Kia severe maintenance intervals to maintain warranty?

[wemay]

Originally Posted by jim302
Kia published a TSB titled "Services and Products Not Recommended by KIA" and the first item listed is related to the normal and severe maintenance interval. It specifically says the "Normal" maintenance schedule is applicable to most Kia vehicles in use in the United States. Here's a link for anyone interested: https://revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=177494

I'm not sure if Hyundai has a similar TSB, but Kia owners who are worried about running more than 3,750 on an oil change can print this and keep it with their service records in case a dealer tries to claim they should have changed oil more often.

Occasional use in a severe condition doesn't mean you must automatically follow the severe schedule. Example: Salt is used here in central NC, but only a few days of the year, so I'm not worried about that making my driving considered severe.

As far as warranties go, there are horror stories about all manufacturers, and I suspect the majority of them are dealer related issues. Remember: Customer pay jobs pay more than warranty jobs. Dishonest dealers may try to claim something isn't covered. The majority of cases are not like this, but the unhappy customers are more likely to talk about their experiences than happy customers.

I really doubt anyone who changes the oil on the normal schedule will have warranty problems that can't be resolved through working with corporate. Always hang on to receipts. I also keep a portion of the oil filter with dates and mileage written on it box with my maintenance records.






We can end this thread with this post. Thanks Jim302

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted by Hootbro
. . .
In the real world, you have to sue on your dime in Federal Civil Court to hold them accountable to the MMWA. FTC does not have a team of lawyers to help consumers for individual violations and enforcement. MMWA is not the White Knight for the average consumer if the dealers and manufacturers want to go full retard in denying warranty claim without first proving it.

Notice that I indicated that it's better to avoid this fight if you can, but all this nonsense about "voiding" your wty is just that -- nonsense.

In the real, real world, there are lawyers who specialize in this sort of thing, or do a healthy side line practice of Lemon Law -Warranty stuff. Under normal circumstances, you do not sue on your own dime since the car maker will usually end up paying your fees and costs, if you prevail. Most lawyers will take good cases like these on a contingent basis, that is, you don't pay if you lose the case. Many think such arrangements are unethical, but they are actually very practical. They filter out the truly "frivolous" or otherwise bogus cases. What lawyer wants to front the costs, and waste the time, on a case that has little chance of success?

Before I retired from law and returned to the cockpit, I did mostly criminal defense work. I was no expert in MMWA stuff, but over ~20 years, I ended up with a half-dozen or so simple variations of this theme (either state Lemon Law or bogus warranty shenanigans), always for people who were already clients or had been. I never made a client front money to start such a case. In fact, the mere appearance of a serious lawyer with a few "unanswerable" questions (as in "how can you prove that. . . ") got the matters resolved quickly and favorably.

Again, to be crystal clear -- it's always best to avoid a fight in court. Nobody "wins" there -- everyone loses in some way. Prevention of a fight in the first place is always better than fighting, even if you know you will, and later do, prevail. No, MMWA is not a "white knight" a miracle cure, a silver bullet, or whatever you might choose to call it. It is equally true that being a chicken little and running around saying the sky is falling and your warranty is now void because you missed an oil change or two is yet more foolish. Your warranty is virtually never void, it will exist until you drive or time out of it.

Prevent the fight if you can, but many people walk away from totally winnable claims just because some fool at the dealership claims you've "voided" your warranty. That's total nonsense.

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

I asked my dealerships this exact question since I change my oil at 5k. She actually showed me the online form they use. The service director told me that she has never seen Hyundai/Kia deny a warranty due to oil change intervals as long as they are 7,500 miles or less on N/A and 5k on turbos. When they fill out the claim what they ask is in short, "Was the engine oil changed properly with all documentation? Were the filters oil/air used able to meet OEM specification? Did any of these intervals exceed 7500/5000 miles or 6 months?" She said if any of those questions are answered incorrectly then they do further investigation. Other then that she said they are pretty good about engine claims.

 

[wemay]

Thanks MuzzleFlash40