I should add a disclaimer that dealerships are really separate business from a car manufacturer like KIA motors US bound by an agreement between the dealership and manufacturer. The contract says the dealer must follow and claim expenses to the manufacturer for warranty work, and can have a separate warranty on top of the manufacturers warranty. So as I sit here in the waiting room writing this blog, I hope the information helps someone out there who is having service done. Here we go.
So I stopped in for my 30,000 mile warranty with a a few extra things to look at.
- My radio, navigation or anything else that would produce sound through the car speakers stopped working. The on screen computer screen showed like everything was working, just no sound.
- My Kia logo on the hood was disintegrating
So upon checking in, the gentleman who checked in my car let me know that the radio might not be under warranty and the corporate logo on the front of my car might not be under warranty. Upon checking the radio, it turns out that I was 1,000 miles away from the radio not being under warranty. I was supposed that a radio could fall out of warranty prior to the cars warranty expiring. I have a 200,000 mile 10 year warranty on parts of the car in certain situations. That’s right your car does not have a warranty, only certain parts in certain situations. I get both sides of it, just be honest though. I know you will not sell as many cars if you are honest as a dealer, but in the long run you will sell just as many cars, and your customers expectations will be in check with less frustrations. And the Logo appeared to be under warranty too. I would think that a logo would always get replaced as it is after all advertising. Also they let me know the fuel filter inside the gas tank which is recommended to be replaced every 30,000 miles (seriously) needed to be replaced at $125.
The Radio, when I checked in, being a computer guy and the radio being a computer, I recommended they disconnect the power. They never like to her a suggestion on how to do their job which I totally understand. The technician let me know its probably the amp or radio itself. All speakers didn’t work. 15 minutes later they stopped out letting me know that they disconnected all the power, let it set for 10 minutes, plugged things back in and the radio worked. But to be safe, they were going to order a new radio. Which I thought was awesome, think about it, so they reboot the radio, it works, but then in a month or so when the radio is out of warranty, it finally dies, but now I have to spend $1k to replace it. so kudo’s for Kia Madison for knowing how to keep customers.
The Logo, I know if you think about the logo thing in one perspective, so you spend a lot of money on a car, the place their logo on the car, and if the advertisement deteriorates, then they charge you to put new advertisement on your car. OK, there is that. Or the logo or emblem is a body part, and if you want it replaced you have to pay for it. There is that angle. The angle that I see is its a body part, but one that is the first thing people see when close to the car, and represents the car company. If the car parts are still under warranty, then that part should always be one that is covered. But that’s me thinking like a business person understanding perception of vehicles on the road, and not really from a controllers point of view, or from a customers point of view.
The fuel filter. A consumable part like a filter that gets replaced once every 1-3 years should be much easier and cheaper to replace. $125 is crazy. Could you imagine if air filters were $125? they get replaced less frequently and are much cheaper and much easier to replace. I think the reason is a lot of people do not replace fuel filters, so the parts are produced less thus cost more.
The waiting room is nice, free WiFi, comfortable seats, free coffee and some TV. that’s where I wrote this blog jacked up on cappuccino. Oh and they also have popcorn. And when you get your vehicle back, you get a free car wash.
So tips? check your Gaps in your warranty, find out what expires when. Then have them check those components which are about to expire. If there is any fault in them, make sure they get replaced now rather than after the component expires from warranty. Drink the free coffee, eat the popcorn, watch the TV, keep in mind they have to make money so be reasonable with them, but cautious on the up sell. And even though it is expensive, get your fuel filter replaced, when you don’t follow recommendations, then major components which may fail in the future may not be covered because you choose not to follow maintenance.
Live life in real-time
Chow