My truly terrible North County KIA of Escondido story - 08/31/2015

MY 2011 KIA SOUL

I have been a loyal and responsible Kia car owner for almost 5 years now and I have lived in Escondido, California for all 34 years of my life.  Just before my divorce, I bought a 2011 Kia Soul and after my divorce I lived out of my KIA for the next 3 years because I gave my X everything.  The hair salons I built and she operated, I only took my new KIA Soul.  All this was while I was going to school to finish my BA in Political Science and one of my many jobs was doing construction, landscaping, roofing, tiling and more.   I never missed a payment on my KIA Soul, I always made my scheduled warranty required maintenances and I never had a single issue with the car nor anyone at the Escondido KIA dealership despite all of my struggles.   In fact, my credit rating is about 800.

During my time being homeless, I was written about in the North County Times regarding my situation as a homeless student and other students like me, who were homeless and without assistance.   One of my jobs during this time was tutoring for the TRIO Program where I visited every high school in the North County area from Orange Glen High School, San Pasqual High School and Escondido High School to the Oceanside School District and beyond.   I tutored hundreds of students during my time at this position. 

It is also important to note that I have an advocacy group with over 80,000 followers through a website I created in addition to my Facebook and Twitter pages dedicated to that particular cause.  I have strong ties in the Escondido and Southern California communities, and I am a writer.  

MY 2015 KIA OPTIMA HYBRID

In March 2015, I finally pulled myself out of homelessness a few years after my divorce and acquired my own condo on the outskirts of Escondido and right off a golf course with daily beautiful sunsets.   I am now only 2 classes from my BA in Political Science and since I was about to pay off my KIA Soul fully, I decided it was time to get a new car.  One morning before work, I returned to the KIA Dealership in Escondido, California located at 1501 Auto Park Way S, Escondido, CA 92029 where I was going to get some prices and simply inquire about purchasing a KIA Optima. 

A salesman named Miguel Contreras introduced himself and I asked about pricing for the new KIA Optima’s.  Miguel said he could not discuss pricing until we test drove a car, even though I informed him that I COULD NOT buy a car today, so I then test drove the 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid quickly and returned to the car lot.  I had work soon so this was not a part of my plan. 

Upon arriving back at the dealership, I informed Miguel that the 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid was going to be used for a new start I might start soon where I would be a driver.  Miguel quickly got some pricing and asked how much I wanted to put down.  I reminded him that I had no money to put down and it would be a few months before I would be able to do this and I was just here getting the numbers.  Miguel asked me if I would want to get the car, trade in my 2011 KIA Soul and I wouldn’t have to put any money down, if I would be interested?  

I laughed at him and said that was impossible but if he could pull it off, I guess so.  Miguel comes back a minute later with a smile on his face and he tells me that everything is a go.  0.0% interest, $430 a month…. Shocked, I say ok, but I have work soon, do we have time to do this?  Miguel insists we can be quick about it. 

We rush through the whole process, I am not asked nor did I ask for any extra amenities, nor did I think to chose a different car than the one we test drove, nor did I think to ask for the color I wanted, nor did I ask for window tint and somehow when I asked the Salesman who was helping me with the contract, a different gentlemen, I asked him if I needed Window Replacement Coverage and he told me “No.” So I did not get it….. big mistake.

DEFECTIVE BRAKES BEFORE 5,000 MILES…… to be continued…..

Almost 5,000 miles later my brakes begin making this loud beeping / squeaking noise.   Since it was my scheduled maintenance, I let them know about the noise and KIA informs me that I am the very first person they have had this issue with but they have heard of the issue.  It is defective brakes and they ordered a brake kit replacement.  They said I’d have to wait a week.  This was April 28, 2015 when they ordered the parts, per my invoice information.

May 27, 2015 is when the parts arrived and they were installed, per my invoice information.  I called in the weeks and days leading up to May 27th and KIA would tell me each time that they did not have an arrival date for the parts.

I work 10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week and drive over 200 miles a day, combined with this loud beeping / squeaking almost every time I tap my brakes was becoming insane asylum status.   Finally the brake kit came in and I took the 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid in, and ended the insane beeping / squeaking.

FLAT TIRE INCIDENT

Almost 3 months into owning my 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid, I woke up one morning before work with an almost flat car.  It had just enough in it to limp to KIA in Escondido.  When I arrive, I show the service people the tire and Ethan informs me that they do not plug tires and only Discount Tire does it for them, and for free.  I tell Ethan I have work soon and I would rather just replace the tire under my warranty unless Discount Tire can have it done in an hour.  He says yes they can have it done in that timeframe and that replacing the tire would cost more than it is worth. 

I drive across town on the flat tire, they never filled it up, and arrive at Discount Tire.  They have a packed lobby and tell me that I have to pay AND it will be a few hours.  Frustrated, I drive back to KIA and inform Ethan that they cannot have it done by the time I need it for work, and can they please just replace my tire.  Sorry, sorry, we can’t.  He turns me away again… and does not fill up my tire, again.

I drive across town to Discount Tire again.  I wait an hour and they remove my tire and then tell me that the tire is ruined and needs replacing.  I have no money to replace…. And Also, for some reason no spare tire came with my new car…. So Discount Tire lends me a spare and I drive back to KIA for a 3^rd time.  

I ask to see Greg the manager, I inform him of the situation, he checks and finds that my warranty covers tires, so they swap out my tire.  It only takes 15-20 minutes where as everything else I dealt with took a couple hours.  Why did I have to go to such effort to receive what I clearly was covered under.

BACK PROBLEMS FROM FRONT CAR SEAT SPRING/SEAMLINE, LOWER BACK

AREA

I drive over 10 hours a day in my car hence I use my car seat A LOT.  When I owned my KIA Soul, I lived in that car for 3 years.  Never a complaint about the car NOR the seats even after sleeping in the fetal position for years.  

The 2015 Kia Optima Hybrid’s driver seat on the other hand, is the most uncomfortable, back destroying driver seat I have ever sat upon.  Within a month, my day offs consisted of laying down ALL DAY just to let my back recover from the horrific seat and what it was doing to my back and the rest of my body.  I now have multiple pillows in the car and even that, requires swapping in and out from. 

I went into KIA to inquire about my seat.  They said sorry, nothing we can do about that but Office Depot might have some back type pillows….

BUGGY RADIO

In the almost 6 months since I have purchased the 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid, my radio has reset itself over 30 times while in use.  It will just, short out, go black and the reset…. Loading please wait….  It is ridiculous.

KIA said sorry, nothing we can do about that.  “It’s a computer.”

BUGGY REVERSE

I have had multiple times where I put the car into reverse and when I release my foot from the brake to the accelerator to reverse the car rolls forward for a few seconds before actually reversing.  I have almost hit quite a few objects in front of my car due to this feature.  It does not do it all the time, like the brake noise.

CRACKED WINDSHIELD

At the 15,000 Miles mark a crack appeared in my front window and within a week has spread almost across the whole windshield. 

I went into KIA and found out that out of everything on my warranty, somehow that is not covered.  My insurance covers it but up to $500 and the fix is $240. Go figure.  I never cracked my KIA Soul in the years I owned and lived in it…. Lucky I guess.

DEFECTIVE BRAKES AGAIN AND BEFORE 20,000 MILES

You can imagine my extreme disappointment when at around 15,000 miles I started vaguely hearing that beeping / squeaking sound again when I would brake.  “No friggin way,” I thought to myself.  On my next day off, I took the car into KIA and told them that the noise was back and the brakes probably needed to be replaced again.  I waited in the lobby for an hour and they return to me with, “We do not hear anything.”   They inform me that if they can’t hear the noise then they cannot do anything about it so I leave with no solution.   

Another month goes by and the beeping / squeaking sound gets worse and it is once again at insane asylum status.  On my one day off a week I get, I once again go into KIA and they drive my car around, no noise.   I become frustrated and tell them that I will drive the car and show them myself.  Go figure that I cannot get the damn noise to occur, and so I break down and cry in front of the mechanic. 

Greg the Service Manager tells me that if I can get a recording of the noise that it would help greatly.  So, halfway through my next workday then beeping / squeaking sound begins and lasts through the rest of the day like usual, so I record it. 

I return to KIA the next day and show Greg the recording, Greg brings over the mechanic I cried in front of, “I can hear the noise now.”  Then the mechanic tells me that the recording does not help him and that I need to leave the car with them all day.  I ask him why do I need to bring the car in all day when it is the same issue as when they replaced the brakes before.  The mechanic informs me that they never replaced the brakes but the brake line.  Why was I told they were replacing the brakes and that I was waiting weeks on end for a “Brake Kit?” 

These are things I do not inquire about and I also do not inquire why they did not do this the first time or why I was asked to record the noise and it would help greatly, when it would not…. Instead I make an appointment to drop my car off, again, so they can spend all day driving around my car, hoping to hear the noise that is driving me insane…. And that I pay $430 a month for.

I go in on Monday, 08/31/2015 and leave my car with them to hopefully find the beeping / squeaking sound.   Since my car is my work, I had to decide to miss my first day of the Fall 2015 semester in order to talk with the Store Manager, Mike, about everything I have went through with this car, everything detailed above, in hopes that maybe some sort of compensation or assistance could be provided.

I arrived at 7am and had to wait until 9am when he arrived.  He arrived at 830 am and no one told me he had arrived and I watched him for 30 minutes sit in his office, doing nothing.   Finally I get up and go remind the receptionist that I am there to see Mike, the Store Manager and she escorts me into his office.

After introducing myself I calmly begin laying out everything I have laid out in the above text to Mike.  I inform him that I have been with KIA since my KIA Soul, I told him about how much I miss and loved the KIA Soul, I told him about everything in a civil and respectful fashion. 

When I finish my story, Mike asks me, “What do you want me to do about it?”

I sat there for what seemed like a minute dumbfounded at the question. I respond, “I don’t know.  I was kind of hoping you might have some sort of idea of what you could do for me after everything I’ve been through.  Not to mention I am going to leave a review of this place regarding this situation.”

“I do not respond well to threats,” Mike says.  I let Mike know that it is not a threat and that I am a loyal KIA customer and it is in my right to leave a review, and I am going to leave a review after this meeting, whether positive or negative is up to you.  I am just seeking some understanding and assistance with what I’ve been through.”

Mike responds, “What, do you want me to write you a check?”

Again, silence ensues.  I cannot believe I am being treated like this.  I respond, “No, I do not want a check but I think some sort of compensation is not unreasonable.  I mean, I pay $430 a month for the thing and I really do not think that it is fair that I have to return every 5,000 miles to fix the brakes.”

Mike then asks me,
“Would you be quiet for one minute so I can speak.” 

He literally said that.

So I sit in silence.  “Can I speak now?!” asks Mike, as I continue to sit in silence, motioning for him to continue.  Mike begins stacking on questions thick which require me to answer them as he asks.  Mike asks if I am blaming the sales team for not picking the color of my car.  Before he can tack on another question I answer, “It was a team fuck up.  I was rushed, they did not go over things they should have with me, so it was equal in fault.” 

Mike gets all flustered, “Can I speak now?  You aren’t giving me a chance to speak.”  I sit in silence.

Mike asks if I am blaming the service department and then follows up by saying that I am expecting him to guess on what I want from him and I then immediately reiterate that I do not want him to guess what I want but to give me options of what he can do for me after everything I’ve been through.  “I’m not a mind reader.” Was a comment if I recall correctly. 

So I finally provide him with an option and I say, “Look I do not want to start asking you for things and I was hoping you might have some options for me… like, oh I don’t know, maybe replacing my front windshield for me?” 

Mike interrupts me, despite insisting I not interrupt him, “So are you saying it is our fault for your front windshield not being covered under your warranty?”  

“No, that is not what I am saying at all.”  At this point I put on my sun glasses and start to get up.  Mike asks me to remove my sun glasses and I inform him that I am leaving because it is obvious he is going to do nothing to assist me.

“Ok.”  Mike responds and seems quite content that I will be leaving.

I remind Mike that I will be leaving a review and dedicating my free time to let people know about how shitty I was treated at KIA, despite being with them for years, never missing or being late on any of my payments and always making my scheduled maintenances.

Mike tells me as I am leaving that I should go to another KIA dealership from now even though Escondido is where I was born and raised.   At this point I might have mentioned something as I left about hoping that this situation ruins him and that he would deserve it if it happened. I was also very vocal as I walked out of KIA about how I felt that they were treating me like shit despite all my years with them, which was the only part I was not proud of, despite it having a degree of truth.

FUEL INJECTOR CLEANING
On one of my trips to KIA of Escondido, inquiring about my brakes which for whatever reason, week after week, they never thought to check "air in the brake lines" ~ that aside;

When I was checking out and preparing to pay for one of my service maintenance visits, the service KIA of Escondido employee I was dealing with told me that they A) Could not find the noise in my brakes and B) My fuel injectors already needed a cleaning.  It cost $150.00 - This was under 20K miles.

I declined because I did not have the money.  

**I find out a month later at KIA of Carlsbad, after they removed the air in my brake lines, that I in fact, DID NOT need a fuel injector cleaning.


HOURS AND DAY OFFS WASTED

I cannot count how many times I have now gone into KIA on my limited days off, spent hours in the lobby and then being told by the Service Department, “So sorry, nothing’s wrong.”  Yet something is very wrong, I even record on video that very wrong thing, yet around and around we go on this merry-go-round of b.s.  Imagine going in over and over again seeking resolution and being turned away again and again, returning home with the same problem that has plagued you, no resolution in sight.

So, since the Store Manager does not want to help me then I find no other course of action other than to tell my story to the public. 

I supported (past tense) KIA and all brands associated with it but as of late my loyalty is wavering like the brakes on my car…. I think the brakes are wavering faster though.

Now I see on their car lot, every 2015 KIA Optima Hybrid with $5,000 off and $7,000 off stickers plastered on them.  Why the big discounts?  Maybe need to get rid of them quickly before recalls are had?  

UPDATE:  08/31/2015

So I dropped my car off at 8am, had that fun experience with Mike and have been waiting for a call all day about my car and the brakes.  I call KIA about 2pm and I talk to Ethan who tells me that cannot duplicate the noise.  I ask him if they have been driving it for 4 hours straight, like I instructed, because the noise will not pop up otherwise.  He tells me to tell Greg, the manager, so I am connected to his voicemail where I plee with him to please just swap out the brakes like before or at least fulfill what you promised you would, find the noise.

2 hours pass and 5pm hits, Ethan calls me, "Has anyone called you Jeff?"  I laugh, nope.  Ethan laughs too.  Ethan instructs me that Greg wants me car off the lot and I need to come get it.  They have found no noise and that is that.

I arrive at the KIA service area and it is a ghost town.  No one greets me, I wander inside after 5 minutes of no one and the receptionist rings me up.   

CONCLUSION

Currently, due to there being no resolution, no understanding and no concern for my situation and plight regarding my 2015 KIA Option Hybrid I must revoke all my support for the car brand, KIA.   I have never been so embarrassed, frustrated, desperate and driven to the brink of sanity not just from the defects of this car but from the way I was treated by the Sales Department, the Service Department AND surprisingly, even the Store Manager, Mike.  

I really have no idea what could have been done to alleviate my situation but I do know that something is far better than nothing.  I did not even receive a sorry for all of the inconveniences, all of the gas I wasted driving back and forth, the time I wasted on days I should be resting my back from that hideous and evil back destroying car seat, becoming so frustrated of being treated like a liar when I had to prove to them a noise that had already existed with the brakes, had returned… within 20k miles.  I couldn’t prove it and they make me record it?   Then that isn’t helpful so I have to return again for an all day event?   Then when you discuss the situation with the man who runs the store he just looks blankly at you, “So sorry.” 

Completely unable or unwilling to place himself in my shoes and provide me legitimate options, of any sort, in an attempt to alleviate everything I’ve been through.  Instead, evasiveness and inaction.  Was that really the main guy who runs things at KIA of Escondido?

/shudders

Something is better than nothing, even the consideration and understanding of my position… yet not even an attempt to rise from his chair to greet me when I enter his office.  He wouldn’t even lift a finger to call someone who might be able to assist.   Instead, Sorries all around.   I would avoid KIA at all costs…. Because it is currently costing me $430 a month and it is so not worth it.

With a little luck I will find resolution with KIA however I do not believe that is possible any longer so now I must seek out a new dealer and car brand, somewhere that appreciates their customers and maybe just have the ability to “read my mind” in common sense situations.

I should have asked Mike,

“If you were in my position what would you want from KIA for what you have went through” instead of being forced to play his “guessing game” where I lose no matter what I say.

I contacted KIA Corporate and talked to a gentlemen, Case #K3021505 - After telling the whole story as I have told above the man over the phone attempted to blame "use of brakes for brake decline" and I had to interrupt and remind him that they were defective once, they made this noise, brakes were swapped out and noise left, now noise is back.... common sense time people.   I am always amazing how often people try to blame the victims.

I am sending my invoices into KIA Corporate in  hopes something will be done to get rid of this insane squeaking / beeping I'm paying $430 a month for.

One thing no one has thought of in all of this mess.

My safety.   We are dealing with defective brakes and yet.... I am dealing with this.  Maybe it will take me crashing my car because my brakes don't work to actually get someone to do something.

Respectfully,

Jeff Meints

08/31/2015