[Thalia]

I bought my Optima last month and yesterday it stalled out while I was in a parking lot, I restarted it and it stalled a few minutes later, after that it wouldn’t start. I scheduled a tow for this morning.

This morning we met the tow truck driver and when we got home I called the dealership. I was told the car was not there but it wasn’t unusual for multiple cars to come in at once. I was never able to speak to the service department directly but one of the sales people spoke to them three times for me.

The tow company swore it was at the dealership. Dealership swears it’s not here.

I am at the dealership now and it isn’t here. It also isn’t at the other two dealerships in the same chain and it’s not at the Kia dealership a quarter mile away.

The tow truck driver was supposed to be on his way wherever he left the car, picking it up if necessary. It was supposed to take 30 minutes. It has been over an hour and he isn’t here and I am about to call the tow company again because he was supposed to call when he got where he was going.

I am freaked out.

 

[Turbonut]

Maybe he stopped for some lunch. It'll show up and maybe time for a new engine.

 

[Thalia]

It has been located. It was brought to the Kia dealership down the road from where I purchased it. Kia said multiple times that it was not there.
I had actually spotted it and we drove by it but my husband was picking on me because I thought it was cleaner than my car and I thought he was sure it was not my car even though he didn’t drive behind it to check for my personalized temporary tag.

I laughed hard when I recalled our conversation.

Hopefully it isn’t time for a new engine. It’s only got 43,000 miles on it.

i am hoping that whatever is wrong with it will be covered by the 90 day warranty or vehicle protection plan. Preferably the warranty.

 

[Turbonut]

They've had to replace engines at 17,000 miles.

 

[Thalia]

Fuel pump assembly and part is apparently going to take 5 days to get

 

[Turbonut]

Fuel pump @ 43k miles. That's good one, at least the car's going to be fixed.

 

[Thalia]

My car has to be towed back to Kia from the AutoNation dealership I purchased it from. The same Kia dealership where it was accidentally delivered on Wednesday morning. I had to laugh.

However, there is much rejoicing for me!
I was under the impression that the manufacturer warranty did not apply to my vehicle any longer because I am the third owner. Turns out, it is still under the 5 year/60,000 mile warranty and will be for the rest of this year or ~16,000 miles.

I am thrilled!

 

[Turbonut]

Yup, and lifetime engine warranty.

 

[tonester]

Fuel pump @ 43k miles. That's good one, at least the car's going to be fixed.

Assuming there haven't been widespread anecdotal reports of premature fuel pump failures on Optimas, I'd chalk up the early failure in OP's car due to the previous owner(s) perhaps regularly letting the fuel tank drop down to near-empty before refueling.

 

[KingFatty]

I feel like if the pump is sucking fuel, the pump is staying cool.

Like the fuel actually being pumped is what's cooling it. Or is the fuel pump the type that needs a certain level to where the entire thing is fully immersed?

Thalia: are you going to keep the old fuel pump assembly? If so, take a picture of it

 

[Pepi]

I would have guessed a crank position sensor at first

 

[Thalia]

I feel like if the pump is sucking fuel, the pump is staying cool.

Like the fuel actually being pumped is what's cooling it. Or is the fuel pump the type that needs a certain level to where the entire thing is fully immersed?

Thalia: are you going to keep the old fuel pump assembly? If so, take a picture of it

I am not sure if that is even going to be an option.

 

[Thalia]

I am a bit frustrated with the Kia dealership. I had a less then stellar experience there when I was looking to buy a car. Then when my car was there, they insisted that it was not. I also couldn’t get answer on the phone from them and had to show up there that day.

It was brought back over there Friday and I was told there were no service people working on Fridays and I would hear from them Monday. I did not hear from them Monday. I got ahold of them yesterday around 1:30 and was told they had to put gas in it to diagnose it (not my fault. It was 3/4s full) and that it was in the process of being diagnosed and I would hear back from them when they had.

It has been over 24 hours. I don’t know the manners of dealing with a dealership service department. Just how long should I wait to contact them?

Once my actual dealership got thecar they called me first thing that morning and I had no trouble getting ahold of them and getting updates, including the service guy calling me to tell me he found the problem and was checking the warranty. Then calling me first thing the next morning to tell me it was still under Kia’s warranty and everything I needed in order to get my car towed there.

Well. In the middle of writing this, they called and asked if anyone had worked on my vehicle at my dealership.

I miss my car y’all.

 

[Turbonut]

I'm confused, thought they stated it was the fuel pump and was going to replace same, no?

 

[Pepi]

That's what I thought also? My daughters KIA was stalling at stop signs frequently. I thought it could be a crankposition sensor but no codes? Finally, it threw a code and that is what it was. Been fine since I replaced it.

 

[KingFatty]

Any idea why they asked if anyone had worked on your vehicle?

I mean, why is that relevant AT ALL? If something is wrong with the car, you fix the problem. Maybe they are trying to somehow cast blame, or create a story to convince you that something is wrong, when it's not.

This is not unusual. My dealership has lied directly to my face about things being wrong that weren't, and being incapable of diagnosing basic issues and instead saying it's something else more expensive to fix. They even lied about doing warranty work but never did it (that was really surprising, seeing how you can just look at the old part and see they are lying).

Anyway, I would just not give any information to the dealership. Answer their question with another question or some type of non-answer. If they want to know if the other dealership did work on your car, advise them to contact that dealership.

 

[Thalia]

The dealership I purchased it from was AutoNation. The dealership it is being repaired at is a local KIA one. They are basically on my **** list.

My car has been out of commission for over three weeks now. I had it maybe 2.5 when it died. The car wasn’t even in my possession when I made the first loan payment.

Once I get my car back I am going to absolutely flay them in reviews.

 

[Thalia]

Any idea why they asked if anyone had worked on your vehicle?

I mean, why is that relevant AT ALL? If something is wrong with the car, you fix the problem. Maybe they are trying to somehow cast blame, or create a story to convince you that something is wrong, when it's not.

This is not unusual. My dealership has lied directly to my face about things being wrong that weren't, and being incapable of diagnosing basic issues and instead saying it's something else more expensive to fix. They even lied about doing warranty work but never did it (that was really surprising, seeing how you can just look at the old part and see they are lying).

Anyway, I would just not give any information to the dealership. Answer their question with another question or some type of non-answer. If they want to know if the other dealership did work on your car, advise them to contact that dealership.

I gave them the direct number to my service advisor at AutoNation and they told me a full day later that it said the number was invalid, and when I asked if they tried calling AutoNation directly they said no. I spoke to my service advisor first thing the next day, using the number I gave Kia. He told me that since it was under warranty with Kia I would have to give them permission to do the $250+ diagnostic service and that once they found the problem the fee would be waived, then he told me exactly where they found the failure.
I called Kia and gave them permission for the diagnostic and then told them exactly where the problem was (so basically I agreed to pay them $250+ for something they didn’t even have to do). At the end of the following day, already over two weeks after my car died, they said they ordered the part and it would take 2-3 business days to come in. This is day 4 since that. I want my **** car.

 

[Thalia]

Not upset anymore 😅
She is back in my care 😍
New fuel pump and they did updates for the ECM and VCM.

 

[Thalia]

They left greasy black hand prints all over my car including the door handles, which means that it’s probably in my car, too.
😡