Kia Extended Warranty Campaigns

[92saturnsl2]

Received my third extended warranty for my 9 year old Kia minivan, this time for stripped head bolt threads in the 3.3L V6 block causing a blown head gasket / coolant consumption condition. I've actually read about this failure on forums over the last couple years, which has been getting more common and more attention (lots of Reddit posts now). I was keeping my fingers crossed that this only affected the USA-made Sorentos and that my Sedona (Korean made) would not have the issue. Seems that is not the case, but the extended warranty covers the failure up to 15 years / 180K if it ever occurs. Since this is not a clear safety issue (that might warrant a recall), I give Kia some kudos for acknowleding it and putting my mind at ease. This is a $5K-10K repair depending on if they put inserts in the block or replace the engine.

The last extended warranty campaign was for the multi-function switch (turn signals / wipers / etc. assembly). Wife actually had this fail in that the headlights would spontaneously turn off at night. They were good about replacing it for free, although I have to bring it back because they reassembled it with the steering wheel off center. I could see this being escalated to a recall if they weren't proactive.

First one was the power rear doors may fail to close correctly, or operate erratically. Wife thinks she's experiencing the beginnings of this issue.

Curious if these extended warranties are common in the industry. I've owned many different makes/models over the last 20+ years, and other than straight up safety recalls (which are more common in the first few years of ownership), I've never received extended warranties for other makes, despite some having clear cut issues that affected the whole model range. Surprised to see Kia sending these out for vehicles approaching 10 years old, especially the expensive engine issue that isn't clearly related to safety.

 

[CKN]

Received my third extended warranty for my 9 year old Kia minivan, this time for stripped head bolt threads in the 3.3L V6 block causing a blown head gasket / coolant consumption condition. I've actually read about this failure on forums over the last couple years, which has been getting more common and more attention (lots of Reddit posts now). I was keeping my fingers crossed that this only affected the USA-made Sorentos and that my Sedona (Korean made) would not have the issue. Seems that is not the case, but the extended warranty covers the failure up to 15 years / 180K if it ever occurs. Since this is not a clear safety issue (that might warrant a recall), I give Kia some kudos for acknowleding it and putting my mind at ease. This is a $5K-10K repair depending on if they put inserts in the block or replace the engine.

The last extended warranty campaign was for the multi-function switch (turn signals / wipers / etc. assembly). Wife actually had this fail in that the headlights would spontaneously turn off at night. They were good about replacing it for free, although I have to bring it back because they reassembled it with the steering wheel off center. I could see this being escalated to a recall if they weren't proactive.

First one was the power rear doors may fail to close correctly, or operate erratically. Wife thinks she's experiencing the beginnings of this issue.

Curious if these extended warranties are common in the industry. I've owned many different makes/models over the last 20+ years, and other than straight up safety recalls (which are more common in the first few years of ownership), I've never received extended warranties for other makes, despite some having clear cut issues that affected the whole model range. Surprised to see Kia sending these out for vehicles approaching 10 years old, especially the expensive engine issue that isn't clearly related to safety.

It does happen where a part will have an extended warranty after an admitted defect. However- the domestic manufacturers have an easier time telling owners to "take a hike" on design defects. There are PLENTY OF EXAMPLES of this.

 

[dishdude]

It does happen where a part will have an extended warranty after an admitted defect. However- the domestic manufacturers have an easier time telling owners to "take a hike" on design defects. There are PLENTY OF EXAMPLES of this.

H/K was telling people to take a hike until the class action lawsuits hit...

 

[midnightlaundry]

It's common in the Appliance world..
They make **** products at a premium price that don't last nearly as long as the Units from 10-20 years ago.. Then they bang you on the back end with the Extended Warranty because you know it will probably fail.. A little more now is better than a lot more latter.. Those are your choices..

 

[zzyzzx]

Hyundai/KIA is trying to mitigate some of their reputational damage.

 

[Boomer]

VW has several...clock spring kin the steering wheel assembly comes to mind.

 

[dishdude]

VW has several...clock spring kin the steering wheel assembly comes to mind.

I keep getting a water pump settlement for a VW I no longer own.

 

[Cheetah-kins]

Reading threads like this over the years has made me think about how much easier manufacturers must've had it before the internet, when people didn't have forums to let customers of their products post their stories. Now when product problems and defects show up on a large scale there's a record of it, and companies know they can't just blow it off if they want people to still buy and have confidence in their products. In the old days they pretty much just denied and underplayed everything and consumers often got screwed. How things have changed.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Reading threads like this over the years has made me think about how much easier manufacturers must've had it before the internet, when people didn't have forums to let customers of their products post their stories. Now when product problems and defects show up on a large scale there's a record of it, and companies know they can't just blow it off if they want people to still buy and have confidence in their products. In the old days they pretty much just denied and underplayed everything and consumers often got screwed. How things have changed.

Couldn't agree more, and Kia is likely only being proactive because they have to. With all the I4 engines spontaneously combusting, and now 3.3L V6 issues (which were said to be some of the most reliable in their lineup according to internet lore), they probably had to do something. So perhaps this is why I'm off the hook (at least till 180K), but was wondering if other makes were taking care of people in the same way.

I know there's a lot of models in the recent past that have widespread problems. GM transmission wave plate issues in the 6 speed auto, Ford plastic oil pan leaks, GM 6L80E torque convertors, there's so many to choose from. I have to admit Kia styling probably sells more cars than mechanical reputation IMO. All a mfg has to do to turn cars over is a good 3 year lease deal, then it's the subsequent owners that get stiffed.

 

[JustinH]

Just received paperwork extending my engine warranty to 15 years 150k miles on my 2017 Tuscon with the 2.0L NU GDI engine.

I'll keep feeding it documented valvoline conventional oil changes until it stops, or the warranty runs out.

 

[fantastic]

That is good news but were they "forced to do it"? If so not sure they deserve kudos. You still benefit either way. Sounds like torque to yield head bolts were used and the power output was causing them to stretch/strip?

I'd not recommend putting the pedal to the floor now though in hopes of being covered for that head repair. Anything like Murphy's law it'll be something else that fails like the trans. instead. ha ha

 

[92saturnsl2]

That is good news but were they "forced to do it"? If so not sure they deserve kudos. You still benefit either way. Sounds like torque to yield head bolts were used and the power output was causing them to stretch/strip?

I'd not recommend putting the pedal to the floor now though in hopes of being covered for that head repair. Anything like Murphy's law it'll be something else that fails like the trans. instead. ha ha

Something was poorly designed. It's the threads in the block that pull out. So the fix is to install thread inserts or sometimes Kia replaces the short block.

My wife is far from a hot rod except when it comes to stopping. She seems unaware that there's a "coast" position on the throttle pedal and that it's okay to just let your **** foot off it early to reduce speed in anticipation of slowing traffic/stops. Further attempts at explaining this to her might get me divorced.

 

[350Rocket]

It does happen where a part will have an extended warranty after an admitted defect. However- the domestic manufacturers have an easier time telling owners to "take a hike" on design defects. There are PLENTY OF EXAMPLES of this.

The problem a lot of people have is thinking something is like a 1.5% failure rate but while that is probably true when the vehicle is still nearly new and we first hear about it, a lot of times it's more of a "when it fails, not if it fails.".

My wife is like you. An optimist but not always a realist. I was scolded whenever I suggested our 2013 Hyundai Sonata was eventually going to seize up on us. It did eventually, luckily just on her drive home from work at around 55 mph.

Some of these problems are bad enough that if you drive the vehicle long enough it will happen regardless of maintenance. Sometimes the vehicle will be crashed of sold or scrapped because of some other failure first.... making it impossible that it would ever be a 100% failure rate.

Edit: need to remind myself I am likely talking to a brick wall with no actual experience in the automotive industry.

 

[350Rocket]

Couldn't agree more, and Kia is likely only being proactive because they have to. With all the I4 engines spontaneously combusting, and now 3.3L V6 issues (which were said to be some of the most reliable in their lineup according to internet lore), they probably had to do something. So perhaps this is why I'm off the hook (at least till 180K), but was wondering if other makes were taking care of people in the same way.

I know there's a lot of models in the recent past that have widespread problems. GM transmission wave plate issues in the 6 speed auto, Ford plastic oil pan leaks, GM 6L80E torque convertors, there's so many to choose from. I have to admit Kia styling probably sells more cars than mechanical reputation IMO. All a mfg has to do to turn cars over is a good 3 year lease deal, then it's the subsequent owners that get stiffed.

I am hoping they did sort out the V6 issues later on since my in laws bought a 2018 Sorento V6 (with a ton of Kia extended warranty remaining). I saw lots of examples of the 2.4 failing before I left the auto industry but I wasn't there long enough to have any experience with a anything this new.