Wanting to buy a Kia Sedona only the nearest dealer is 2 1/2 hours away. Who would service my vehicle locally

Question

We are in Central Oregon where there are no Kia dealers. If we were to buy a Kia from Eugene or Portland, we would like to know if someone locally can do the regular maintenance without voiding the warranty??

Answer 1

I had the same issues, and while your warranty specifically allows you to have it warranty serviced by an non-Kia service center if you are 100 miles away from home, it does read "away from home" not away from a service center. And non-Kia dealers can't handle warranty parts without waiting to get them from Kia. This doesn't affect normal maintenance, only warranty issues.

I personally loved my Kia for the first 58,000 miles. If there was a problem, they took care of it - often far more than I would have expected. For example, when my airbag light came on, they didn't just fix connections, they replaced the wiring harness and checked every connection again. Both wiring harnesses, just to be safe. But at 58,000 miles I had a problem and wasn't near the dealership. I took it to a dealership and they couldn't find it (it just stopped running on the freeway for a second). I then drove the car from Seattle to San Diego and it died as I got there. Took it to Kia there. They couldn't find it. Tried to drive it home. It died again and wouldn't run. Had to be towed to a dealership near Fresno. 3 days later they replaced a part but still had same problems when back in Oregon. It died near Coos Bay (no dealership within 2 hours) and had to get special permission to tow it to local firm. They couldn't get parts, so off to Kia in Eugene by tow truck. Then I had to arrange transportation, take off work and go get the car. And now it was out of warranty so they wouldn't cover the cost of repairs - even though problem had started before 60K.

Bottom line - if you can't get the great warranty service I don't recommend the cars. And before I buy another car I'd read the reviews at carsurvey.org. Reading them for my Kia I probably never would have purchased mine. I do like Keifer Kia in Eugene, but I'd look at a different car if I didn't live near the dealership (and Keifer isn't open for service on weekends)

Answer 2

Most shops will be able to work on it. As far as your warranty goes, I don't know if that's allowed. Surprisingly, the new Kia's have good reliability ratings, so you shouldn't have to worry about making too many repairs while still under warranty, but like I said, make sure you read the warranty to see where you can get the car serviced.

Answer 3

Anyone (local mechanics..as long as they are ASE certified) can work on the vehicle without voiding the warranty. Find a local shop who will work on Kias is actually hard becuase just like mitsubishi..most wont touch them...

Although i wouldnt recommend buying a Kia....there problem cars...

Id go for Honda/Hyundai/toyota

Answer 4

dont buy a kia they are junk and they always break down the dealerships dont cover the warranty we bought one and the dealership wouldn't work on it cause they said the warranty is a joke this was just 2 days after we bought it cause the gas mileage was terrible and it has been the same ever since we got it I cant drive it now cause the wheel bearings are out everything goes bad then it leaves ya stranded

Answer 5

We are 3 hours from a Kia dealership and have a Optima.

You can go anywhere with a licenced machanic for service like oil changes and such and have to log it i the book that comes with the car and keep the record of it.

Answer 6

Your $35,000 received't even make a dent interior the recession reform. What you heard on television became only advertisement propaganda aimed in the route of creating the buyer experience solid about procuring their motorized vehicle.

Answer 7

You can take it anywhere for service and it will not void the warranty.