SONS Kia — Local services in McDonough

Changing my review that was left about 3 years ago solely based on our experience with the service department. This is going to be lengthy, but please read to avoid the same headache we had to deal with!

On June 12th, while on my way home from work in Atlanta, my 2022 Sorento popped up with an error message that read: "Transmission system error! Check transmission oil immediately!" I was stopped at a light, and when I started to go I realized that my car had no acceleration. I had to push the gas pedal all the way down to even get my car to move a little bit. Thankfully I was able to pull into a parking lot, and called the dealership. I spoke to James in the service department and read off the error message on the dash, and he told me that it wasn't good and based off of the number of miles on my car (53,566) that I needed to have it towed to the service department there since it should still be under warranty (not to mention there is an active recall for transmission oil pump malfunctions on my year/model). He also told me they were 4 weeks behind on any service. When I asked if I should have it towed to another shop since they were so far behind he said no because if I want it covered under the warranties then I needed to have it towed there. Thankfully I have towing covered under my insurance policy! This dealership does not have loaner cars so I had to go through a rental car agency while my car was being serviced. Fast forward to Friday June 21, and I get a text message that my car has additional things that need to be serviced that were found during the multipoint inspection (tires, oil change, and air filters). We usually get those taken care of at other places where we have family working so we declined those services. Nothing was said about the transmission. So my husband calls the dealership to see what is the update about the transmission, and they tell him that they did not find any active recalls on our vehicle. Well we knew that was incorrect as we had looked up the recall ourselves. So my husband ends up calling the corporate Kia line to see if he can get some answers. They tell him that they do see the recall for our car, and they are going to reach out to the dealership themselves and see what's going on. The service department then tells the main Kia line that they don't feel comfortable working on the car because 1. they can't get the error message to pop up (I had a photo of said error message from when it popped up) and 2. there are aftermarket parts installed on the vehicle and they don't feel comfortable working on the car because they don't want to mess anything up (we've never had any work done on this car previously). They told my husband that we just needed to drive the car around and if it happened again to bring it in again. Well considering we had already invested money into a rental car, we just wanted the issues fixed without also risking my safety (I drive 60+ miles everyday up and down I-75 commuting to work). So my husband and I went up to the dealership and asked to speak to a service manager because we weren't getting anywhere with the people we had already been dealing with. The only thing that saved this whole situation was the last girl we dealt with (I believe her name is Ebony, but I'm not sure) because she was actually helpful in getting the recall issues fixed, and everything was handled within an hour and a half after talking to her. It should not require customers coming up to the service department for a car to be fixed. We have been loyal Kia customers for over 13 years, but dealing with this service department and these issues has made me question if we will continue to be Kia customers going forward in the future. So I would advise that if you are able to take your car somewhere else to be fixed for any issues, you should! Avoid this service...

So I guess I was a Karen at the Kia dealership today.

My side of the story:

My wife and I own two Kias (unfortunately). Both vehicles are bought and paid off from the Sons Kia dealership here in Henry County.

I had an oil consumption issue with my 2017 Soul a while back. The issue has been resolved for a couple of years now and I feel like the dealership did me okay on the whole deal. They ended up replacing the small block on the engine (hope that makes sense, I'm not a mechanic by any means).

This year, my wife's 2019 Optima gets an oil light when it is about 800ish-1000 miles out from meeting the oil change sticker mileage.

So I'm familiar w/ exactly this issue. Luckily, her car is still under warranty.

I call the dealership and tell them what's going on and request an oil consumption test to make sure everything is okay. Which I paid for.

We drove the required 1000 miles and brought it back to the dealership to finish testing. They say all the testing came back normal. But they say I should now start bringing the car back every 3,000 miles.

That doesn't seem right to me as 5,000 miles for an oil change is the standard for as long as I can remember. Even the owner manual says to get the oil changed every 7,500 miles! 3,000 miles is also what they said to me when I was dealing w/ the Soul so I knew it was dishonest.

The service advisors and I get into a very mild argument about all of this. They insist the 3,000 mile oil change is normal. I think they're covering their butts and not wanting to honor the warranty.

So I speak to the service advisor manager about it, because that's what I had to do when I had issues with the Soul. The manager is understanding about it and requests to do another oil consumption test, for free, that he himself would oversee.

Fast forward to today, we are at the 1,000 mile mark where the car is required to be brought back in to finish the testing. The manager isn't there today but if I put any more miles on the vehicle, the test is voided.

So I end up at the dealership this morning dealing with the same service advisor who I had disagreements with prior to speaking to the service advisor manager.

I get out of my vehicle and just stated to her, "Hey, it's me again". I said it as politely as possible. No weird tone in my voice. Wasn't an jerk about it. For some reason, she rolls her eyes very noticeably at me.

I tried to keep quiet about it but it bugged me. I eventually blurted out, "Hey, I saw you roll your eyes at me. I don't really feel comfortable with you being my service advisor, I don't believe you have my best interests at heart here". I said this politely as I could possibly say it.

She then goes off to find someone else to help me.

In that time, someone with a collared white shirt walks by and asks if I'm being taken care of. I ask who this gentleman is, what is his role here at the company, etc. He says he is the general manager.

I calmly explained what had just happened. I told him what I said to the service advisor after she rolled her eyes at me. He quickly got into a weirdly aggressive stance and began asking me why I spoke to his service advisor like that. "Why would you talk to a GIRL like that?" He asked repeatedly. As if the fact that she is a woman has anything to do with this.

I was just dumbfounded and didn't know how to respond. I said I was a customer and didn't understand why he was talking to ME like this. He ended up telling me to never come back to that dealership again after that very short and unnecessarily tense conversation. What the heck? God forbid you try to protect your investment.

Avoid SONS Kia at all costs. All of their vehicles have...

Even though my car is a Mazda, I’ve been taking my car here for oil changes and tire rotations for the last four years. My husband had bought a Kia from them and was always pleased with their service so when he passed away, I continued taking my car. In the past year or so I’ve seen a decline in good workmanship and customer service. I took my car in for an oil change this week, as well as to have the technician look at a problem and give me information on how to resolve the problem as well as an estimate. Typically, an oil change takes an hour or less. I was there three hours. At the 2 1/2 hour mark, the advisor came back and said that it would be about 25 more minutes because the technician had to drain the oil. I’m pretty sure that means nothing had been done to my car for 2 1/2 hours because surely you drained the oil first and then put the new oil in, right? Then I give an instruction about the problem I wanted them to look at. Directions were not followed by the technician. I got a price quote on paper which had no explanation as well as no face-to-face discussion. I’ve already given them two different chances when there were issues and I think it’s time for me to find a place that I can put my trust in. I will tell you I did speak twice to the service manager about what happened this week. In the first conversation, he did listen well and promised to make some changes that would address a couple of my complaints. I called back today and spoke with him, wanting more information concerning the quote and what was going to be done. Unfortunately, he did try in the morning to get a hold of the technician and said he wasn’t able to, but would try later and call me back, but I never heard from him. I am learning that I’m going to have to request that I speak with a technician personally after an appointment to find out exactly what was done, and if I have any questions. It would be different if I had a background and understanding of automotive issues, but I don’t.

This morning, I received a text from someone in the Son of Kia organization asking for me to explain what it happened. I told the person that I will be home for another hour, and I would be happy to explain. The person never called me back. I went to a reputable car repair shop That quite a few of my friends have recommended. I asked if they would take a look at my car, put it Up on risers and let me see what’s going on. What a surprise!. The entire engine undercover is intact. There are a few cracks in the cover on the other side of the bumper. The part of my undercover that had come loose and I duck taped, had been bolted in place! The owner of this shop looked at it, and he said I don’t see any reason to replace this. Yes, there are a few cracks, but the loose part was evidently bolted at the Kia dealer. You can see fresh fingerprints on it. He said I see no reason that you should replace this!

So it looks like either Kia has some unethical practices going on or he has an untrained technician. To add onto this one of my other issues was that when they quote a price for instance for oil change what you end up paying is about $20 more than was quoted. Their rationale is that the extra money is tax and shop rags and other. So my $79.99 oil change was $109! The service manager said that this is a common practice at shops! Well, you guessed it. I asked this recommended shop how much their oil change was and it is $79.99! No added fees!

Kia, I won’t be back. ...