At no point after the previous repairs was the car tested or I told that they suspected charger misuse . I wasn’t advised on purchase that I had to use the Kia cables rather than a tethered cable and the dealer put me in touch with Rolec regarding having a charging point fitted at home )

Long post I know but I’m desperate and any advice would be very much appreciated!! I absolutely loved this car until this happened and am now beginning to regret the purchase . Thank you ?

 

[picstart]

If KIA was truly committed to cars with traction batteries this would be fixed without a hassle. The fact is KIA is an ICE company and has its toe in the traction via battery market place. If KIA goes too deep in it risks it enormous investment loss in ICE production. Relative to an all in EV company like Tesla, KIA is hoping it can hold on to 99% of ICE business. That's why PHEV and soon the same with EV's will always be delivered in the thousands at best in any one year world wide. I have a Niro PHEV and I just accept that dealers will have few trained mechanics to service it and that parts will be in very short supply. Now getting the same replacement part 3 times even for good reasons puts great stress on the KIA plugin parts available in any country. The good outcome with owning a KIA PHEV is that it made buying a car from an electric only company (Tesla) much more obvious since the PHEV introduced the concept of filling up electrically at our house. We never buy gas with the Tesla and only 3 times per year do we gas up the Niro PHEV. The best driving experience is always pure EV. Niros ICE will engine occasionally come on sadly this happens after 26 miles and the Tesla yeah provides a range of 330 miles of fabulous EV driving.

 

[Roadkill401]

PicStart. that is a very cynical way of looking at it. I doubt that any auto manufacturer is trying to hold back inovation. If you think Kia is, then they are not going to be around as a manufacturer in 10-15 years as makets change and so does demand.



Riz. you say that you were told it would not get fixed. WHO SAID THAT? was it the dealership that you went to, or was it a letter from Kia? You don't have any real information like where you are located. You said that it was a 6month old Niro that you bought in March of 2018. That would mean that it was a 2017 model or one of the first 2018 to hit any lot, and I gather that you purchased a used vehicle. As they have fixed it twice as you said under warranty, then I don't see how or why they would suddenly stop. It sounds more like if you are going back to the same dealership each time to get it fixed, that Kia has told the dealer they they will not pay as obviosly they are not doing the correct repair on the car and Kia is likely holding the dealership responsible. That is different than them telling you that they will not fix it. The dealer desn't want the hassle and the cost so they are trying to convince you that you will have to pay. I would contact Kia directly and launch a complaint.

 

[Riz]

PicStart. that is a very cynical way of looking at it. I doubt that any auto manufacturer is trying to hold back inovation. If you think Kia is, then they are not going to be around as a manufacturer in 10-15 years as makets change and so does demand.



Riz. you say that you were told it would not get fixed. WHO SAID THAT? was it the dealership that you went to, or was it a letter from Kia? You don't have any real information like where you are located. You said that it was a 6month old Niro that you bought in March of 2018. That would mean that it was a 2017 model or one of the first 2018 to hit any lot, and I gather that you purchased a used vehicle. As they have fixed it twice as you said under warranty, then I don't see how or why they would suddenly stop. It sounds more like if you are going back to the same dealership each time to get it fixed, that Kia has told the dealer they they will not pay as obviosly they are not doing the correct repair on the car and Kia is likely holding the dealership responsible. That is different than them telling you that they will not fix it. The dealer desn't want the hassle and the cost so they are trying to convince you that you will have to pay. I would contact Kia directly and launch a complaint.

Roadkill401:- thanks for your comments . My car was first registered in 2017 and had 3500 miles on it when I purchased it in March 2018 . I had the repairs done at two different dealerships . It is Kia customer care and the second and third dealership that have told me Kia won’t aurhorise a third part so soon after the other repairs . I have a complaint and case number with Kia Customer Care and will involve the Ombudsman if necessary . So far I’ve not had any satisfactory response so my claim which has now been escalated . The first dealership have binned the broken part and the second have refused to let me have the broken part inspected as it belongs to Kia . The third won’t do the repair as they can’t get the part under warranty due to my car having had two in two months . In retrospect I would have been better staying with the one dealership but the first had bad service with no pre booked courtesy car available so I moved to another for the second repair . It was Kia customer care who asked me to go to a third dealership for another opinion .
I want to find out why it’s faulting - whether Kia repair it or I pay for it, the chances are the repair won’t last long .

 

[FlNiro]

Does your state have a lemon law for used cars? Sounds like it's lawyer time, unfortunately.

 

[Riz]

Does your state have a lemon law for used cars? Sounds like it's lawyer time, unfortunately.

UK !!! Great customer service here ....!!?

 

[lafe005]

UK !!! Great customer service here ....!!?

Hi Riz,

In the UK, new cars has a 7 year or 100,000 mile warranty... Was your PHEV sold to you as a new or used car? Legaly, it should follow the new warranty less the 3500 mile already driven on the car if it was a used car, and if it was a demo car, you should have the same new warranty that would protech you till 103,500 mile...



But it is strange that they want you too pay for the same problem fixed 2 times already. They need to investigate further too see why the problem comes back and see if another part causes this failure.



Here are the warranty exclusion for UK.. https://www.kia.com/uk/innovation/7-year-warranty/terms-and-exclusions/ I dont know if that could help! and like my fellow forum mate @FlNiro said.. It could be a lawyer time for you.
Keep us updated!

 

[Riz]

UK !!! Great customer service here ....!!?

Hi Riz,

In the UK, new cars has a 7 year or 100,000 mile warranty... Was your PHEV sold to you as a new or used car? Legaly, it should follow the new warranty less the 3500 mile already driven on the car if it was a used car, and if it was a demo car, you should have the same new warranty that would protech you till 103,500 mile...



But it is strange that they want you too pay for the same problem fixed 2 times already. They need to investigate further too see why the problem comes back and see if another part causes this failure.



Here are the warranty exclusion for UK.. https://www.kia.com/uk/innovation/7-year-warranty/terms-and-exclusions/ I dont know if that could help! and like my fellow forum mate @FlNiro said.. It could be a lawyer time for you.
Keep us updated! /forum/images/KiaNiroForum/smilies/tango_face_smile.png

Thanks for the comments and web link - the car does have warranty ( it was a demo) but as Kia have replaced the part twice they are trying to get out of paying or even investigating by saying I’m misusing the charger or that my Pod-Point charger is faulty - anything to shift the responsibility from them ! I don’t know what is causing the locking pin to break but I’m finding it hard to prove that they should be liable . I will let you know what happens .... Kia customer care promised to be in touch after the case was escalated but I’m still waiting ! So it may be some time ... ?

 

[deltasmith]

Do you charge in a public location?


I've kind of wondered what would happen if I charged at a public charger, some jerk came along and decided to unplug my car while it was charging and locked, and they decided to try to overpower the lock with muscle.



Presumably, in today's word, most of your competition at a public charger are people with a mentality that doesn't tend toward vandalism. But if you are unlucky enough to encounter someone who does and they abuse your hardware in the parking lot: seems like it might not be a warranty kind of item. Is that what you think happened to you?

 

[lafe005]

I've kind of wondered what would happen if I charged at a public charger, some jerk came along and decided to unplug my car while it was charging and locked, and they decided to try to overpower the lock with muscle.

I hope not.. Here there a commun law that says: when there is a car plug in on a public charger, you do not unplug it yourself. usualy, the driver that takes a charge leaves a cell phone number on the dash so when the charge is over, they can communicate and change the car on the charger. simple.. but not always!

 

[Riz]

Do you charge in a public location?


I've kind of wondered what would happen if I charged at a public charger, some jerk came along and decided to unplug my car while it was charging and locked, and they decided to try to overpower the lock with muscle.

Presumably, in today's word, most of your competition at a public charger are people with a mentality that doesn't tend toward vandalism. But if you are unlucky enough to encounter someone who does and they abuse your hardware in the parking lot: seems like it might not be a warranty kind of item. Is that what you think happened to you?

No I charge the car at home . I’ve only ever used a public charger at a shop once and I wasn’t there too long . The car was fine afterwards . Out of the two electric charging bays one had a car using it that wasn’t even charging . Infuriating ....