Did the Stealership rip off my mom?

[Chris142]

Last week my moms 1999 Kia Sportage failed a smog test. The smog tech said that at 2500rpm it was unstable which caused the test to be aborted. He felt that this was a warranty issue (7yr or 70K) Car has 51K.

Mom had to drive 130 miles round trip to a Kia dealer that could fix it.

They charged her $164 to De-carbonize the engine. Said that this was why the 2500 rpm was unstable. They also smogged it and according to them it passed.

I've never heard of a carbon problem in a newer car, especially one that does 4000rpm @65mph. I maintain this car regulary and see no reason for carbon unless it has bad valve stem seals. It uses no oil.

Also mom had 3/4 tank of gas upon arrivale at the stealer, When she left she had just over 1/2 tank. No extra miles though.

How do you remove carbon w/o engine disassembly?

So assuming that it had carbon somewhere how would this affect the 2500 rpm test.

I think that they may have faked a smog using another car, charged her for BS and sent her down the road.

I was assuming that it had a faulty sensor or other computer problems and never would have guessed carbon.

 

[Korean_redneck]

Never heard of this before. My uncle has a 1997 Kia Sportage with 70,000 miles and he said he never failed a smog test. ***? Dealers suck! Got to a Asian Automotive specialist.. I dont' trust my Hyundai dealer no more.. i go the asian specialist.

 

[Chris142]

She took it to the stealer in hopes that it was under the emissions warranty. The plan was to get the car fixed and take it back to the original smog tech (that I trust).

 

[Dan4510]

Pay this type of bill with a credit card, then if it does not work, charge it back to the stealership. I see no evidence in your post that they did any diagnostic other than examining the depth of your mother's wallet.

Dan

 

[andyfish]

Have her call Kia customer support and ask nicely why the repair was not covered by he emmissions warranty. We can only theorize on this end.

 

[Clement]

With my Hyundai, same company as Kia now, part of the recommended service (30k) is a complete fuel induction system service for about $115. I think this mostly consists of adding a cleaner to the gas and running the engine for a while. How else are they going to clean the combustion chamber without taking the engine apart.

I think she got charged labor for adding a fuel system cleaner to her gas tank.

 

[Chris142]

I looked at the car yesterday. Looks like they messed with the hose for the PCV valve.

They also charged her for a new airfilter which was not replaced! I know because when I replaced it at 44,000 miles I wrote the date and "44k" on the side of the filter for my future referance. It's still on the car with my writing right on it.

Mom keeps saying that she's gonna call and ask what they did to remedy the failed smog test and the charge for an airfilter that was not replaced but she hasn't yet.

I wish she would because I don't want to get involved.....I have a short temper and don't always think clearly when I get exited. Someone (not me) will get hurt if they get an attitude w/me and try to feed me a line of BS.

It's better if I stay out of it as long as possible.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by Clement:
With my Hyundai, same company as Kia now, part of the recommended service (30k) is a complete fuel induction system service for about $115. I think this mostly consists of adding a cleaner to the gas and running the engine for a while.

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I think it might be a bit more than that--like actually taking the intake duct off and spraying some B12 Chemtool into the throttle body with the engine running.

Yea, that's worth $115...

**** I'd do it for only $25!

If the emissions failure was for excessive NOx, carbon buildup very well could have caused the problem, especially if the vehicle was driven in stop-and-go traffic a lot.

 

[Chris142]

Moms car failed because the rpms would not stay at 2500. They would climb and dip. Doesn't do it under load. Just in neutral

 

[ALS]

quote:

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Originally posted by andyfish:
Have her call Kia customer support and ask nicely why the repair was not covered by he emmissions warranty. We can only theorize on this end.

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I wonder if they double dipped. Nailed your mom and also turned it in as warranty repair on the emission system.